Kazō Yakusho

Kazō Yakusho (やくしょ カゾウ, Yakusho Kazō) is a tokubetsu jōnin and trap expert of Kusagakure. He is a member of Team Yon-Tao with Oda Inagara and Kasumi Mitou. He and Oda are also former members of Team Takato with Avaki. Through years of training, he has acquired the ability to manipulate any preexisting wooden object, including his wooden prosthetic arm. He eventually ends his shinobi career to become Kusa's head diplomat. During this time, he marries Kasumi and forms the Yakusho clan. They have one son, Shinji Yakusho.

Background
Kazō began his Academy years as a fairly average student. His academic grades, however, were above average thanks to his father, Kōza. As a scientist, his father made sure Kazō didn’t fall behind in his studies. His knowledge in math and geometry even helped his shurikenjutsu by increasing his aiming skills. Hand seals were his only other redeeming skill, one that few in the class could beat. Outside of this, he was quite lax with his training. He would often spend his time in the back of the classroom with his best friend, Kentaro Shida, making jokes about the teacher’s lectures. When not in class, Kazō would hang out with Kentaro and the twins, Ide and Buto. Soon Kasumi joined their group, albeit out of sheer boredom.

While Kazō was still in the Academy, he met Giriko. The man was introduced as a colleague of his father, and as the two men worked, Kazō would watch from the corner of their lab. The time was short lived, as Giriko was found to be a rogue scientist. A logbook was discovered, detailing failed experiments involving children from the different villages he had lived in. Kazō had unknowingly become the newest experiment. He had been injected with a parasite in the hopes that he would survive long enough for the parasite to fully evolve. Before the experiment got too far, his father found out and was able to stop it. However, Kazō lost his lower left arm to the parasite in the process.

After recovering, Kazō was fitted with a simple wooden prosthetic; a solid piece carved into the basic shape of an arm. His father thought it easier for him, only eight at the time, to adapt to life with one arm instead of suffering through the rehabilitation process a more complex prosthetic would give. However, this made Kazō’s ninja career collapse. Without his arm and still an Academy student, Kazō’s training came to a halt. In an effort to not fall behind, Kazō began experimenting with wire-shuriken manipulation. His already proficient skill with aiming allowed him to easily learn the ins and outs of this new skill, even with one arm.

However, the rest of his training still faltered. Without his arm, his coordination with taijutsu suffered. It wasn’t until an accident with Kasumi that he realized his prosthetic could be used as a shield during a fight. Gaining his confidence back, Kazō continued his training, becoming more skilled with wires and with using his disability to his advantage. His teachers tried to prevent this, asking him what he’d do if his prosthetic broke from taking damage like that. He knew they were right, but didn’t know what else to do.

During a lecture in class, Kazō learned about chakra flow and how it could be used with weapons. Using this concept, he began trying to make his chakra flow into his prosthetic. Three years later, by the time his graduation drew near, Kazō gained the ability to manipulate not only his wooden arm, but other wooden objects as well. Though he gained mobility again, he also acquired a loss. With the amount of chakra used up when manipulating his arm, Kazō’s reserves were drastically reduced. Even if he could function fully, he couldn’t last long in battle, making his chances of being a successful ninja fall once again.

When the genin were grouped, Kazō found himself under the command of Takato Kishimi. To his anger, the team was an unofficial one; created, he thought, just to give him the appearance of still being a ninja. His teammates, Oda Inagara and Avaki, were not fellow classmates of his. Instead, they were two normal villagers that Takato selected. Kazō refused to be saddled with false ninja out of pity. However, Takato revealed that he purposely created the false team to show those in charge that Kazō could still make it as a ninja. Not wanting them to end Kazō’s career, he said he would take full responsibility of the student, regardless of the outcome.

Kazō began training with Takato, as well as helping Oda and Avaki learn to tap into their chakra. During this time, Kazō never saw his other friends. He was too embarrassed of his false team and didn’t want the others to see him. Eventually Kazō got over this problem, though he still avoided his other friends. He began to enjoy being on his team and grew quite close to his new teammates. His skills with building traps increased to make up for the lack of solid chakra reserves. Team Takato began completing missions and were that much closer to being seen as an official team of the Hidden Grass Village.

Personality
Kazō has a fairly laid back attitude and tends to crack jokes whenever he sees an opening. What he sees as being witty, others tend to see as being a smartass. Nonetheless, his words have become an integral part of his fighting style. Known as Kusa’s Wooden Spider (草の木蜘蛛, Kusa no Mokugumo), his web of words is just as much of a trap as the physical ones he sets. His quick tongue can be quite useful outside of fighting as well. He can easily switch to a more diplomatic tone, becoming very polite and always speaking in such a way as to make it at least seem like he’s on the other person’s side. Avaki has even stated that Kazō could probably talk a hungry lion off of a carcass.

To match this trait, Kazō is a very good actor. He can easily fall into character, whether during a battle or just horsing around. He and Oda would often act out various hero/villain skits when not training. During missions, he may fall back on an act when fighting won’t work or if he’s bored enough. Once when building a trap, he made a giant spider out of wood. Wires served as its web and, when triggered, they caused the spider to move. Before having two enemy ninja be “swallowed” by the spider, Kazō actually hid inside of it so he could act like he got swallowed too. The spider used up a lot of chakra, but he was having too much fun to care.

Kazō can become easily annoyed, especially with Kasumi and her older sister, Seishi. In many cases, he can cover it up well. Even if it’s with a quip or smartass remark, his keeping face just shows more of his mastery over his words. However, if he can’t keep composed, he can come off as childish. One of the biggest challenges after losing his arm was not being written off as a ninja. Because of this, he hates being viewed as crippled, and will usually berate those who call him such. This happens when Seishi calls him a crippled smartass, emphasizing the smartass; to which he angrily responded that he wasn’t a cripple.

When the situation arises, Kazō shows a more serious side. While he usually tries to fight without using up all his chakra, he can unleash a substantial barrage with his wood manipulation. Having wooden canisters with extra chakra stored in them allows him the opportunity to fight without holding back. He is also not above using tricks in battle, many times using them for a chance to fall back and set a trap.

Appearance
Kazō is of average height, with short, spiky, brown hair and squinted eyes, all features he shares with his father. His most distinguishing feature is a wooden prosthetic replacing his left arm, below the elbow. It was originally a carved and sanded piece, but has since grown a layer of bark from Kazō’s chakra allowing it to grow. When viewing a cross-section of the arm, the number of rings will actually change to match his age, though he seems to find this embarrassing.

Due to the constant use of the arm, Kazō is told by his doctor to change his prosthetic every month to ensure the stump stays healthy. He stops by the hospital each month to receive a sterile wooden base to attach to his stump. As long as he's careful, he can change the piece on his own and manipulate it to stitch itself in place. He then lets his chakra grow the rest of the arm from the base.

In Part I, Kazō’s outfit consisted of a brown, short-sleeved shirt with a high collar and black pants. His wooden arm was concealed by wrappings and he wore black gloves. Being a Kusagakure genin, his headband was dark green. Like most ninja, he wore a shuriken holster on his right leg and had a pouch on his back waist.

During Part II, Kazō wears a tan long-sleeved shirt with loose sleeves. His pants and headband are now dark brown, and he no longer wraps up his arm, though his sleeve now covers most of it. He also carries an extra pouch on his waist; one for his wooden arsenal and the other for his trap equipment. When aiding the Trap and Capture Squad, Kazō removes his shirt to reveal the beige flak jacket of Kusa’s ANBU, with a dark brown undershirt. He wears a boar shaped mask with orange rings around the eyes and an orange stripe down the center. He also has a sword to go with the attire, though he rarely carries it. His codename is Roto (ロト).

Two years after the Forth Shinobi World War, around the same time as events in The Last: Naruto the Movie, Kazō hasn't changed much. He now wears a dark brown shirt with matching pants. His shirt has six silver clasps down the front. He no longer seems to wear his headband or other ninja equipment. Years later, Kazō has grown in stature and now sports a short goatee. He wears a tan haori trimmed in green with a brown shirt underneath. The back of the haori is emblazoned with Kusa's symbol, and the sleeves bear the symbol of the Yakusho clan.

Wood Manipulation and Chakra Flow
Kazō’s main jutsu revolves around manipulation of his wooden prosthetic arm. In one year, he learned to channel his chakra into it as if it were a ninja tool. After about a year and a half of work he was able to use the chakra as a source of energy for the wood, allowing it to move and grow. Since it was his chakra, he could control the growth, gaining full manipulation of the arm. Six more months of practice allowed him to take the skill a step further and channel his chakra outside of his body to manipulate other wooden objects including trees. As a genin, Kazō kept a constant flow of chakra in his arm. He was afraid that if he lost his focus, he would have trouble moving it again. After the time skip, he has gotten better at doing things with one arm. He now tends to stop all flow of chakra to his arm when he’s not in battle. This has increased his reserves somewhat in the process.

Since the skill began as just chakra flow, manipulation of his arm doesn’t require hand seals. He has, however, made a sequence for manipulating other wooden objects and to manipulate his arm past its normal functions. He uses his arm for a multitude of techniques; the most common being wooden tendrils to entangle or strike an opponent. He also likes to shoot the tendrils into the ground and make a barrage of roots erupt.

At times Kazō may have a larger flow of chakra through his body, and by extension, his arm. This is usually in moments of anger or fear. Since he’s not in full control of his emotions in these cases, the wood will actually use this excess chakra to grow on its own. This often causes a splintering effect, with small spike-like bits of wood flaring out from the prosthetic. This may be his instincts unconsciously affecting the growth, almost like the defensive traits of some animals in the wild.

Just before becoming a genin, Kazō picked up carving, a hobby he has shown to be quite skilled at. With this skill, he has made a supply of wooden kunai knives and shuriken which he can manipulate in battle. One quirk he shows while carving is a complete absorption in the task. Until he’s finished, he tends to not notice anyone around him, usually to their annoyance.

Since even using his arm for daily tasks eats up chakra, Kazō began carrying around wooden canisters the size of a common scroll. These canisters are hollow and he can store chakra inside to use when he runs low. He also carries around much smaller versions in which he stores a larger quantity of chakra. The pressure built up from so much chakra in a small space makes these canisters unstable. If punctured or activated by Kazō, the chakra will burst out, causing the canister to explode in a spray of wooden shrapnel. He has the ability to control the direction and magnitude of the blast as the chakra flows into the shrapnel.

Trap Expert
Due to his low chakra reserves, Kazō began to make traps to stop opponents without wasting chakra. Before long, he became an expert trapper-nin. The majority of his traps start with his words. By controlling the communication between him and the opponent, Kazō can effectively talk the enemy into the physical trap. Depending on the situation, he can even set up a trap right in front of the enemy while distracting them with his words. When building a trap, Kazō works backwards. He begins where the enemy will end up after being caught. He then builds the trap back in such a way that the enemy’s actions at each point would be delegated by either the trap, or by Kazō’s words. Once started, the trap has a domino effect; each part leading into the other with little room for the opponent to get out of it. He seems to get a lot of enjoyment out of building traps, even showing child-like excitement before his more elaborate traps are sprung. One of the things he can’t stand is not being able to use a trap he’s set. If a battle ends without his trap being sprung, he may sulk about it until he can see it activate.

After the time skip, Kazō discovered a new way to build traps. This method allows Kazō to stay inside the trap radius. By remaining inside, Kazō can easily lure the foe inside the radius too. They rarely notice they’ve entered a trap zone because it’s built in such a way that only Kazō can spring it. When triggered, the trap will whirl around him, encompassing the opponent in a torrent of wires and kunai. The wires move quickly enough to slice into the opponent while also entangling them. Although it’s preferred that the enemy be standing in a specific spot within the radius for maximum damage, there is no escaping once inside. Kazō remains in the center of the trap where he won’t be caught up in it. He always has to be alert while in the trap, as the wires can whip around, mere inches from his body. Kazō calls it Antlion Web, because of its resemblance to the creature’s traps.

Intelligence and Quick Wit
Kazō has shown a fair amount of intelligence, both in and out of battle. Thanks to his father, he has a well rounded knowledge in mathematics and some sciences. This became useful when Kazō began making traps to use in battle. Besides academics, Kazō shows considerable skill in speaking. Though he usually uses it for wisecracks, his talent is on par with those in diplomatic professions. When arriving in Kyōyōami Forest, his quick words made Kuenaigumo, one of the strongest of the spiders, allow him to sign a summoning contract with them.

