Earth. Mount Paozu.
Ino had made a special trip to visit Son Goku, bringing Future Trunks and Son Gohan along with her.
Bardock could participate in the Time Nest competition — that place existed outside and apart from both the Living World and the Underworld — but as a dead man, he had no way of coming to Earth. Only Future Trunks and Son Gohan could make the trip in his place.
"Seeing Gohan like this feels a little strange..." Son Goku was wearing a delivery uniform. By now he could handle his routes solo — Instant Transmission was an absolute godsend of a skill. One hour of work a day, and he brought in enough to cover all the household expenses without breaking a sweat.
He had no interest in starting an arms race in the courier industry. Once his deliveries were done, he came straight home to train. Life was getting better and better.
Future Trunks greeted him with impeccable manners. "Mr. Goku, it's been a while."
Ino got right to the point. "Goku, could you show us your Super Saiyan 2 form? ...Actually, hold on — give me just a second, I'll be right back!"
Her original plan had been to let Future Trunks and Son Gohan study the Super Saiyan 2 transformation in preparation for the Super Space-Time Championship three years from now. But before she could finish the sentence, she remembered that there was another Super Saiyan waiting at home. She immediately warped back to Konoha, brought Kale along too, and had her join the observation.
"Little Kale can already transform into a Super Saiyan?" Goku asked, clearly curious.
Kale was twelve this year. In terms of build, she still looked quite slender.
The girl gave a small, bashful nod. "Yes, Uncle Goku — but I'm still not very practiced at it."
She didn't mention the Legendary Super Saiyan. Even after all of Ino's encouragement, she still felt an instinctive, almost visceral resistance toward it.
"Now that's impressive for your age," Goku said with an approving nod. "Let's head outside, then."
The group gathered at the back of Mount Paozu. With a thundering shout, the golden aura around Son Goku erupted with far greater ferocity than before. Tiny arcs of electricity crackled through the air around him, filling the space with sharp, staccato snaps. Most of his hair stood on end, shifting from its usual crab-claw style into a blazing upward spike — unmistakably Vegeta-like. His eyes turned razor-sharp, utterly unlike the slightly unfocused expression he normally wore.
In Super Saiyan, the aura had burned like open flame. In Super Saiyan 2, it was more like a jet exhaust — raw energy blasting outward in dense, pressurized streams. More of it, stronger, and noticeably harder to control.
Goku's peak for control had probably been during his Super Saiyan Full Power phase. After that — Super Saiyan 2, Super Saiyan 3, Super Saiyan God, Super Saiyan Blue — each form that followed showed a more pronounced drop in precision. The power climbed; the finesse didn't keep up.
Ino wasn't particularly fond of this approach to transformation, but it seemed to be the standard Saiyan playbook.
She held her thoughts to herself and glanced sideways at the three Saiyans beside her — two adults and one young girl. Have you all picked it up yet?
Kale instinctively started to raise her hand — she had understood, and wanted to say so — but when she saw the conflicted looks on both of her uncles' faces, she quietly lowered it again.
The small movement didn't escape Ino's notice.
"Kale," Ino said, turning to her daughter, "do you have something on your mind?"
"Um..." The girl found everyone's eyes suddenly on her and instinctively looked down. But then she remembered her father was standing right beside her, and she forced her gaze back up — giving the tiniest, almost imperceptible nod.
"Good," Ino said encouragingly. "Go ahead, then. Show us."
Kale swallowed. Wanting to prove to her father that she had been working hard, she didn't hide her ability this time.
She closed her eyes for a moment. Her nostrils flared. She drew in one long, deep breath — and stepped straight into Super Saiyan.
Everyone went quiet and waited.
"HAAAAAH——!"
Kale's hair shifted from gold to green. Her muscles swelled. Her body shot up by over thirty centimeters. Her dark eyes flooded with green in an instant. Every strand of hair stood rigid except for the bangs falling over her forehead.
The aura around her was the same jet-blast shape — but the electrical arcs crackling through it were far more massive than anything that had surrounded Goku's Super Saiyan 2.
"Incredible!" Ino praised her without reservation.
"Ehehe..." Kale looked every bit the part of a powerhouse — hulking muscles, imposing presence — and yet she still scratched her head with sheepish embarrassment. It was proof that her reason hadn't been lost. She had the energy firmly in hand.
"You've got to be kidding me — this can't be real!" Vegeta had just arrived on the scene, and his jaw dropped.
What was going on? A second Saiyan mastering Super Saiyan 2 — just like that? All she had to do was watch once and she had it? Was this some kind of joke?
Ino decided there was no point in hiding it any longer and spoke plainly. "Like Broly before her, Kale is a Legendary Super Saiyan. I believe that transformation is actually very close to Goku's Super Saiyan 2 — once your control improves enough to rein in the raw energy erupting from your cells and channel it inward, you can complete the Super Saiyan 2 shift. Am I wrong?"
Kale nodded vigorously. She was going purely on instinct — but whatever her father said was right...
Vegeta, thoroughly rattled, came as quickly as he'd arrived — and left just as fast.
Future Trunks and Son Gohan couldn't take the same path Kale had. The green-haired Super Saiyan 2 silhouette was completely different from that of an ordinary Saiyan — they had no choice but to keep training with Goku the conventional way, working through it punch by punch, feel by feel.
Ino stayed at Mount Paozu for three days, watching the Saiyans spar the whole time.
She had actually been seriously considering sending her Son Gohan to the Sacred World of the Kai to pull the Z Sword, then track down the Old Kai to help unlock his potential. But Shin hadn't been backed into a corner by Majin Buu yet, and right now he was refusing entry to outsiders.
Ino could push the issue — use her authority to force-recommend Son Gohan for the sword pull. Shin would almost certainly extend her that courtesy.
But she was about to start at her "new post," and she didn't want to leave behind a reputation for throwing her weight around at her "old post." Besides, Kuronoa and the Old Kai from fifteen generations ago were close friends. Releasing him now would introduce far too many unpredictable variables.
After weighing everything, she shelved the idea.
...
Back in Konoha, Kale heard from Sakura that Ino had a very important competition coming up. She immediately volunteered herself.
Ino was, admittedly, a little tempted.
Kale in the fight — add Broly and Cumber on top of that — three Legendary Super Saiyans fighting together. Who could stop that? Anyone who got in the way would get demolished. Would the Saiyans under Aeos and Kuronoa even stand a chance against that lineup? The sheer pressure of it would crush them before the first punch landed — three points down before the fight even began.
Ino and Broly had a debt of blood between them — he had been the one to kill her father — but Dragon Balls could bring the man back. Not a problem.
As for Cumber, that Saiyan king genuinely wasn't part of her timeline. Ino didn't yet have the multiverse's official recognition — but she was already half a step into the role of Supreme Kai of Time. As long as that Saiyan king had left a trace somewhere in the timeline, she could find him if she looked.
She turned it over again and again — and ultimately set the idea aside. Three Legendary Super Saiyans on the same team only looked good on paper. In practice, the more likely outcome was that those three would start fighting each other first.
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