Batora Kuromori

Batora carries a slim build, his short brown hair set above grey eyes marked by long lines beneath them, and his eyebrows split into a cloven shape. His usual dress is a grey suit with brown boots, though he trades the boots for blue slippers once he is indoors.

Duty sits at the center of Batora's character. He indulges even Kae's more childlike whims, reading them as her way of recovering experiences her station denied her. A careful and attentive man, he tracks the comings and goings of the kitchen staff and retains every detail. His drive to shield and support Kae grows out of profound gratitude toward her father, who handed him a fresh start in the Land of Bamboo, yet his fondness for the princess herself is genuine, and he takes quiet joy in seeing her make a friend and chase her goals.

Though he set aside the shinobi life, Batora stayed formidable in his own way, able to haul a heavy stone statue of the Third Hokage without tiring and still versed in Water Release, even if a blow to the body now knocks him flat. His real value as Kae's caretaker lies in his eye for detail and his talent for investigation. Sent to Konohagakure so he could look after Kae while she attended the Academy, he oversaw the sweets for her class tea party, guided Kawaki and Himawari through the kitchen, and helped stage the Academy's Seven Mysteries as a harmless prank, which turned out to be Shino's insects tidying the halls.

When Himawari vanished before a planned outing, Batora joined Kae in the search, traced a dropped pendant, and led them toward Osuka's home, uncovering a kidnapping-for-ransom scheme. With help from Neon's sensing drone, they located the missing girls, and Batora and Kae tended to them while Kawaki brought down the abductors' leader. His deeper concern, however, was a plot against Kae's life. He skipped the school festival under a false excuse so he could shadow a suspect, and when an assassin finally struck at Kae's home, Batora took a wound to the arm shielding her.

The evidence he assembled let the Land of Bamboo authorities expose their own minister as the mastermind and arrest him. After Hana Kaka's ties to the Land of Bamboo surfaced and unraveled the rest of the scheme, Batora accompanied Sai to the island where Kae's class had gone and reunited with the princess once Hana was subdued. With her father having fallen ill, Kae had to head home, and her class staged their Sannin play before she left, Batora watching from the audience and later riding the train back at her side.