Akatsuchi

A big, broad-framed man, Akatsuchi wears his black hair jutting backward in spikes from under a bandanna-style forehead protector, and his eyes are a dark shade. Full cheeks and a rounded nose lend his face a look of near-constant good humor. Under his flak jacket he keeps the full-sleeved red uniform of Iwagakure and winds a yellow scarf about his neck.

Later, once the Fourth Shinobi World War is over, he lets a beard grow in, sets aside the forehead protector while keeping the yellow scarf, and gathers his hair into a ponytail. His frame has thinned a little and his cheeks lost some fullness, and he now wears a brown kimono with matching trousers.

Good-natured and forever grinning, Akatsuchi carries a childlike, easygoing air; the simple chance to fly once more delights him even with a possible fight waiting on the far side. He is honestly pleased at the notion that Deidara pulled through, never mind that the man is a wanted enemy. Come battle, though, that breeziness hardens into calm, competent work as the Tsuchikage's guard. His loyalty to Onoki knows no limit: he will not step away from the old man, staying near in case that aging hip should give, and Deidara himself remarks how seldom the two are ever parted.

A capable jonin trusted to guard both the Third and Fourth Tsuchikage during Kage Summits, Akatsuchi commands the Earth Release nature. From his mouth he can produce a huge rock golem powerful enough to rip through a White Zetsu clone or to screen himself and his comrades, and he can pack the earth tight around an enemy's legs to root them in place. Reckoned the strongest man in the Hidden Stone, he carries Onoki and their bags over great distances without strain, moves fast for all his bulk, and shadows genin unnoticed for hours.

At the Five Kage Summit he and Kurotsuchi shield Onoki from the Fourth Raikage's flare of temper, and when Sasuke slips in they step aside for the Fifth Mizukage to deal with him. Caught in White Zetsu's spore trap, he tears loose with his golem. As war nears, he halts Onoki before a Dust Release blast can strike the Island Turtle, then covers them both from a reincarnated Deidara's exploding clay. Across the Fourth Shinobi World War he battles alongside the Alliance and greets the Tsuchikage's call to arms with a booming war cry.

Into the New Era he keeps escorting Kurotsuchi to Kage Summits and guarding her. During Mitsuki's disappearance he stumbles onto Onoki's secret pact with his son Ku and the artificial Akuta, is taken prisoner, and lives to grieve when Onoki gives his life to stop the creatures. Afterward he travels with Kurotsuchi to thank Konoha face to face, and stays by her side through the events around Kawaki and the looming Otsutsuki menace.