Inojin Yamanaka

Inojin takes after both parents, with pale blue eyes and blond, shoulder-length hair tied into a small ponytail, plus his father's fair skin and bangs. His genin outfit mirrors Sai's: a collarless black suit bearing red straps over mesh armour, a purple shirt underneath, two items jutting from a backpack, and grey stud earrings in both ears as his clan requires. As an Academy student he wore a violet sweater with white overalls and carried a tantō on a brown strap like his father. Three years after Boruto left the village his hair grew fuller and lost its ponytail, and he switched to a purple sweater with a single-strap backpack, light blue shorts over black spandex, and low beige sandals.

Inojin is the most obedient and reasonable of the new Ino-Shika-Chō, the only one who insisted on turning up to learn the trio's techniques, and he inherited his mother's and late grandfather's drive. That said, he can be strikingly blunt and detached, at times bordering on condescending, and he is unusually alert with sharp powers of observation. Level-headed and quick to adapt, he takes even bizarre situations in stride. Though he practises his parents' ninjutsu diligently, he is forever hunting a newer, more stylish way to do it, and his ambitions are refreshingly practical, chiefly making a better living from his skills. In later years he develops romantic feelings for Himawari Uzumaki, and in Two Blue Vortex his determination to protect her drives much of what he does, from mastering a new technique in record time to standing between her and the God Trees.

Regarded as a talented and versatile shinobi, Inojin practises medical ninjutsu like his mother and works as a sensor, though his natural range is limited; he compensates by channelling his sensing through chakra-made drawings and has a knack for spotting altered chakra signatures. His signature art is his father's Super Beast Imitating Drawing, which he animates in his own colourful style and can rig with explosive tags. Trained from before the Academy, he shows advanced shurikenjutsu, wields a tipless tantō in close combat, and in the anime uses fūinjutsu to bind foes and even seal targets into his scrolls. As a Yamanaka he learns the clan's mind techniques, from the Mind Body Switch Technique to the Mind Body Transmission Technique for long-range mental contact. Under Koji Kashin's guidance he masters an advanced Mind Body Transmission Formation, undetectable to other sensors and granting a unique awareness through physical vibration. He puts it to decisive use against the Human God Tree Mamushi, ultimately transferring his mind into the divided horde to seize control of them all so Daemon could wipe them out, blinding himself in the process before Himawari restored his sight. He and his teammates are also skilled in Cooperation Ninjutsu, synchronising their attacks as a unit.