Ganryū

A hard, grim set to his face marks Ganryu most, framed by muted black hair above dark eyes. He dresses in the usual gear of a Mist shinobi, a flak jacket paired with a forehead protector mounted on white cloth. On his wrist sits a jade-green bangle, a piece matching those worn by his old squad, and a broad cleaver-style sword rides across his back.

Vengeance defines him. Ganryu carries a smoldering loathing for Iwagakure and lashes out at its shinobi, or anyone allied with them, even when that means defying the Mizukage's orders. The betrayal that killed his comrades fuels this rage. Yet he frames his aggression as a twisted road to harmony, reasoning that early bloodshed among the villages will pressure the Kage into cementing a real treaty. Meeting Naruto Uzumaki reshapes him, and he comes to place his faith in the young ninja's vision of a peaceful world.

A decade before his current story, Ganryu led a squad tasked with recovering a document that Kumogakure had seized, working alongside Iwagakure allies. Once the papers were in hand, the Iwa ninja turned on the Kiri team, cutting down Junsai and Suiren, the latter dying to shield Ganryu. That massacre, remembered as the Tragedy of Yosuga Pass, ignited the feud between the two nations and planted the hatred Ganryu would nurse for years. His talent lies in kenjutsu, and he swings his cleaver-like weapon with such relentless speed that even Chojuro of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen doubted his own odds against him. When the Allied Shinobi Forces formed, Ganryu and his followers laid an ambush for the Iwa envoys Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi, hoping their deaths would sever the alliance. Naruto and Chojuro intervened, forcing a retreat, but Ganryu pressed on with a night attack. Naruto found him and, sensing the pain behind his rage, persuaded him to abandon revenge, promising the peace Suiren had longed for. Chojuro then took him into custody, returning Suiren's bracelet as an apology from Iwagakure, and Ganryu was imprisoned. Pardoned in time for the war, he later joined the Alliance, telling fellow grieving shinobi Kiri and Ittan that shared loss could bind them together against the Akatsuki.