"Sasuke, come with me! I can give you power in a very short time!" Orochimaru coaxed.
The quick path to power he spoke of was naturally the Cursed Seal. It could be considered a degraded version of natural energy, but it certainly could increase one's strength. There were just a few side effects. For instance, those branded with the Cursed Seal of Heaven became extremely violent when they used its power.
Of course, given the choice, Sasuke would have accepted an even greater price if it truly meant gaining power. Hatred had long since occupied his heart. Or rather, Sasuke lived for revenge, and the target of that revenge was the Itachi Orochimaru had mentioned. So long as he could ultimately exact his revenge, he was willing to do anything, to give up anything! Just as in the original story, Sasuke had resolutely abandoned Naruto, Sakura, and Konoha. It wasn't that they held no weight in his heart, only that revenge weighed more than anything else!
But that was how events would unfold under normal circumstances. However... strength spoke for everything. Only strength could lend someone sufficient credibility, especially in this cruel shinobi world!
And Orochimaru, who had already lost to Naruto, clearly had no credibility whatsoever in Sasuke's eyes! He wasn't even as good as that blockhead!
Orochimaru waited for ages, thinking he already had Sasuke in the bag, only to receive an utterly cold look tinged with something strange.
Following Sasuke's gaze, Orochimaru looked at his own sorry state and fell silent.
Right. He suddenly remembered that he seemed to have taken a beating earlier. At least, that was how it looked to Sasuke. Although he still had the ability to fight and techniques he hadn't used-he knew quite a few forbidden techniques, after all-to a novice like