The Grand Kai's voice was a bit high and thin, possessing the distinct flavor of a head steward or an old eunuch.
Unlike watching him on TV earlier, now that she was in close contact, Ino felt something was amiss. Guys with this kind of personality were generally quite gloomy; they weren't suitable for "adopting as a godfather". He was too slick, too slippery, and definitely hard to deal with.
Sure enough, the Grand Kai, wearing red gloves, pointed a finger at Ino: "Still playing tricks in front of me? How could a fellow as honest as the North Kai accept such a cunning disciple like you?"
Ino changed her previous plan and decisively admitted her mistake: "I'm sorry, I was presumptuous."
She also apologized to the West Kai: "Lord West Kai, I'm sorry. My words were rude, please forgive me."
The West Kai's purple face turned red with anger. Ten seconds ago you were calling me the ancestor of shrinking turtles, and now you apologize so quickly? Do you have no shame?
He didn't want to back down on this matter. A deity who popped out of some unknown backwater dared to curse him? Did he, the West Kai, not need to save face? But the Grand Kai remained silent, his cloudy gaze staring at him through his sunglasses—seemingly there, yet not quite. The atmosphere was unusually heavy. After a stalemate of seventeen or eighteen seconds, he had no choice but to take a step back.
He let out a heavy "Hmph", and the matter of being yelled at was considered turned over.
The Grand Kai, having given each side a slap on the wrist, then waved his hand, signaling them to follow him inside.
They didn't go to a conference room, nor did they go inside the palace. The Grand Kai took them to... a place resembling a parking lot.
"Hmm, the proposals you submitted for the First Other World Martial Arts Tournament both have their merits. Oh my, what to do? I think..."
The West Kai shoved the North Kai to the side with his butt and loudly interjected: "My Lord, the Martial Arts Tournament was my initial proposal. I should be the one responsible for this matter."
The Grand Kai remained noncommittal. He didn't get anxious about being interrupted. Carrying his boombox, he seemed to be listening seriously, yet also seemed to be wandering in his thoughts.
After a good while, he nodded slightly: "Actually, your plans both have merits. Come, same old rules: whoever catches up to me can make suggestions to me."
The old man spoke a bit slowly, but his movements were lightning fast. With a "whoosh", he dove into a red sports car nearby and quickly rushed onto the track.
Compared to the two Kais who had no survival pressure, no employment pressure, and whose pace had always been leisurely, Ino's movements were much faster.
She had wondered before why the North Kai had set up a track on King Kai's Planet and even got a car. In such a small place, driving around for no reason—was he sick? Now she understood; this was actually "doing what the superior likes".
She rushed into a convertible sports car, floored the gas pedal, and went to chase the Grand Kai.
"Wait! I haven't got in yet! Hey!" The North Kai chased frantically with his short legs. Ino had driven out more than twenty meters before realizing she hadn't brought the main person. The Rinnegan's Universal Pull ability activated; the North Kai offered no resistance, and Ino directly dragged the steelyard-weight-like blue fatty into the passenger seat, after which the vehicle accelerated again.
"This is unfair! There are two of them!" The West Kai shouted and screamed, but the North Kai and Ino didn't care about that; they kept the pedal to the metal.
"Damn it, it was clearly my suggestion... It's not like I'm that old hag East Kai, why are we racing cars! Honestly!" Helpless, the West Kai could only choose a black sports car and rush onto the track.
Ino tried hard to grip the steering wheel. After entering the real track, she realized the trick to this race.
This race didn't require a track in the traditional sense. They had to travel through a star ring composed of countless crushed rocks, planet fragments, and crushed ice.
Driving a vehicle through this placed high demands on reaction speed, vision, stamina, and body control capabilities. Without some strength, let alone catching up to the Grand Kai, one couldn't even manage normal driving.
If it really came to competing in ability to shatter a planet with one punch, Ino was indeed a notch inferior, but when it came to vision and reaction speed? The Otsutsuki clan had advantages in this area.
The North Kai's reaction speed and vision were both inferior to hers, so at this moment, he concentrated on using his own energy to maintain the vehicle's operation, while Ino was responsible for driving.
Her three-magatama Rinnegan opened to the limit, staring intently ahead. While controlling the vehicle to maintain high speed, she dodged obstacles. After gradually becoming familiar with the star ring's structure, the vehicle moved like a swimming fish, dodging and weaving, beginning to accelerate within the star ring.
The Grand Kai suppressed his speed to be just a line faster than them, looking back from time to time and waving at them.
"This is unfair! Lord Grand Kai!—" The West Kai had to stare at the gaps in the star ring while continuously inputting energy to keep the car flying. He shouted from behind, flustered and exasperated.
The Grand Kai pretended not to hear, speeding along happily in front.
Ino looked back twice. The West Kai's driving skills were truly good, and coupled with the fact that this guy's hard power was a notch stronger, after overcoming the initial discomfort, he was already showing a trend of closing the distance.
Controlling the First Other World Martial Arts Tournament was very important; Ino no longer held back her trump cards.
"Kaio-ken!"
Just to drive a racing car, she directly activated the 2x Kaio-ken!
Ino's whole body emitted a blood-red light, and the chakra in her body entered a boiling state. Her muscles filled with power, and her meridians output chakra at twice the speed of usual days.
Her heart thumped wildly. Ino knew her body couldn't maintain this state for long. She floored the gas pedal, traveling rapidly through the chaotic asteroid belt. Three seconds later, she caught up with the Grand Kai's red sports car.
"Yo, pretty fast speed. If you have any suggestions, speak up."
Making suggestions while maintaining the Kaio-ken—this scene was truly absurd... Ino had no choice. Her brain felt like a large bucket of paste had been added to it; she couldn't think of overly detailed items and could only speak in broad terms.
"Lord Grand Kai, my first suggestion is that we absolutely cannot let bad people participate in the Underworld Martial Arts Tournament."
Since it was a martial arts tournament, there would definitely be a champion. What were the four Kais—North, South, East, and West—fighting for? In reality, they were fighting for face.
As a member of the North Galaxy, Ino's primary task was to ensure the North Galaxy won the championship.
If the West Kai played dirty, secretly sending an expert to kill Frieza in a planet under his jurisdiction, and then reshaping a body for Frieza to participate as a contestant from the West Galaxy sector, what would Ino do here? Let the Fourth Raikage fight with his head?
On any other day, she could have divided it into three major categories and eighteen sub-categories, talking about the significance of each. Now, with the Kaio-ken active, she really didn't have the mind for that.
The Grand Kai seemed to think about it seriously: "Your suggestion is very correct. I think it can be adopted."
"Second suggestion: the Underworld Martial Arts Tournament should become a tradition. The first one must be held well, brilliantly and magnificently. A preparatory group needs to be established. The Grand Kai will personally supervise this matter and serve as the group leader, while the four Kais will be responsible for their respective jurisdictions as group members."
The Grand Kai nodded again: "A reasonable and fair suggestion. I agree to this one too."
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