Maruta

Maruta is a tall, trim elderly man with a fair complexion lightly lined by age. Blue eyes sit above a strong, high-cheekboned jaw, and he wears his short, spiky white hair alongside thick sideburns and a long mustache.

Maruta is a man of modest wants who devotes himself to his birds and to the fragile balance of their mountain habitat, unwilling to put any of them at risk. He holds that a real bond between hawk and handler can grow only from mutual respect, values the birds far above money, and refuses to bend to threats or intimidation. His compassion extends to people as well, and he readily shelters and teaches children who come to him for help.

Over long years in the mountains Maruta raised and trained his hawks as messengers, learning to keep them healthy and even picking up enough skill with a crossbow to hit what he aimed at. During the Labyrinth Game events, Mozu Shitakiri pressed him to reveal where the Senri Hawks nested, and though offered a fortune, he refused to endanger the threatened birds. A run of sudden misfortunes followed, and he knew at once that Mozu was behind them.

When Sasuke Uchiha and Boruto Uzumaki arrived, Maruta first took them for Mozu's hirelings, then explained everything once he understood who they were. That night he agreed to help Sasuke seek a hawk, and after shaking off Mozu's men to protect the nesting site, he led Sasuke to the cave and explained that the birds must choose their own masters. To his astonishment one accepted Sasuke almost immediately, confirming the strength of character he had sensed. Back home, learning that Boruto had befriended Mozu's abused son Tsuzura and helped the boy find the courage to leave, Maruta took Tsuzura on as his apprentice.