Hanzō

editHanzō
半蔵 Hanzō Hanzō of the Salamander (山椒魚の半蔵, Sanshōuo no Hanzō)
Debut
Manga	Naruto Chapter #369
Anime	Naruto Shippūden Episode #128
Game	Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Impact
Appears in	Anime, Manga, Game
Voice Actors
Japanese	Ikuya Sawaki
English	Richard Epcar
Personal
Birthdate	February 12
Sex	Male
Status	Deceased
Height	Part II: 177 cm1.77 m <br />5.807 ft <br />69.685 in <br />
Weight	Part II: 58.6 kg129.191 lb <br />
Blood type	A
Occupation	Village Head
Affiliation	Amegakure
Nature Type Fire Release
Jutsu Dance of the Sickle Blade: Falling Descent Blade Fire Release: Exploding Flame Formation Summoning Technique (Ibuse) Summoning: Ibuse Poisoning
Tools Antidote Explosive Tag Kusarigama Poison

Hanzō (半蔵), also known as Hanzō of the Salamander (山椒魚の半蔵, Sanshōuo no Hanzō), was a legendary ninja who was the former leader of Amegakure.

Background

Hanzō became famous around the time of the Second Shinobi World War; when he fought some of Konoha's forces, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru were the only ones to survive. As a reward to them for this accomplishment, he named them Konoha's Sannin and let them live.

Years after his battle with the Sannin, when a group of ninja began a quest to end war through unorthodox means within his country, Hanzō viewed them as a threat to his power and sought to get rid of them. He teamed up with Konoha's Root organisation to kill the group's leader, Yahiko. He lured Yahiko to a meeting where he forced Nagato, Yahiko's team-mate, to kill Yahiko in exchange for Konan's life.

However, Yahiko committed suicide by impaling himself upon Nagato's kunai to spare his friend the anguish and burden of killing him himself. Nagato slaughtered Hanzō's forces in retribution along with the shinobi of Root who had come to aid Hanzō. After a brief skirmish with Nagato, Hanzō fled the scene realizing that he could not deal with Nagato when he was so enraged and thus escaped.

Nagato, under the alias of "Pain", would later begin a civil war within Amegakure. According to the stories, he single-handedly killed Hanzō, his family, and his retainers, and then conducted a systematic genocide of anybody even remotely associated with Hanzō, even to the extent of terminating the ambassadors of the villages Hanzō was associated with.

Personality

Hanzō was a very security-conscious individual, trusting no one. He was guarded twenty-four seven, and did not allow anyone in his presence, even children, without being thoroughly searched. He cared greatly about his position as village leader, and dealt with threats harshly.

Although he views the Five Great Contries as his enemies, he was still willing to ally with foreign nations, even those who had caused him great harm, in order to remain in power. He was also willing to betray people without remorse, leading the Ame Orphans and their team into a trap, then attempting to have them all mercilessly killed; this betrayal, ironically, led to his own demise.

Appearance

Hanzō had long blond hair and scar on his right cheek. He also wore a breathing mask that differed from the ones worn by other Amegakure ninjas by being bigger and having two filter cartridges instead of one, a flak jacket and a cloak. In the manga, he has unusual eyes, with the whites being dark, while in the anime, they are normal-coloured.

Abilities

Hanzō and his salamander.

While Hanzō's abilities as a ninja are mostly unknown, Hanzō was easily one of the strongest ninja of his time. When battling alongside his trademark salamander, Hanzō was strong enough to fight and eventually overpower all three Sannin in their youth. His power was such that Jiraiya expressed intense shock upon hearing that Hanzō had been defeated singlehandedly by Pain. During his attempt to kill Nagato, Hanzō demonstrated impressive skill for trap-oriented techniques, as he anticipated Nagato attacking him and had a series of exploding tags prepared. The databook also stated that his speed in water was unsurpassed.He also wields a small one handed scythe

Part II

Shinobi World War Arc

File:New hero2.JPG

Hanzō had been revived, along with Kimimaro and Chiyo.

Hanzō is resurrected by Kabuto, along with other famous shinobi through the Summoning: Impure World Resurrection, to prepare for war. He is part of the group Chūkichi calls for backup, alongside Chiyo and Kimimaro. He encounters Kankurō and the remains of the Surprise Attack Division with his makeshift team, and chastises Deidara for being caught.Later on he was tracking down the recon team and used his personal summoning(the salamander) to poisin his enemies,when he wanted to give the final blow he was abruptly stopped by Mifune,who said he wished to fight him.

Trivia

File:Hanzō.PNG

Anime rendition of Hanzō: note the normal portrayal of eyes.

• Hanzō's eyes in the manga are very similar to Kakuzu's and the Third Raikage's, while in the anime they are normal.
• According to the third Naruto Databook:
  • His favorite phrase was: "Security is the greatest enemy".
  • In water, he had unsurpassed speed.
• Hanzō may have been named after a famous real-life samurai and possible ninja Hanzō Hattori.
  • It is popular Japanese legend that Hanzō Hattori was killed by Kotarō Fūma. Pain's first Animal Path was said to be from the Fūma clan.
• Hanzō's nickname and his element affinity have significant meaning because in ancient mythology, although being amphibious, the salamander was considered the living symbol of fire and as such was completely fireproof and able to live in fire itself.