A dense layer of drifting ash had wrapped itself around Majin Buu's body — the erosion the Time Domain exerted upon intelligent lifeforms. With every imperceptible tremor that passed through the Majin, flakes of leaden-grey powder shed from him like snow. He was fighting the domain with everything he had, and the ash — representing fragments of his own time, his lifespan, a small portion of his causality — was the price he paid.
The Majin had no intention of yielding. Trapped in that silent world, he threw his head back and unleashed a roar of fury that no one could hear.
Ino had no time to trade screams with him. Her main body and both time clones were battered and haggard, looking as though they had just crawled out of a crematorium furnace.
The blame-shifting had cost her time, and time, as always, was perfectly fair. It had frozen Majin Buu in his tracks — and in the same breath, it had placed an enormous burden on Ino herself.
In the state things were now, every single second of delay drained her stamina at a ruinous rate. When she finally finished the blame-shifting and turned her full effort toward pulling the Grand Supreme Kai free, the unexpected happened — as it always does when things can't afford to go wrong.
As the Grand Supreme Kai gradually separated from his body, Majin Buu began to shift. The round, pudgy form of Fat Buu gave way to a powerfully built figure of coiled muscle — the form he had taken when he absorbed the South Supreme Kai.
The South Supreme Kai had been a tall, massively built man. Now, with his body forcibly occupied by Ino, Majin Buu still managed — on pure, dying instinct alone — to shakily extend two enormous arms and try to shove the half-extracted Grand Supreme Kai back inside.
It was nothing but raw physical strength. No technique, no power behind it. But in that moment, it became a weight on the scale that mattered enormously.
All three Inos heaved together, wrenching the Grand Supreme Kai outward like pulling a stubborn radish from the ground.
"I'm truly sorry, but I have almost no strength left... If this proves impossible, please don't concern yourself with me. You're young. You shouldn't have to sacrifice yourself here..." As the Grand Supreme Kai inched further free of Majin Buu's body, his consciousness grew steadily clearer. Given the choice, he naturally wanted to escape this prison — and he strained alongside them — but even their combined effort, in terms of sheer physical force, was no match for Majin Buu augmented by the South Supreme Kai's absorption. Ino had never been known for brute strength.
"Get Goku in here to help us!" Ino's main body called out to one of her time clones.
The time clone reached out and pulled Son Goku into the Time Domain.
Time hung crushingly heavy inside it. A domain capable of compressing even the past, present, and future iterations of the Supreme Kai of Time herself into a childlike form dealt far greater damage to an ordinary being like Son Goku.
The young Saiyan warrior aged in an instant. His face creased with wrinkles, his hair bleached white — as though fifty years had fallen on him at once.
Son Goku: ???
He stood there in complete bewilderment, utterly at a loss for what had just happened.
One of Ino's time clones quickly explained: "Your lifespan will restore itself the moment you leave this area. Don't worry — this domain isn't targeting you specifically. Goku, I need your help right now. Help me pull the Grand Supreme Kai out of Majin Buu."
Son Goku had a child's instinct for these things — who was good, who was bad. He could tell at a glance, almost without thinking.
The Grand Supreme Kai was, by Goku's reckoning, the kindest being he had ever encountered in his life. Kinder than Master Roshi, kinder than Ino — several times over, combined. And with the Grand Supreme Kai pulling away, malice was flooding back through every inch of Majin Buu's body. Save the good one. Then beat the bad one. This aligned perfectly with his values.
"Sure, sure, I get it!" There was nothing more to be said. He grabbed one of the Grand Supreme Kai's hands and pulled with everything he had.
"It's not enough — we still don't have enough strength! Get Vegeta in here too!"
A moment later, a Vegeta styled like a retired party official also entered the Time Domain.
Both time clones held the Grand Supreme Kai by the head. Vegeta and Son Goku each seized an arm. With Ino's main body leading the effort, they all strained together — inch by inch — and at last, they wrenched the Grand Supreme Kai free.
A thunderous boom rang out across the current moment in time.
The enraged Majin Buu detonated Ino's Time Domain from within using every last ounce of energy in his body. All of them came crashing out of the timestream at once.
Both time clones had exhausted their Time Power and vanished on the spot. Son Goku, Vegeta, and Ino — all three were utterly spent, drained of every last reserve of combat ability.
Was it worth it? From Earth's perspective, it was frankly stupid. Majin Buu had been dazed and vulnerable — just killing him then and there would have been the easiest, fastest solution. But viewed from the scale of the universe as a whole, the instant the incomparably benevolent Grand Supreme Kai was set free, the Civilization Index of the universe rose by a substantial margin out of thin air. That made the entire endeavor not just worthwhile — but necessary.
Ino waved Piccolo over. "Do you still have any Senzu Beans? Give me one! And give the Grand Supreme Kai one too!"
"The Grand Supreme Kai?!" Piccolo had known Ino long enough that he'd stayed calm all this time — from when Shin hadn't arrived, through Zamasu's appearance — and hadn't done anything particularly embarrassing. But hearing the name 'Grand Supreme Kai' out of nowhere, thanks to the fragment of Kami's soul within him, he was struck so speechless by the name that he couldn't form a single word.
Ino urged him again. He immediately scrambled to search — only to find that the Senzu Beans had already been completely used up during the four-on-one brawl against Buu earlier.
Without the Grand Supreme Kai's goodness as an anchor, Majin Buu inevitably began sliding toward pure evil. The South Supreme Kai's form started to fade. Following the hierarchy of absorbed power, he naturally began drawing on the West Supreme Kai's essence next — and his body began showing signs of feminization...
Piccolo saw at a glance that everyone's condition was critical, and immediately came up with an alternative. "Dende! Dende can heal your injuries!"
Ino shook her head. "Dende is too young. He only has enough stamina to heal one Saiyan, doesn't he?"
That kind of healing ability didn't conjure recovery from nothing — it consumed enormous amounts of the healer's own stamina.
Piccolo: "...I think that's right."
While they were frantically debating, Shin and Kibito — who had been waiting in the Sacred World of the Kai all this time — finally arrived.
"Grand Supreme Kai! Is it truly you? Thank goodness! Ino, thank you — thank you!" There wasn't a trace of anxiety in Shin's voice about his own position as Supreme Kai being threatened. It was entirely the overwhelmed relief of a son catching sight of his father after a long separation.
A look of joy at a long-awaited reunion spread across the Grand Supreme Kai's round face. "Shin. It has been a long time. You've aged."
Aged? How could you even tell?
Ino gestured urgently at Kibito: hurry up — if you don't go heal the Grand Supreme Kai right now, he might not make it.
Kibito immediately scurried over with fawning speed. "Grand Supreme Kai, allow me to heal your injuries!"
The same ability, used by different hands, produced different results. Dende's healing ability was, at best, level three. Kibito's was level ten.
He converted his own stamina entirely into healing energy — a complete, unreserved transfer, holding nothing back.
A sphere of green light bloomed from his palm — condensed life essence of extraordinary richness, the kind that had once been capable of mending any wound and restoring full vitality without exception.
This time, it didn't work.
The green light flickered — and went out.
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