"Is there really nothing at all in there?" Ximaida asked Harinod with a disbelieving look.
Harinod nodded.
"There's nothing at all in this cup—no water, nothing whatsoever," Harinod said.
"I made the motion of drinking not because I wanted water, but because I needed to think," Harinod said.
"What kind of nonsense is that?" Ximaida said speechlessly. "If you want to think, can't you just use your brain? Why do you have to move your hands and specifically take out a cup?"
"Young people just don't understand this," Harinod said. "If I stop to think, it'll make it look like I can't keep up with your train of thought."
"But if I take out a cup of water and pretend to drink from it, then think slowly, I can make myself look like a wise man," Harinod said.
"..." After hearing Harinod's explanation, Ximaida helplessly shook her head. "People your age really do have distinctive ways of thinking."
"I really don't understand what special meaning there is in doing that. What a boring person," Ximaida said.
"Some people have their own little habits," Uchiha Madara said to Ximaida with a smile.
"Perhaps it really does help him think," Uchiha Madara said.
"Besides, as middle-aged men in our forties, isn't it perfectly normal for us to hold a cup and drink water?" Harinod said.
"No one would ever suspect that there isn't a drop of water in my cup," Harinod said.
"Just like your reaction earlier—you'd rather suspect that I'm a water mage than believe that I'm drinking from an empty cup," Harinod said.
"My common sense deceived me," Ximaida said with a smile.
"According to my common sense, there couldn't possibly be someone this stupid in the world—someone who would drink from an empty cup," Ximaida said.
"I did consider