Once, a prince rode a white horse to save a princess.
Now, Chinatsu rode a black horse to save her little brother.
The black horse beneath Chinatsu galloped madly, its hooves pounding so fast that even she could not stop it. Left with no choice, she abandoned the horse and leaped off, while it kept charging wildly ahead, crashing into the giant white snake beneath Orochimaru's feet with a bang!!!
Utterly baffled, the white snake glanced down at the black horse that had rammed into it. Without much hesitation, it opened its mouth and gulped down the temporary mount that had accompanied Chinatsu for the past hour or two.
"My horse!!!"
Chinatsu was completely fired up. Granted, she was already on fire... but that was beside the point!
Chinatsu was someone who deeply valued her bonds. Seeing her little black horse swallowed just like that, she mourned it in grief and indignation for three whole seconds!
Orochimaru watched Chinatsu with an odd expression. His goal was a body possessing the Sharingan, and as one of the Uchiha survivors, Chinatsu had originally been part of his plans too.
But according to the information he had gathered, Chinatsu was merely an elite chunin with a little cleverness, her strength roughly on the level of an elite jonin.
Sasuke, on the other hand, already possessed strength beyond that of a chunin at such a young age. His body held tremendous potential, and he was also that man's younger brother.
In Orochimaru's mind, Sasuke ranked far above Chinatsu. None of this had anything to do with marking Chinatsu down for being a girl. To him, talent mattered most; gender was completely irrelevant.
Yet as he watched the emotionally volatile Chinatsu, whose entrance had been so distinctive, an ominous feeling suddenly welled up inside him.