Third Hoshikage

Age showed plainly on the Third, whose face carried pronounced cheekbones and hollows beneath the eyes, framed by a brown moustache and beard. For dress he kept to the office's tradition, the customary Hoshikage hat and haori worn over a purple kimono that fell to full length and was fastened with a white sash.

Warm, principled, and devoted to Hoshigakure, the Third guarded his people's safety above all, refusing to let them undergo star training once he grasped its harm. He carried a gentle streak toward the young, once urging the boy Sumaru to regard the stars over the village as treasures worth protecting. He also took the weight of leadership seriously, agonising long over the training question before events forced his hand.

When the Third discovered the toll that star training took, following the capture of Natsuhi and Hotarubi as they tried to make off with the meteor, he exiled the pair for the theft yet vowed to end the practice himself. Before departing, the two asked him to tell their son Sumaru that they had died serving their country and that he should not grieve. Later, Akahoshi arrived at the Third's temple with Shiso and Yotaka to plead for the training's return. The Third turned them down, unwilling to see Hoshi's ninja perish over it. Enraged, Akahoshi had his followers kill the leader and seize his authority, passing the death off as illness. Suspicion lingered among the villagers, and in time Akahoshi let slip the truth of the murder.