Iwabee Yuino

Older than the rest of his class, Iwabee stands taller and leaner, tanned, with hard dark-brown eyes and neat straight hair of the same shade. A red cap covers his ears, held by a blue cord that pins back all of it except one bang between his eyes. He usually wears a sleeveless white V-neck, bandaged forearms, and a dull teal sleeveless haori over loose matching trousers and black sandals. After he finally graduates, he fastens his headband to his belt keychain-style and switches to a dull red shirt with a black jacket and trousers.

Kept back through the Academy after flunking its written exams despite topping every physical subject, Iwabee turned distant, blunt, and rebellious, prizing raw strength above all and looking down on younger students as coddled products of peacetime. Domineering and short-tempered, he openly admired the old warring era for the fighters it forged and bristled at any hint of being underestimated. Meeting Boruto Uzumaki reshaped him: struck by Boruto's refusal to quit, he recognized his own habit of running from problems, and afterward grew far more civil, fiercely loyal to his friends, and willing to grind through the book studies he once despised.

He carries an encyclopedic memory for famous shinobi and idolizes Naruto most of all, treasuring even a rare trading card of the Seventh Hokage, and he nurses a quiet crush on Kurotsuchi. His caution shows in a lasting distrust of the Bloody Mist after a grandfather of his was killed by Yagura Karatachi, a grudge he sets aside only once he works alongside Kiri shinobi. Assigned to Team 5 beside Metal Lee and Denki Kaminarimon, he holds firmly to the belief that no one but a person themselves can decide their own potential.

Iwabee's strength lies in the physical side of ninja combat, where he consistently scores highest and even serves as a capable tutor. He is a forceful hand-to-hand fighter fond of heavy kicks and throws, with enough raw power and chakra to raise towering structures and enough dexterity to weave seals with his hands bound behind him. He commands the Academy techniques for stealth and wall-scaling, holds some skill in fuinjutsu and, later, medical ninjutsu, and works smoothly in Cooperation Ninjutsu with others.

His true specialty is Earth Release, an affinity he shares with his family. He shapes weapons, walls, and huge, detailed figures out of the ground, layers two techniques at once to catch foes off guard, and can even mold earth without pre-existing soil or direct contact. In close quarters he favors a jo staff that doubles as a medium for casting Earth Release without hand seals and hides a concealed blade for kenjutsu. Away from combat, he is a noted cook and, learning from Denki, a competent mechanic.