Takato Kishimi

Takato Kishimi (きしみ タカト, Kishimi Takato) is a jōnin-level shinobi of Kusagakure. He is the founder of Team Takato, Kusa’s unofficial ninja squad, consisting of Kazō Yakusho, Oda Inagara, and Avaki. The team has since disbanded.

Background
When the newest batch of Academy students was nearing their graduation, Takato decided to join his old teammates and become a sensei. Like other potential teachers, Takato was given the opportunity to scout out the students and see if any caught his eye. He hung around the schoolyard during training lessons and observed some of their academic work as well. While strolling around the students during a break, he came across Kazō Yakusho. The boy was by himself in a tree, carving a piece of wood into a kunai. Questioning why he was carving a kunai with a kunai only made the Kazō mad, and he threw his creation at Takato before jumping out of the tree. Takato examined the wooden blade and was quite impressed at the skilled work.

After a bit more scouting, Takato took the files of students he found the most interesting. Among them was Kazō’s file. He realized Kazō was the student who had suffered injury a few years back and had lost his left arm. His file indicated poor stamina and no major jutsu training since then, with the addition of low chakra reserves now that he could move his prosthetic. As chakra flow was a difficult task for an Academy student to master, Takato found the boy’s determination appealing.

When the final exams were over, two students had not graduated to genin. This threw the number of teams off, since there would be one genin without teammates. Takato joined the other teachers to discuss how they would handle the situation. Some thought they should drop the lowest scoring genin and have them remain with the two who failed for another year. Others brought up Kazō’s situation. Although the boy was starting to excel in traps and manipulation of tools with wire, he still lacked some of the basics due to his injury. Takato brought up Kazō’s chakra flow abilities, but the others said it only weakened his reserves to the point where fighting would be difficult past the genin level. A few teachers thought ending his ninja career altogether was the best course of action, though Takato was among those who thought otherwise. They soon agreed that it would be beneficial to hold Kazō back a year with the other two and see if he would be able to strengthen his abilities enough to warrant becoming a genin.

From what he had seen of the boy, Takato questioned the decision. He felt Kazō could, given time and training, work things out to successfully complete missions. However, a student needed to be dropped and Kazō was the best choice. In order to prevent this, Takato asked to teach the boy himself. He would do so without two other students and ensure the boy would make it further. Realizing he would not back down, they agreed to place Kazō under Takato’s tutelage. As for the two who failed, they would just make sure enough new students arrived in order to create full teams. Although they would give Kazō this chance, Takato was technically not a standard sensei. He would continue to receive jōnin level missions and train the boy on his own time. Since they had doubts about Kazō’s chances, they wouldn’t lose a jōnin’s availability because he wanted to train possible lost cause. Takato agreed to these terms and was made Kazō’s sensei.

During the next few days, Takato discovered Oda Inagara and Avaki. Both boys were normal villagers, but Takato saw some potential in them. He decided to have them join Kazō to form a complete team. With this, Kazō could have a chance of living a successful shinobi life, especially since a three man team was needed to participate in the Chūnin Exams. Also, the time needed to train the two new boys from scratch would allow Kazō to train more and build his skills.

Kazō was angered at the news of his team. He didn’t want the treatment out of pity. After Takato explained everything, the genin was willing to cooperate. He aided Takato in teaching Oda and Avaki to tap into their chakra. When training was fully underway, Takato would challenge Kazō’s wood manipulation with his earth release. He soon began sparring with Oda, who was showing a fair amount of skill in taijutsu, thanks to his unique ability. He was tough on the three because he wanted them to grow quickly, mostly so Kazō wouldn’t feel left behind compared to the rest of his generation. Kazō originally felt embarrassed with the false team and didn’t want his other friends to see him. Takato willingly gave into this sentiment and conducted most of their training outside of the village where they could also learn about other people and customs. Soon Team Takato was prepared to move forward with the Chūnin Exams; and only a year later than the other, official teams of Kusagakure.

Reference
Takato Kishimi is an OC created by KusaNin.