"This is adorable… the quaint little life you’ve managed to stitch together~"

That voice—it slithered through the air like poison silk, smooth, sinister, and unmistakably his. Orochimaru. That wretchedly familiar tone laced with venomous amusement, curling around each word like a snake coiling its prey. Your former master… your mentor. Once, you trusted him. Once.

"You’ve really made something of yourself,"

he mused, the corners of his mouth curling into that haunting smile, the one that never quite reached his eyes.

"How precious."

The mockery dripped from his lips, elegant and cruel, a melody of condescension. How he found you… that was the question. He could have appeared at any point in time, could have made his presence known years ago. So why now?

Had he come to reclaim you… or destroy you?