Ketsui

Ketsui  ( 決意) is an original character of the Narutoverse. He is a chūnin-level shinobi of Kusagakure and a member of Team Jirou. Team Jirou is also known as Team Tiger because of their  jōnin-sensei‘s tiger-nin companion, Kamisorimaru. Seisha Masatsugu and Usagi Itagaki are the other members of Team Tiger led by jōnin-sensei Jirou Toramasa.

Background
Ketsui was only an infant when his village was burned down during the Third Shinobi World War. He was found adopted by Kaisai, a member of Kusagakure’s sensory squad and raised in the village orphanage. When she found him he was near death with third degree burns covering most of his body. He was prone to nightmare and often called out in his sleep keeping the other children awake. This and his disfigurement and subsequent need for special treatment because of his medical condition caused him to be shunned and ridiculed by his peers. This only got worse when he began going to school. In school he met another young boy who was also tormented by their classmate, Seisha Masatsugu, the two became good friends and made a pact to always have each other’s back and when someone would pick on one the other would come to his aid. Together they would often play pranks on the kids that bullied them with the unfortunate consequence of earning them more abuse.

Personality
Ketsui’s personality tends to fluctuate. He can go from being moody and quite to hyper and passionate to anger and back in a heartbeat. It is almost as though he has a split personality disorder or is bipolar. Most of the time he is quiet and withdrawn even around his friends and trusted companions except when he is in the grips of one of his a mood swings. Ketsui is kind-hearted and very protective of his friends, willing to protect them at all costs. He is determined to rise above his inherent weaknesses and become a legendary shinobi.

Appearance
Ketsui has burn scars covering most of his body including his face. Due to the burns he must keep most of his body wrapped in medical bandages to help ward of infection and to reduce the constant itching they cause. His most notable and strange attribute besides his burn scars is his light blue hair which he often allows to grow wild and untamed. He has dark brown eyes.

Ketsui wants most to be accepted by the village and thus wears the standard uniform items  of the Kusagakure shinobi consisting of a light tan tabard over a black gi with open sleeves and pant legs, the typical gray scarf with orange stripes and the brown Kusagakure Flak Jacket. In addition, he sports a sugegasa straw hat, later on this hat has a darkened spiral over it. The only nonstandard item he wears is his forehead protector which is light blue instead of black as it was gift to him from Kaisai upon his graduation from the Kusagakure Ninja Academy which he has tied around his right leg with the senbon pouch.

Abilities
Ketsui excels in genjutsu techniques that effect emotions and that create illusions. He is not so skilled in taijutsu or ninjutsu, except for medical ninjustu and sealing techniques which he has shown aptitude for. Ketsui is very intelligent and often plays shogi with Seisha, even managing to win occasionally, but is physically very weak and lacks the stamina of his fellow shinobi. Ketsui is able to use both the Yin Release and Yang Release forms. 

Genjutsu

Ketsui has a natural ability for genjutsu and mastered it early on. With his vivid imagination he can create lifelike Demonic Illusions  be it phantasmal creature to attack his enemies, illusionary clones of himself and others or visibly changing the landscape around him his illusions are difficult for even the most skilled shinobi to discern. He can make himself or displace his image off to the side allowing him to more effectively dodge attacks. He can make himself and his compatriots appear as allies of their enemies or make his enemies allies appear as enemies to each other causing confusion on the battlefield. One of his most often used techniques is to mimic the ninjutsu of others and throw it back at them, since this is an illusion the nature form is of no consequence making appear as though he knows multiple nature forms when in fact he knows none.

In addition, he can amplify and even sometimes change the emotions of those caught in his genjutsu through Empathic Projection, sending them into a blinding rage or hopeless depression. He can also use this ability to bolster the courage and resolve of his allies and friends when thing look tough. Forbidden Jutsu

Ketsui jealous of his friends animal companions wished for one of his own but had no success in the summoning techniques used. As a result he created his own using Demonic Illusion and embued it with emotion using his Empathic Projection. This creature which resembles the mythical Heikō after which it is named and can fly short distances as with its namesake. It normally appears as a small tanuki, raccoon dog, with leopard like print, red eyes and a blue mane running from its nose to its tail. At first it was just thought to be a harmless illusion but later started to develop its own personality and is becoming increasingly able to affect the physical world around it. It can also alter its size and shape becoming more fearsome if it wants or can mimic the appearance of Ketsui himself. At this time it is fiercely devoted to Ketsui but the Kusasancho fears what such a creation could mean or become and has forbidden Ketsui from making any more. Ketsui can summon Heikō at will and came also talk to him inside his head similar to the way a jinjuriki communicates with his tailed beast.

