Sen swayed as he walked.
Dragging his old wooden clogs with their worn-through soles, he wandered through the streets and alleys.
He passed the roasted sweet potato stall on the corner.
Even from a distance, a sweet, slightly charred aroma wafted into his nose.
"Oh, Lord Sen!"
Old Wang, the sweet potato vendor, spotted him at once and deftly picked the biggest sweet potato from the oven, roasted until it oozed syrup.
He wrapped it in newspaper, juggling it between his hands from the heat.
"Fresh out of the oven! Take it for a snack!"
"No, no, sir. I just ate."
Sen waved his hands repeatedly.
He rubbed his slightly bloated stomach. To celebrate Naruto finally clearing out that morning, he had forced down five big meat buns.
Now even his burps smelled of pork and chives.
"Save it for your customers. I really can't eat another bite."
Sen fled amid Old Wang's enthusiastic attempts to make him stay.
He returned to his enormous villa, jokingly dubbed "Konoha's number one palace" by the villagers.
Sen pushed open the heavy front door he had grown from top-grade rosewood.
"Creak."
The hinges made an exceedingly faint sound.
The house was empty and so quiet he could even hear a fly buzzing past in the corner.
Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
It cast a broad patch of golden light across the wooden floor, polished clean enough to reflect a person's image.
"So fucking quiet."
Sen kicked off his shoes.
Barefoot, he stepped onto the faintly cool floorboards.
He walked over to the enormous leather sofa in the middle of the living room.
"Flump."
His whole body was like a boneless heap of mush.
He toppled straight into the soft sofa cushions.
"Nice."
Sen let out a contented groan and propped his legs