Waka: Ah… The sea off Ryoshima Coast is back to its beautiful self. Is this what they mean by prettier than a picture, my little friend?

Issun: … … What’s that supposed to mean, pretty boy?

Waka: Oh, just a little something I overheard somewhere. So, my little bouncing friend. You’re a wandering artist, no? I want to see how beautiful your paintings are. Just one would be fine. Pretty please?

Issun: Huh? My art’s none of your business! Why should I show you anyway?

Waka: You really are in a bad mood today. You’re not one of those impostors who claims to be an artist, but could not paint a picture if his life depended on it, are you?

Issun: What!?

Waka: Oh, nothing… It is just something some old man mentioned. His grandson, who was also his apprentice, ran away from home. And he took the old man’s painting of a wood sprite with him. Do you think he might claim to have painted that masterpiece? I mean, there are so many unscrupulous people out there. Sometimes it is hard to spot an impostor in the wide world of art. But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?

Issun: I don’t know what the heck you’re talking about! Now make like a tree and leave! Or you can stick around if you’d rather get sliced and diced!

Waka: Excusez-moi! You do not have to get all hot under the collar! It would appear I have struck a raw nerve.

Remember this part? What’s interesting is the fact Waka knows so much about Issun’s background. Sure, he could’ve seen it in a vision, but I still think it’s too much detail for the kind of crypticness Waka tends to say. No, I think it was Ishaku who told him straight up. If you read the Travel Guides, you know the Celestial Envoy who wrote them (who is Ishaku) heard about the Moon Tribe tragedy from a man from the moon (who has to be Waka by logic.) For Waka to tell Ishaku his story by his own initiative, this must mean that they became pretty good friends. And since Issun’s running away from home was kind of recent, this conversation also means that Ishaku and Waka are still in contact, even when Ishaku is an old man and the chief of his village. So with all his teasing and harsh words, Waka is not only shaping up the next Envoy but also watching over his friend’s grandkid in his particular douche way.

I’m also convinced the “prettier than a picture” line must be something Ishaku says often, maybe about the sea or anything else. Which would be why Issun is all ellipsis ellipsis.