<p class="MsoNormal">Ninjutsu

<p class="MsoNormal"> Though Ketsui has had difficulty using most ninjutsu techniques he has shown aptitude for sensory and medical ninjutsu as well as sealing techniques. He has become a competent combat medic and can use the Mystic Palm Technique and the Chakra Scapel as well as sense chakra auras and differentiate between various forms and individual signatures. Here you will write the basics of the ablities, such as what is their strongest asset, their strenghts and weaknesses, strategical preferences and such

Status
Part I

<p class="MsoNormal">Kusagakure Ninja Academy Arc

<p class="MsoNormal">Prior to starting the academy many of the kids already knew one another from the playground in the village. However, Ketsui tended to be shunned by all the others. On the first day of the Ninja Academy some of the kids started teasing another student, Seisha, about his clothes and calling him names. Ketsui told them they should shut up and they started picking on him and the other boy ran away. After school the boy Seisha came upon Ketsui being beaten up by a few of the other kids and tried to help  but the other boys were a lot stronger and they both got beat up. After that the two boys became inseparable friends and would often mouth off to the other kids even though it rarely worked out in their favor.

<p class="MsoNormal">One of the hardest general skills for academy students to learn is Water Surface Walking, and normally takes a while to master. After the first day of practice and Seisha and Ketsui’s daily fight with the class bullies, bruised and battered they walk along the river bank on their way home. Up ahead they come upon Koke, a classmate’s little sister yelling for help. Usagi Itagaki, a kunoichi academy student in their class, had fallen in the river while practicing water surface walking on her own, which they had been instructed not to do, and become entangled in a bait trap putting her in danger drowning. Without the embarrassment of failure clouding their minds and the need to save a comrade fueling their drive the two boys use the water surface walking technique to run out across the river and drag her to the shore. Grateful for their rescue and their agreed silence on reporting the incident to their class instructor, the three become friends. To the boys benefit, Usagi is the strongest of their classmates in taijutsu and all the other boys are terrified of her. She is very protective of Seisha and Ketsui and put a quick end to their being bullied.

<p class="MsoNormal">Team Tiger Arc

<p class="MsoNormal">The three friends helped each other a lot during the academy and their teamwork was noticed by their instructors. When they graduated to genin rank, it was decided to put the three of them on the same team to further develop their skills and cooperation. They were assigned to a standard four man team under the leadership of Jōnin-Sensei Jirou Toramasa, a former Kusagakure ANBU. As a result much of their training revolved around stealth.

<p class="MsoNormal">Team Jirou’s first big mission was to locate and return a prize racing horse of the Shusoku Family in the neighboring Umagoya Village. The team met with the head of the Shusoku family, Tsukai, and his son, Kei, who was to ride the horse in question at a race in an upcoming international event. The horse, named Honba, was known for its willful disposition and frequent escapes. This was only considered to be a C-rank mission but it was soon discovered that the horse had been stolen by ninja from Takigakure. Upon making the discovery the team regrouped with the intention of calling in a more experienced team, but Kei, afraid for his horse and not willing to wait, ran off and got captured trying to get the horse back himself and the team had to attempt a rescue despite their inexperience. Team Tiger infiltrated the bandit’s camp without being seen and rescued the horse and Kei. Three of the bandits upon discovering the horse and kid were gone tracked down the team before they could make it back to the village a fight ensued. Jirou and Kamisorimaru each took on one of the bandit-nin and the three genin took on the third, which proclaimed himself as Umaketsu the Vile, and captured him using their Flying Tiger Cage Collaboration Technique. The technique was initially designed to catch rodents in Old Lady Kuwa’s garden, one of Team Tiger’s genin tasks, but Seisha adapted it to immobilize Umaketsu. The team makes it back to the village just in time for Kei and Honba to join the race, which they go on to win.