In battle these skills are used, not to analyze or predict the opponent’s next moves, but to make their moves for them. At the beginning of every battle, he will start conversing with the opponent in order to sway their actions. As the opponents are never the same, the direction of the conversation can go anywhere. Kazō is able to find the best way of forcing the opponent’s moves, even acting like a weakling or a klutz if it need be. This can be seen during his preliminary match of the Chūnin Exams. After seeing how cocky his opponent was, he willingly let it be known that he was almost out of chakra. For the rest of the match, Kazō just ran around haphazardly, dodging the enemy’s shurikenjutsu. His only attack, which had failed from him acting tired and clumsy, became the trap. By continually criticizing his opponent’s skills while showing no skill himself, Kazō angered him enough to try close combat. When the opponent reached the target for the trap, Kazō told him to stop, saying he was done with the fight. Surprised at the audacity, since Kazō had only run around the whole time, the opponent actually stopped long enough for the trap to trigger.

Summoning Jutsu
After teaming up with the Trap and Capture Squad, Kazō was shown the summoning jutsu. Per his captain’s orders he performed the jutsu, purposely not being told a contract was needed first. This teleported him to the home of the animal he had a natural affinity for. There he signed a contract with the spiders of Kyōyōami Forest.

Depending on the amount of chakra used, spiders of varying strengths can be summoned. However, due to his low chakra, Kazō can only summon either small or weaker spiders. To summon more powerful spiders, Kazō must also use his chakra canisters. This is seen with Arakuregumo and Kuenaigumo, who require one and three canisters respectively. He doesn’t summon these two very often because of how dangerous they can be for him as well as his opponent. He will only summon Kuenaigumo if he is in need of an ally with her sheer size. Any other time, he will summon Arakuregumo instead, though this is still only if he’s out of chakra and cannot avoid direct combat. In a normal case he will usually summon the weaker, and less dangerous, Juhigumo or Amigumo. He will also summon Sensuigumo if he intends to be in the water.

Other Skills
Since Kazō had only one good arm for a large portion of his Academy days, he practiced very little ninjutsu. Given the ability to, he would probably have a fair amount of it in his arsenal, as his skill with seals before the loss was one of the best in his class. His taijutsu also suffered greatly without his arm. Not only was his coordination impaired, but his stamina was cut substantially. Through training with Oda and Avaki, his skills have improved in this field. Working with the Trap and Capture Squad, Kazō has picked up a few ANBU skills as well. At his request, he has been taught some rudimentary medical ninjutsu by his captain.

Other than basic ninjutsu skills, Kazō has created his own jutsu over the time skip. After realizing his arm will actually drip resin if the wood is left wounded, he learned to convert his chakra into resin that he can spit from his mouth. Being exposed to air will cause the resin to harden, thus making it a useful technique for capturing an opponent. He can also force the resin out of his arm to get the same effect, usually having wooden tendrils tunnel underground and making the resin seep up below the enemy. The resin is flammable, allowing Kazō to combine it with Oda’s fire style and accelerate the flames.

Kazō has also shown the use deceit on occasion. While on an S-ranked mission, Kazō introduced the use of blood pouches: membrane pouches created by his father that he filled with animal blood. He had gone to the village head in hopes of letting all Grass shinobi use them to trick enemies in battle. During the mission, Oda and Kasumi came across what they believed to be Kazō’s decapitated body, a trick meant for the enemy. Later, Kazō used the pouches again to fake Oda’s death; not telling either of them the plan, however, as Kasumi watched Kazō kill Oda. Kazō was able to complete the mission and went back to the village with a distraught Kasumi, where she learned about the pouches. While Kazō went to bring Oda back, the village head told Kasumi he would ban the blood pouches from use in the village due to the problems it would clearly cause among allies. Kazō still seems to keep some on hand, though he has yet to really use them again.

Chūnin Exam Arc
 For the first test, Kazō was able to answer a few questions on his own thanks to his studies. Once he realized Oda had discovered the purpose of the exam, he began gathering information too. Using his Wood Manipulation, he was able to copy answers from his neighbor based on how they pressed into the paper and desk surface behind it. He was then able to pass the answers on to Avaki.

During the second exam, Kazō had planned on getting his team to the tower quickly by creating wooden platforms above the tree line, away from the obstacles below. However, they were soon stopped by two shinobi from the Grass Village. Kazō recognized them as teammates of Shiore, an older shinobi he had seen a few times around the village. Talking their way out proved futile, as the older genin attacked them relentlessly. The two, secretly Orochimaru’s followers in disguise, were clearly above genin level and they left Team Takato, battered and bruised, in the dirt. Luckily, the two neglected to take their earth scroll, apparently having other objectives to deal with. Kazō and his team continued to the tower with little more opposition and acquired a heaven scroll in the process.

For his preliminary match, Kazō went up against a genin from the Waterfall Village. After making it through the forest, Kazō had little chakra left and told his opponent as much. Before he could attack with some wooden shuriken, his opponent swiftly struck with shurikenjutsu of his own, causing Kazō to stagger off balance and his weapons to veer off course and imbed themselves into the ceiling. At this point Kazō began running around the arena, all the while dodging the opponent’s shuriken that could home in on his position. As the match progressed, Kazō was able to anger his opponent enough with criticism to try close combat. Before he could get very far, Kazō “accidentally” revealed a net trap he had set up while pretending to trip earlier on. Taking Kazō for a fool, the opponent stopped his advance and prepared for a new attack. Kazō then told him he was bored of the fight. This surprised him long enough for a large log to swing down and slam him into the wall. The two wooden shuriken from the start of the fight had been connected with a wire. One gripped the ceiling as the other grew into the log. Both were strategically placed as a part of Kazō’s trap, with his words and actions luring the opponent into position.

The third test pitted Kazō against Oda. At first the fight seemed one sided with Oda effortlessly evading Kazō’s taijutsu and landing blow after blow. In an attempt to block one of the strikes, Kazō’s left arm was broken, revealing the shattered prosthetic under the wrappings. Somewhat embarrassed at the reveal of the disability, Kazō grew the arm back and began launching blasts of wooden shrapnel at Oda, finishing with a root erupting from the ground and slamming Oda in the face. With his teammate stunned, Kazō fell back and hid among the trees to set a trap. He soon continued his wooden barrage causing the whole arena to become uneven with roots and branches. Oda avoided most of the onslaught and forced Kazō out in the open. Now out of chakra, Kazō tripped a wire, causing hundreds of blunted wooden projectiles to assault his teammate. He had hoped it would be enough; however, Oda struggled to his feet. After throwing a shuriken almost all the way through Kazō’s prosthetic, he began making his way over the jagged terrain. Kazō, unable to do much more, began retreating from his advancing friend. Another step and the wood beneath Oda gave way for Kazō’s last trap, causing him to fall into the tangle of roots below his feet. With Oda too worn out to escape, Kazō was declared the winner. Both of them were taken to the infirmary afterwards.

Konoha Crush Arc
 As the destruction of the Leaf Village began, Kazō and Oda were led out of the infirmary by Yon-Tao, a jōnin from Kusa who had come to see the finals. They left the Leaf Village in silence due to a falling-out after their match. Oda felt Kazō had held back by using blunted projectiles and setting up the pitfall. They made a pact to count the match as a draw. In exchange, Oda would challenge Kazō again; this time without either of them holding back. Kazō agreed, realizing he had humiliated Oda with his tactics.

Master's Training Arc
 Kazō returned to his home after the Chūnin Exams, where he was greeted by his four year old sister, Miko. His parents had wondered where he’d been for over a month. As normal villagers, they were not aware of just how big the Exams were. Kazō told them of his endeavor but decided to leave out the reason for the Exam’s cancellation.

A few days later, Takato took the three genin to a location on the outskirts of the village. There they would receive more training from another teacher. Takato had some higher ranked missions to take care of, so he could not continue their training himself. Since the team was an unofficial one, Takato wasn’t treated as a regular sensei and trained the three on his own time when able. Now that they participated in the Chūnin Exams, they would need further training that he couldn’t give them on his own.

Junko Yokuchi would be their acting sensei for their new training assignment. She had been a top shinobi in her youth and was now an old woman who mostly kept to herself. She agreed to train them however, having apparently trained a younger Takato and two others for a while during his genin years.

The major part of the training was chakra control. Since both Kazō and Oda had lower reserves, they would need to learn to use less chakra when executing techniques. One of the challenges took place at a nearby lake. Junko threw three rings onto the water’s surface and told the boys to retrieve them. Kazō thought it was a joke, and joined Avaki at the water’s edge. Before they could jump in, Junko added another obstacle. Using the summoning technique, she brought a pack of sharks to the lake. Kazō no longer wished to go through with the challenge, saying he wasn’t going to get eaten. However, Avaki faced the challenge, forcing Kazō to reluctantly follow. Manipulating his prosthetic, he was able to keep the sharks at bay and grab his ring. Back on the shore, Junko commended the two, taking note of Kazō’s apparent phobia and bravery in the face of it.

For completing the task, Kazō joined Avaki as they followed Junko for dinner. Oda had to remain behind until he finished the task as well. Since Oda couldn’t swim, Kazō and Avaki were worried he wouldn’t be able to do it. That night they heard noises coming from the lake. They rushed out to find Oda actually keeping his balance on the water’s surface. Once he got the ring, Kazō and Avaki stepped in to help. Avaki swam out to get Oda while Kazō kept the sharks at bay from the shore. Later, they found out the goal of the exercise was to learn to walk on water. By doing this, keeping away from the sharks would be easier.

Their training continued, Kazō getting better at reserving chakra all the while. He wasn’t too fond of Junko’s training and his sharp tongue wasn’t very appreciated by her either. As a form of punishment, Junko used her Water Barrier Technique to encase Kazō in a hollow shell of water. To stop him from breaking out and to have it serve as a punishment, she summoned a small shark to swim around in the barrier, causing Kazō to cower inside. The shark being able to talk to him only made it worse. Punishments like this caused Kazō to treat Junko almost like a drill sergeant. Whenever she gave orders, he would snap to attention and obey, cautious of his words and actions. It seemed to please her that she could whip him into shape so easily. With all three members of Team Takato properly taking on their training, they were able to grow stronger.

Mountain Trial Arc
 After finishing a mission, Team Takato passed through a small village at the base of a mountain. As a way to gain some experience, Takato told the genin to stay there a while and talk to the villagers. Hearing from people with different views and customs could teach the boys some life lessons. He left to make his report while Kazō and the others looked around.

They entered a tavern in the middle of the village and were greeted by a group of men drinking. Realizing the boys were Grass ninja, they began telling them about a trial that’s held in their village. Referring to the mountain above them, the trial called for a person to traverse the dangerous terrain and reach a set of caves hidden within. The trial was made solely for bragging rights in the village, but recently, some people had not returned. Even if they couldn’t reach the caves, everyone always turned around and made it back safely. Since the boys were ninja, the men figured they would have no problem making it through. Avaki decided he would take the challenge, looking into the disappearances on the way.

Before heading out, a group of villagers were brought over to keep with tradition and see him off. Since the trial was for one person at a time, Kazō and Oda remained behind. Oda had stayed with the drinking men while Kazō decided to take a nap in a pile of straw outside of a building. A while later, he woke up, realizing a very large man was towering over him. Next, a small girl popped out from the pile where he laid. The big man above him was revealed to be a large boy younger than Kazō. He never spoke, but was the young girl’s best friend. Since Kazō had stumbled upon one of their play areas, he was forced into their games. As the day dragged on, Kazō was brought to the girl’s house to share a snack. Her grandmother was an eccentric old woman with a creepy vibe. The snack reflected this, as it was a strange dish made to look like human eyeballs. The children happily played with the snack with Kazō eventually giving in and joining their strange fun. As they ate, the girl’s grandmother told Kazō of the village’s history, including information on some of those who had completed the mountain trial.

What Kazō learned about the mountain made him suspect there was something unnatural about the trial. To him, it seemed like a person was somehow involved in creating some of the difficulties a challenger faced. He realized nobody in the village saw it that way and he hoped Avaki would be able to find something to prove his theory. While he waited for Avaki to return, he followed the two kids around and tried to gather more information from other adults nearby.

