"Hey, you androgynous freak."
Sen's lazy voice cut like a sharp blade through the suffocating killing intent hanging over the clearing.
He sat at ease in the Pavilion, still holding a large, half-eaten apple.
He frowned, looking at Orochimaru nearby with undisguised disgust.
"That snake stink of yours has stunk up my freshly grown apple."
Orochimaru froze mid-motion, just as he was about to sink his venomous fangs into Sasuke.
He turned his head slowly, ever so slowly. For the first time, profound astonishment appeared in his golden, serpentine eyes.
How was that possible?!
He had just unleashed Kage Level killing intent!
Even battle-hardened elite jonin would lose their composure under that kind of pressure.
Yet this brat sitting there lazily munching an apple...
Was completely... unaffected?!
There wasn't even the slightest sign of chakra fluctuations!
He was just like an ordinary civilian child sitting by the roadside, watching the show!
What unsettled Orochimaru most was this.
All his attention had been focused on Sasuke, that perfect vessel.
He had completely failed to notice the boy with the strange presence sitting right beside him!
It was as though an invisible barrier had blocked his senses!
"You... who are you?"
Orochimaru's voice grew slightly hoarse. He slowly retracted his elongated neck, putting some distance between himself and Sasuke.
Sen didn't answer him.
Looking thoroughly annoyed, he simply tossed the apple that had been "stunk up" into the stream.
"Seriously, you overgrown worm. You've completely ruined a perfectly good picnic."
Sen dusted off his hands and slowly rose from his lounge chair.
As Orochimaru watched the impatient brat before him, the astonishment in his eyes gradually gave way to a cruel smirk.
"Hehehe. Interesting."
"It seems I'll be getting a pleasant surprise today, besides the Uchiha."
He assumed Sen was merely an