Mechikabura also possessed Time Power. Even if she used her authority to suppress his perception and shroud her movements in temporal mist, Ino couldn't afford to act too recklessly — "invisibility" in the dimension of time had its limits.
She could ride Tonton to scout for intelligence. She absolutely could not send Tonton into the Demon Realm to capture Demon Clan warriors for her.
Tonton really was not cut out for that!
So she had Piccolo disguise himself and slip into the Demon Realm in her place, capturing a few prisoners and bringing them back. The plan: study them, figure out how to counter demonification.
To ordinary eyes, members of the Demon Clan all looked the same. But to Piccolo, there was a clear difference between those who had been corrupted and turned into demons after the fact, and those who had been born demons from the start.
He was sharp-minded and capable, and his target wasn't anywhere near the front lines. He returned quickly, delivering three prisoners to Ino.
Sectioning. Dissection. Energy extraction.
Ino pored over ancient texts, analyzed the method Kuronoa had previously used to seal the Demon Realm Supreme Kai, and assembled a rough plan of action. Then she returned to the Time Nest and began her final preparations.
Word got around that she was attempting to rescue Kuronoa, and the Time Patrol soon came knocking.
"Lord Supreme Kai, is there anything we can do to help?" Trunks asked, urgency plain in his voice.
They had already made one trip into the Demon Realm. It had gone badly — they were no match for a demonified Kuronoa who was three times stronger than before. If not for their tight teamwork and Goku and Vegeta's Potara fusion, they might have died in there.
Ino showed them what she had been working on.
Drawing on the methods used to forge chakra weapons in the ninja villages, she had crafted a deep-blue longsword with a powerful demon-breaking effect.
"I referenced Kuronoa's earlier notes. She named this sword the 'Key Sword,' and I've kept that name. This blade can not only break through the Dark Power binding Kuronoa — it can also serve as the key to the prison that seals Mechikabura."
The Key Sword's blade was one-third longer than a standard longsword, and its body was broad — designed to hold the God Power and Light Power stored within. This was, in every sense of the word, a true divine sword.
By Ino's estimation, the blade's keen edge combined with the purifying force of Light Power would be more than enough to neutralize the Dark Power corrupting Kuronoa, freeing the Supreme Kai of Time from its grip.
"What do you need us to do?" Trunks asked.
"I'm still putting the finishing touches on the blade. Your one job is to collect enough light energy for me."
Light and Darkness were not attributes in Ino's bloodline. Using the Mind Transfer Rope Technique on the Demon Realm Supreme Kai again was out of the question at this point. The only option was to harvest it from the natural environment and then refine it. Slow? Yes. But to avoid tipping their hand, there was no better way.
Trunks gave his usual steady nod. "Understood. Leave that to us."
The Time Patrol fanned out across the universe. Light-emitting ores, naturally luminescent colossal beasts, a certain glowing skeleton — all manner of bizarre odds and ends came streaming back to the Time Nest.
Ino worked without stop for three days straight, extracting the purest energy from everything they'd brought back, then compressing it into Light Power.
Light and Darkness are opposites — two sides of the same coin.
Once she had accumulated enough Light Power, she converted the surplus into a matching quantity of Dark Power.
Time Power didn't belong to Ino alone, and Dark Power wasn't exclusive to Mechikabura.
The Dark Power within the divine sword and the Dark Power controlling Kuronoa were the same in nature — different only in purpose.
With Light Power and Dark Power in place, she infused the blade with her own God Power and Time Power. A demon-breaking sword of tremendous might was complete.
The sword was forged — but a demonified Kuronoa wasn't going to stand still and let herself be stabbed. Ino was not the type to charge into a fight without three to five backup plans. She wasn't about to start now.
Future Trunks and Future Gohan formed one team.
No. 17 and No. 18 formed another. Ino inscribed the Yin Seal and Yang Seal on their palms respectively — left hand meets right hand, and Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei becomes available.
The rest of the Time Patrol headed to Earth to find Master Roshi and learn the Evil Containment Wave.
Each of them carried a rice cooker when they left. In that getup, they looked like graduates of a culinary school.
Before the decisive battle.
Ino called a full briefing, running through the entire plan twice to make sure everyone had it down cold.
Her habit of holding meetings at the drop of a hat left the Time Patrol a little off-balance, but times had changed and new leaders had new ways — they kept their mouths shut.
"Based on the intelligence I've gathered, Mechikabura is preparing to travel to the origin point of time. He intends to absorb every timeline there, reducing all of history to nothingness. His logic: if history never exists, then civilization never exists. The flow of the universe stalls at the origin point, and there can be no destruction of all things..." Ino paused, genuinely baffled by how Mechikabura's mind worked.
To prevent the world from ultimately being destroyed — I'll destroy it at the source, so the ending of destruction will never come to pass?
What an absolutely deranged line of thinking.
She let her voice take on a harder edge. "We must stop him. That is the duty of the Supreme Kai of Time — and of every one of you here."
Ino's existence as Supreme Kai of Time was anchored to the timelines themselves. She had virtually no concept of a natural lifespan. As long as time still existed anywhere within the multiverses, she would exist. Conversely, if time ceased to be, she would vanish entirely.
Should some future hero reconstruct the very concept of time from scratch, she would be reborn along with it.
For her, it wasn't a question of life and death.
It was a question of presence and absence.
If time ceased to exist, she would disappear. What Mechikabura was doing was no different from putting a blade through her. It had to be stopped.
She sat at the head of the table, sweeping her gaze across the room — her own subordinates to the left, the Time Patrol to the right. Every head in the room gave a single, unified nod.
Their purpose was exactly the same.
Then she began laying out the specific battle plan.
——
Day nineteen of the main timeline.
Zamasu's army pressed forward relentlessly. Celestial Mages had already entered the fray on the battlefield.
Elite fighters from the allied forces sortied in turn to engage the mages wielding fearsome demonic power. Casualties mounted on both sides.
The moment Zamasu received clear word from Ino's side, he ordered a full-scale assault.
He personally took the field, cutting down two of the Demon Realm Supreme Kai's most powerful subordinates — both of them bearing the title of Demon God.
And it was on that very same day that Ino led the Saiyans and the Android siblings in a surprise assault on the Demon Realm Supreme Kai's palace.
King Vegeta, commanding the temple's defenses, reacted instantly. He transformed into Super Saiyan 3 and moved to intercept the attackers.
"Looking to die." Super Saiyan 3 wasn't even worth a glance in Ino's eyes anymore. She materialized before King Vegeta like a phantom, pressed her palm against his forehead — and in the next instant, with no explosion and no burst of flame, King Vegeta's headless corpse toppled to the ground before the palace gates. His massive body struck the doors with a heavy, resonant boom.
____
________________________________________
🌸 Help Love Bloom!
Our girls need a little push... and you can help!
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