Isn't the new interview supposed to be related to Taka?
My point about Kishi's weariness for the series still stands. The man is obviously going take as many shortcuts as he can find. The NH and SS fandoms already have their dream-come-true pairings at the expense of the manga's integrity and Kishi's sanity apparently. They don't need any more.
as ridiculously as it is, he didn't take a shortcut explaining how nh happened.