Torune Aburame

Tall and lean with fair skin and short, spiky dull-black hair, Torune first appeared in the guise of an ordinary Konoha Anbu under a white cloak and monkey mask. Beneath that, a mask hid nearly all of his face save a patch around the nose and mouth, his glasses built into it and his eyes concealed in true Aburame fashion. He dressed heavily, wearing the red-strapped short black jacket that marked Root membership over a high-collared all-black outfit sashed in red, with an apron-like drape over his trousers, several pouches, and black gloves.

The harsh conditioning Danzo imposed on Root's children stripped Torune of much personality, leaving him to act as a tool carrying out orders, his only clear traits a fierce loyalty to Danzo and a steady composure that let him face Tobi without hesitation. The anime softens this considerably: for all his dutiful surface, Torune deeply valued others, and though his venomous insects made closeness dangerous he still reached out to people and treasured his friendship with his Root partner Fu, even as he showed a streak of arrogance in underestimating Naruto.

His bond with Shino ran deepest of all. Orphaned young after his father Shikuro died, he was taken in by Shino's family, and the two grew close as brothers; when Danzo came seeking a clan child for Root and eyed Shino, Torune offered himself instead so his friend would not be condemned to a lonely life, and years later he remained quietly glad that Shino had found happiness. Fittingly, his end came at Shino's hands: killed by Tobi and reincarnated by Kabuto for the war, he was sealed by Shino, who had bred insects able to repel his toxins, and Torune met that defeat voicing pride in how well his brother had turned out.

Danzo rated Torune and Fu the two finest ninja in Root, and Torune's talent let him hold off a swath of the Allied Shinobi in the Fourth War, Shino and a Nine-Tails-cloaked Naruto included. His signature weapons were the rinkaichu, rare nano-sized insects that coat his body so a single touch of exposed skin spreads them to a target, inflicting severe pain and even death. In the anime he could exhale their venom as a lethal poison cloud and unleash the Jar of Poison Technique, a forbidden Aburame art that saturates a wide area with the insects to wipe out many foes at once, and he kept ordinary kikaichu as well for making insect clones.

Because the nano-insects cannot survive long away from a host, he leaned on strong taijutsu in close quarters, and his raw power was such that he briefly stopped a Rasengan with his bare fist and struck back instantly, giving even Naruto no time to react. He also carried a tanto and knew barrier techniques, one of which anchored his Jar of Poison Technique.