<p class="MsoNormal">Chūnin Exams Arc

<p class="MsoNormal">In their third year as genin Team Tiger made up three of the fifteen genin from Kusagakure at the Chūnin Exams in Konohagakure. Among the others were Shiore and her team which was killed and impersonated by Orochimaru. After arriving in the Konohagakure, Jirou left them to catch up with <span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#0070C0">Tsume, an old friend and rival among the <span style="font-size:8.5pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#0070C0">Inuzuka Clan. The three genin ate lunch at <span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#0070C0">Ramen Ichiraku, and while there got in a scuffle with another Konoha genin team consisting Shikamaru, Ino and Choji. The fight started because Ketsui thought Ino made a remark about the burns on his face and in retaliation he said she was stuck up and then Choji called Ketsui ugly for insulting Ino, and then Seisha told Choji “to watch it, Fatso”. Things were about to get really ugly but it was broken up by <span style="font-size:8.5pt;mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;color:#0070C0">Iruka Umino, who warned them that fighting outside of the Chūnin Exams could get them disqualified. Then made them each apologize and sit down and enjoy a meal together. After the misunderstanding was resolved the afternoon became much friendlier.

<p class="MsoNormal">The team was eliminated from the first phase of the exams when Usagi, terrified that if they got the question wrong she would fail to become a chūnin and be kicked out of her clan opted out of the 10th question. She felt as though she let her team down and vowed she would never let fear stand in the way of her companions again. Her teammates bore some resentment about being eliminated, especially after they learned that by accepting the question they would have automatically passed, it was quickly overshadowed by the discovery of the deaths of their fellow ninjas at the hands of Orochimaru. All three passed the Chūnin Exams the following year.

Part II
<p class="MsoNormal">Konohagakure Security Test Arc

<p class="MsoNormal">As chūnin one of Team Tiger’s primary tasks becomes the testing of Kusagakure’s defenses. Periodically upon completing some mission they will be sent a coded message giving them details of the next security test and objectives. The test usually revolves around sneaking in to Kusagakure or the Daimyō’s palace and either stealing something, like a scroll, or placing something like a tag on someone, simulating they have been assassinated. They are usually caught, which is a good thing, but have been successful a little too often for the comfort of the Kusasancho, village head. The benefit the team adds to Kusagakure’s security and defenses is such that they have been request to perform similar test for some of Kusagakure’s allies.

<p class="MsoNormal">Team Tiger was even hired on one occasion by the <span style="font-size:8.5pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#0070C0">Hokage, <span style="font-size:8.5pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#0070C0">Tsunade, to test Konohagakure’s defenses. All was going well and Team Tiger penetrated deep in to Konohagakure’s security structure before they were seen. Unfortunately, the test and their capture proved enough of a distraction to allow a real threat to sneak into Lady Tsunade’s office and steal a scroll pertinent to Konohagakure and Land of Fire trade agreements.

<p class="MsoNormal">Team Tiger then teamed up with Konohagakure’s Team Kurenai to get them back. Together they tracked down and defeated the bandit-nin. During the fighting one of the bandit-nin summoned a messenger rat-nin that swallowed the scroll while the thieves delayed for it to escape but Seisha summoned the owl-nin, Hoshouzuku, who quickly swooped down and gobbled up the rat-nin, regurgitating the scroll later. Under interrogation back at Konohagakure it was revealed the bandits may have been affiliated with <span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#0070C0; mso-bidi-font-style:italic">Amegakure, but concrete evidence could not be obtained since the bandits wore no headbands and their minds had been well guarded against intrusion, resulting in the deaths of all but one questioned and he was a missing-nin from Ishigakure.

<p class="MsoNormal">Usagi and Hinata were friendly to all and excited about working together, Shino and Seisha greeted all with their usual detachment and Kiba and Ketsui felt that the other team was an unnecessary burden and blamed them for the incident. In addition, Kiba didn’t like Jirou, because of the previous history with his mother and Akamaru was somewhat afraid of Kamisorimaru, given his history with Kuromaru. Despite their initial feelings both teams bonded a great deal by the end of the mission and became friends. Interestingly the two that learned the most were Kiba, about animal collaboration techniques from Jirou, and Ketsui, about using genjutsu in combat from Kurenai, as both senseis were renowned in their respective fields. 

<p class="MsoNormal">(The events of the Konohagakure Security Test Arc occurred during the Kazekage Rescue Arc of the Naruto: Shippuden series.)' 

<p class="MsoNormal">Shinobi World War Arc

<p class="MsoNormal">During the Fourth Shinobi World War Team Tiger was split up initially. Ketsui  was placed in the Sensor Division under Ao.

<p class="MsoNormal">(To be continued…)

Trivia
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Reference
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