Chino

is a kunoichi from the Chinoike clan. She was a member of the Lightning Group.

Background
Chino is the only child of En Oyashiro and his wife. As members of the Chinoike clan, they lived in the Valley of Hell. Though life in the valley had been peaceful for many years, being in constant close proximity eventually caused disagreements between clansmen to erupt into violence; only Oyashiro and Chino survived. Oyashiro regretted his role in the deaths of his clan, especially his wife's, and wished for Chino to grow up to be better than he was. To that end, he took advantage of Chino's young age by concealing his relationship to her, instead telling her that he had her entire family killed so that she would become the last possessor of the Ketsuryūgan, and thus a valuable commodity.

Oyashiro took Chino from the Valley of Hell and started making a career for himself as an arms dealer. He trained Chino to be a combination of bodyguard and means to resolving "business disputes", forcing her to kill against her wishes. He also entered her in the Coliseum from time to time, where she defeated reigning champ Fūshin during her first match. Fūshin was one of many kekkei genkai users who joined Oyashiro's bodyguard detail until he one day fled with them all, Chino included. While Fūshin and the others went on to form the Lightning Group, Chino decided to return to the Valley of Hell; in the anime, she does indeed join the Lightning Group.

Chino hoped to find something in the Valley of Hell to remind her of her parents' faces, but there were no surviving traces of the Chinoike clan. Alone and knowing nothing about where she'd come from, Chino found no purpose in her existence. Nevertheless, she decided to stay in the Valley of Hell, living out the rest of her days in peace. She was one day approached by Fūshin, who was near death. During his year-long convalescence, he explained that the Lightning Group had been manipulated and betrayed by Kirigakure.

Chino was angered by what had happened to Fūshin and the others, believing that Kirigakure's treachery was a stark contrast to the peace it advocated for in public. She and Fūshin decided to make Kiri and the other hidden villages pay for their hypocrisy. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, part of the White Zetsu Army travelled through the Valley of Hell. By discretely studying them and reading their thoughts as they passed by, Chino came up with a method for attacking the hidden villages.

Personality
At first glance, Chino appears childlike, sweet, and timid. When she first meets Sasuke, she quickly defends him from being attacked by villagers who mistook him as a member of the Dark Thunder Group, and apologised to him on the villagers' behalf. She also offers him information on the group and the strange events surrounding the disappearances of Konohagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure shinobi. However, behind this façade, she is actually cold-hearted, manipulative, and vengeful. Due to being raised as a weapon and blaming most of the Five Great Nations for her clan's demise, Chino is determined to achieve revenge by kidnapping many of the village's shinobi to use them against each other, and is willing to kill them to make herself feel more satisfied.

The only person Chino genuinely cares for is Nowaki, whom she is protective of and considers as a brother. She is even willing to give her life to save Nowaki when she fought Sasuke Uchiha in the Valley of Hell.

Although she is initially kind to Sasuke when they first met, she actually despises him due to his clan being partially responsible for her clan being exiled. She also condemns him as a hypocrite; Sasuke was once someone consumed with hatred and plotted to destroy Konoha for what it did to his clan, and now he is trying to stop her from doing the same thing to the nations when she herself was unable to go out and create the bonds she so desperately desired despite never committing any crimes in the past. She also condemned him for always "having someone who loved him no matter how much he ignored it".

After her battle with Sasuke, Chino realises the error in her actions. Like him beforehand, she allowed her emotions to cloud her judgement and she was inadvertently trying to destroy the peace she desired for. She was left guilt-ridden and was ready to face the consequences of her actions, but was surprised and happy when she learned Sasuke put in a good word for her and Nowaki to work for Kumogakure and Kirigakure to atone for their crimes.

Appearance
Chino has short, neck-length, spiky light-blond hair. Two thick strands reach onto her rosy cheeks. She also has violet eyes with small brows. However, they turn red when she activates her Ketsuryūgan. Chino is small for her age, as Sasuke pointed out that she looked ten years old when he first met her and was surprised when she told him that she was in fact much older than him. When she was younger, Chino's hair was longer, almost reaching her waist.

In her usual outfit, a black high collared sleeveless undershirt, a sleeveless pink kimono like shirt, long light grey pants, black fingerless gloves that reached her upper arm, brown pouch wrapped around her waist white bandages wrapped up to his knees on both legs, brown belt, and grey sandals.

Abilities
Having been raised and trained since a young age by En Oyashiro, Chino has become a very powerful kunoichi. During her first match in the Coliseum, using genjutsu, she defeated the reigning and unbeaten champion, Fūshin, with little effort. Her skills were highly advanced, and by manipulating an immense source of iron-rich water, she was capable of briefly facing off against Sasuke Uchiha, who possessed both the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and Rinnegan, as well as half of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki's chakra.

