Chapter 240: A Private Conversation
The Great Toad Sage's aged and weak voice slowly echoed through the hall, carrying a sense of exhaustion and remoteness that transcended time.
"It's little Jiraiya... and little Jiraiya's Disciple... You must be Minato's son!"
The voice paused, as if laboriously dredging something from the murky river of memory, before continuing a moment later.
"I remember now... Little Naruto's son, he's quite a remarkable Genius..."
His massive head moved slightly, as if he were "looking" in Naruto's direction, but in those half-closed eyes, his gaze seemed to pierce through the youth before him, casting toward some distant and hazy silhouette of the future.
"You must... train him well!"
This sentence was clearly addressed to Jiraiya, carrying the weight of an elder's entrustment to a Junior, as if reminding him to look after an extremely important "seedling" concerning the future.
However, to the others and the toads present, these words were nothing short of a thunderclap.
Naruto looked at the old toad on the high platform playing dumb; this old toad's abilities were truly impressive.
Had it sensed that Boruto had undergone Transmigration to this time and space?
Fukasaku Sage was the first to react. He snapped his head up to look at the Great Toad Sage, who had clearly fallen back into some prophetic daze, and his voice rose involuntarily as he urgently reminded him:
"The Great Lord, have you... have you misremembered again?"
He pointed a finger at Naruto, who remained calm, only slightly raising his eyes to look at the Great Toad Sage.
"This boy, no matter how you look at him, isn't old enough to be married with children! Where would a son come from?"
Fukasaku Sage felt that The Great Lord must be senile this time. Minato had only been gone for thirteen years; even if this blonde youth was Minato's son, how could he have a child?
However, as soon as he finished speaking, Shima Sage beside him suddenly reached out a forelimb and pinched the skin on his back hard, making Fukasaku Sage cry out in pain and nearly jump.
"You stupid Old man!"
Shima Sage lowered her voice, scolding him with a mix of reproach and deep reverence: "The Great Lord must have dreamed of something again! He's seen a future we can't see. Don't interrupt!"
"Little Jiraiya, little Fukasaku, little Shima..."
The Great Toad Sage's aged and slow voice sounded again, this time appearing slightly more lucid than before.
"You all... leave for now."
His massive head turned slightly toward Naruto, and those half-closed eyes, which seemed to contain an endless galaxy, appeared to focus entirely on the blonde youth.
"I want to... have a private talk with this boy."
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the hall instantly became even more subtle and solemn.
A private talk?
The Great Toad Sage wanted a private conversation with a youth he was meeting for the first time, whose identity was questionable, and who, strictly speaking, wasn't even an official member of Mount Myōboku?
This was an extremely rare honor.
Or rather, an extremely unusual event.
Even little Jiraiya, when his Disciple was prophesied to be the "Child Who Would Lead the Revolution," had never received such treatment.
A private audience with the Great Toad Sage usually meant that the content of the prophecy was extremely significant, secretive, or had a very special connection to the person involved that could not be known by outsiders.
"But..."
This time, it was the usually decisive Shima Sage's turn to hesitate.
Her small eyes were filled with worry and unease.
Letting The Great Lord face an outsider youth whose background was completely unknown alone?
What if this boy had ill intentions?
Moreover, The Great Lord was advanced in years and lacked energy; what if something went wrong during the conversation... She looked at Fukasaku Sage and then at Jiraiya, clearly hoping they would say something or at least show some concern.
However, to her surprise, Fukasaku Sage acted with unusual decisiveness this time.
Fukasaku Sage reached out a forelimb and gently patted Shima Sage: "Mother, since The Great Lord explicitly said he wants to talk to this boy alone, we should comply."
His gaze moved to the massive figure on the high platform, which seemed to have assimilated with time, his eyes filled with unconditional trust and admiration: "The Great Lord has his reasons."
"What he sees and thinks is far more profound than what we do."
"Perhaps there are some things that are indeed only suitable to be said to this boy."
He turned back to Jiraiya, his tone soothing yet urging: "Little Jiraiya, let's head out first."
"Since The Great Lord wants a private conversation, there must be an important reason."
Jiraiya opened his mouth, looked at the calm Naruto, then at the Great Toad Sage resting with his eyes closed on the high platform, and finally swallowed the words he was about to say.
His doubts and worries were no less than Shima Sage's, but he also knew the Great Toad Sage's authority and wisdom well.
Since this prophet, who had lived for untold years, had made a decision, he, as a Junior, could only comply.
"Naruto..."
Jiraiya called Naruto's name in a low voice, his eyes complex and filled with worry.
"You... be careful."
He didn't know what to be "careful" of; he just instinctively felt that this conversation might be very... unusual.
Naruto tilted his head slightly and nodded to Jiraiya, signaling with his eyes that he needn't worry.
Seeing that both Fukasaku and Jiraiya shared this attitude, Shima Sage, though still frowning, knew that persisting would be futile.
She gave Naruto one last deep look, as if trying to see through him, before huffing reluctantly: "Fine, fine, we'll do as you say. Little Jiraiya, let's go!"
With that, she was the first to turn around, hopping and jumping toward the exit, her back still radiating a sense of being piqued.
Fukasaku Sage bowed respectfully toward the high platform again: "The Great Lord, we shall take our leave then."
Only then did he gesture for Jiraiya to follow.
Jiraiya gave Naruto one last look before turning and following the two Immortals out of the vast and solemn hall.
The heavy hall doors slowly closed behind them with a muffled thud, isolating the inner space from the outside.
Inside the enormous palace, the light was dim, leaving only the massive orange figure on the high platform and the relatively tiny blonde youth standing straight below.
The air seemed frozen, with only the Great Toad Sage's long and slow breathing remaining.
After a moment of silence, Naruto, standing below, suddenly raised his head. His gaze was no longer calm and reserved as before, but became sharp and clear, looking straight at the massive old toad on the high platform who seemed immersed in an eternal dream.
His voice wasn't loud, yet it rang clearly in the empty hall, carrying a piercing quality unbefitting his age, breaking the solemn silence:
"Great Toad Sage, are you... not planning to keep pretending to be senile?"
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