Tenma Izumo

Tenma wore his grey hair somewhat long and spiked toward the right, with bangs sweeping past his face. His eyes were black, and a blue Konoha forehead protector sat above brows that his fringe partly draped over.

A haughty, prideful boy, Tenma bristled at being surpassed and took it especially hard that Itachi, five years his junior, graduated beside him and was hailed as the greater talent. Even placed on the same squad, his attitude refused to soften. Only after Itachi saved his life did he concede the younger boy's superior skill, though he still grumbled that Itachi was arrogant and thought too highly of himself.

In his Academy days Tenma ran with classmates Hagiri and Katsura, a trio notorious for bullying younger students. When they cornered the first-year Itachi over rumors of Uchiha involvement in the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack, which had claimed Tenma's uncle, Itachi denied any part and slipped the assault with a crow clone; Izumi Uchiha's Sharingan then scattered the group. After graduating, Tenma joined Yūki Minazuki's Team 2 alongside Shinko Inari and Itachi, furious at the pairing and forever trying to prove himself, once nearly dying when he chased an Iwa spy alone and had to be rescued.

The squad's strong first year earned it the honor of guarding the Fire Daimyō on his yearly visit. Along the route a masked man ensnared them in genjutsu that only Itachi and Tenma resisted, a feat that showcased Tenma's self-styled speed and his claimed talent for genjutsu, which even two of the Twelve Guardian Ninja could not match. Ignoring Itachi's call to assess the threat first, Tenma pressed a reckless attack that passed harmlessly through the intruder, who scolded his rashness and killed him, running him through in the novel and cutting him down with a sword in the anime. Witnessing this awakened Itachi's Sharingan and drove Shinko to abandon the shinobi life.