When Avaki finally returned from the trial, he brought the few people who had gone missing. He told Kazō and Oda that someone had captured those who tried to complete the challenge. Avaki had fought the man, but he fled down the other side of the mountain when he couldn't win. After hearing this, the tavern men Oda had spent time with began celebrating the victory, saying it was another tale to add to the ones they had been told earlier. Avaki wanted to return to the summit to make sure the man was really gone, so Kazō and Oda joined him.

At the peak, they found him moving among the rocks. Before they could do anything, he detonated the paper bombs he set. The blast knocked the three of them from the mountain. As they fell, they tried to stay together. However, they began falling in separate directions and couldn't stop it. Kazō created wooden spheres to surround each of them and they plummeted to the ground.

Solo Missions Arc
 Having crash landed after being separated from his teammates, Kazō found himself surrounded by a tribe of women. Greeting them earned him a view of arrows pointed at his face. He was taken into a building and thrown into a prison cell, but not before having his tools and headband confiscated. As his captor locked the door, he began wrapping a gash on his head from the crash with the bandages on his prosthetic. Noticing his one-handed attempt, the woman reentered the cell and started wrapping up his head herself. A bit taken aback, Kazō said the women there must actually be nice, even with the imprisonment actions. A sharp swat to his wound was her response.

Kazō soon found himself talking to an old man in the cell across from him. The man told him of the many people imprisoned there. Although he was unsure of the purpose, he knew their captors would occasionally pull someone from their cell and they would not return. The inmates weren’t treated harshly while they waited, but the unknown fate of those chosen made them worry.

Before Kazō could figure out a plan of escape, another prisoner was chosen. It was the man he had been talking to the whole time. Not knowing what would happen to the man, Kazō didn’t want to let him be taken while he did nothing. After they took the man away, Kazō broke out of his cell. Before leaving, he noticed all the other prisoners around him. Realizing he couldn’t leave them there, he began his liberation. Using his wood manipulation, he created an air duct shaped escape route for them. Since it ran across the ceiling, he was able to have it burrow through the wall and move above the heads of the guards. As the people made their way out, Kazō broke down the door and started looking for the old man and his ninja supplies. Using stealth helped him avoid confrontation almost entirely and he only used his manipulation a few times.

Finding his stuff, he eventually made it to the upper rooms. At the top, he found the man, tied up and being dragged into a large room. Kazō freed the man and created a similar escape route for him. Entering the room, he sealed the door with a thick wooden wall and confronted those inside. Sitting in a large chair in the center of the room was the apparent leader of the tribe of women. Surprised to see such a young boy reach the room, she had her guards stand down. Kazō then explained what he had done up until that point, saying it would have taken little effort to do more damage to her people. He proposed a peace treaty of sorts. Although he was just a genin, the woman listened to his appeal. She eventually agreed to stop the imprisonment of others in exchange for Kazō leaving her domain intact and not having any military power get involved. He then took his leave and tried to find his teammates.

Noble Family Arc
 Taking on their first C-ranked mission, Team Takato was tasked with escorting a caravan to its home village. It wasn’t a dangerous mission, but the caravan just wanted to be safe. Unlike most of their previous missions, Takato was actually accompanying them. However, he was really handling a separate mission that just happened to be on the way. Midway through the trip, Takato went off on his own and left Kazō and his teammates to continue without him. As the trip dragged on, Kazō’s boredom grew. The group they were guarding didn’t talk to them much. The only important thing they told the genin was to stay out of the valuable supplies they were carrying. Although Kazō was curious as to what they were hiding, he knew enough to keep his curiosity in check.

While stopping for the night, the three genin patrolled the surrounding area. Kazō returned to see Oda sneaking over to one of the carts. Avaki had noticed as well, and hurried over to stop him. Kazō was about to side with Avaki, but seeing Oda’s reaction to the cart’s contents made him realize something was wrong. Jumping up, he looked inside to see the cart was completely empty, except for a young woman tied up with rope. When Avaki saw the girl inside, both Kazō and Oda knew he would want to get her out of there. They both prepared to work up a distraction, using a game of rock-paper-scissors to see who would play which role.

Having lost, Kazō would play the part of injured. Oda helped him over to the campsite while he let his wrapped-up prosthetic hang limp. Oda asked if they had an antidote to heal Kazō’s “poisoned” wound. Obviously lacking it, Oda’s only option was to amputate Kazō’s arm. Telling the others to hold him down, Oda pushed Kazō’s prosthetic into the campfire. Not actually feeling anything, Kazō fell into the role well enough, and the group was so preoccupied with the act that Avaki slipped away unnoticed.

Once Kazō’s prosthetic was burned down to ashes, Oda said he would take him to the nearby river to clean up the wound. He told them not to worry and that, as ninja, they were prepared to handle unfortunate situations like this. He then carried a passed out Kazō away. At the river, Kazō said he would either find Takato or return to the village to report the deception their mission had entailed. He left Oda to go after Avaki and help the woman. Not able to find their sensei, Kazō returned to the village. Later he heard about the rest of the adventure from his teammates after they returned.

Sleeping Battle Arc
 While Oda and Avaki were off on a D-ranked mission, Kazō was handling a challenge of his own. Passing through one of the many forests around the Grass village, he came across members of Konoha’s ANBU Black Ops. They had been looking for him for most of the day and led him to their camp nearby. Inside the tent, Kazō found Ibiki Morino, the proctor from the first stage of the Chūnin Exams. He was there to question Kazō about his wood manipulation ability. As far as the Leaf knew, only the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, could use the unique wood release. Annoyed at their actions, Kazō resorted to his standard method of handling situations. Not liking his smartass responses, they decided to delve into his mind to get the answers they desired.

Inside Kazō’s head, a forest he was standing in began to be manipulated on its own. In his attempt to control it, his prosthetic began growing on its own too. Afraid of his inability to control his own body, Kazō released his chakra, causing his prosthetic to rip off of his arm. The pain from the action broke the jutsu he was under, and he awoke with the surprised ANBU around him. Among them was one with a cat shaped mask covered in green and red markings. It was Tenzō, the only ninja with Hashirama’s cells and Kekkei Genkai at his disposal. The wood user had created the illusion Kazō had been under.

After the illusion broke, the ANBU chased a scared Kazō out of the tent. Since he knew the terrain better, Kazō was able to make it into the village, and headed for the village head’s office. Busting through the door, he interrupted the head’s discussion with Takato. Seeing his subordinate standing there, bleeding, Takato stepped in. The ANBU had made it to the office door and stopped. With several ninja arriving behind them, the ANBU decided to give up their mission, realizing Kazō’s jutsu wasn't wood release after all. After explaining their motives, they were allowed to leave without any major problems. Though relatively unharmed after getting his arm taken care of, Kazō developed a strong dislike for the ANBU.

Shadows of the Past Arc
 Given a new B-ranked mission, Kazō traveled with Oda, Avaki and Takato to a location near the border with the Land of Fire. They were to visit a prison set up there. Some inmates had managed to escape, and ninja from both the Grass and Leaf were asked to help collect them. Team Takato was given information on an inmate when they arrived. It was Odaiba Inagara, Oda’s father. Upon seeing the photo, Oda took off in the direction his father had escaped. Takato hurried after the boy with Avaki, telling Kazō to stay and get any other information. While waiting, Kazō heard complaints coming from another ninja. Kazō recognized him as the loud-mouthed and flashy ninja, Naruto Uzumaki, from the Chūnin Exams.

Walking over to him, Kazō learned the other genin was sent on this mission alone by the Leaf’s new Hokage and it was apparently a “lame mission”. Before Naruto headed off, Kazō took a look at the information he was given. The photo was of an older man that Kazō recognized. Taking the file, he ran off in the direction Naruto was about to go, with the confused Leaf ninja running after him. When asked if he knew the man in the photo, Kazō said the man was the reason he lost his arm.

In a flashback, a young Kazō answers a knock at his door to find the man from the photo holding an armful of scrolls and other supplies. After sharing some witty banter with the boy, the man introduces himself as Giriko, and after a bit of fumbling with his supplies, shook Kazō’s hand. He was there to work on a project with Kazō’s father.

For the next few weeks, Kazō would hang around his father’s lab in their basement. He watched as the two men worked and even got to help with some of the tests. After his Academy classes one day, Kazō returned home to find his father and Giriko not there. The supplies that they had been working with were cleaned up and only a notebook was lying out. Looking at the cover, he noticed it was Giriko’s. He decided to visit his father’s work to see if Giriko was there.

On the way, Kazō began feeling a sharp pain in his left hand. The pain grew as he got closer. Stopping to check his hand, he saw something squirm under his skin, moving further up his arm. Now frightened, he tried to hurry and find his father. He didn’t get very far and collapsed in the middle of the road.

When he awoke, he found himself in the hospital with his father. Remembering what happened, he noticed that, not only was the pain gone, but he couldn’t feel his hand at all. His father tried to stop him as he pulled the blanket away. His arm, below the elbow, was gone. Over the next month or so, Kazō recovered. He was eventually fitted with a prosthetic made out of a solid piece of wood. He had difficulty doing daily tasks and began sulking around the house, knowing his ninja career was clearly over.

It wasn’t until a few years later that his father told him what had happened. Giriko had been behind the incident. When Kazō first met the man, he had injected a parasite into the boy’s hand. The notebook he had found described other similar experiments done to children in other villages. Kōza had not shown his son the contents of the notebook, however, as it was too much for the child to see. Giriko had disappeared soon after the events happened, as he apparently did after all the experiments.

Reaching a clearing, Kazō and Naruto found Giriko. Telling Naruto to keep hidden, he confronted the scientist. Giriko was surprised to see Kazō, and even expressed relief. Unlike his other experiments, he had actually grown attached to the boy during their time together. When he took note Kazō’s wrapped up arm, Kazō responded by manipulating it and revealing the wood beneath. Giriko seemed genuinely impressed with the genin’s growth. He then revealed the results of all his work and released a parasite that was the size of a small animal. After releasing it, Giriko continued his escape. Naruto jumped out to follow him, but the parasite attacked. Kazō blocked it and was startled to see it burrow its way through his prosthetic. He told Naruto to capture Giriko since the creature would devour him from the inside out if he touched it.

Before they could make any moves, a gigantic version of the parasite appeared where Giriko was. As Kazō struggled to contain the small one, Naruto decided to face one giant with another. Gamabunta was summoned and berated Naruto for calling him. Kazō was surprised to see such a technique come from a goofball like Naruto. He joined the other genin after killing his target. Using his diplomatic skills, Kazō was able to ease the toad’s annoyance and explain the mission. With his large tantō in hand, Gamabunta was able to keep away from the parasite’s devouring mouth and kill it. Giriko was swiftly recaptured, saying he may need to run experiments on more inmates to fix flaws in his creation. Kazō collected the remains of the smaller creature to give to his father for testing. He then headed off to find his team.

Kusa's Unofficial Team Arc
 While passing through one of Kusa’s side streets, Kazō and Avaki spot a young villager leading a ninja towards one of the forests surrounding the village. The ninja was Naruto Uzumaki from the Leaf. They asked what he was doing in their village, and were told he was on an escort mission. Since he was the only ninja available at the time, Tsunade had to send just him on the mission. He was to escort a man from Kusa into the Land of Fire. The young girl was the man’s daughter, Rika Inoue. She was taking Naruto to her father’s shop while he collected more supplies.

Before Kazō could walk away, Avaki asked if they would be able to help on the mission. Kazō tried to explain that it would require getting clearance from the Village Head to work a cooperative mission, but Avaki wouldn’t back down and told him to get it sorted out. While he was gone, Avaki took Naruto and Rika to get something to eat. During the meal Avaki explained that he and Oda were technically not real ninja.

In a flashback, a newly graduated Kazō walks into a nearby forest. There he sees Oda for the first time. After some waiting, Avaki and Takato arrive. Takato then explains that the four of them will form Team Takato. Kazō took a moment to take the information in and realized what was happening. He was being put on a fake team because of his disability. This angered him and he spoke out against the team-up. He wasn’t sure if he was madder at the false team, or the fact that the higher ups weren’t being straight forward with him. He refused to be saddled with two fake ninja.

Takato told him what really happened. He explained that Kazō would have been dropped as a ninja if he hadn’t stepped in and taken the boy’s ninja career into his own hands. In order to properly train, Kazō would need two teammates to help him. They were a ragtag group, but it was necessary to allow Kazō to continue as a shinobi. Takato then gave Oda and Avaki a headband to officially establish the team.

