[Smart move, telling him he doesn't look that different. He is touchy about his age.]

Later works perfectly fine. I want to make sure I'm at my best when we fight. [Secretly meaning he needs more time before he gets his tail back. He's like...roughly sixty points away.]

That's true, I could not. No amount of force I exerted was enough to even make a dent in it. It's impenetrable, nothing can pierce it. Trust me, I've tried more than once and I'm not the only one to make the effort.