"White snakeskin?"
Kenya's hand paused as he held his teacup.
An image immediately surfaced in his mind: a sinister, pale-faced figure who liked to stretch out his tongue and lick his lips.
Orochimaru.
One of Konoha's legendary Sannin, a mad scientist obsessed with all kinds of forbidden techniques and human experimentation.
"How big was the snakeskin?" Kenya asked with interest.
"According to the crew, it was over two meters in diameter and dozens of meters long. Like some kind of sea monster."
Yosuke wiped away his sweat, still shaken.
"Boss, that definitely wasn't an ordinary summoned beast. I'm worried that selling our super lumber on the black market might have drawn the attention of some terrifying faction."
Kenya drained his tea in one gulp and tossed the cup onto the table.
"Let them notice. No reason to turn down a punching bag delivered to our doorstep."
He stood up and took a long stretch.
"I've spent the last few days doing nothing but counting money in the office. My bones are practically rusting. Where's Little Haku? Tell him to bring the fishing gear. We're going fishing at sea."
Yosuke froze. "F-fishing? Now?"
"Yeah. The weather's nice, so let's go meet that fellow who likes shedding his skin."
Kenya grinned, revealing two rows of gleaming white teeth.
A few hours later.
Off the coast of the Land of Waves.
The sea was calm, and the sun shone brightly.
A small fishing boat built from black iron wood drifted lazily across the water.
Haku sat at the stern, holding a homemade fishing rod and watching the float intently.
Kenya lay sprawled at the bow.
A large straw hat covered his face, and a savory, salty piece of seaweed hung from his mouth as he rested with his eyes closed.
"Uncle, there usually aren't many fish in these waters. Can we really catch a big one here?"
Haku asked softly, sounding puzzled.
"Don't worry. A big fish will take the bait on its own soon enough."
Kenya mumbled indistinctly.
His Observation Haki had already covered the waters for several nautical miles around them like radar.
Just as his words fell.
The calm sea suddenly began churning violently.
"Glug, glug-"
Countless bubbles surged up from below, as though the seawater were boiling.
Then.
Boom!
A deafening explosion of water rang out.
An enormous creature burst through the surface, rising with a thunderous crash amid a skyful of spray.
It was a gigantic summoned snake covered entirely in green scales!
Its body was thicker than the Iron Fist Chamber of Commerce's largest cargo ship, and its scarlet forked tongue hissed through the air, spreading a nauseating, rank wind.
Haku was so frightened that his fishing rod fell into the sea. He hurriedly backed up beside Kenya, his face pale.
"U-uncle! A sea monster!"
Kenya leisurely removed the straw hat from his face and sat up.
He looked up at the giant snake.
A pale man with long hair draped over his shoulders and dressed in a kimono stood atop its fearsome head.
Golden slit pupils and purple eyeshadow.
It was none other than Orochimaru, Konoha's S-rank missing-nin.
"Well, well. What a coincidence."
Orochimaru looked down at Kenya on the little fishing boat and let out a raspy, oily laugh.
"I was only interested in that black iron wood circulating on the market. I never expected to find the legendary lost Senju bloodline."
"Senju Kenya, the secrets hidden within that body of yours truly fascinate me."
Orochimaru extended his long tongue and licked the corner of his mouth.
His eyes gleamed with a feverish desire for scientific discovery and undisguised greed.
He had bought quite a bit of intelligence from Danzo.
About Kenya shattering Hokage Rock with a single punch, and that blackened Wood Release that could withstand any Ninjutsu head-on.
For Orochimaru, who had always pursued immortality and ultimate power, this was simply the perfect experimental material!
"Oh? So it's you, Orochimaru."
Kenya yawned, fished another piece of seaweed from his pocket, and stuffed it into his mouth.
His flippant attitude, showing no regard for his opponent whatsoever, made Orochimaru pause.
"What, has the food in Konoha gotten so bad lately that you've had to come out to sea to catch fish for dinner?"
Kenya teased loudly as he chewed his seaweed.
"Or have you spent so long in your basement that you wanted some sunshine to get rid of that musty smell?"
The smile on Orochimaru's face stiffened.
As one of the former Konoha Sannin, where had he ever gone without striking terror into people's hearts?
Yet today, some brat was actually making fun of him?
"Heh. What a sharp-tongued brat."
Orochimaru sneered, a flash of killing intent passing through his golden slit pupils.
"But that's all right. Once I dissect your body and examine your cellular structure, you'll be very quiet."
Orochimaru couldn't be bothered to waste any more words.
He had come today to abduct Kenya by force.
"Multiple Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Orochimaru rapidly formed hand seals before his chest, then swept his hands downward.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss-"
In an instant.
Hundreds upon thousands of brightly colored venomous snakes shot from his sleeves.
The snakes intertwined in midair, forming an impenetrable venomous net.
With a bloody, fetid wind, they swept down from every direction over Kenya and Haku on the little fishing boat.
Every snake's fangs gleamed an eerie blue. A single bite would bring instant death.
"Uncle!"
Haku cried out, instinctively trying to use Ice Release to defend them.
But Kenya reached out and pressed a hand onto his shoulder.
"Don't panic. Just keep watching the show."
Kenya remained seated at the bow, not even slowing the pace at which he chewed his seaweed.
Just as the skyful of venomous snakes was about to swallow them both.
Kenya finally moved.
He slowly raised his right hand.
An utterly savage surge of blood energy erupted from his body like a volcano.
Then.
A pitch-black color deeper than the night instantly wrapped around his entire right arm.
Armament Haki!
And after the past few days of special "battleship-pulling" training, this Armament Haki had become even denser and heavier!
His jet-black right arm gleamed with a cold metallic sheen in the sunlight.
That domineering aura, as though it could crush anything, made even the viciously lunging snakes briefly falter in midair.
"W-what kind of chakra is this?"
Standing atop the giant snake's head, Orochimaru's pupils abruptly contracted.
He had never seen a power so strange and so oppressive!
It didn't seem to belong to the Shinobi World's system at all!
Kenya rolled his blackened wrist, producing a series of sharp cracks from his bones.
He raised his head and looked at the enormous net woven from venomous snakes in midair, and at Orochimaru standing above.
The mockery at the corners of his mouth gradually disappeared.
In its place came a savage smile that made one's hair stand on end.
"Orochimaru, I hear you've been researching immortality. Your bones are pretty flexible, aren't they?"
Kenya slowly clenched that jet-black fist.
"Then can you withstand this punch of mine?"