As soon as these words were spoken, it was like a pebble thrown into a deep pool. What was stirred up was not ripples, but an invisible, sudden change in the aura.
On the high platform, Great Toad Sage's huge eyes, which were originally half-open and half-closed, as if they would never wake up, suddenly opened completely!
Those eyes are no longer cloudy, no longer confused, and no longer full of the sluggishness brought about by time.
Instead, there is an indescribable clarity and depth that seems to comprehend all the mysteries of the world.
The gaze was like substance, instantly locking on Naruto below. The wisdom and confusion contained in it were enough to make anyone who was stared at feel the soul tremble.
But Naruto looked at him without fear.
After a few breaths, the old and feeble aura around him receded as quickly as the tide.
Although the huge body is still entrenched there, the feeling is completely different.
He is no longer a dying old man, but an ancient being who has gone through countless epochs, witnessed the vicissitudes of life, and is as wise as the sea.
His old voice sounded again, but this time, there was no faintness or discontinuity in the tone before, and it became smooth, powerful, and even with a hint of imperceptible playfulness:
"It seems... that what I feel is not wrong."
Great Toad Sage's voice echoed in the hall.
"From the moment you stepped into the hall, no, maybe earlier... when you first stepped into Mount Myōboku, I felt... that you did not seem to be a truly 'cheerful and obedient' child."
He spoke slowly and word by word, as if stating a truth he had already observed:
"You... are carrying a heavy load.
Your 'sunshine', your 'cheerfulness', are more like... a disguise.
In other words, a deliberate display.
To... light up certain places, or... to appease certain people?"
Naruto did not refute immediately, but just looked at him quietly, as if he acquiesced to this evaluation.
Great Toad Sage's gaze seemed to penetrate Naruto's body and see something deeper.
He continued, with a philosophical sigh in his voice:
"Wherever the sun shines, it is naturally bright, warm, and full of vitality. Everyone in the world yearns for light and sings its praises."
He changed the topic and his tone became more profound:
"But, child... the brighter and the more vast the light, it often means... that the shadows formed in places where the sun does not shine are deeper and darker."
"Light and shadow are two sides of the same body, living together.
You transform yourself into the most dazzling ray of light, Konoha, and cover as many people around you as possible under your 'sunshine'.
This is good and great."
"However..."
Great Toad Sage's huge body leaned forward slightly, bringing an invisible sense of oppression.
"As your 'light' becomes stronger and wider, will the 'shadow' you carry become heavier and heavier?"
Those things that you deliberately hide behind the "sunshine"... those dark plans, cold decisions, sacrifices and costs unknown to outsiders... where are they accumulated?
And who will carry it?"
His words were like the sharpest needles, accurately piercing Naruto's heart that Corner might not even be willing to fully face.
This child is a ray of light, but at the same time, he also knows that light requires a price, and protection requires means, and some means are destined not to be exposed to the sun.
He illuminates Konoha, but in the shadow of Konoha, there may also be hidden chess games and thorns that are unknown to others that he has laid out with his own hands.
Great Toad Sage looked at him, in those eyes that saw everything, there was no blame, no fear, only a kind of understanding and... deep exploration.
"So, kid..."
Great Toad Sage finally said slowly, "Tell me, are you here to find the power of Senjutsu... to consolidate your 'light', or... to deal with the possibility of growing under your increasingly large 'shadow'... the real 'darkness' that even the 'light' cannot illuminate?"
"Can't a wise man like you see through me?"
Great Toad Sage stared quietly at Blond-Haired Boy below.
In response to Naruto's slightly challenging rhetorical question, he did not get angry. Instead, he shook his huge head slowly, with a calmness and humility that had gone through many vicissitudes of life.
"A wise man will make a mistake after thinking a lot.
It's not that... I 'missed' anything, or was blinded by some kind of deception."
He paused for a moment, as if he was considering his words, and his eyes fell more deeply on Naruto, as if he wanted to penetrate that young body and look directly at the core of his soul, which may not even be fully understood by himself.
"But... I really didn't see it through."
"Your 'being', your 'intention', your 'path'... is like a constantly changing form of light wrapped in layers of mist.
I can see the outline of light.
Powerful, warm, with terrifying potential and determination to protect.
I can also vaguely feel the undercurrent surging under the fog.
Deep thinking, decisive choices, and the mastery of certain powers and knowledge that transcend conventional boundaries."
"How many layers of 'shadow' are hidden under your 'light'?
Behind your 'guarding', what kind of 'price' is defined with blurred boundaries?"
Great Toad Sage finally sighed softly, his huge eyes reflecting Naruto's calm face, "To be honest..."
"I'd really like to know what you think."
This is not a condescending interrogation, nor is it an offense of trying to pry into privacy, but more like the pure intellectual curiosity that arises when a wise man encounters a puzzle beyond the scope of his current cognition and wants to understand and find out the truth.
Facing a series of questions from Great Toad Sage, Naruto just slowly raised a finger.
"Strong strength is the cornerstone of peace.
If you seek peace through struggle, peace will exist.
If peace is sought through compromise, peace will perish.
I'm just pursuing great power to protect the people I hold dear."
Great Toad Sage seems to see the shadows of Asura and Indra in Naruto.
After a long silence, he slowly asked, "The power of Senjutsu, or in other words, the inheritance of Three Great Sage Lands... Where do you place Chessboard?"
Is it a shield that strengthens the 'sunshine', a torch that illuminates the 'shadow', a sharp blade that cuts off 'fate', or... the last bargaining chip to deal with threats from 'outside Chessboard' that even the 'shadow' cannot contain?"
"Don't you know how to predict? Can't you really see my future behavior?"
He did not directly answer whether he could "see it", but in an almost compassionate but extremely calm tone, he slowly spoke out a conclusion that seemed to have been reached after crossing countless possibilities and observing countless branches of fate:
"You can't make it..."
These three words were spoken extremely clearly, even with a fatalistic heaviness.