The three genin began their training. Kazō helped the other two tap into their chakra supply first. He then began switching between Oda and Takato for sparing partners. Oda needed more practice with his Chakra Skeleton ability, and Kazō’s lowered coordination skills proved to be a good match-up for it. Takato pushed his ninjutsu skills by using earth release against his wood manipulation. They spend most of their time outside of the village so Kazō could avoid his Academy friends. Even though he had agreed to the team, he was still embarrassed about being on it.

More of their training is shown, with the three genin growing in strength. While setting up camp one night, Kazō found out that Oda enjoyed making up skits as much as he did. They played out a scene with Oda as a Yakuza boss and Kazō as a man in debt. They eventually got Avaki to join in as a thug who cuts of Kazō’s left arm for the debt. They continued to mess around until Takato returned and berated them.

One year later, Kazō and his team finished their training. They had completed a few missions over this time thanks to Takato getting permission for the unofficial team. Kazō had grown quite attached to his new teammates and was no longer embarrassed to be with them. They were now ready to take on their first real challenge. Their unofficial team would finally face real ninja in the Chūnin Exams.

In the present, Kazō returns and the group heads off for the shop of Rika’s father. On the way, Kazō recalled something he heard as he went to see the Village Head. There had been news of a jōnin level missing-nin from Ishigakure causing trouble. If he was found, the sighting should be reported instead of trying to face him alone.

Exiting the forest, they stepped out onto a cart path with a shop on the other side of the road. As they were crossing, a man exited the building. Kazō felt uneasy as they passed him, and quietly told the group they should head back to the village. Before they could do anything, something rolled past their feet. They scattered as the small object exploded. The man they passed had stopped and began putting a ninja headband on his head. It was the Ishi ninja named Ryō Uchimono.

Kazō, Avaki and Naruto faced off against the jōnin while Rika hid inside the building. His main form of attack was using unusual boxes that exploded. The boxes were different sizes with larger ones making bigger explosions, though most of the ones he used made explosions smaller than a paper bomb. Because the blast radius was so small, Ryō could toss them around without risking much damage to himself.

The three genin struggled to keep up with their opponent. Naruto’s shadow clone technique seemed to help at first, but Ryō just switched to a method that spread the damage to all the clones. Kazō’s wood manipulation got a few good hits, but he would eventually run out of chakra that way. With a blast, the two of them were sent flying through the mushroom covered trees next to the path.

Getting to his feet, Kazō saw Naruto ahead of him. Looking past the Leaf ninja, he saw a bright flash of light. He poured out his chakra and created a wooden wall in front of Naruto and another in front of himself. Just then, an explosion rocked the forest. When the blast subsided, Kazō ran to the path. He passed Naruto who sat in shock, staring at a fragment of pipe that had pierced through the wooden wall and almost into his head. After the smoke cleared, Kazō saw the building had been reduced to a pile of rubble. He hurried over to a ball of charred chains with Naruto following close behind. Kazō ran past it and began digging through the wreckage. Naruto began pulling the chains apart to find Rika inside. He then noticed the other end of the chains a few feet away which were the ends that Avaki held in his hands. They were charred and broken, and Avaki was nowhere to be seen.

Realizing what had happened, Naruto watched as Kazō tried in vain to find his friend. Just then, Shizune and a squad of Leaf ninja appeared, saying they had been on a mission looking for Ryō when they heard the noise. They grabbed Ryō, who had gotten caught in the blast after being tied up by Avaki’s chains. Naruto couldn’t take it and tried to lash out; his Kyūbi chakra welling up inside of him. Shizune stopped him, saying it was over. With effort, he pushed down his chakra and looked to Kazō who was kneeling in the rubble.

As they carried Ryō away, a tendril of wood burst from the ground and wrapped around Ryō. Shizune called out to Kazō and the tendril stopped short of the unconscious shinobi’s head. She said they needed Ryō alive for their mission. She then took Naruto and Rika with her to give Kazō some time alone.

That evening a funeral was held near the blast site. Since Avaki was not a regular ninja, and was basically unknown to the main forces, the funeral was a small one. Only his family and friends, Kazō’s family, Oda’s mother, Rika and her parents, the Village Head, and the Leaf ninja involved were in attendance. While this was going on, Kazō was not there. Instead, he was deeper in the forest, blaming himself for Avaki’s death and not being able to protect him. His father walked over and told him he was not to blame. He said Kazō had done a lot to get to where he was with a disability and shouldn’t expect himself to be able to do everything. After seeing the wooden walls, he pointed out that Kazō had still protected others. Both he and Naruto were still alive thanks to his skills.

For the next few weeks, Kazō and Oda coped with their loss. It would take some time before they were ready to continue training and missions.

Naruto's Back: Friends' Tracks Arc
 During a flashback, Kazō and Oda are told that the Leaf Village is finally holding another Chūnin Exam after two years. Takato takes them to see the Village Head, but they aren't sure how they will be allowed to participate with only two members. Upon entering, they see two other teams waiting. Both teams were of a younger year than Kazō, so he didn't recognize any of them. He also noticed a girl standing by herself on the other side of the room. He walked over and asked where her teammates were, but she told him they had already been promoted years ago. Without them, she had to wait until she could find two extra members. She had to skip the year Kazō took the test, and now waited to see if there was a chance this time around.

She asked Kazō what year he graduated and he said a year or two after her. She thought about it, and asked if his class was the one that had two students fail. When he said yes, she asked what happened to the third student that would have been on their team. Kazō knew that he was the student, and began embellishing a tale of how successful the student became without teammates. The girl looked skeptical, but said she should try to find that student to join her team. Kazō then said that the student was aware of her problem, and already planed on joining her with another member. Oda stepped forward and Kazō said that he was the student in question. The girl agreed to team up with them, introducing herself as Ritsu. The Village Head spoke to the three teams and agreed that Kazō and Oda would join Ritsu. They then left to go to the Leaf Village.

Upon arriving, they are told to go into separate rooms. Before separating, Kazō gave Oda and Ritsu a wooden block. Ritsu was confused by the gift, but kept it with her as she and Oda went to the upstairs rooms. Kazō entered his room to find Neji, Hinata, and Chōji also in there. The test began, with Shikamaru explaining the rules. After everyone discussed the proper way to pass, Kazō manipulated the two wooden blocks to tell Oda and Ritsu which number to do. When Neji and Sajin began striking the wall, Kazō sent a message to his teammates telling them what was happening. When the test was finished, he used the wooden blocks again to make sure the others put no name on the back of their paper.

After passing the first test, Kazō made it to Sunagakure with his team. They are seen sitting with the other Grass genin at dinner. Kazō is surprised at how big Burami is, and starts talking to him. It's cut short when Burami gets up to begin eating. Some of the Konoha ninja Kazō knew had tried to stop him from getting sweat all over the food, but only ended up causing a fight to break out. Oda wanted to join in, but Kazō told them not to, and instead, took the time to observe the other teams' skills.



Growth Arc
 Part II opens with the students of Konoha’s Team Guy trying to recapture the rogue Ishi-nin, Ryō Uchimono. Due to his bombs, they have trouble stopping him. He reaches the base of a cliff and sees Kazō and Oda at the top. The two had left their village when they heard Ryō was on the move. Since they were not under any direct orders, they knew they couldn’t interfere with the Leaf’s mission. If they failed, however, Kazō and Oda were not going to let the shinobi get away.

After a bit more fighting, it looked like Team Guy could not stop Ryō. Takato then appeared, with direct orders for his team to eliminate the rogue. Allowing Oda to get the first shot, Kazō jumped down and waited. Oda knocked Ryō over to him after breaking both his arms. With the man who killed his friend lying at his feet, Kazō took out one of his wooden chakra bombs and shoved it into Ryō’s mouth. He then slammed the man’s jaw shut, making it the only thing keeping the canister from exploding.

He told Ryō he had been storing chakra in that specific canister ever since Avaki’s death. He said it was a fitting death for him, but unlike his bombs, Kazō’s could be controlled in direction and magnitude, preventing the excessive damage that Ryō’s tended to cause. The canister exploded and the mass of wood that burst forth completely tore apart Ryō’s body, leaving no trace of it behind. Takato told a gecko he had summoned to relay the execution he observed back to Kusa. Team Takato had finally avenged their teammate’s death.

In various flashbacks, some of Team Takato’s training over the time skip is shown. One such case shows Kazō learning the Resin Bullet technique in order to combine with Oda’s newly acquired fire release. Originally Kazō had tried to create the technique using isopropyl alcohol from his father’s lab. He would hold some in his mouth and spit it out with Oda’s fire. Before they could attempt it, Takato appeared and asked what they were doing. This caused Kazō to accidently swallow the chemical. In response, Takato struck the boy’s back with chakra in his palm and the surge of chakra through his body made the chemical forcefully launch from his mouth. As he sat there puking, Takato berated them for doing something so stupid.

Another time shows Kazō and Oda in a forest with Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyūga from Konoha. They were aiding the Leaf ninja in capturing some bandits that had fled toward Kusa. While Oda went with Kiba and Hinata, Kazō stayed with Shino. After hearing the stoic ninja refer to bugs one too many times, he decided to get away and start building some traps. Before he left, he asked Shino if bugs made traps. Shino told him it was mostly spiders and their webs that fit that category, but that they were arachnids, not bugs. Risking letting the bug user talk more, he asked if any spiders could make webs that “attacked” the prey instead of being stationary. Shino responded by saying it would be a pointless method, as the spider would get caught up in the moving web too.

Intrigued, Kazō bet Shino that he could make a trap doing just that. Normally his traps are set with him a distance away and he directs an opponent into them. If he could remain inside the trap, he could have a new way of fighting. After a few hours, he returned to the campsite to find Hinata back. She noted all the scratches on him but he told her not to worry about it, tossing a few coins to Shino as he said it. When he commented that it was only half of the bet, Kazō told him he wasn’t done trying.

The next day, they located the bandits. They split up to surround them. Kazō went off ahead of the group to try his trap again. Before the others could close in, the bandits had reached where Kazō was setting up. Upon seeing him, the bandits decide to attack quickly and continue on their way. When they got close to Kazō’s location, he cut a wire next to him and his new trap kicked in. Wires and kunai whirled around him and entangled the opponents, dragging them deeper in as they tried to escape. Afterwards, Shino commented how the trap resembled the antlion’s traps. When Kazō asked why he didn’t tell him of it sooner, he explained that he didn’t think it was relevant, because the antlion trap uses dirt and Kazō’s traps use wire like a spider.

Race to the Artifact Arc
 Kazō is seen sitting in a tree near the spot where Avaki was killed. Keeping out of sight, he sees Rika visiting the spot. Oda walks past on his way to the village’s Academy and speaks to her. When he tells her he is being allowed to lead a genin team, she reveals that she is actually a ninja now and hopes she will get him as a sensei. Kazō hears her mention that she became a ninja so she could protect others, like Avaki had for her. As she heads off, Oda calls out to Kazō. He asks if he’s ok with this new turn of events, but Kazō says it’s probably better that Oda become her sensei instead of him.

A few days later, he is seen on a joint mission with Konoha. He and Oda joined Asuma, Ino, Hinata, Shino, Neji, and Tenten. The eight man squad would be searching for an artifact supposedly located somewhere in the Land of Flora. The Leaf ninja told them that they weren’t the only ones looking for the object. Kazō and Oda knew the land better, and Kazō also had his trapping skills. Both of these would help the Leaf find the artifact first.

That evening, the two quads set up camp for the night. Asuma told Kazō to set up tripwires around the area, with extra around a narrow road nearby. Before leaving, Oda told him to not go overboard. He returned a few hours later, after the others turned in for the night, and climbed up a tree where he fell asleep.

The next morning he climbed down to see Shino and Tenten waiting. Tenten told him the others had gone on without them to avoid wasting time. After a moment, Kazō remembered his traps and attempted to run off and check on them. He was cut off by Shino who grabbed his collar, bugs crawling out of his sleeve, and said they needed to catch up with the others. Upon seeing the insects, Kazō asked if he could borrow some.

The two follow Kazō to the nearby road. He stops on a branch and excitedly says the trap was still there. Spanning the road was a giant wooden spider hung on a web made of trap wires. Shino understood Kazō’s question, and sent out some beetles to sit on the web and more to scan the area. Before long, they heard voices coming down the path.

