The five-hour ritual came to an end, and the Old Kai's face had gone a sickly white, his hands and feet twitching — he was clearly exhausted to his core.
Having been sealed away for so many years, he'd had no opportunity for physical exertion whatsoever. Five hours of high-intensity movement all at once had left his old arms and old legs feeling like they were about to fall apart.
Afraid he might actually keel over and die, Ino quickly tossed him a photo book of Yugito Nii to lift his spirits.
Spiritual nourishment obtained, the old man's eyes lit up and his whole demeanor instantly transformed.
He sat down on the ground and spread the five fingers of his right hand wide, holding it about a meter away from Ino, guiding the potential within her body using his divine power. From this point on, it was slow, patient work — there was nothing else for the facilitator to do. He promptly split his attention in two: right hand guiding, left hand flipping through the photo book, a lecherous grin creeping across his face every now and then.
Shin and Kibito had been standing for five hours straight. Seeing the Ancestor finally sit down, they wiped their brows and went to wait in the shade of a nearby tree. The Grand Supreme Kai, having eaten and drunk his fill long ago, had already dozed off.
All of them were perfectly at ease. Ino, ironically, was the busiest one.
Potential is not a fixed thing. It is shaped by the external environment, and by the condition of one's own body.
Son Gohan's potential was unquestionably immense — yet when he was a child and the Grand Elder unlocked his potential on Planet Namek, his battle power afterward only reached around 14,000, not much different from Krillin's at the time.
Does that mean Krillin's potential was equal to Son Gohan's? That would be an absolute joke.
Their battle power happened to be similar at that moment, and the Grand Elder's own abilities were limited — but on top of that, Son Gohan's body simply hadn't fully developed yet. 14,000 was his ceiling at the time. Even if the Old Kai had gone there back then, there's no way he could have unlocked him all the way to 70 billion in one go.
Think of physical constitution as a bucket, battle power as the water inside it, and potential as the remaining empty space.
As the Supreme Kai of Time, Ino's bucket was already inconceivably tall. Her battle power was nowhere near its limit — and so, naturally, her potential was vast.
As the Old Kai drew that potential out in a slow, gentle, imperceptible way, Ino took the opportunity to begin a comprehensive redistribution of her power.
Time Power was the foundation. She had absorbed the Demon Realm Supreme Kai's Time Power, which had given her strength a significant boost — but she couldn't only focus on Time Power.
Ino was an independent individual. She had her own thoughts, her own joys and sorrows. She was the administrator of time, not time itself.
If her body became saturated entirely with Time Power, she might step out to buy a block of tofu and get assimilated by time before she made it back.
The seven powers that made up her Kekkei Mora, along with her own divine power, all needed to be strengthened. This moment was a perfect opportunity.
At the tenth hour of the Potential Unleashed process, her consciousness relaxed completely — like a butterfly drifting through the river of time.
She was still herself. Time was still time. The two were distinct, yet they could coexist in harmony. Time nurtured her growth; in return, she cleared away time's enemies on time's behalf. The vast energy contained within countless timelines surged into her heart. Riding that tide of power, she finally grasped the true nature of Ultra Instinct — a transcendence, a genuine force that allowed her own being to command the very source of existence.
Only now, at this moment, could she truly say that she had taken her first step into Ultra Instinct.
She had finally seized hold of the source of time. As Ino's own power surged dramatically, the change radiated outward from within — rippling out of the Sacred World of the Kai and into the material plane. Crystalline, luminous specks of light drifted down like flower petals, blanketing the Sacred World of the Kai, then spreading further still, until they suffused the entire Seventh Universe.
"Achoo!" The sleeping Beerus sneezed enormously, as if he'd inhaled a cloud of pollen. He rubbed his nose, pulled his blanket over his head, and went right back to sleep.
In the Time Nest, Sakura was buried in paperwork when she stretched out her hand. A petal-like speck of light drifted down into her palm. She gazed into the distance and silently sent her blessing.
The Old Kai, who had been wearing a thoroughly lecherous expression, gave a small start. He cleared his throat. "I know you're powerful, but... rein it in a little. Carrying on like this is going to extend the whole Potential Unleashed process."
"Sorry..."
Another ten hours passed. The Old Kai closed the photo book and gestured to indicate the process was complete. You can go rescue Kuronoa yourself now.
Ino stood up and carefully took stock of the changes within her body.
Even though she hadn't made any deliberate effort to strengthen her Time Power this time around, the dramatic surge in her overall battle power — combined with her preliminary grasp of time's source — had caused her body to automatically mature to the appearance of a nine-year-old. At this height, she actually looked about the same as the blue-haired big loli Aeos.
She estimated that if she were to fully "release," the power that erupted forth would flip the Sacred World of the Kai upside down. She decided not to test that theory.
"Thank you for your help, Senior. I'll take my leave now. Lord Shin, Lord Grand Supreme Kai, and Kibito — please take care of yourselves."
Ino figured the Old Kai still had reservations and didn't want to get tangled up in the dispute between the Supreme Kai of Time and the Demon Realm Supreme Kai. So he'd put in great effort to help her unlock her potential — in effect saying: I helped you, didn't I? I did. Was the boost significant? Enormous. Good. Whatever comes next, you handle it yourself. This old man is already exhausted.
With her own strength now dramatically increased, Ino's confidence in defeating the Demon Realm Supreme Kai had risen from fifty percent to eighty percent. But to guard against being ganged up on, she still needed to find a way to rescue Kuronoa.
——
Earth.
Ino tracked down Piccolo and asked, "Mr. Piccolo, how did you break free from the Demon Clan's control back then? Is that method something that can be replicated?"
The question had a vaguely face-slapping undertone to it. Fortunately, given her strength and status, Piccolo had no real grounds for complaint. He thought it over and said, "It should have been because King Piccolo was killed by Son Goku. After that, the demonic energy lost its hold on me."
He added, with no small amount of pride: "I've also engaged in years of sustained meditation. Those things can no longer control me."
Ino distilled the key points.
Die once, and the demonic energy disperses automatically.
Could she kill Kuronoa outright? No — if she died, she died for good. It wasn't as if she could lay an egg and come back.
Meditation wasn't practical either. All three Supreme Kais of Time — Ino included — had meditation levels far exceeding Piccolo's. And of the three, Kuronoa actually had the highest meditation level of all. It was quite possible that it was precisely because she thought too deeply that the Demon Realm Supreme Kai had found an opening and, little by little, corroded her mind through the power of darkness.
Neither option was particularly useful — but dispersing the demonic energy controlling Kuronoa was a viable path. If external force could eliminate that dark power, it should be enough to restore part of Kuronoa's sanity. The rest she could handle herself.
The Super Dragon Balls could theoretically restore Kuronoa to her original state as well — but at this point, the Super Dragon Balls had already been used once during the division of the Sixth and Seventh Universes. Summoning Super Shenron again would require waiting another year.
Mechikabura was planning to devour all timelines. Ino simply could not afford to wait a year.
________________________________________
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