Hearing Jiraiya's words, Naruto was briefly taken aback. But a moment later, a puzzled expression appeared on his face as he asked, "But... Jiraiya-sensei, who exactly is Aizen!? Wh-why is that name forbidden!?"
As he spoke, Naruto swallowed nervously.
Deep down, he felt strangely unsettled, as though he were about to uncover a secret hidden within this world.
Hearing him, Jiraiya's expression grew slightly grave. He glanced at Naruto and said slowly, "That guy... is the master of Las Noches..."
At those words, Naruto's azure eyes widened involuntarily as he murmured, "How could that be... The F-F-Fourth Hokage... how could he be... the leader of that kind of evil organization..."
Before he could finish, Jiraiya waved a hand to cut him off and said heavily, "Naruto!"
"If that guy has truly appeared again, then... your situation is very dangerous right now... So you need to return to the village as quickly as possible!"
Naruto fell silent for a moment after hearing Jiraiya's words. Then, in a somewhat subdued voice, he said, "I understand... Jiraiya-sensei..."
After saying that, he raised his head to look at Jiraiya, determination in his eyes.
"Jiraiya-sensei, can you tell me more about the Fourth Hokage? I want to know... I want to know why, despite being the Fourth Hokage, he became the master of that kind of organization!!"
"And... why... did his name become forbidden...?"
Hearing Naruto's determined words, Jiraiya looked at him seriously, his gaze softening slightly.
He gently placed his large, rough hand on Naruto's head and said softly, "Since you want to know, Naruto, I'll explain it all to you properly. But before that, let's head back to the village first..."
Naruto froze at Jiraiya's words, then looked up at him with delight.
"Jiraiya-sensei, are you going back to the village too!? I