 

New Team Arc
 Kazō and Oda are seen aiding the Leaf Village once again. This time they were acting more as guides since the mission was taking place in the Land of Flora. The Leaf squads consisted of the new Team 7 and Kakashi Hatake. Before they would be given info on the mission, Kakashi wanted them to get closer to where they were headed. Their first order of business was to meet up with another Grass ninja to complete the eight man squad. They decided to split up on the way, in order to have the smaller four-man cells. Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura went with Oda, while Yamato and Sai went with Kazō. Yamato had begun objecting to the team up with Kazō, but decided to keep his thoughts to himself. As they moved, Kazō implied that he knew Yamato was one of the ANBU who interrogated him in the past.

Reaching the meeting point, they waited for their last member. Kazō began speculating who it would be, naming some former classmates and hoping it would be them. They heard someone call out to them and Kazō recognized the voice. He immediately became disappointed and began asking for anyone but her. The others looked over as a girl walked into the clearing, introducing herself as Kasumi Mitou.

Upon seeing Kazō, she became excited and ran over to him, saying she hadn’t seen him in a long time and that Kinsei said he was probably dead. Kazō continued to stand there unenthusiastically as she talked to him more. After a bit, she grabbed his left arm, noting that he no longer covered it up. She began bending the prosthetic, saying she always wanted to see something. Annoyed, Kazō severed part of the arm for her. She looked at the inside rings and happily commented that he was indeed seventeen years old. Thoroughly embarrassed, Kazō snatched the piece from her. Naruto and Sakura held in laughter with Yamato commenting that it was quite an unusual trait and Sai wondering if Kazō was part plant.

Kasumi asked who Kazō’s teammates were and finally noticed Oda standing nearby. After walking around him, looking him over, she declared that she had no idea who he was. Kazō yanked her back by her braid and said he wasn’t in the Academy with them.

The two squads moved out. By the time they reached the location they wanted, night was beginning to fall. Yamato created a house out of wood for them to camp in. Kasumi was shocked to see another wood based technique, and asked if Kazō could make a house like that. Yamato tried to ease the awkwardness of the question by explaining that he combines earth and water chakra for his techniques.

They all gathered in one of the rooms to discuss the mission. [mission details later] As everyone filed out of the room, Kazō remained seated. Yamato saw this and also stayed behind. Before he could say anything about their past encounter, Kazō assured him that he was willing to leave things as they were and move on. He understood Yamato was just following orders. The two left the room on better terms and went to bed.

The next morning, Kazō followed Kasumi down to the meeting room. Oda followed behind and they walked in silence. After a bit, Kazō asked why Kasumi was being so quiet, compared to the day before. She answered by kicking him in the face and sending him flying across the room. As she stalked away, Oda began telling him they probably shouldn’t hang around her much once the mission was done and Kazō agreed. Sakura walked over to them saying she and Kasumi had gotten up early and stopped by the Grass Village to get a few more supplies before they got too far into the mission. While there, they saw Kasumi’s sister, who told them Kazō had always been around the village. Sakura berated him for avoiding his friends for so long and walked away. Kazō laid there for a while before joining the others again.

 

After the mission, Kazō and Oda are summoned to see the Village Head. There they find Kasumi and her sensei, Yon-Tao waiting as well. Kazō also sees Ide and Buto for the first time in five years. He learns that they had been Kasumi’s old teammates and now were promoted to bodyguards for the Village Head.

The Village Head explained the reason for calling them. Since Team Takato lost a member and two members of Team Yon-Tao were promoted, the two teams would combine. Since Kazō and Oda were essentially on an unofficial team to begin with, they would be the replacements for Ide and Buto. They would now be officially members of the new Team Yon-Tao. Although annoyed and angered at this new revelation, they didn’t have much of a choice.

Later they meet with Takato to discuss the outcome. Takato explains that it’s actually a good thing. The two were finally achieving what Takato wanted for them. Kazō knew he was right, but like Oda, he wouldn’t even be where he was without Team Takato. He was given a second chance because of it and couldn’t bring himself to accept that they were done.

Team Takato, “Kusa’s Unofficial Team”, was then disbanded.

Kusa History Arc
 In a flashback, Kazō is shown in the Academy. The first day is shown with the teacher taking role. Two of the students, Ide and Buto, confuse him with their identical appearance. Kazō took note of the two and figured he’d get along well with them. When Kentaro was called, Kazō saw he was a fairly quiet boy. He decided to help him open up more by lightening the mood in the class. When he was called, he implied the teacher had saved the best for last; ignoring that the role was done alphabetically. This was shot down, however, when Kinsei was called right after. Kinsei agreed that the best was saved for last; much to Kazō’s annoyance.

Kentaro began hanging around Kazō along with Ide and Buto. Kazō became the group’s leader and they did much of their training together. During lectures Kazō sat with Kentaro in the back and made jokes about the lessons. A few times Kentaro would laugh too loudly and get scolded by their teacher. One day, Kazō arrived to find Kasumi occupying his seat. She said she wanted in on the fun they were having in such a boring class. As the lecture went on, Kazō found things to make jokes about. Although Kasumi realized the intent, she didn’t find them as funny as Kentaro did. The last one didn’t even make sense to her, and she said so, much to Kazō’s shock. He tried rewording the joke, but it still slid past her. Now thoroughly annoyed, Kazō attempted to break down the joke, bit by bit. Before he could get very far, the teacher berated him for not paying attention. It was the first time Kazō had ever been caught, as well as the first thing Kasumi actually found funny. Later in the day, Kazō’s group faced Kinsei’s group in a game of Ninja; a mix of tag and hide and seek. They had made it a habit to face each other often in order to see who was better. This day, Kasumi decided to join. Kazō was immediately against the idea, but Kasumi was not going to pass up the chance to be on a team with Kinsei. By the end of the game, only Kazō and Buto were left standing. Before the others could gather to call the game, Kentaro and Ide continued it by acting like zombies. It was all the incentive Kazō needed to get into character. Kinsei and Kasumi stood by as their charade progressed. Though Kinsei was annoyed by their stupidity, Kasumi actually enjoyed the act.

As the days went by, Kasumi continued to hang around their group. As much as she annoyed them and they annoyed her, she continued to stay in their company. Kazō still hadn’t fully accepted her and tended to make fun of her through wit. Kasumi’s best friend Inari was also against it, and preferred they hang out with Kinsei instead.

Kazō is next seen coming into class late with his left arm bound, after the events with Giriko. It was his first time back in a few months. The teacher had already heard of what happened, and continued the lesson without asking about it. For the next few days, Kazō wasn’t acting like his normal self. His training was faltering and his friends did what they could to try and cheer him up.

While walking home after class, Kazō and Kentaro see another young boy being picked on by three older boys who were genin. Kentaro spoke out against them and Kazō was surprised to see him so confident. The genin switched their focus to Kentaro and the young boy ran away. For the past few days Kazō hadn’t had much hope for his ninja career, but now that Kentaro was in a fight, he couldn’t let that stop him. He held off one of the genin while Kentaro fought the leader. The genin were stronger and Kazō could only do so much with one arm. Soon a jōnin arrived to scold the genin and he brought Kazō and Kentaro to the Academy to be punished as well. When the teacher heard the whole story, he let them go.

Kazō continued to train as best he could. His father had invented a mechanical training pillar for him to train with. It had various moving parts that were meant as obstacles when climbing the pillar. With only one arm, Kazō could no longer make it to the top. As he lay at the base of it, his friends arrived. He tried to cover up his depression like he usually did. Kasumi saw that the others weren’t as playful whenever they saw Kazō like this, and she got annoyed. Picking up a stick, she walked over to Kazō who was holding his prosthetic in his hand. Telling him to snap out of it, she tried to bonk him on the head with the stick. Instead, he had thrown up his arms in defense and the stick smacked off of the wooden prosthetic. Kasumi began fervently apologizing, saying she hadn’t meant to do that, while Kazō sat there. He hadn’t felt a thing and realized that could actually be used to his advantage. Attempting the pillar again, he reached the top by using his arm as a shield.

Gaining his confidence back, Kazō continued his training, becoming more skilled with setting traps and with using his disability to his advantage. During a lecture in class, he learned about chakra flow and how it could be used with weapons. Racing home after class, he began trying to make his chakra flow into his prosthetic. Since he was still in the Academy, this proved difficult and many days he’d make no progress at all.

Just before their graduation, Kazō finally completed his training. Not only could he move his hand again, but also manipulate other wooden objects. His reserves were lowered because of this, and he started having trouble with the more stamina-based lessons. After graduating, he is seen walking into a forest to meet Takato, Oda, and Avaki for the first time.

Trap and Capture Squad Arc
 Kazō is seen outside of a forest with three of Kusa’s ANBU members. The captain is Kasumi’s sister, Seishi. She tells him that they are the Trap and Capture Squad. With Kazō’s trap-making skills, she believes he would be an asset to their group and will give aid on their bigger missions. She gives him a uniform, saying that even though he wasn’t a full member, their work with capturing targets alive would call for wearing a mask.

For the next few days, Seishi begins training Kazō in some basic ANBU skills. During this time, he also begins training with Kasumi and Yon-Tao. He found most of the training annoying and Yon-Tao didn’t seem too thrilled with training him either.

Later, Seishi tells Kazō the hand seals for a new technique. Instead of telling him what it would do, she had him perform it. He was then teleported to Kyōyōami Forest, the home of the spiders. Realizing he had been tricked, he began walking through the forest. Within a few steps, he noticed a wire set in front of him. It was harder to see than usual wires and he realized it was a silk thread. The further he moved, the more silk he had to navigate around.

A few hours later, Kazō finally exited the forest to find himself at the base of a large mountain. Upon entering a tunnel in the mountain, he saw more silk coating the walls. Reaching a more spacious room, he began sensing presences in the shadows around him. A gigantic spider then appeared in front of him. He saw the red hourglass of a black widow as it descended.

Kazō figured he was supposed to learn to summon these creatures, but he wasn’t going to get killed over it. Using a more diplomatic tone, he spoke to the spider who introduced herself as Kuenaigumo. He learned she was one of the more powerful spiders living in the forest. She asked why he was there and he did his best to act unassuming. She told him a contract would be needed if he was to use the summoning technique, but she wouldn’t sign it with just anybody.

He agreed with her view and even listed reasons she shouldn’t sign one with him, so as not to anger her. Eventually she decided to allow him to go through with it. Another spider named Amigumo appeared with a large scroll. Kazō signed his name next to a name that was crossed out. Kuenaigumo explained that the other ninja, Kidomaru, was now dead.

Before Kazō left, Kuenaigumo asked if the other spiders gave him any trouble on the way in. This gave him a surge of overconfidence, but he didn’t let it show. Since he had maneuvered around all the webbing outside, none of the spiders had noticed him. Instead, he again downplayed his abilities, saying they were good at keeping watch on him and that he never noticed they were there. He then left the cavern to return home. At the cave entrance, he noticed a tiny spider blending into his prosthetic. It was Juhigumo, who explained the best path out of the forest and how Kazō could reach the Grass Village from there.

Team Ginta Arc
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%" style="float:left" data-expandtext="show" data-collapsetext="hide"> After a long day of sparing, Team Yon-Tao sat outside the training grounds to rest. Kazō was dozing to replenish his chakra. Later, he heard some people talking over him asking if he was dead. Recognizing the voices, he looked up to see Kentaro. Inari was with him, though Kazō hadn’t recognized her with her hair cut short. He learned that Kentaro had been placed on Team Ginta with Inari and Kinsei after graduating.

Once they had a chance to catch up, Kentaro asked Kazō to fight him. He said he wanted to show Kazō how much he had changed since their Academy days. Kentaro started by pulling out a shuriken. Kazō told him it wouldn’t do much, but Kentaro continued. Using wind natured chakra, he began spinning the shuriken in the palm of his hand. He then tilted the stream, causing the shuriken to topple over itself and spin as a sphere instead of a disc. He tossed it to Kazō who caught it in his left hand. The shuriken bore through his hand and embedded itself in the ground. Now more excited for the battle, Kazō took the challenge more seriously. Kentaro put up a fair fight with various wind techniques, but Kazō was able to incapacitate him with his wood manipulation.

With the fight over, Team Ginta brought up their real reason for stopping by. They were heading out on a mission and were allowed to bring a few extra members along. It was a B-rank mission and they wouldn’t have any jōnin with them since Ginta had to help elsewhere. The three agreed to help and asked who would take the lead. Oda said he would, since he was at jōnin level. Inari refused, however, and said she would lead instead. Their argument led to them facing off in a fight.

