Hayama Shirakumo

A scar traces the right side of Hayama's mouth, and deep hollows sit beneath his eyes. He keeps his long, muted grey hair bound in a ponytail and wears the standard Leaf uniform cut with short sleeves, its red swirl printed only on the left shoulder. Fingerless gloves cover his hands, and a slender katana rides horizontally across his back.

Hayama is calm, soft-spoken and deliberate, the sort who reads a situation carefully before committing to a plan, which makes him a capable leader. His loyalty to Konoha runs deep, and he extends the same devotion to the ninja serving under him, choosing to shield them rather than ever spend their lives.

A genuinely skilled ninja, Hayama excels at kenjutsu and blends it with wind-natured chakra to loose razor blades of air from his sword. Those cutting winds serve many ends, striking directly for heavy damage, buffeting a target, or knocking aside incoming projectiles. He also handles the Body Flicker Technique, using scattered leaves to mask his motion, and long service has honed him into a sharp analyst and planner who picks his teammates for a mission by their particular strengths.

He first drew notice guarding the northern borders after the Konoha Crush, posted there alongside Tekuno Kanden, Naruto and Kosuke Maruboshi. When a battalion from Iwagakure ambushed the patrol, Hayama stayed behind with Tekuno to cut down most of the attackers and buy the others time to warn the village. He later joined the rebuilding of Konoha in the wake of Pain's assault.