Chapter 452: Shifting the Attention
Just after the Grand Priest left, Uchiha Dali returned to his meditative state.
Before long, another figure appeared beside him.
No—three figures.
One was tiny, like a small child of only a few years.
The other two were tall, slender, unsmiling, and looked as though they had antennae sprouting from their heads. Their high-collared coats covered the lower halves of their faces.
The three newcomers were the Grand Zeno and his two powerful attendants.
And at this moment, Uchiha Dali hadn't sensed even the slightest trace of their presence.
The sudden voice startled him.
Only when he turned and saw the Grand Zeno and his attendants did he realize he had completely failed to detect their arrival.
So the gap is still this enormous?
Uchiha Dali was shaken on the inside.
Outwardly, however, he smiled. "So it's you, Lord Grand Zeno. I'm meditating here."
He dismissed all of his clones and stood.
At once, the two attendants glared at him, watching his every tiny movement with intense caution.
As the Grand Zeno's bodyguards, it was their duty to protect him from all threats, so their vigilance made sense.
Uchiha Dali glanced at them once, then ignored them and walked toward the Grand Zeno. "Lord Grand Zeno, what brings you here?"
"I'm so bored, Uchiha Dali."
"How about you play with me?"
"Play… play with you…?"
Uchiha Dali was completely unprepared for that.
But the Grand Zeno didn't care about his reaction and continued cheerfully, "You pretend to be a horse or a bull, and I'll ride on you."
"What do you think?"
Wonderful.
The image flashed through Uchiha Dali's mind immediately.
This guy… wanted him to be a literal mount for him to ride?
Impossible!
Internally, Uchiha Dali was speechless.
He would never do that. Not in this lifetime.
Even if the other party was the Grand Zeno, absolutely not.
But rejecting the Grand Zeno outright was just as impossible.
If he made the Grand Zeno angry, he didn't stand a chance with his current strength.
He needed a solution—one that would calm the Grand Zeno, make him drop the idea of turning him into livestock, and shift his attention so he wouldn't feel bored.
Uchiha Dali's mind raced, and soon he had an idea.
"Lord Grand Zeno, having me alone pretend to be a horse for you to ride… well, it isn't impossible. But wouldn't that still be boring?"
"I have a game that's much more fun. I wonder if you'd be interested."
He smiled mysteriously at the Grand Zeno.
Hearing that, the Grand Zeno grew instantly curious. "Okay! What kind of game?"
Anything more fun than riding a "horse" clearly wasn't something the Grand Zeno experienced often.
He eagerly waited to hear Uchiha Dali's idea.
Uchiha Dali glanced at the innocent Grand Zeno—only to see the two attendants behind him still glaring with razor-sharp eyes.
He swallowed discreetly. "Lord Grand Zeno, why don't we hold a Tournament of Power?"
"A Tournament of Power?"
"That's right. A Tournament of Power. The match between me and your attendants never had a proper result, right?"
"This time we can make it bigger. Let all the strongest fighters from every universe join in. Everyone forms teams and participates in the Tournament!"
"The winners receive a prize, and the losers get punished!"
For the sake of survival, this was the best he could offer.
Better them than him.
He knew exactly which powerful beings existed in the twelve universes and what their abilities were.
Barring any accidents, he could win with high confidence.
But the key point was this: the plan would keep the Grand Zeno from focusing solely on him.
Letting the Grand Zeno ride him? Absolutely not.
"Gather the strongest fighters from every universe? Will that be fun?"
The Grand Zeno sounded doubtful.
He looked curious but uncertain, and even glanced at his two attendants for help.
Unfortunately, the two attendants were still locked onto Uchiha Dali, completely ignoring the Grand Zeno's plea for guidance.
Uchiha Dali quietly took note of it.
Thankfully the Grand Zeno doesn't have much intelligence…
He felt relieved, then hurriedly said, "Of course it will be fun, Lord Grand Zeno!"
"In the Tournament of Power, super-powerful fighters from all universes gather, and you'll get to watch ultimate battles between them!"
"We can even livestream the entire tournament to all universes. Countless viewers will interact with the broadcast along with you. It'll be extremely, extremely exciting!"
"Everyone in every universe will get to witness your greatness!"
Uchiha Dali spoke without pause.
And sure enough, the Grand Zeno was fully captivated.
He had never livestreamed anything across the universes before, much less let his subjects see him like that.
"Just hearing you describe it already sounds super, super fun…"
"Let's host the Tournament of Power, Uchiha Dali!"
The Grand Zeno cheered eagerly.
Seeing that his attention had successfully been diverted—and that he no longer wanted to ride him—Uchiha Dali was thrilled. He quickly added, "Lord Grand Zeno, first you'll need to summon all the gods from every universe and tell them your decision. Then they can choose suitable participants."
"Each universe will be a separate competing region, and the teams will fight against each other."
"After giving the gods their tasks, we can start preparing the prize."
"The prize… right, what will it be?"
The Grand Zeno asked curiously.
He was now completely absorbed in the idea of the tournament, utterly forgetting that moments ago he had wanted Uchiha Dali to pretend to be a horse for his amusement.
Uchiha Dali pretended to think, though he already had the perfect prize in mind.
After touching his chin and tilting his head thoughtfully, he said, "Lord Grand Zeno, I've heard there's something called the Super Dragon Balls."
"Using them, any wish can be granted."
"So why not use the Super Dragon Balls as the prize and invite all the strongest fighters to compete for them? What do you think?"
"Super Dragon Balls? They sound amazing!"
"Uchiha Dali, you go find the Super Dragon Balls!"
The Grand Zeno clapped excitedly and assigned the task to him.
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