Hōichi

A young, bald man, Hoichi has brown eyes and a long scar that begins by his left ear and runs sideways across his face. His clothing reads as monk's dress in dark blue, though sleeveless, edged with a white collar and hem, and a dark blue sash rides at his waist. He carries a biwa slung from a white cloth, wears red rosary beads around both wrists, and fixes a Suna forehead protector to the middle of his robes.

Since boyhood Hoichi has absorbed Bunpuku's gift for shaping currents, together with his teacher's sealing arts. Among those is Sen no Rikyu, a Dharma Power sealing method that lets him rip several tailed beasts loose at the same moment. He also works sand, packing it hard to shield himself or to blend into matching ground. Above all he is a biwa player, and its notes serve him where other ninja rely on hand seals; through those same tones he throws up barriers and bends shadows to his will.

As a boy, Hoichi took up Bunpuku's sealing craft and current-shaping power. Two years on from Gaara being named Kazekage as Shukaku's host, he met Fugi, and the pair laid out a scheme to seal the One-Tail. When the chunin exams reached the Demon Desert, he marked Team Matsuri making for the central tower and then hid beneath the sand as Fugi's storm swept in, surfacing to strike once Gaara came to aid the team. Turning the genin's shadows against them, he baited Gaara close, then speared him with sealing chains to draw out Shukaku's chakra. Fu arrived and revealed herself a jinchuriki too, so Hoichi began pulling her tailed beast free as well. Her Cocoon slowed him, and Team Guy reached the scene with Fu's teammates; Neji Hyuga sealed the chakra points fueling the ritual, undoing it and casting off the chains. Freed and wild, the chains coiled back onto Hoichi, and only Gaara's mercy spared him, Neji shutting the technique down before the priest was taken away for care.