Skills with the same name but different ranks produce entirely different effects.
The immortal body granted by Earth's Shenron and the one granted by Super Shenron are two completely different things.
Even the Destroyer's divine technique of "Destruction" — the power to reduce something from one to zero — could not erase Zamasu, who had obtained this immortal body.
Against an enemy you simply cannot kill, Saiyan transformations alone would never cut it.
Strike him down once, he recovers. Strike him down again, he recovers again. In the end, the only thing that would happen is Son Goku and the others being ground down to exhaustion.
"Relax, I've got this. It's nothing," Ino said, waving her hand dismissively. She took Son Goku and Vegeta — her two hired muscle — and left the Destroyer's divine realm, heading into the future.
"Completely unnecessary to remind her," Beerus muttered to himself, eyes still closed.
Ino's relationship with Champa was clearly much warmer than the one she had with Beerus. Add to that the whole business of pulling the Z Sword and releasing Old Kai, and while the two of them weren't exactly enemies, they were absolutely not friends either.
"Lord Beerus looks so amusing when he's annoyed, hehehe," Whis said, thoroughly enjoying the show.
...
The future Earth.
The moment she awoke inside Mai's body, Ino sensed the entire timeline enveloped in a faint veil of Time Power.
"Stingy," Ino muttered under her breath, mildly irritated at the Big Loli's petty little move.
Fortunately, she hadn't planned on using any time-based abilities this trip. As long as she didn't draw on Time Power, the Big Loli could exhaust herself searching through all those timelines and never find her.
"Let's begin," she said, giving Son Goku and Vegeta a nod. Both Saiyan warriors immediately erupted with their full power, each transforming into Super Saiyan Blue.
Under Whis's dedicated tutelage, Vegeta had finally closed the gap, catching up to Son Goku who had been cheating his way ahead the whole time. Now, judging purely by the aura radiating off them post-transformation, the Saiyan Prince's Super Saiyan Blue was even fractionally stronger.
"You actually dare to come back? I see — this time you've brought two helpers!" Zamasu's expression was cold, his voice like ice.
Vegeta gestured for Son Goku to stand aside and watch. He would take on Zamasu alone.
Goku Black could trade blows evenly with Vegeta, but this Zamasu was a different matter — within ten moves he was already at a disadvantage. Yet relying on his immortal body, he recovered from every wound no matter how severe, and Vegeta could not finish him off.
Zamasu let out a cold laugh, glancing at Ino out of the corner of his eye. "Is this really all you've got? You cannot kill me... what is that thing you're holding?"
Ino silently produced a rice cooker.
"Evil Containment Wave!"
The next instant, Vegeta — still mid-battle — stared in bewilderment as a pale-green spiralling vortex of energy slammed into Zamasu.
Zamasu attempted to tank it with the power of his immortal body, but found that the Evil Containment Wave dealt him no damage whatsoever. His counterattacks found nothing to grip. Then his body was seized as though bound by some impossibly adhesive thread, his strength rendered completely useless, and he was swept along by the spiralling energy vortex straight into the rice cooker sitting nearby.
Ino pressed the lid shut and slapped a sealing tag on top.
The Evil Containment Wave really wasn't some profound martial art — see it once and you could use it. It had been hopeless against sealing the corrupted Kuronoa, but sealing Zamasu? Easy as breathing.
Taking advantage of Vegeta and Zamasu's battle to draw his attention, Ino had pulled the move from behind with absolutely no regard for fair play — and just like that, she had sealed away the man with the immortal body.
Ino found a random abandoned timeline with no trace of life and tossed the rice cooker into it.
"That's it?" Vegeta stared blankly. With all the solemnity of the earlier briefing, he'd expected a proper drawn-out battle — and it came down to this?
"Yep. What more of a fight did you want? This guy was already the strongest Supreme Kai around, yet — Saiyans truly are the mightiest warriors in the universe." Ino laid on the flattery thick. Even Vegeta, let alone Son Goku, was visibly pleased.
Vegeta tilted his chin up with a tsundere air, though he still felt a little unsatisfied.
Ino had absolutely no intention of releasing Goku Black and Zamasu together, letting them fuse, and having them beat Son Goku and Vegeta to a pulp after the fact.
She sent the two hired muscle on their way.
Ino thought for a moment, then raised her hand and snapped her fingers.
A figure wearing Supreme Kai robes, in Zamasu's body but with a vacant stare — scratching his head like a big ape — was transferred by her from a branch of the main timeline into this future timeline.
This was Son Goku from six months into the main timeline's future — the one who existed at the moment Zamasu had collected all seven Super Dragon Balls and performed the Body Change.
Zamasu had become a Saiyan warrior, so by the same token, Son Goku had become a Supreme Kai.
"Hey, Goku — do you still recognize me?" Ino said in her usual casual tone, as though chatting over tea.
"Huh? You're... you're Ino? Is that you, Ino?"
"Who I am doesn't really matter. The important thing is you — do you want to become a Supreme Kai?"
Son Goku's jaw dropped. He pointed at his own nose. "Me? Me, become a Supreme Kai?"
This was the very definition of "the destined man need not strive, while the striver is left running himself ragged."
Back in the day, Ino had schemed and maneuvered, openly and in secret, working herself half to death just to become a Supreme Kai.
And here was Son Goku, handed the position of Supreme Kai outright. Yes, it was only in one branch timeline — but it was still a leap straight to the top in a single bound.
Son Goku flexed his bicep experimentally. Zamasu had trained plenty, but physically, his body operated on an entirely different wavelength from a Saiyan's.
He seemed a little reluctant. This body appeared to have very little combat power, and without Zamasu's knowledge and soul, he couldn't use any Supreme Kai abilities either.
He patted himself down head to toe, then lowered his voice. "Does this mean I can't go back to Chichi? What am I supposed to tell her looking like this..."
Ino gave him a sideways look. Huh, didn't see that coming — turns out you're actually quite the devoted husband.
Now that Son Goku was running around in Zamasu's body, going back to live the married life with Chichi — who exactly would be betraying whom? Impossible to say.
Best not to go back at all.
"Sorry to say, you most likely can't go back — and even if you did, there's no explaining it," Ino said. "Oh, by the way — you know Bulma, don't you? The Bulma of this timeline should still be alive. Let me check... yes, she's alive. Maybe the two of you could..." Ino began playing matchmaker, offering wild suggestions.
On Bulma's end, her husband was dead and she'd been widowed for years. On his end, he couldn't go back to his wife — right? The two of them weren't strangers; in fact, they shared a very deep bond. They were both wanderers of the world — no need to stand on ceremony. Why not just pair up and make a life of it together?
As for how exactly Son Goku's personal situation would be resolved — Ino didn't care. She was only responsible for the suggestion.
She had effectively cleaned up the whole chain of disasters Zamasu had caused. But no matter how battered this timeline was, it was still the home of Future Trunks and Future Gohan. It needed a proper administrator.
The problem was that Zamasu had slaughtered every last deity in this timeline. So who was left to manage things? Surely Grand Zeno couldn't just parachute someone in. Supreme Kai Son Goku was the obvious choice.
She left behind a complete set of Supreme Kai cultivation methods.
Whether Son Goku could learn them, and how much he'd actually comprehend — who knew? She wasn't his babysitter. He could figure it out on his own.
Even if he never fully adapted to Zamasu's body, Supreme Kai Son Goku was undoubtedly stronger than Shin... More than qualified to serve as a Supreme Kai.
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