"Aren't you supposed to be on a mission?"
"What are you doing here?"
Inside Orochimaru's private alchemy lab in Amegakure, Uchiha Kaito looked at the sudden appearance of Sasuke and Runtu and couldn't help but ask in confusion.
Moreover, he caught a whiff of something burnt on his younger brother.
To his surprise, Sasuke ignored him entirely. First, he tossed the Executioner's Blade aside, glanced at the long-haired figure in front of the kitchen, then ran straight to the sink and spent two minutes gulping down water with his face pressed against the faucet.
After finishing, Sasuke wiped his mouth and immediately pointed at the back of the long-haired figure, bluntly asking,
"Why did you change again?"
Kaito: ?
Runtu had brought Sasuke straight to his master without a second thought. Upon seeing Kaito, Sasuke had originally intended to express his gratitude properly.
But when face-to-face, he couldn't bring himself to utter a single word of thanks, resorting to drinking water to mask his awkwardness.
"Keh keh keh..."
"Is this your little brother?"
Orochimaru chuckled darkly, giving Sasuke a once-over before picking up the pressure cooker from the kitchen and walking out, completely unfazed by being mistaken for a woman.
"It's ready to eat."
Kaito nodded and eagerly took a seat at the table, only to look up and see Sasuke casually emerge from the kitchen carrying two sets of bowls and chopsticks, plopping down with Runtu in tow.
Clearly here for a free meal.
Orochimaru and Kaito exchanged glances and fell silent.
Sasuke bit his chopsticks, meeting their gazes with confusion.
"Why are you staring at me?"
"Aren't we eating?"
Runtu sat beside him, eyes fixed on the pressure cooker, his tail wagging so fast it blurred. If his body weren't made of metal, he'd probably be drooling.
He could "smell" the Spiritual Energy emanating from the pressure cooker.
He wanted to eat!
On the dining table sat only the pressure cooker. Noticing the lack of other dishes and the absence of bowls or chopsticks in front of Kaito and the woman, Sasuke hesitantly asked,
"Are we just eating rice?"
After the recent battle, Sasuke was starving. Stumbling upon this situation, he clearly planned to eat first before returning to report to Kakashi.
Right now, all he wanted was a good, hearty meal.
Orochimaru pursed his lips, took a deep breath, then turned and headed back to the kitchen to cook...
He suddenly suspected that Uchiha Kaito's visit to check on the pills was just an excuse—his real goal was to mooch a meal.
Creak—At this moment, Nagato pushed open the door with practiced ease, sniffed the air a few times, then skillfully headed to the kitchen to grab a bowl and chopsticks.
To mask his true intentions, he occasionally feigned concern for Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru, how's the pill refining going?"
Orochimaru: "..."
By the time Nagato spoke, Sasuke had already unscrewed the pressure cooker lid and froze for a few seconds upon seeing the "little green pills" inside.
But he didn't dare say anything.
After all, he was just here to mooch a meal—having anything to eat at all was already a blessing…
If he really started complaining, he was afraid Kaito would teach him a lesson.
There were exactly 20 pills in the pressure cooker. After a brief moment of thought, Sasuke scooped out three for himself, three for Kaito, and even remembered Runtu, giving it two as well.
The moment Nagato entered and saw the spiky-haired boy at the table who bore a resemblance to Kaito, he immediately recognized him as Uchiha Sasuke. Seeing Sasuke portioning out the pills, Nagato assumed it was some kind of pill-testing session and promptly pushed his bowl toward Sasuke, signaling that he wanted his share.
Sasuke glanced at Kaito first, waiting for a nod of approval, before reluctantly giving the redhead one pill. Then he started eating his own portion without another word.
Crunch— Crunch—
The moment the pill entered his mouth, Sasuke was hit with a medicinal taste so potent it shot straight to his brain. Instinctively, he tilted his head, ready to spit it out.
"Swallow it!"
Kaito clamped a hand over the boy's mouth, forcing him to gulp it down.
"What the hell is this?!"
Sasuke clutched his throat, gagging uncontrollably. The bitterness was so intense he nearly cried.
"It's that bad?!"
"Is it really that bitter?"
Kaito muttered under his breath, subtly sliding his own bowl over to Runtu beside him. Nagato hesitated for a few seconds before his tongue even touched the pill—then he instantly transformed into a human pea shooter, spitting it out.
"Eat!"
Orochimaru slammed several dishes onto the table, his expression dark as he took his seat, glaring coldly at the freeloaders who had come specifically to mooch off him.
The meal proceeded in a tense silence. Nagato and Kaito didn't dare speak, and Sasuke ate with extreme caution.
Orochimaru didn't touch his food either, just sat with his arms crossed, staring icily at them.
Only after Runtu voluntarily went to wash the dishes did Kaito finally voice his modest suggestion.
"Uh, Orochimaru…"
"Maybe… we could add some honey to the pills?"
Though Sasuke and Nagato had just met, they nodded in perfect unison.
Orochimaru let out a humorless laugh. "Oh? Should I make a chocolate flavor next? Or maybe three-colored dango flavor?"
He had put in so much effort refining these pills, and instead of asking about their effects, these idiots just wanted to know if they could sweeten them?!
"Takoyaki flavor…"
"Would that work?"
Sasuke raised his hand timidly. The room instantly plunged into dead silence.
Three minutes later…
"GET OUT!"
A cacophony of clattering erupted from Orochimaru's house, followed by the three of them scrambling out in a panic.
Runtu was tossed out along with them—along with the Executioner's Blade.
"Sasuke, you went too far."
Hearing Orochimaru lock the door behind them, Kaito immediately turned to scold his younger brother.
Was this idiot really so dense he couldn't tell Orochimaru was being sarcastic?!
After today's disaster…
They'd probably never dare come here to mooch meals again.
"You guys hated them too!" Sasuke protested."I saw everything just now. You gave that green pill to Runtu."
Sasuke was extremely indignant about this and immediately pointed at Kaito's nose to retort.
"That was an elixir."
Nagato frowned and corrected him, then let out a long sigh.
Damn it...
In the rush to eat earlier, he forgot to ask what kind of elixir it was.
"Huh?"
Sasuke turned to look at the redhead, mentally downgrading his opinion of Orochimaru's cooking skills once more.
"Just think of it as something that makes you stronger."
Kaito answered offhandedly as he bent down to pick up the Executioner's Blade from the ground, examining it in his hands.
Hearing this, Sasuke specifically checked his Chakra levels but noticed no changes. He muttered under his breath,
"Don't feel any stronger though..."
Kaito rolled his eyes at the boy before turning his attention to the Executioner's Blade. "What's this?"
Without missing a beat, Sasuke declared with a straight face that it was a gift he'd brought for Kaito.
"I took it from some guy called Momochi Zabuza."
"If you call me 'big brother,' I might give it to you."
He crossed his arms proudly, looking utterly pleased with himself.
Clang—
Kaito unceremoniously dropped the Executioner's Blade at Sasuke's feet and turned to leave with Nagato toward Orochimaru's house. As he walked away, he called back,
"No thanks. Don't bring your junk to me."