Kazō watched as the two fought and almost stepped in, along with Kinsei, when Oda started using his fire release. Oda had technically won, but agreed that Inari was faster than he was. He conceded leadership to her, but Kinsei decided to take over to appease everyone.

 

Team Oda Arc
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%" style="float:left" data-expandtext="show" data-collapsetext="hide"> While Oda is out leading a mission with his new team, Kazō and Kasumi travel to the Sand Village. There they meet up with Temari and Kankurō. The two Sand shinobi are with a group of children who show interest in Kankurō’s puppets. After Kazō and Kasumi speak to them a bit, one of the children notice Kazō’s wooden arm. The child asks him if he’s a puppet, much to his annoyance and Kasumi’s amusement. Kankurō sends out a few chakra strings and moves Kazō’s arm around. Startled by this, Kazō has a brief flashback of his interrogation by the Leaf’s ANBU. In retaliation, he released his chakra and his prosthetic popped off, just as he had done back then. Embarrassed, he left the group. Near the village gate, he saw Oda and his genin team passing by on their way back to Kusa. He asked Oda to switch places with him on the mission and left to take Oda’s subordinates back to the Grass Village.

A few days later, Miko finds Kazō and excitedly leads him to a tree. He watches as she focuses herself and performs the hand seals for his wood manipulation. Amused, he waits to see what she’d do. Normally he would manipulate things for her while she pretended to do it herself. A moment later, a tiny tendril of wood began growing from the tree. He stared in shock as his little sister, who wasn’t even a ninja, used a jutsu that had taken him years to achieve.

The Ultimatum Arc
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%" style="float:left" data-expandtext="show" data-collapsetext="hide"> Kazō is shown packing supplies as he prepares for a mission. He meets with Oda and Kasumi to discuss the details. The mission is S-ranked, and requires them to find an important set of scrolls that were stolen. Intel they had received said that the scrolls were now in the possession of a former Grass ninja. His name was Yasu, and he had abandoned the village before Kazō was even born. Although Yasu wasn’t very powerful, he was definitely one of the more dangerous people to come out of Kusa. He was an expert of the human mind and could effortlessly force a person’s actions to his liking. What made him dangerous was his enjoyment of things like ultimatums. Most ended with ninja torturing or even killing their own teammates. Because of this, whenever he got his hands on something, he usually kept it.

Knowing these traits, Kazō said they should first split up to find him. Once found, they would regroup to make a plan. Oda went off and brought his genin students to help search, saying they would return to the village once Yasu was found. Kazō separated from the group and began searching. He eventually came across another ninja affiliated with Yasu. He was a large man with armor covering most of his body. In order to find out where Yasu was hiding, Kazō would need to follow this new opponent.

Oda and Kasumi are shown meeting up after a few hours of searching. They head off in the direction Kazō went, in the hopes that he found something. As they got close to a clearing, Kasumi noticed something and ran ahead. Oda told his subordinates to stay there as he followed her. They came into the clearing to find Kazō on the ground near a river. As they run over, they find blood everywhere, and Kasumi cries out when she realizes what had happened to him. He had been decapitated, with his head apparently falling into the river. The ninja Kazō had fought appeared with some others, and Oda angrily faced him.

A soaked Kazō walks back to the clearing to find Oda about to kill the ninja and Kasumi crying over his “dead body”. He calls out to them, and they stare in shock as he walks over to Kasumi and picks up the fake body. It was made of wood, and was dressed in his blood drenched clothes. In their shock, the wounded enemies were able to slink away. Oda came up to Kazō and punched him before embracing him, saying he thought he was the last of Team Takato left.

While Oda’s subordinates returned to the village, the three sat and decided what to do. Kazō explained that he had wanted to fake his death against the ninja and hide down river. He would then sneak back to follow his opponent back to Yasu. He had hoped to face Yasu alone, saying it would benefit to not have too many pieces for him to manipulate. Oda and Kasumi refused to let him go alone, now that they were there.

Upon meeting Yasu, Kazō tells his team to not speak. They would need to play things very carefully if they were to get through the confrontation alive, let alone with the scrolls. Living up to his nickname, Kazō is able to maneuver his way through Yasu’s mind games. However, even he could not hold up for long. He was given a choice; kill a teammate or lose his chance of leaving with the scrolls. Kasumi said they would never do that, but was cut short by Kazō. Staring at the scrolls in Yasu’s hand, he said they couldn’t leave without them. Still watching Yasu, Kazō lifted his left arm towards Oda and apologized. A slab of wood shot out and slammed a surprised Oda into the wall, crushing him.

Seeing the blood pooling below the slab seemed to please Yasu, and he tossed the scrolls to Kazō. Kasumi stood staring at the spot, unable to comprehend what she just saw. After a moment, she turned on Kazō, asking what he just did to his friend. Kazō flexed his prosthetic, and a tendril of wood emerged from the ground to bind and gag her. Keeping his eyes on Yasu the whole time, he grabs Kasumi and escapes, setting off a number of his wooden bombs in the process.

They stop after a while. Kazō tries to calm himself down from the ordeal, but ends up puking. After settling his stomach, he grabs Kasumi and continues to flee back to the village. When they get close to the gate, he frees Kasumi and runs on ahead. In anger, she chases him to the Village Head’s office. Before he can make it, she reaches him and knocks him through one of the office windows. She prepares to strike him more, but the Village Head speaks up and asks Kazō about the mission.

He angrily throws the scrolls at the Head and asks if the team is ready. The Head says yes and Kazō heads out to the roof. Kasumi chases him there to find a team of ANBU waiting. Still angered and confused, she pleads with him to tell her why he killed Oda. In response, Kazō lifted his left arm and repeated the actions from earlier. A slab of wood slammed into the wall and blood splattered out once more. Kazō dons his ANBU attire and the group leaves. As the Village Head tells Kasumi of Kazō’s new blood pouch tool, Kazō and the ANBU go to retrieve Oda. Yasu was nowhere to be found, and Kazō opened the wooden slab to find Oda shaken, but unharmed. They quickly head back to the village together.

Toueizu Clan Arc
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%" style="float:left" data-expandtext="show" data-collapsetext="hide"> Kazō is seen in a forest without his prosthetic and saying things hadn’t gone as he expected. After a few moments, his surroundings change, and he is sitting in an empty room unharmed. A man nearby commented on the mess he had made, seeing trap equipment strewn about and a large brown widow spider on the wall.

Earlier, Team Yon-Tao is called on to test a new training method. They arrive to find Seishi, Ginta, and three others waiting for them. The three others are introduced as members of the Toueizu clan; a clan of archivist-nin that would be making a record of the day’s events with their special memory techniques. Kazō, Oda, and Kasumi were told they would go through a genjutsu simulation created by Ginta. These simulations would be Kusa’s attempt to prepare for various fighting styles. If they have info on someone, the simulated battle would serve as good training for the real thing.

The first test would be using simulations of ninja who were already dead. Having acquired data from the Leaf Village, they would simulate the Sound Four. The three entered separate rooms with a Toueizu member and their simulation began.

Back in the present, Kazō exits his room and sees some medical ninja taking Oda away. Confused, they all enter Oda’s room where his archivist was waiting. Using a crystal prism, the archivist projected the events he had just recorded onto the wall. They watch Oda’s battle with Sakon and Ukon and learn Oda had actually created a new technique during the fight. He had used his fire natured chakra inside his body to fight the Sound ninja’s strange ability and ended up giving himself minor burns in the process. Since he was the one to do it, the burns remained after the genjutsu ended.

They watch Kazō’s battle with Tayuya next. The fight started off normally, with Kazō setting up a trap early on. Tayuya summoned her three Doki and he eventually incapacitates them with wood manipulation. Before Tayuya could play them free by entering her curse’s first state, Kazō managed to plug up her flute with wood. Growing cocky, Kazō decides to hold off on his trap and try close combat for a change.

He charges forward with his prosthetic manipulated into a weapon. This proves to be a poor idea when Tayuya enters second state and forcibly rips Kazō’s prosthetic from the socket. She continues to knock him around until he managed to slip past her and hide. Knowing he couldn’t lure her to his Antlion Web alone, he decides to summon a spider to distract her. He pulls out a chakra canister but is stopped by Tayuya. Seeing the canister, she took it from him and began shoving it down his throat. Biting the canister to release the chakra and using the blood from his wound, he summoned Arakuregumo.

As a spider, Arakuregumo could see that they were in a genjutsu, but Kazō told her to just play along and stall his illusionary opponent. He ran to his trap just as Tayuya got away and reached him. His trap activated and the Sound ninja was swept up in the torrent of wires and kunai.

After watching his fight, Kasumi’s fight with Kidomaru was shown. She took down his spider summon with her vines, but not before getting covered in spider guts and webbing. Using her absorption technique, she was able to drain Kidomaru before he could do serious harm to her.

Kusa's Prodigy Arc
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%" style="float:left" data-expandtext="show" data-collapsetext="hide"> Kazō receives a message on morning while still in his home. It tells him that Seishi had been severely injured and was in surgery. His family downstairs hears him curse and see him run out the door in full ANBU attire. He arrives at the hospital and finds Kasumi in a hallway crying. She asks if he can find out Seishi’s condition, but he says he’s just there to guard the room while the surgery happens. Kasumi starts to break down again and says she knows the ANBU dispose of their bodies, implying that was why Kazō was really there. He convinces her that Seishi will be fine and tells her to go back home and get some rest. When she leaves, he recalls past training where Seishi explained the need for disposing of bodies.

The next day, Kasumi returns to find Kazō outside the door and trap wires set throughout the hallway. The two wait until a doctor finally exits the room with good news. Seishi is fine and just needs to recover. Relieved, Kazō takes his trap down and heads out. Before leaving, one of the other Trap and Capture members arrive and say they will take over the guarding.

Hōzuki-jō Arc
WIP

Little Ninja Arc
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%" style="float:left" data-expandtext="show" data-collapsetext="hide"> Kazō is seen with Miko, explaining how to conserve what little chakra she has acquired. His main goal is showing her how to form a shield without using too much chakra. He carved a hanbō for her to manipulate when trees weren’t around. Although she asks about attacks, he refuses to show her any since she is so young and not even a ninja.

In a flashback, Takato tells Kazō, Oda, and Avaki that they will be traveling to the Land of Frost for a minor mission. When Kazō goes home, he tells Miko where he will be going. When she asks what it’s like there, he says there will be snow everywhere. This makes her jealous, and she begins to pout until their mother comes in. Miko asks if her mom will take her somewhere where there’s snow, but is turned down. Their mother leaves the room as Miko starts to throw a tantrum.

Kazō goes to his mother and asks if he can take Miko with him. He says their mission is minor and that his sensei will be there. She eventually gives in. Kazō returns to where his sister is pouting, scoops her up, and says she is being punished. She begins to fuss, but he continues. Her punishment, he says, is to be sent to a far off location where no one is around and she will be kept in a prison of snow. Hearing this, she became excited.

Team Takato and Miko reach Shimogakure where their mission will take place. Takato tells them it is more of a diplomatic mission, in that they will be keeping up their friendly relations with the Frost ninja. After spending some time with various people, a few women volunteer to take Miko outside to play. Team Takato continues as the day goes on and Miko eventually returns. Kazō excuses himself from the group and checks up on her, warming her cheeks in his hand. When they finally leave, Kazō carries a worn out Miko back home.

In the present, Kazō continues to teach Miko some wood manipulation. A few days later, he is seen outside, filling some of his wooden chakra bombs with chakra. Kasumi and Oda show up with Miko close behind. She asks what he’s doing and he quickly buries the bombs under a slab of wood; telling her not to worry about it. He walks away to talk to Oda and Kasumi while Miko tries to see what he hid. When he returns, he sees her getting into the spot. He pushes her aside as she accidently triggers some of the bombs, bringing them under control.

He scolds her for disobeying him and she argues with him. She says she just wants to learn more, but he still refuses. She asks him to stop treating her like a kid. He tells her she needs to do what she is told. She asks why and he says it’s because he’s her older brother. She continues to argue, saying that it didn’t mean she had to listen to him. In anger, he slapped her across the face. Instantly he realized his error, but could only stand in shock as she ran off, screaming that she hated him.

