A (Fourth Raikage)

Towering and heavily muscled, this Cloud leader cuts the silhouette of a professional wrestler. His hair, white in the manga and blond in the animated series, is swept straight back above a face carrying high cheekbones, sunken hollows under the eyes, and a deep line across the brow. A trim moustache and goatee frame sharp canine teeth, and his upper lip runs darker than the lower, a set of traits handed down from his own father. He lost his left forearm during his duel with Sasuke Uchiha, severing it himself once Amaterasu's flames took hold.

His usual outfit is a white haori worn bare-chested, sometimes topped with the traditional Raikage hat. Black Fūma Shuriken designs mark both shoulders, and he once wore heavy golden guards on his wrists before discarding them after the Kage gathering. A gold belt bearing a boar's face circles his waist above torn-hemmed black trousers, Cloud shin protectors, and shinobi sandals. Once he passed the office to Darui, he changed to a plain black kimono held shut by a white sash, his hairline receding and his skin lined with age.

Blunt, forceful, and quick to decide, he rarely lets anyone talk him out of a position, and after taking office he softened enough to call himself by the humble "washi" rather than the boastful "ore". To his mind, deeds and raw power are all that count, and no ninja should ever grovel or make concessions. That conviction turns hypocritical at times, since he condemns other nations for producing rogues while brushing off the Cloud's own thefts and broken promises, all of which he justifies by his single aim of shielding his village, even at the cost of his allies.

Beneath the hard exterior sits a hot temper that pushes him into rash acts, from crashing through his office window to reach a summit to smashing the meeting table mid-argument, behaviour that leaves others questioning his fitness to lead. Yet he stays intensely loyal, telling Darui not to fault himself for losing an arm and naming him his right hand. His deepest bond is with his adopted brother Killer B, his partner in the tag duo they forged together, and his fear of losing B drove him to cage the younger man inside the village. He is furious when B fakes his own abduction, threatening punishment with his Iron Claw, and he privately swears he would strike B down should it ever become necessary.

Facing B in the later war, he finally hears the charge that his smothering protection blinds him to his brother's true strength, and once B and Naruto outmatch his power and speed he lets them pass. Serving as figurehead of the allied army thaws his distrust of the other villages into genuine camaraderie, and though he needles Tsunade constantly he values her at his side. Even his hatred of Sasuke, who tried to abduct B and cost him a hand, eventually yields to forgiveness once he sees the young man's remorse.

Born to the Third Raikage and raised to inherit the title, he ranked among the mightiest shinobi from a young age, joining his father's unit to restrain the Eight-Tails and slicing off one of its horns to stun it for sealing. He counted among the rare fighters to walk away from bouts with the Yellow Flash, later crushed Jūgo with ease, pressured Sasuke as the Uchiha adapted to his Mangekyō Sharingan, and was chosen to command the entire Allied Shinobi Forces.

Despite his bulk he moves with startling quickness, reaching a foe before they register his approach, and until Naruto's own transformation he claimed the mantle of fastest ninja alive since Minato's passing. Karin likened his chakra reserves to those of a tailed beast. His strength is staggering: he hoists massive barbells one-handed, punches clean through walls, tore a horn from the Eight-Tails, and shattered a Susanoo long branded an unbreakable shield. He favours grappling over standard hand-to-hand, hurling opponents with powerbombs, chops, lariats, and leg drops, and his tolerance for pain runs so high that he severed his own burning arm without flinching.

His elemental training spans Lightning, Earth, and Water, but his hallmark, the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, wraps him in a sheath of electrical energy that sharpens both his thinking and his already fearsome body. Cloaked in it, his speed and reflexes rival the Yellow Flash, leaving even the Sharingan struggling to follow him as he throws afterimages and slips past point-blank strikes. His durability climbs high enough to shrug off otherwise lethal blows, his power settles just under Tsunade's, and he can lace a partner's Water Release with lightning to add a numbing, paralysing jolt.