Planet Namek.
The Supreme Kai, Shin, glanced at the three enormous jars of beans that had suddenly appeared beside Gran, his brows furrowing in confusion.
"You used your last wish to summon… these beans? What could you possibly need them for?"
Truth be told, he still wanted to ask about Gran's "dimensional" issue—why this candidate for God of Destruction didn't even seem to know which dimension his own existence belonged to.
But judging from the boy's expression, it was clear he didn't know the answer himself. Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked Shenron about it.
"These are quite extraordinary beans," Gran said as he picked one up from a jar. "No matter how badly you're injured, as long as you've got even one breath left, eating one will instantly restore you to full strength."
The beans looked almost identical to ordinary dried legumes—but their effects were terrifyingly potent.
In Gran's original plan, he had intended to travel to Earth personally to obtain the Senzu Beans.
But after thinking it through, he realized—this was still Age 739. Son Goku had only been exiled to Earth two years ago.
At this point, Goku was still just a toddler, Vegeta hadn't even begun his conquest of Earth, and the rest of the Z Fighters weren't even active yet.
So besides collecting the beans, there was no real reason to visit Earth right now.
Far more efficient to just have Shenron bring them here directly.
After all, Shenron's wishes weren't of much use to him anyway.
Gravity chambers, healing pods, divine martial arts—he already had Whis.
He didn't need any of that.
So why waste the wishes?
He might as well make them work for him—summoning the beans here would save him a trip, and he could focus on finding strong opponents across the universe.
Shin's eyes widened. "You're saying… no matter how close to death someone is, as long as they're still breathing, these beans can bring them back instantly?"
"That's right." Gran nodded.
"That's stronger than Kibito's healing magic!" the Kai exclaimed.
Unable to resist, he reached out to grab one for himself.
Slap!
"Ow! What was that for?!" Shin yelped, rubbing his hand.
"You're not even injured and you're trying to eat a Senzu Bean? Do you have any idea how precious these things are?" Gran glared at him.
In the later sagas, the Z Fighters practically had to split one bean into ten pieces just to make them last!
Ignoring Shin's wounded look, Gran turned to the Grand Elder sitting nearby.
"My business here is done. Thank you for allowing me to use your Dragon Balls."
"No… no need to thank me," the Grand Elder said, wiping cold sweat from his brow. "Being able to help a candidate for God of Destruction is the highest honor of the Namekian people!"
Truth be told, he didn't quite understand Gran's wishes.
At first, the boy had seemed ready to ask for immortality or some other terrifying power.
But in the end, he'd just asked two strange questions and summoned three massive jars of beans.
Still, if it wasn't an evil wish, then all was well.
"Well, I should still thank you properly," Gran said. "When I trained on Planet Yardrat, I promised them—if they ever faced trouble, they could come find me anytime."
He paused, giving the Grand Elder a meaningful look.
"The same goes for you. If Namek ever faces a crisis, you can call for me the same way—just say the name Whis."
Gran's eyes glimmered oddly when he said it—especially when he emphasized "if you ever face trouble".
The Grand Elder blinked.
Why did it sound like this God of Destruction candidate was so sure Namek would be in danger someday?
"Alright then, we'll be going." Gran stepped toward the jars of beans, thinking.
"How am I even supposed to carry all these?"
Shin chuckled. "You're wondering how to take them with you, right?"
Gran frowned. "You've got an idea?"
"Of course!" Shin said proudly.
He waved a hand—and a pocket dimension opened up in midair.
Gran's eyes lit up.
He remembered from the anime that Shin once used a similar pocket space to produce the hardest rock in the universe
and used it to break the legendary Z Sword!
"Not bad, you've got some tricks up your sleeve." Gran grinned as he eagerly began loading the jars inside.
"Hey! I didn't even say you could put them in there yet!" Shin huffed.
"Relax, relax. You helped me, I won't forget to repay you," Gran said with a teasing smile.
"Forget the reward—just promise to tell me more about the Supreme Kais. I want to understand our kind better."
"Deal. Stick with me for a while and I'll tell you everything. Once I'm done with my work, I'll even help you release the Old Kai. How's that sound?"
"Old Kai?" Shin blinked. "I still don't know much about him either. Tell me about him too"
The two short figures continued chatting, and in the next instant
both vanished.
Instant Transmission.
"...Huh?" Kibito blinked. Two huge question marks practically popped into his eyes.
By the time he realized what happened, he shouted,
"Hey! You left me behind!"
And with that, he used Instant Transmission to chase after them.
The Grand Elder: "…"
Nail: "…"
Realm of the Gods of Destruction.
A full month had passed since Whis had left for the Grand Zeno's Palace.
Then
a dazzling beam of seven-colored light tore through the sky and landed beside a tranquil lake.
"Whew… finally back." Whis rolled his neck, breathing a sigh of relief.
Normally, he should've returned a month ago.
But just as he was leaving Zeno's Palace, he'd run into his eldest sister—Kusu, the Angel of Universe 10.
And she had promptly dragged him off.
Her reasoning?
"Your God of Destruction in Universe 7 sleeps all day anyway. You've got nothing better to do—come train with me instead."
And so, Whis had returned a month late.
"The power my sister wields… it's terrifying." Whis shuddered, recalling their training sessions.
"Just what level of existence has she reached…?"
Even after a month of sparring with her, he still couldn't gauge her true strength.
Shaking his head, he approached the sealed chamber where Beerus was sleeping.
Opening the golden door, he stepped inside.
There, sprawled lazily atop a golden disk, was a thin purple cat snoring softly.
Around him, countless temporal hourglass bombs floated in slow motion through the void.
Without warning, Whis pulled out a microphone from seemingly nowhere.
He cleared his throat
and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"LORD BEERUS, TIME TO WAKE UP!!!!"