"'The future' was supposed to follow a predetermined course.
"...A course written by countless heroes and villains together. But—"
The Great Toad Sage let out a long yawn.
"Ever since you appeared, it's been like pouring a bottle of strong liquor into a pot of sukiyaki. No one knows what it'll taste like in the end. Every flavor that was there before has been overwhelmed by the presence called 'Lin Qing.'"
The rich "scent of liquor" lingered in the Great Toad Sage's dreams. Just one whiff was enough to make him feel woozy.
Lin Qing sat cross-legged opposite the Great Toad Sage.
"What did the future you saw look like?"
If Lin Qing could learn the plot of the original Naruto story from the Great Toad Sage, it would be an enormous gain for him.
Lin Qing waited for his answer.
The Great Toad Sage only shook his head slightly.
"I can't explain the 'future' to you. It's not that I'm deliberately keeping it from you. It's just..."
The Great Toad Sage scratched his head. "Here's an example. Some people have a brilliant idea in a dream and wake up in the middle of the night to write it down, eager to use it the next day to make a fortune.
"Then they wake up and find the notebook says things like, 'Take off your underwear before bed' and 'You can sell bananas to monkeys.' Total nonsense."
Lin Qing thought it over. "So the future you observed in your dreams... after the timeline jumps and returns to reality, the record of what you saw and your understanding of it are distorted?"
The Great Toad Sage slowly pulled out a notebook and carefully wrote down Lin Qing's explanation, stroke by stroke.
"What are you doing?" Lin Qing asked.
"Your explanation sounds