Frieza was suffering — suffering so acutely he wanted to slam his head against a wall. The problem was he was sealed inside a tree cocoon, the wretched thing hanging in midair from a single vine, not touching sky or earth. He had no idea what kind of restrictions had been woven into his new body, but bundled up in the cocoon as he was, his limbs had gone completely numb. Leap out and slaughter everyone? Completely impossible. He could only endure.
As Emperor of the Universe, he supposed arriving in Heaven and being given a thorough dressing-down wasn't entirely unexpected.
But still — couldn't they dial it back just a little? Did these creatures have absolutely nothing better to do?
The cartoon bears and cartoon lions — creatures whose aesthetic sensibilities had nothing whatsoever to do with Frieza's — had been banging and blowing for three solid days before finally switching to something new. A whole heap of impossibly adorable little things gathered in a circle like they were hosting a campfire party, clapping their hands and singing.
"...In the bigger garden I dig and dig and dig, plant a bigger seed, grow a bigger flower..."
"Stop singing! I will kill every last one of you! Get out! While I'm still holding back — get out! Get OUT! GET OUT——" Frieza's eyes bulged wide enough to split, every last trace of his usually cultivated manners gone without a trace, screaming like a madman.
The little animals seemed to only now notice there was someone hanging from the tree. A small cartoon giraffe stretched its neck and stared blankly in Frieza's direction for a moment, and then — then they went right on singing their cheerful little children's song.
The noise pollution was so humiliating that actual tears began forcing themselves out of Frieza's eyes. From the day he was born until now, he had never, not once, been this utterly powerless.
Several palm-sized little sprites even pulled faces at him — their meaning perfectly clear: crybabies aren't good boys.
Frieza opened his mouth as though he intended to bite these creatures to death, but his entire body was without a shred of strength. His desperate snapping looked rather comical, and the little sprites decided he must be playing a game with them. One by one they burst into pealing, bell-like laughter, looking more delighted than ever.
...
Returning from the Seventh Universe's Earth to Grand Zeno's Palace, Grand Zeno was still buzzing with excitement — he had clearly had the time of his life today. Back home now, he ran aimlessly around the hall with no particular destination in mind. The Grand Minister watched him with quiet, unhurried warmth, not the least bit concerned.
After amusing himself for a while, Grand Zeno climbed back onto his throne — which looked enormous by any standard — and got down to business.
"Grand Minister, the universe with Satan and Son Goku in it is really interesting. Genuinely fun. But the civilization level is still too low."
The Grand Minister replied with measured evenhandedness: "Indeed. The Seventh Universe has undergone a round of internal reforms, and the results so far appear promising, yet it still falls far short of the standard you require. Our world is still in its infancy and is weak across the board. Given that the world's growth is not unlimited expansion, the uncivilized universes waste enormous resources during the world's development while contributing nothing to its overall advancement — this is deeply detrimental to the world as a whole."
Grand Zeno was, in essence, synonymous with the world whose main body was the multiverses themselves. That world was still in its infancy, and so Grand Zeno, as something akin to the "will of heaven" itself, was a child.
Growth demanded sacrifice. For this world to develop to a higher level, it was impossible without some. In the past, of the original eighteen universes, six had been erased for so-called "offending Grand Zeno" — those six universes were converted into pure energy to nourish the remaining twelve. From Grand Zeno's perspective, if the world was a single organism, then the backward civilizations were diseased cells. There was no justice or evil in it; the method of erasure was brutal to those cells, but it was for the overall growth of the world itself.
To carry the world to a higher tier, the universes that served as dead weight had to be cleared away.
Ino had pushed the Big Eater Contest, hoping to use it as a subtle replacement for the Tournament of Power that was otherwise destined to occur. Her plan had been solid, and she had even used her connections through Whis and Vados to inform the Grand Minister in advance.
But when it came to an existence as elevated as Grand Zeno, her ability to observe future timelines was severely impaired. She hadn't known in advance how things would unfold.
Looking at the outcome, her series of maneuvers had undeniably failed.
Grand Zeno had warmth — and equally, he had coldness. The favorable impression Satan and Son Goku had made on him did nothing to change his mind. He had the innocent side that belonged to a child, and the icy side that belonged to the "will of heaven."
Right now, he wanted to erase all eight of the non-civilized universes — leaving only the four civilized ones. The Seventh Universe was included in that list.
The Grand Minister had been quietly doing considerable work behind the scenes, but with Grand Zeno having made up his mind, even knowing this decision would put many of his own children "out of a job," he made no move to stop it. He simply watched in silence.
Ino had taught Heaven that digging song, then spent a while watching the resulting comedy unfold with cheerful satisfaction.
"Hm? What in the world——"
While she was in the Time Nest scrubbing Hinata's back as Hinata scrubbed hers, Ino felt a sudden pang of dread slam through her chest. She immediately invoked the full authority of her office as Supreme Kai of Time and threw everything she had into reading the future timelines.
The instant Grand Zeno reached his decision, she saw the enormous upheaval that appeared on the timeline.
There was no time to explain to Hinata. She threw her clothes on and went straight to Grand Zeno's Palace.
Ino wasn't entirely sure whether she'd helped or made things worse. Her own appearance — and the introduction of Mr. Satan — had undeniably diluted the impression Son Goku alone would have made on Grand Zeno. Of course, even if Grand Zeno had the highest possible opinion of Son Goku, he wouldn't hesitate for a single moment when the time came to erase him. That creature's mind simply could not be read by ordinary logic. That was precisely why Ino had driven herself to desperate lengths to become Supreme Kai of Time in the first place.
Ino herself had no fear of erasure — within the scope of the multiverses, as long as time still existed, she would not disappear. Her wife and daughter would be protected as well. But everyone else was another matter entirely. Shikamaru, Naruto, and even Karin and Sakura — all of them fell within the scope of what would be erased.
The Grand Minister wore an expression that was somehow both a smile and not quite one, as though he had predicted she would appear at exactly this moment.
Ino didn't stop to consider whether she was being used as a tool. She went straight to the point.
"Your Majesty Grand Zeno," she said, "those eight universes can still be saved. It isn't yet time to abandon them completely."
Grand Zeno the "will of heaven" was without feeling — yet equally, he was without wrath.
In his small, childlike voice, Grand Zeno asked: "Xiao Ino, do you think they can catch up to the four civilized universes in a short period of time?"
They absolutely couldn't... Ino had been responsible for exactly this work before. All told, she'd been wrestling with it for seven or eight years, and the difficulty was immense — it wasn't the kind of thing that could be meaningfully moved by one or two divine beings going down to guide and inspire. She had already pushed her abilities to their absolute limit, and even now the Seventh Universe ranked somewhere in the middle of the eight lagging universes — fourth from the bottom, fifth from the top.
Even after the Grand Supreme Kai had taken over her work and achieved some results of his own, they were still enormously far from meeting Grand Zeno's requirements.
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