"So there's a bunch of shinobi running around turning people to stone, Shabooba is taking over the island—and your son and grandson are arriving today?" I summarised, "Dude, this place is a mess."
"Yes, well, everything seemed to be running rather smoothly up until today," Kakeru sighed, "Why did you come to the Land of Moon?"
"I didn't even do it on purpose," I said, "Seriously, I woke up face down on the beach two weeks ago with no idea how I got here or where I came from—I can barely remember anything of my life before."
"Truly? We trade quite frequently with the Land of Tea," Kakeru posited, "Perhaps you fell from a trading vessel?"
"That's pretty lame, isn't it?" I disagreed, "It would be way cooler if I was some kind of pirate warlord, and I got abandoned here by my enemies after they stole my ship—"
"Why would they abandon you on a heavily populated island?" Kakeru wondered. "That sounds rather counter-productive."
"Hey, I don't come into your daydreams and knock the titties out of your mouth," I said, offended. "Maybe they got the wrong island, or they were short on time and had to make do."
"Perhaps," Kakeru said, amused.
"Whatever," I sighed, checking my progress on his legs. "Well, you've got one of your knees back, at least—that's a start."
The constant casting and recasting of Status Removal were doing wonders for levelling it up, and its effectiveness of it was slowly rising in turn. Eventually, I'd hit the point where I was taking chunks out at a time, but for now, I had to make do with slivers.
"Indeed," Kakeru murmured, "As grateful as I am for your assistance, I cannot help but wonder if it is in vain—if the ones who did this should find us, there will be no recourse."
"I doubt they're even looking for you," I said offhandedly. "Didn't you say that Shabooba wanted to draw it out? I doubt they accounted for some random guy happening upon a cave with the king inside—or the fact that I actually had the skills needed to help."
"I suppose not," Kakeru said, shaking his head. "Powerful though shinobi may be, I do not think they can see the future."
"I don't know about that one, chief," I said, "There's an entire clan of women who can see the future living in the Land of Demons—although I'm not sure they're shinobi."
"Truly?" Kakeru wondered. "You remember this, but not where you come from?"
"I've got a whole bunch of random trivia floating around up here, but none of it seems to be related to me," I said, "Like I was talking to one of your villagers the other day, this total piece of eye candy called Yuna and I was trying to figure out who the current Hokage was—I couldn't remember if it was Sarutobi Hiruzen or Tsunade of the Sannin."
"Tsunade of the Sannin," Kakeru clarified. "That was a rather recent change, I believe."
"Right, that's what she said as well, only I've never been to Konogakure," I nodded, "So why the hell do I even know that? It's bizarre."
"It certainly is," Kakeru admitted, "Perhaps your memory will return?"
"I hope so," I said, "That reminds me—I overheard your guys talking about coming back after they found someone called Michiru."
"My son," Kakeru murrmured.
"Sure. Can you make sure none of your men sticks a sword in me when they get back?" I asked, "I kind of snuck in here, and if they see me with my hand under your flap—well, I don't want them to get jealous."
