The Great Toad Sage was one thing, but how did he know I'd come back from the future too? Did the entire Ōtsutsuki clan know? How was I supposed to stand a chance?!
Naruto was so frantic he nearly started cursing!
"Don't worry," Ryūshiki said. "I haven't told the others about this. Otherwise, you and Mitsuki Country would've been finished long ago."
What? He hadn't told them? What exactly was this guy plotting?
Sitting on pins and needles, Naruto felt his mouth go dry and drained his cup of tea.
Just as he was about to set the cup down, it refilled itself. His movement was too abrupt, and tea sloshed over the rim onto the table.
Smiling, Ryūshiki took out a handkerchief and went to wipe the table, but his arms were too short to reach. His expression immediately turned awkward...
"Wipe it yourself."
He simply tossed the handkerchief in front of Naruto and lowered his head to drink his tea. Whatever. He couldn't be bothered anymore.
Naruto had been the only one embarrassing himself before. Now they were even.
"Oh."
Naruto picked up the handkerchief and wiped halfheartedly. "How did you find out?"
"Gamamaru of Mount Myōboku knew because his ancestor created the Pear, giving him a direct connection to it," Ryūshiki said. "I knew because I was the one who repaired it."
Naruto froze. "You fixed Turtle???"
"That was many years ago," Ryūshiki said. "It was already broken when I found it in the Ancient Mount Myōboku Ruins. It took me a great deal of effort to repair it. I also modified it a little, adding save and load functions..."
"You could do that?!" Naruto exclaimed. "Wait, if Turtle's already gone, how did you load anything??"
"As I said, it could save as well as load."
"I