Ninjutsu
Chino excels in Water Release, able to create defensive walls, blobs of water to attack with, and even blow soap bubbles from her mouth for entertainment. She is also able to use the Yin Release. Chino is also a sensor type, able to sense chakra across distances through the ground; her skills are likened to Karin's. She can also create shadow clones.

Ketsuryūgan
Being a member of the Chinoike clan, she possesses the Ketsuryūgan. She can use it to cast genjutsu of comparable strength to the Sharingan. With it, she is able to trap her targets in powerful illusions to suit her needs. Even more, Ketsuryūgan allows her to manipulate iron-enriched liquids. This power makes her very dangerous at close-range due to the high iron levels in blood. By making skin-contact with her target, she can alter their appearance or make them explode. For such liquids exposed to the area, she can manipulate in a variety of malleable ways.

Sasuke Shinden: Book of Sunrise
Chino and Nowaki (formerly going by the name Fūshin) recruit the help of Amuda and a few others to help them take vengeance against the ninja villages. They first intercept a ship of one hundred Kirigakure ninja, which Chino places under her control with her Ketsuryūgan. They then continue to the ship's destination in the Land of Lightning, where Chino captures the Kumogakure-nin waiting for the ship there. She then implants the Kiri and Kumo-nin - as well as some Konoha-nin she captured earlier - with her chakra, making them into human bombs that will explode once sufficiently injured. In case they're captured without detonating, she also places genjutsu traps on their minds so that they can't be used to trace back to her.

While the controlled ninja are sent to attack the ninja villages, Chino and Nowaki travel to the Land of Hot Water to look for Karyū, a former associate of Nowaki. Posing as former Yugakure-nin turned travelling performers, they travel through Bamboo Village and allow themselves to be hired to hunt down Karyū's Dark Thunder Group. Sasuke Uchiha arrives in the Bamboo Village shortly after they do and is also recruited to help. Chino and Nowaki accompany Sasuke as he investigates the surrounding area, during which Chino questions him about his relationship with Konoha.

When they return to Bamboo Village, it is already under attack by the Dark Thunder Group. Chino and Nowaki are careful not to seem too skilled during the attack, sending Sasuke to deal with Karyū while they help the villagers get to safety. Sasuke captures Karyū and the other Dark Thunder Group members and confines them in a shed while he waits for Konoha to collect them. Concerned that Karyū might expose Nowaki's identity, Chino and Nowaki manipulate Iō into killing Karyū and his men, thus preventing Sasuke from questioning them.

In the anime, Chino and Nowaki accompany Sasuke as he meets with Orochimaru and En Oyashiro. Chino is disgusted that Sasuke would associate with either of them, especially Oyashiro, but she is surprised when Sasuke repeatedly rescues her from attacks by exploding humans. During one such attack, Sasuke is separated from them. In the novel, Sasuke leaves Bamboo Village by himself. During the course of an investigation into an attack on Konoha, he travels to an island in the Land of Water and is surprised to find Chino and Nowaki there; they've been using it as their base of operations. He assumes Nowaki is in charge and fights him. When Nowaki is about to be defeated, Chino intervenes and disables Sasuke with a genjutsu, revealing herself as the true mastermind. She leaves with Nowaki before Sasuke can recover.

Sasuke eventually locates the Valley of Hell, where Chino is waiting for him. She shares her personal history with him, noting how similar her life has been to Sasuke's. The primary difference, she believes, is that Sasuke has people who care for him and who give him a reason to live on, whereas she has nobody. Although she doesn't expect to win, she begins fighting Sasuke, manipulating the iron-rich hotspring water in the valley against him. When even her Blood Dragon Ascension proves ineffective against him and her defeat seems imminent, Nowaki, still injured from his previous fight, comes to her defence. Seeing this, Sasuke relents, pointing out that Chino isn't as alone as she thinks. Having already realised the same thing, Chino surrenders, wishing to see what Sasuke will make of the world.

Chino and Nowaki are taken into custody for their attacks against the villages. In jail, they are visited by the Sixth Hokage (the Fifth Mizukage in the anime) and offered their freedom in exchange for helping to root out the same kinds of injustices that they were once victims of, in which they agree. In the novel, they lead a raid on the Coliseum, freeing the slaves forced to do battle there. In the anime, they are instead informed that Sasuke has already raided the Coliseum.

Trivia

 * literally means "of blood".

Чино