Chapter 241: You Cannot Become
As these words fell, like a stone dropped into a deep pool, what they stirred was not ripples, but an intangible, sudden shift in the aura.
Upon the high platform, the Great Toad Sage's originally half-lidded, seemingly perpetually drowsy giant eyes suddenly snapped completely open!
Those eyes were no longer cloudy, no longer lost, no longer filled with the sluggishness brought by the passage of time.
In their place was an indescribable clarity and profundity, as if they had pierced through all the mysteries of the world.
That gaze, tangible as a physical force, instantly locked onto Naruto below. The wisdom and vastness contained within it were enough to make any being it fell upon tremble in their Soul.
But Naruto met his gaze without a trace of fear.
After a few moments, the aura of aged feebleness surrounding him receded like a tide.
Although his massive form still coiled there, the feeling he gave off was now utterly different.
He was no longer a decrepit old man on his last legs, but an ancient existence who had weathered countless epochs, witnessed the vicissitudes of time, and possessed wisdom as deep as the sea.
His aged voice sounded again, but this time, it held none of the previous befuddlement or hesitance. It was steady, powerful, even carrying a hint of an almost imperceptible playfulness:
"It seems... what I sensed was not wrong."
The Great Toad Sage's voice echoed through the great hall.
"From the moment you stepped into this hall, no, perhaps even earlier... from the moment you first set foot on Mount Myōboku, I sensed... you do not seem like a truly 'cheerful and compliant' child."
He spoke slowly, enunciating each word, as if stating a truth he had long observed:
"You carry... a heavy burden upon you.
Your'sunshine,' your 'cheerfulness'... they seem more like... a disguise.
Or rather, a deliberate display.
To... illuminate certain specific places, or perhaps... to soothe certain specific people?"
Naruto did not refute him immediately. He simply watched quietly, as if tacitly accepting this assessment.
The Great Toad Sage's gaze seemed to pierce through Naruto's physical shell, seeing something deeper.
He continued, his voice carrying a philosopher's sigh:
"Where sunlight shines is naturally bright, warm, and full of life. All people yearn for the light, sing praises to the light."
He shifted his tone, his voice growing more profound:
"But, child... the brighter, the more expansive the light, often means... the shadows cast where the sunlight cannot reach become all the more profound, all the darker.
Light and shadow are two sides of the same coin, born together and coexisting.
You have made yourself the most dazzling ray of light, striving to envelop Hidden Leaf Village, those around you, as much as possible within your'sunshine.'
This is good, and it is noble."
"However..."
The Great Toad Sage's massive form leaned forward slightly, bringing an intangible pressure.
"As your 'light' grows stronger and wider, will the'shadow' you bear also grow heavier and heavier?
Those things you deliberately hide behind the'sunlight'... those dark schemes, ruthless decisions, sacrifices and costs unknown to outsiders... where do they accumulate?
And who will bear them?"
His words were like the sharpest needles, precisely piercing corners of Naruto's heart that even he himself might not have been willing to face completely.
This child was a ray of light, but at the same time, he also deeply understood that light came with a price, that protection required means, and that some means were destined never to be exposed to the light of day.
He illuminated Hidden Leaf Village, but within Hidden Leaf Village's shadows, perhaps there also lay chessboards and thorns he himself had laid, unknown to others.
The Great Toad Sage looked at him. Those all-seeing eyes held no blame, no fear, only understanding and... a deep inquiry.
"So, child..."
The Great Toad Sage finally said slowly, "Tell me, you who have come here seeking the power of Sage Art... is it truly to consolidate your 'light,' or... to deal with the potential 'true darkness' that might breed beneath your ever-expanding'shadow'—a darkness that even 'light' cannot illuminate?"
"Can a sage like you not see through me?"
The Great Toad Sage gazed silently at the golden-haired youth below.
In response to Naruto's somewhat challenging retort, he showed no anger. Instead, his massive head shook slowly, the movement carrying a calmness and humility born of weathering the ages.
"Even the wise are not always infallible.
This does not mean... I 'miscalculated' something, or was blinded by some illusion."
He paused, as if weighing his words. His gaze fell upon Naruto even more profoundly, as if seeking to pierce through that youthful flesh and gaze directly at the complex core of his Soul—a core perhaps even its owner had not fully untangled.
"Rather... I truly cannot see through you.
Your 'existence,' your 'intent,' your 'Dao'... it is like a constantly shifting light wrapped in layer upon layer of mist.
I can see the external outline of the light.
Powerful, warm, possessing terrifying potential and a resolve to protect.
I can also faintly sense the undercurrents surging beneath that mist.
Profound contemplation, decisive choices, and mastery over certain powers and knowledge that transcend conventional boundaries."
"How many layers of'shadow' lie hidden beneath your 'light'?
Behind your 'protection,' what boundaries, blurred and undefined, define the 'price'?"
The Great Toad Sage finally let out a soft sigh. His giant eyes reflected Naruto's calm, expressionless face. "To be honest..."
"I very much wish to know your thoughts."
This was not a condescending interrogation, nor an intrusive attempt to pry into privacy. It was more akin to the pure intellectual curiosity of a wise being encountering a puzzle that defies existing understanding—a desire to comprehend, to uncover the truth.
Faced with the Great Toad Sage's series of questions, Naruto simply raised a single finger.
"Powerful strength is the cornerstone of peace.
Seeking peace through struggle ensures peace endures.
Seeking peace through compromise ensures peace perishes.
I am merely pursuing formidable power to protect those I cherish."
The Great Toad Sage seemed to see the shadows of both Asura and Indra simultaneously in Naruto.
After a long silence, he slowly asked, "The power of Sage Art, or rather, the Legacy of the Three Holy Lands... on which square of the board have you placed it?
Is it a shield to consolidate the'sunlight,' a torch to illuminate the'shadows,' a blade to sever 'destiny,' or... the final chip to deal with threats from 'beyond the board'—threats that even the'shadows' cannot contain?"
"Can't you prophesize? Can you truly not see my future actions?"
He did not directly answer whether he could "see." Instead, in a tone almost compassionate yet exceptionally calm, he slowly uttered a conclusion, as if drawn from observing countless possibilities and countless branches of fate:
"You cannot become..."
These three words were spoken with exceptional clarity, carrying a heaviness akin to destiny itself.
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