Ino asked the North Kai to find and help notify Son Goku, telling him that Earth was in danger and he needed to return immediately.
She herself returned to the Sacred World of the Kai.
"Lord Supreme Kai, I'm going to try the Z Sword again."
Cell's body still contained the cells of King Cold and his cohorts. He appeared well-behaved right now, but once he believed there were no rivals left in the universe, he would definitely embark on a massive campaign of slaughter and conquest. The universe's Civilization Index had just started to show some improvement, and Ino couldn't let this guy drag her down again.
The Supreme Kai and Kibito were drinking tea. Seeing her speak so solemnly, they also turned serious.
"You have already surpassed me, the Supreme Kai. Even with your battle power, can you not defeat that Cell?" the Supreme Kai asked.
Ino thought about it seriously. Her current limit in battle power was around the 4 billion mark, making her a standard Supreme Kai of the "can crush Frieza with a single finger" variety. If Cell's limit was also at this level, then she could naturally fight him.
Her fear was that Cell might upgrade in the heat of battle. If he transformed into Super Perfect Cell, she definitely wouldn't be able to defeat him.
"To be honest, I'm not entirely certain either."
The Supreme Kai nodded. "Very well, let's go try the Z Sword again."
Arriving once more at the mountain peak where the Z Sword was deeply embedded, Ino took a deep breath. She filled her 365 acupoints with energy, charging up for a full ten minutes before opening her eyes.
To unilaterally boost her strength, she rarely brought out her Susanoo. Two golden skeletal hands covered her arms, following her movements to tightly grip the hilt, and then she pulled with all her might.
It was quite normal that the Supreme Kai beside her couldn't pull it out.
It was also considered normal that the West Supreme Kai couldn't pull it out, as female deities were rarely known for their physical strength.
The North Supreme Kai was too old; he couldn't do it in his youth, and it was even more hopeless in his old age.
However, for the South Supreme Kai—renowned for his bravery and fortitude—to be unable to draw the divine sword, that was problematic. It should be noted that the South Supreme Kai could fight head-on with Kid Buu for a while, possessing strength that steadily surpassed Son Gohan's Super Saiyan 2.
The Grand Supreme Kai was even less of a question; even after losing half of his God Power, he wouldn't be any weaker than a Super Saiyan 3.
Both of these beings failed to pull out the Z Sword, yet Son Gohan was able to. The issue likely didn't lie with the one pulling the sword, but rather with the sword itself.
Considering the symbiotic relationship between Beerus and the Supreme Kai, the Destroyer worried that the Supreme Kais were too weak and might end up dragging him down to his death. Thus, finding a random excuse to seal the Old Kai away and then placing a restriction that prevented Supreme Kais from drawing the sword—this deduction seemed quite reasonable.
No matter how strong the Grand Supreme Kai was, he wasn't stronger than a Destroyer. And so, this so-called divine sword was passed down from generation to generation until today.
Did Ino count as a Supreme Kai right now? She didn't think she did, but in the eyes of the Z Sword, she did!
She tried using Susanoo to mask the Supreme Kai aura on her body, but the result was completely useless. The restriction Beerus had placed on the divine sword was much more meticulous than she had anticipated.
For other matters, she could still ask Whis, but regarding the situation at hand, Ino figured that her relationship with Whis definitely wasn't as deep as his relationship with Beerus. Since it involved Beerus's "lifesaving skill," it wouldn't be convenient to bring it up.
In the original timeline, not long after Son Gohan pulled out the Z Sword, Beerus awakened. That Destroyer certainly didn't give Son Gohan any good looks; whenever he was brought up, it was always "Son Goku's son" this and that.
"Sigh, I can't pull it out..."
Ino used all her strength, but the divine sword wouldn't budge an inch. The second attempt was also declared a failure.
"Don't be discouraged, we can think of a way together," the Supreme Kai said, looking equally serious.
The matter with Cell finally made him connect the barren planets of distant eras with the present-day Earth. If Majin Buu was awakened due to the ensuing battles, he felt he might go crazy. His expression carried a tension unlike his usual self.
Kibito hadn't thought that far ahead. Planets in the universe were as numerous as grains of sand; the safety of a single Earth was truly insignificant. However, seeing the Supreme Kai so serious, he refrained from making any snide remarks.
Since the path of the Old Kai was blocked, Ino had no choice but to summon her subordinates once again to pool their wisdom and efforts.
"Cell is actually still alive?" No. 17 was somewhat in disbelief.
He felt that he had already destroyed all of Cell's cells. How could there still be any remnants?
Ino didn't know much about the inside story. "I heard from that fat guy named Hedo that the Red Ribbon Army over on Earth found some piece of flesh at your battle site. Afterwards, they used some of Dr. Gero's technology and a large amount of precious resources to resurrect Cell."
"I'll go. I want to solve this problem with my own hands." No. 17's attitude was extremely resolute.
No. 18 nodded in agreement.
Future Trunks and Gohan also volunteered. "This Cell came from our future era. We have an obligation to take care of him."
Future Trunks, Gohan, No. 17, and No. 18 followed Ino to Earth to join the battle, while the remaining four formed a temporary team to continue striking at space pirates.
...
Konoha Village.
To deal with the crisis caused by Cell, all parties were scrambling to do some last-minute training.
Just like Master Six Paths back in the day, Ino sat cross-legged, floating in mid-air in deep meditation.
Vegeta himself had once said that the strongest warrior of the Eleventh Universe, Jiren, didn't actually have much more energy than Super Saiyan Blue. Yet, he was able to completely overwhelm and beat down Son Goku and Vegeta. The key lay in Jiren's control. Not a single ounce of his power was wasted; he exploded with force when attacking, and for the rest of the time, he remained in an extremely relaxed state.
Over the past few days, Ino had been specifically enhancing her control, allowing herself to find strength in tranquility.
After being reprimanded by her, the two children's restless hearts also slowly settled down.
Himawari pondered for several days and decided to start her training from the basics again. The consumption when using the Rinnegan was quite large, so for a seven-year-old child, it was better to use it sparingly in daily life.
During her training, she maintained her Byakugan state, exercising her visual prowess according to the methods of the Hyuga clan.
Kale wanted to completely master the Super Saiyan transformation but had made no progress. Ino told her to go out for a stroll; perhaps seeing something would spark some inspiration.
Kale had lived in Konoha for three years, and her memories of her homeland were becoming increasingly blurry. Now, she already considered herself a true Konoha resident.
Walking down the street, whenever she saw an acquaintance, she would enthusiastically greet them.
"Uncle Naruto?"
There were two thousand Narutos sweeping the streets; running into one of them wasn't surprising at all.
Because they had experienced crises together in the Sixth Universe, Kale and Naruto had always maintained a good relationship. Every time she saw this energetic uncle, she would bow and say hello.
Naruto was quite happy today. He had asked Kakashi to help run a test and discovered that Boruto's talent as a ninja was much higher than his own. It looked more like an atavistic inheritance of Minato Namikaze's talent.
With his son being stronger than him, the father, he wanted to treat Kale to ramen to celebrate.
"No, thank you, Uncle. I still have some things to do," Kale politely declined.
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