"Did you forget? That's the East Supreme Kai, my lord!"
"The East Supreme Kai… Shin?"
"Yes." Whis replied, sounding slightly guilty. "Ever since the Grand Supreme Kai and the others perished, the East Supreme Kai has been one of only two Supreme Kais remaining in Universe 7."
"..."
Beerus's expression darkened instantly. The incident where Majin Buu invaded the Supreme Kai Realm was one of the greatest humiliations of his life!
"This is all your fault, Whis! If you hadn't sneaked off looking for food, that fat oaf and the other Supreme Kais wouldn't have died!" Beerus snarled through clenched teeth.
Just thinking about it made his blood boil.
Universe 7 once had five Supreme Kais managing cosmic affairs. As long as one Supreme Kai remained alive, Beerus himself would remain alive as well.
He even had an extra safety measure—an old Supreme Kai he'd sealed away.
That was why Beerus had slept so soundly. Who would've thought that after his nap, the heavens would collapse?!
Five Supreme Kais… and in the end, only one remained alive!
"Beerus-sama, you have some nerve blaming me," Whis said coldly, though his guilt flickered beneath the surface. "If someone didn't keep oversleeping, I wouldn't have gone out looking for good food!"
"And another thing!"
"Our universe's average mortal level ranks second to last. And whose fault is that?"
Whis's voice wasn't loud, but every word pierced straight into Beerus's chest.
Beerus immediately deflated. He couldn't argue — that was his fault.
"Alright, alright!" Beerus grumbled, waving a hand. "Why are you bringing up old stuff again? Anyway, now that we have a Candidate for God of Destruction, Universe 7 will be in his care. Our ranking will climb soon enough!"
"Fine. Then neither of us gets to lecture the other anymore!"
"Fine by me!"
Beerus snorted.
Whis also snorted back, mimicking him.
For beings who stood as the strongest in Universe 7, the way they bickered was unbelievably childish.
The little quarrel quickly passed, and both shifted their attention back to the projection.
When Beerus saw Shin recreating the planet he'd painstakingly destroyed earlier, his fists clenched tight in irritation.
Whis, on the other hand, burst out laughing. After all, with the Old Kai still sealed away, no one was around to teach Shin. Of course he didn't know what he was doing.
In the projection, Gran obliterated the very planet Shin had just created.
Though it wasn't destruction energy, the effect on universal balance was the same.
Beerus felt deeply satisfied. His chosen Candidate for God of Destruction was performing perfectly. Handing over planet-eradication duties to Gran would let him rest easy.
"Beerus-sama, when do you plan to release the Old Supreme Kai?"
"If I let him out and he dies, what then?"
"But if you don't release him, East Supreme Kai will never learn a thing!"
"Isn't Gran teaching him already?"
"..."
Whis's lips twitched. This guy's fear of death was truly incurable.
He sighed. "But Gran is still only a Candidate, Beerus-sama. How much could he really know? To raise our universe's ranking, having a God of Destruction alone won't be enough!"
Beerus fell silent for half a minute before muttering, "We'll see."
With that, he turned back to watch the projection.
On-screen, Gran had arrived on Planet Namek. His three initial wishes nearly made Beerus faint on the spot
To gain an immortal body even the Omni-King couldn't erase?
To become the number one warrior in the entire Omni-King's universe?
To obtain true eternal life?
What kind of mortal thinks like that?!
Even Super Shenron wouldn't be able to grant those!
Whis covered his mouth, suppressing laughter. He could tell Gran was deliberately teasing the dragon.
But when Gran made his real wishes, Whis's demeanor shifted.
"Beerus-sama, look—Gran truly doesn't realize his dimensional level has reached the peak of the Supreme Kai tier."
"I saw that already! The idiot actually asked that lizard why he could survive in space! That killed me!"
Beerus burst into laughter, clutching his stomach as Gran's clueless face appeared in the projection.
But when Gran voiced his second wish, Beerus suddenly grew serious.
Even a dragon imbued with miraculous power couldn't uncover Gran's secret. Just what was that kid?
Beerus shook his head. Whis had awakened him to relay the Grand Priest's evaluation
That Gran's origins were mysterious but harmless. They were to nurture him without worry.
Thinking of that, Beerus felt reassured again.
The projection continued. Gran made his third wish: to have the jars containing Senzu Beans transferred to his side.
Beerus didn't react much at the sight of those plain-looking beans. But Whis's expression turned grave.
"Senzu Beans… capable of instant recovery?" Whis murmured, frowning. "Their effect rivals an angel's healing magic."
As Whis pondered, Beerus suddenly shouted, "Didn't I tell him to go seek strong opponents? Why is he picking fights with trash like that?!"
After leaving Namek, Gran had begun training his Ultra Instinct instinctive reaction by traveling the cosmos with Shin and his attendant, challenging various warriors.
Watching the footage, Beerus expected him to fight opponents far stronger than himself.
Instead—he chose a weakling with a battle power barely over a hundred.
"Is that brat scared of dying? Is that why he's avoiding real fighters?" Beerus muttered.
Wait. Something about that "weakling" seemed… off.
But before Beerus could analyze further, Whis smirked and said, "Beerus-sama, your eyesight's been slipping lately. Didn't you notice? The opponent Gran picked is actually a martial arts master."
Beerus glared at him. "You just love mocking me, don't you? I looked away for one second, and now you're acting smug?"
"Oh-ho-ho~ Beerus-sama, you really can't admit when you're wrong, can you?"
"Hmph! I'm not wasting words on you!" Beerus huffed and turned away.
Unbothered, Whis continued, "There are many such cases in the universe—beings whose power is low, yet their understanding of martial arts runs astonishingly deep."
"Gran's instinctive reflexes have reached the first stage of Ultra Instinct. That's already remarkable for a mortal, but aside from sparring with us, he's never fought anyone else. His grasp of martial arts was practically zero!"
"Look!"
Whis pointed at the projection. "Gran is deliberately suppressing his strength. He's fighting with even less power than his opponent. But through each defeat, his martial insight and battle awareness are evolving at incredible speed."
As he spoke, Whis's eyes gleamed. "That boy knows exactly what his weaknesses are. That's why he sought out martial masters like this. Gran… he's far too clever for his own good."