Kasumi went after her and Kazō sat in silence. Oda walked over and began trying to rationalize Miko’s actions. He told Kazō that Miko was still young and impressionable. That meant that she looked up to him, and since they were siblings, believed that his abilities must be genetic. He continues, explaining that Kazō had attempted wood manipulation without knowing if it would even work. When Miko was old enough to understand his challenge, Kazō was already mastering it. Seeing all this, she would obviously think it was innate for her. That mindset would have likely been what allowed her to do it so much faster than he did. And now that she could do something her idol could do, she wanted to know more.

Kasumi returned with Miko who ran over to Kazō and hugged him. She apologized for acting up and he apologized for being too strict with her. Later he is seen teaching her an offensive attack, telling her to only use it when he’s around.

Kazō is next seen with Oda, Kasumi, and Team Ginta as they walk to a small, nearby village. Miko joins them since it is just a D-rank. Technically Kazō’s team didn’t even need to go, but it made for a nice trip. While Team Ginta handled the mission, Miko would be able to see how a ninja works, firsthand.

They first visit a shrine near the village entrance. Inside, a few people seem to be praying. The group speaks to a woman who explains the purpose of the shrine. On one wall, an image is shown that represents the spirit of the shrine. A large bell hung next to the picture with a long rope attached to the clapper. People would come to the shrine to pray for things they were trying to find. When they found what they were looking for, they would ring the bell. Fascinated, Miko reached up to try it, but Kazō quickly pulled her away, giving her a stern look. After more exploring of the village, they hear a tale of a man who lived long ago. Instead of dying, his spirit took shelter in the land. The tale stated that the spirit gained special abilities by becoming one with nature.

After meeting those who hired them, they learned that a group of bandits had been causing some trouble the day before. Since they were already there, they agreed to take a look into it when their mission was done. Kazō made sure Miko remained at his side as they walked around the village. They soon found the bandits outside of the village, and swiftly took care of them. Kazō even let Miko hit one of them on the head with her hanbō after he snuck up on him.

Before heading back, Kasumi sensed a larger chakra signature. A suit of armor appeared, without a person inside, and seemed to lock on to their position. Kazō took Miko away and told her to go hide somewhere. Meanwhile, the Grass ninja led the new enemy away to fight it. It proved to be more than just armor, however, and revealed various weapons hidden inside of it that prevented most of their attacks from landing. The armor fended off their attacks for a bit longer and fled, leaving them worn out and confused.

Heading back, Kinsei thought he heard a voice. Looking around, He found a pile of earth and clay in a small humanoid shape. He implied it must be the man’s spirit they had heard about. The spirit was able to speak through telepathy when contact was made. Kinsei asked about the suit of armor but the spirit only said it could be dangerous to deal with. A small rock was unearthed that Kinsei carried in his pocket to keep in contact with the spirit.

Kazō hurried back to find Miko. When he did, he realized she had gotten hurt after the armor found her hiding. She didn’t have any wounds, but complained of severe pains. Kazō tried to comfort her as he carried her back to the small village. Unfortunately, before he could make it, the pain became too much and Miko died in his arms.

Rain had begun to fall, and the group took shelter in a small cavern nearby. Kasumi held Miko and waited near the entrance with Inari as Kazō tried to come to terms with what happened further in. After a time, the suit of armor returned. The group surrounded it and began attacking, but it was ineffective. Seeing Kazō sitting off to the side, vulnerable, the armor locked on to him and attacked.

Gripping his head, multiple weapons appeared from inside of it, ready to finish him. Reaching up, Kazō gently stuck his prosthetic inside the armor, holding an explosive tag he stole from Inari’s pouch. It detonated, destroying the armor from within. When the smoke cleared, Kazō was still there. He had made a wooden shield to take most of the blast. Oda and Kasumi ran over to him and Oda scolded him for almost killing himself. Kazō said he was trying to, but was too scared to go through with it. After Kasumi cleaned him up, he asked her if she could take Miko because he didn’t think he could face his parents.

Upon leaving the cavern, the earth spirit popped up from the ground. Kinsei told them that one of the spirit’s abilities would allow it to bring Miko back by sacrificing someone else. Kazō immediately volunteered to do it, but Kinsei stopped him, asking how Miko would handle not having a brother. Realizing he couldn’t do that to her, he became distraught once again.

A moment later, the spirit began trembling and collapsed. Kazō jumped up, pleading it to not to grant the wish. The pile of rocks remained still and Kazō waited. Nothing happened to him, but Kasumi gave a startled cry. Kazō ran over to see Miko waking up. As he sat with her, Kinsei looked at the stone he had. The kanji for ‘’will” appeared on it and the spirit’s voice said it had used to be human, so that meant it still had some freewill left to sacrifice itself. With Kazō crying over her, Miko asked if she had messed up. Surprised at her question, he said no, and that he was proud of her for being brave.

Kazō carried Miko back to the village. As the others reported on the bandits, he walked her around. They came to the shrine near the entrance and went inside. Kazō looked at the shrine spirit in a daze, snapping out of it when Miko lightly rang the bell. Looking up at it, he took her hand in his and gave the bell a strong ring. As they walked out, Miko waved to an old woman kneeling in prayer.

When they finally returned to the Grass Village late that night, Kazō took Miko into the forest, saying they’d go home in the morning. Miko said she didn’t want to try and be a ninja anymore. Relieved, Kazō said he wouldn’t let her even if she did. She asked if he would tell their parents what happened. He said they were both alive and well so their parents didn’t need to know. They slept in each others’ arms until morning.

Cost of Knowledge Arc
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%" style="float:left" data-expandtext="show" data-collapsetext="hide"> After learning that Giriko once more escaped prison, Kazō prepared to go after him. His father decided to go with him, saying he could help find the rogue scientist since he was a scientist himself. They stopped by the village’s archive room to collect any information they had on Giriko. Seishi was there and showed them what they had. The two left the village and headed for the Land of Frost, where Giriko was born.

Their long trip was uneventful until they reached the Land of Hot Water. They ran into a small group of ninja who attacked them. The ninja had an unusual weapon strapped to their arms that released a mist. Before Kazō could retaliate, his father called out for him to dodge. An explosion engulfed the spot where he had stood. His father said the tools sprayed a gas and ignited it. Kazō was able to handle most of the ninja and led his father away when he had an opening. They continued on for a while, but seemed to have lost their attackers.

Arriving at their destination, they began searching for anyone who knew of Giriko. Kazō’s father also wanted to find his original lab, in the hopes that he could learn more of his research and possibly find a way to stop it. Eventually they came across Giriko’s home and went inside. They found a hidden passage that led underground. Reaching the bottom, they found what looked like a mine shaft. Kazō was about to go on ahead to search the caverns quickly, but his father told him to stay close, as the cavern likely had ways of getting trespassers lost.

Navigating the caverns took a while and on several occasions Kazō had to rely on his wood manipulation to help them. Since his father could think like Giriko, he could predict many of the traps set, based on their surroundings. When they finally reached the lab, Kazō went in first to check for any dangers. Before he finished, one of the ninja from before appeared where his father was waiting. The ninja had followed them to get revenge for his comrades. Now that they were away from other people, he could finish them off. Although Kōza was on his own, he stood his ground. When the ninja pointed his weapon at him, Kōza just stood there and told Kazō to stay where he was. Using the tool, a stream of liquid splattered out onto the ground. The man was confused until Kōza explained that it was much colder in the Land of Frost. The cold temperature had condensed the gas into a liquid. Kazō then stepped in to finish the job.

Upon entering the lab, they found that much of Giriko’s supplies were still there. Kōza was confused by this, since Giriko hadn’t used the lab in at least a decade. Just then, a side entrance opened and Giriko stepped inside. The old scientist was surprised to see his former colleague. Before Kazō could do anything, his father told him to go through the door behind Giriko. More of his research would likely be down there. Kazō left his father to confront Giriko alone. Although Kazō didn’t understand most of the research and equipment he found, he decided that destroying it was the best course of action. After returning, he found Giriko on the ground with his father standing over him. Giriko had his cloak ripped open to show a whittled away body. Beneath the skin, several things squirmed around. Kazō figured they were more of the parasites that Giriko created. His father said they would leave, as Giriko could not do much in his current state. Before leaving, they destroyed more of the research in the room, shattering Giriko’s scientific breakthroughs.

Old Chef Arc
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%" style="float:left" data-expandtext="show" data-collapsetext="hide"> Kazō and Oda enter a tavern and see Inari waiting on customers. They’re surprised to see her doing such a thing and wait for her to notice them. She does, and berates Kazō, telling him to keep it a secret or she will shove a spoon in his eye.

He ensures her he won’t, and instead, sits at the counter where an older man is cleaning dishes. He speaks to the man, bringing up information he has about his past. The man follows Kazō outside to talk more. Unfortunately, the man tried to run and Oda came out to cut him off. Kazō continued to talk to the man. He explained that he came to see him personally, because he knew the man was trying to change his ways. That was why he showed up without his ninja equipment or headband. He was trying to solve the problem without making a scene of it.

The man became too nervous, however, and tried to flee again by jumping up to the roof. Kazō and Oda followed him, along with Inari, who tried to stop the two, claiming that the man was good. Kentaro and Seishi appeared and Inari tried to get Kentaro to side with her. The old man told her to stop, saying that they were justified in their actions. He explained to her the trouble he had once gotten himself into. He became a chef of the tavern in an attempt to start new. He also said he was glad Inari worked for him.

Kazō and Seishi took the man, promising they would find a way to lessen his punishment, since he had changed his ways.

Sea Beast Arc
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%" style="float:left" data-expandtext="show" data-collapsetext="hide"> Kazō appears in a tree near where Oda and Kasumi are sparing. He complains about the ANBU missions he has to help with as Seishi walks up to the group. She says she has a new “mission” for them, but Kazō rolls over on the branch and ignores her. She tells them the location of the mission and Kasumi gets excited, to the confusion of Kazō and Oda.

The group is next seen on a boat with Kentaro, Inari, Kinsei, and Oda’s genin. They are heading to an island for some time off.

 

Land of Spirits Arc
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%" style="float:left" data-expandtext="show" data-collapsetext="hide"> Kazō and Kasumi are seen walking through a narrow catacomb. They discuss their mission Yon-Tao gave them of finding some kind of artifact. As they walk, they come across an old coffin. Kazō stood back as Kasumi opened it. She screamed as Oda jumped out. The two boys burst into laughter as an embarrassed Kasumi stormed off.

They continued on until they came across another coffin. Kasumi opened it a almost jumped when she saw someone else inside. She snapped at Kazō and Oda for doing it again as she reached inside. The two tried to stop her, but it was too late. The body she grabbed fell apart as she pulled it out, leaving a decayed mess at her feet. They stared in shock for a while and Kasumi threw up. Kazō closed the coffin up with wood and Kasumi said she wanted to leave. They left the catacomb to report to Yon-Tao. He told them he would head back to the Grass Village, but they could stay in the village they were visiting to enjoy a festival that was being held.

As they walked around the village, they came across a man with an armload of supplies stacked high. They asked if he needed help, but he insisted he was fine. He explained that he was an artist, of sorts. His art centered around other people, and he had a knack for seeing a design just by looking at someone. They reached a row of tents and the man set his supplies down. Finally taking a look at the three, he stopped on Oda. Excitedly, he asked to use Oda for a design. Kazō and Kasumi pushed him forward and were told to stop by later to see him.

Looking around, they saw that the festival was centered around spirits and monsters. Many people were even dresses as various creatures. When they came back to the tent, they saw Oda had been painted as a skeleton. With his natural features, he pulled it off well. When he sat up, he even cracked his back to add to the effect. They remained with the artist until that evening.

 

Return Home Arc
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%" style="float:left" data-expandtext="show" data-collapsetext="hide"> Kazō is seen staring out at the location where Avaki died. He spoke out to Avaki and imagined his response. He then froze, realizing the voice wasn’t in his head. Turning, he saw a bandaged up young man with green eyes and black hair, saying he was finally back.

Kazō lashed out at him, saying Avaki was dead. He knocked him back and began forming spikes from his prosthetic. Avaki agreed to leave but asked if she survived. Kazō realized he was referring to Rika, and knew that only the real Avaki would be so worried about someone else in this situation. Kazō embraced him, apologizing for not being able to save him.

The two are seen with Oda and Takato as they share a reunion. Kasumi and Seishi stand off to the side, watching them. Avaki begins to tell them what happened to him, but says he’s only allowed to tell his team. Kazō looks to his captain who leaves the room with Kasumi. He then hears Avaki’s story.

Afterwards, Kazō returns home in high spirits, to the confusion of his sister. He tells his family that Avaki was still alive, much to their surprise.

Kusa Invasion Arc
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%" style="float:left" data-expandtext="show" data-collapsetext="hide"> Kazō attends a jōnin meeting with the Trap and Capture Squad. Near the end of the meeting, the Village Head brought up the subject of their current diplomat. He was getting old, and choosing a potential replacement would be useful for their next order of business. The Head asked if anyone had a person to nominate. When no one came forward, Seishi stood up. She nominated Kazō for the position, much to his surprise. When asked if he was willing to take up the offer, he was initially unsure, but ultimately accepted candidacy.

As everyone left the room, Kazō looked around for Oda. His friend had been one of the first of the jōnin to leave, so Kazō went off to find him. On the way, he found Kasumi who was happy to hear of his candidacy. The two continued until they finally came across Oda. He was standing near a tree, with his headband pegged to it with a kunai. Upon seeing it, Kazō recognized it as the pact they had made years ago after their match during the Chūnin Exams. Oda then rushed forward to attack. Kazō jumped away and ran into the forest with Kasumi looking on in confusion.

Oda continued to chase Kazō, yelling at him to fight back. He eventually caught up to Kazō on a tree branch and slammed him into the trunk. Kazō tried to calm Oda down and said he had thought their pact was off when Avaki died. He then asked why Oda was so angry. This only seemed to make it worse, and Oda punched him in the face with his Internal Flame, leaving a slight burn in its wake. Oda told him that he had interfered with his goal by accepting the position earlier. Surprised, Kazō said he thought Oda would want that. Infuriated, Oda asked why he would want Kazō to take the high ranking position, and geared up for another punch. Kazō said he only thought Oda would want a friend working under him.

This got Oda to stop, and Kazō said he expected Oda would’ve wanted an even higher position. He went on to say that he could help get Oda inside, since the higher ups would likely keep him from advancing after finally getting promoted once. Oda punched a hole in the tree, above Kazō’s head, to release his pent-up anger. Kazō told him that he was a better choice for a diplomat position, anyway. The two left the forest a while later.

A few days later, Kazō is seen among the confused villagers as the village is attacked. Before he could help fight back, he was told to help evacuate the civilians. Though he couldn’t see who had attacked, he obediently guided others to safety along with Oda, Kasumi, and Team Ginta. The evacuation zone was a large meadow just outside the village. Once there, ninja skilled in genjutsu formed a perimeter and hid the mass of people from view. Kazō and the others help set up tents and get everyone calmed down.

He eventually saw his parents among the crowd, and hurried over to them. His mother looked worried and asked if he had seen Miko. He told Kasumi to search the crowd, and headed back towards the village. Upon reaching it, Kazō saw various battles taking place all around him. The invaders were from Takigakure. Kazō was confused as to why they would be attacking, since their villages weren’t on bad terms. He continued searching, staying on the ground where he was less likely to get into a fight.

After searching almost half of the village, he finally spotted his sister running along the side streets, trying to find their parents or hide. He reached her just as a group of Taki-nin appeared. Kazō told Miko to keep her head down, as he quickly dispatched the enemy with wooden tendrils. From their location, they could be seen by other ninja, and Kazō could do little more than hold them off in the hopes that backup would come. His efforts drew him further away from Miko, and he realized she was being targeted by another enemy. On the roof of a nearby house, a ninja summoned a minotaur like creature, holding a giant ax. Kazō was able to kill the summoner swiftly enough, but the creature was already mid-strike, and Miko was crouched on the ground with her head buried beneath her arms.

Blood splattered near Miko’s head, and she looked up to see Kazō standing in between her and the creature. The ax had cut into his right shoulder and only his manipulated wood prevented it from cutting deeper. When Kazō heard Miko cry out, he knew he had to get her to run. As he held back the ax, he began speaking calmly to his sister. He told her they were going to play hide and seek, and told her to go hide. She began crying, saying he was hurt, but he continued, saying how good of a hider she was. He began to slowly count as she begged him to stop. When he kept counting, she finally got up and ran off into the forest. When she was out of sight, Kazō finished counting as a giant root impaled the creature. Kazō staggered away from the beast and started after his sister.

He didn’t get very far when more Taki-nin appeared behind him. If he kept going, he would lead them right to the villagers. Instead, he sat on a branch facing them and covered up his wound as best he could with wood. The ninja asked if he was running off to see his family. Knowing Miko was somewhere nearby, he began telling them that he had no family. He said that he was found as a baby, in a nearby meadow. His story continued enough to let Miko know of the genjutsu hidden villagers in the meadow.

She made a bird call that he had once taught her, showing she understood the message. The Taki-nin heard it and asked what that was supposed to be. Kazō spilled his ninja tools into his lap and said it was the forest. He said the forest didn’t like intruders. The ninja attacked, and Kazō released the chakra from all his wooden bombs at once, killing all the enemy ninja there.

A while later, Oda and his genin team found Kazō surrounded by a large mass of solid wood that completely covered that section of forest. As Oda fought new enemies that began showing up, the genin helped get Kazō to the meadow. Before leaving, he saw Oda fighting a single opponent. It was Oda’s father. Realizing he would be of little help, Kazō decided to let Oda settle things with his father by himself.

Once back in the meadow, medical ninja began treating him. When they had healed the worst of the damage, Miko ran over and clung to him. She said she thought he was dead and he quietly said that he thought so too. Kasumi walked over to him as Oda came back. She expressed her relief that Kazō was ok, and asked why Oda looked so tense. Kazō figured Oda had killed his father, but just told Kasumi that the invasion made everyone tense. He remained with the villagers until the fighting was over. They had successfully beaten the enemy back, and had few casualties.

Separate Paths Arc
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%" style="float:left" data-expandtext="show" data-collapsetext="hide"> A few weeks after the invasion, the village was finally getting back to normal. Around this time, Kazō was told he was chosen among the candidates to become the new diplomat. Since Seishi had nominated him, the Village Head wanted to meet with them both. Kazō waited at the Mitou residence to speak with him. After a few hours of discussion, the Village Head left with Seishi to further discuss Kazō’s qualifications in private. Kazō waited on the roof and Kasumi soon joined him.

They sat in silence a while, and Kasumi began reminiscing of the time they’d known each other. She noted how all her teammates seemed to grow and get promoted while she stayed relatively the same. In order to cheer her up, Kazō said she was missing the point, and that the one thing each of them had in common was being on a team with her. He told her that Ide and Buto would never have done anything with their lives, had Kasumi not been there to drag them along. And Oda had made his goals public when talking to Kasumi; Kazō hadn’t ever heard about them until then. Kasumi then asked about him, and Kazō reluctantly told her about when she accidently hit his prosthetic with a stick. Although he had never admitted it to her before, that event was what helped rekindle his confidence after he lost his arm.

Kasumi lay back on the roof, in high spirits after Kazō’s words. The two stayed there in silence a while longer. It was then that the ramifications of Kazō’s new promotion really started to hit him. His normal ninja life, whether with his team or with the ANBU was about to be changed. Looking over at Kasumi, he realized that, though the girl annoyed him, he had gotten used to hanging around her again. When she saw him staring at her, he jumped of the roof and began walking away. She called after him, but he said he needed to sort out some confusing thoughts. She told him he should stay, in case the Village Head wanted to see him when he returned. Kazō reluctantly followed Kasumi inside and sat on her couch to think.

She checked in on him a while later, asking what was wrong. He refused to tell her, which only got her mad. The two began arguing back and forth over it, until finally, Kazō blurted out that he loved her. She stood in shock as his embarrassment rose. He said that she was the most annoying person he had ever met and that she drove him insane, but somehow, he loved her. She became flustered when she realized she had basically forced the confession out of him. She started to apologize, but Kazō told her to stop. He said it was probably best that she did that, or else he would likely never have had enough backbone to go further. With that, he stood up and kissed her. After the shock wore off, she reciprocated his feelings. Later, Seishi returned to find them sitting together and commented that it was about time, before leaving them alone.

A few days later, Kazō is seen heading to the village offices. He bursts into a room, frantically looking for some paperwork and finds a girl looking through some of the books on the shelf. The girl was startled and began apologizing for being in there, but Kazō cut her off, asking if she had seen the papers he needed. She paused, and asked if they were the ones over on another shelf. He grabbed the papers, yelled his thanks, and ran out the door, pausing to tell her she should probably leave before someone else saw her.

He entered another room to find the Village Head, some elders, the previous diplomat, Seishi, and Takato waiting for him. After some discussion, the Village Head said he’d like to hear Kazō’s thoughts on a current issue. He revealed the news that the Five Great Shinobi Countries were going to war. It was likely the reason that the Waterfall Village had tried to invade, since the Grass wouldn’t have any allies available for help. He asked what Kazō thought about getting involved in the war to aid the other nations. Kazō was initially shocked to hear the news, but after composing himself, he told them he wouldn’t choose to get involved. He said that they had little knowledge on the enemy in the war and that it more than likely had nothing to do with them. He continued, saying that the Grass Village had been unwilling victims in past world wars and just couldn’t handle that scale of fighting, due to their small size. The Village Head and previous diplomat agreed with Kazō’s view and were glad he came to the same conclusion. Serving as Kazō’s first official diplomatic decision, the Grass Village would remain out of the newest world war.

Epilogue
WIP

Trivia

 * Kazō’s hobbies are building traps and carving.
 * Kazō wants to fight opponents who test his trap-making skills.
 * Kazō’s favorite foods are anything crispy. His least favorite is anything sour.
 * Kazō’s favorite phrase is “The trap is set” (トラップが設定されます, torappu ga settei sare masu).
 * Kazō has completed 51 official missions in total: 10 D-rank, 16 C-rank, 9 B-rank, 15 A-rank, 1 S-rank.
 * Kazō suffers from selachophobia, a fear of sharks.
 * If Kazō tested his chakra nature, he would have an affinity to water.

Quotes
(To his opponent in the Preliminaries) “''Well I sure hope so. I mean, what would it say about you… if you lost to a guy with barely any chakra left?''”

(To Junko during his punishment) “''W-wait, hold on, I’m sorry! I’m sorry!… I’ll listen, I promise… just let me out of here… please… hey!… Come on!…''“

(To his captor as she wraps his wound) “''You know, I figured you guys must be pretty twisted people, pointing arrows at a guy and imprisoning him for no apparent reason… But I guess I can’t judge you for that, I mean, I DID kinda crash into the middle of your… uh… whatever this place is. I’d see me as a threat too. But you’re helping me now… heh… I guess you’re actually pretty ni- AH!!… ngh… Y… you BITCH!!''”

(To Miko) “'' I told you you’d fall. Hang on… You ok? Do I need to perform surgery? Let’s see… two eyes?… check… one nose?… check… two e-… uh… wait, where’s your other ear? Oh! There it is. Next… one mouth… and one tongue? Yep, hey there’s a laugh too… ok… two arms… one, two… yep, ten fingers… one belly… two legs and… yep! One butt! Looks like everything’s ok.''”

(To Ryō) “''We may be just a bunch of ‘weak genin brats’… but we’re still alive. What does that say about you?… Mr. Jōnin.''”

(To the presumed dead Avaki) “''You idiot!… Why?… You always had to do that. Always had to do the right thing… to help others… to protect them… But who was protecting you!?…''”

(Calling out to Seishi) “''… Go away! If you found this place, then that means you must have tortured it out of poor Kentaro! You should be ashamed of yourself! Repent to prove you aren’t a mons -oof! See… I KNEW you were a monster.''”

(To Kuenaigumo about the other spiders) “''My apologies… I guess I’m not as skilled as I’d like to think. Your friends are quite good at what they do… I don’t think I noticed even one of them on my way here.''”

(To Kuenaigumo after summoning) “''Apologies, my Queen, but is seems I’m not strong enough for this one. I’d have summoned someone weaker so as not to bother you, but in my haste, I guess I slipped up. I’m afraid I must ask you to waste some of your time on an unworthy opponent.''”

(To Miko) “''What? No… no, you were very brave. You were a good little ninja… I… I’m so proud of you.''”

Reference

 * Kazō Yakusho is an OC created by KusaNin.
 * Images for Kazō's part I and II appearances used pictures of genin Sasuke and Shippuden Shikamaru respectively to get body proportions and general pose. Anbu image used Anbu Yamato. Images for The Last and epilogue used pictures of Sai from The Last and epilogue Naruto respectively.