Killer B

Killer B ( キラービー , Kirā Bī|) is a shinobi from Kumogakure . He is the most recent jinchūriki of the Eight-Tails, though, unlike his predecessors, he was able to befriend it and hone its power for Kumo's benefit. Despite being responsible for the village's protection, B aspires to be the world's greatest rapper.

## Background [ ]

At a young age, he was along with several other children who were gathered by the Third Raikage and Dodai in order to select a tag partner for his son A. Out of all the children gathered, he was the only person able to successfully perform the Lightning Release: Double Lariat with A. As such he was given the name "B", and A stated they would be brothers from that day on. Since the age of five, B has been best friends with Motoi, whom he always greeted with a fist bump. After A's cousin, the jinchūriki of Gyūki lost control and killed Motoi's father along with seven other ninja on that day, B was chosen as its next jinchūriki . Soon afterwards, B suffered from similar prejudices against jinchūriki, not too different from that the villagers of Konohagakure and Sunagakure had against Naruto Uzumaki and Gaara respectively. However, he kept smiling and pushed himself to be the best jinchūriki that he could be, so that his brother wouldn't be hurt politically as the Fourth Raikage.

After his father's death, Motoi tried to kill B, believing that B's death would also kill Gyūki and avenge his late father, but B disarmed him easily and held no ill will against Motoi. Motoi however, was ashamed of his actions and did not speak to B for over thirty years because of it. B would later train with his brother on an island in the Land of Lightning, where there he would find the Falls of Truth. There he learned how to control Gyūki in an amazingly short period of time. Some time after his training, B, alongside A, and other Kumo shinobi confronted Minato Namikaze and his small squad. When Minato moved to counter A's attack, B used a tentacle to push A out of the way, causing shock to the Konoha shinobi that he was Gyūki's jinchūriki. The two from this encounter Minato would come to have much respect for B and his abilities. Minato even stated that B acted as a true shinobi killer, thus giving him the title of "Killer". Some time since then, much like Naruto, B has become beloved in Kumo as the village's hero, or, as Motoi called him, the "Hero of Heroes".

When A became the Raikage, he forbade B from fully transforming into the Eight-Tails and restricted him from leaving the village, saying instead that he would become the guardian of the village and attack from within its walls, to protect him from meeting the same fate as his adoptive father. Sometime later, when B learned from pestering Darui that Konoha and Suna were hosting together an impromptu Chūnin Exams, B saw this as an opportunity to give a show for the attendees. A however anticipated his young brother's actions and had Darui and C stop him.

## Personality [ ]

Killer B is very proud of his own power and by extension of who he is, regardless of his status and upbringing as a jinchūriki. Like Naruto Uzumaki , who has great overconfidence at times, Killer B can be quite cocky and stubborn, especially in terms of his own strength, demanding respect from others and asks to be called Lord Jinchūriki ( 人柱力様 , Jinchūriki-sama) and his tailed beast be called Lord Eight-Tails ( 八尾様 , Hachibi-sama). B has a special way of expressing his pride through song, more specifically in rap-style and tends to use "Bakayarō! Konoyarō!" (「バカヤロー!コノヤロー!, Fool! Ya Fool!) when referring or speaking to others. He will even write his rhymes in the middle of a fight, or during an important meeting, even if they are no good, which is usually the case. He gets his rapping ideas from his opponents in battle. This sometimes causes the people around him to become greatly annoyed by him. B thinks very highly of his rapping skills and doesn't respect anyone who would make fun of rap or his lyrics.

The Raikage has noted that Killer B is not the type of person to work with the strategies created by people and that he would only bring chaos into a battlefield; in his youth he was already seen completing missions, that were supposed to be assigned for both him and his brother, without A's knowledge. The Raikage also notes that he is the only being that B will listen to, as he is able to keep him in check. Despite all this, B knows talent when he sees it, and respects those with it. The primary example is his fellow Kumo jinchūriki, Yugito Nii, who he looked up to for her extreme skills. He had also praised Sasuke Uchiha after their fight, stating he was one of the strongest shinobi he had ever fought. B has a very close relationship with his older brother, the Raikage. According to Motoi, the reason behind him becoming a jinchūriki was for the sake of his brother, even if it meant being shunned by the villagers. He didn't complain, and was always cheerful and determined.

Due to the fact that he was confined to the village very soon after his brother assumed office and made the village's guardian, B desperately wished for a vacation and was even ready to fake his capture for one. When the Fourth Raikage, Darui and C learned that B was not captured by Akatsuki, they immediately guessed his intentions and were not surprised by it, though they were very displeased. This leads to him receiving his brother's "Iron Claw" as punishment. B also tends to fist bump with others. This ties into his rapper personality and also serves as a means of communication of sorts, with others without the need to speak.

However, when someone close to him is in danger, Killer B has no qualms about putting himself at risk to save them, if necessary, as seen when he prioritised the safety of his singing master Sabu and his pet, Ponta over confronting Kisame Hoshigaki head-on when the Akatsuki confronted his entourage. This caring nature differentiates him from a typical jinchūriki, most of whom are cynical and uncaring towards others due to their circumstances. However, it was hinted that his past as a jinchūriki may not have been unlike Naruto's, since Motoi claimed that being a fellow jinchūriki, B understands what Naruto went through. He has a casual relationship with Gyūki, frequently engaging in friendly conversation with it, even sitting upon its nose when not in combat. He was also completely unaffected by Naruto's Harem Technique, resisting lustful advances and even appearing indifferent. However, he is not completely unaffected by such things, as he noticed Tsunade's chest, which his brother reprimanded him for and he later stared at Yugito's own chest when it was shown during his fight with Tobi's Six Paths. This is later explained as having a preference toward older women, at one point confessing it during the fight against Tobi, much to his tailed beast's surprise and chagrin.

From the time of his debut to the Fourth Shinobi World War, Killer B is shown to have matured a great deal. A as well as Darui and C believed having Killer B on the battlefield would be chaotic both from the battlefield and from chaos he himself would create. However, this would end up to be proven wrong as he was a good mentor and role model to Naruto, matured a great deal too with his help, and together ended up helping the Allied Shinobi Forces.

B is also very kind and compassionate, having befriended all the giant animals on the Island Turtle which may indicate that he has a liking for animals, as well as never expressing any ill will towards Motoi who tried to take his life, nor against the villagers who used to shun him.

B is shown to have taken a liking to Naruto during their time together, even supporting his desire to join the war after getting past Iruka, based on what he learned about Naruto while training him and knowing that there would be no point trying to stop him if Iruka couldn't. B even wanted to visit Naruto in Konoha after the latter became Hokage even though Gyūki talked him out of it stating that Naruto had little free time on his hands, unlike B.

## Appearance [ ]

Killer B has dark skin and a muscular build, as well as white hair (blond in the anime) and a goatee. On his right shoulder, he has a tattoo of the kanji for "iron" ( 鉄 , tetsu), which is the Iron Armour Seal that was used to seal Gyūki into him, and on his left cheek, he has a tattoo of a bull's horn (correspondingly, Gyūki has horns like a bull, and the left one is partially missing). His top lip also has a slightly darker hue than his bottom one.
Killer B has dark skin and a muscular build, as well as white hair (blond in the anime) and a goatee. On his right shoulder, he has a tattoo of the kanji for "iron" ( 鉄 , tetsu), which is the Iron Armour Seal that was used to seal Gyūki into him, and on his left cheek, he has a tattoo of a bull's horn (correspondingly, Gyūki has horns like a bull, and the left one is partially missing). His top lip also has a slightly darker hue than his bottom one.

Killer B wears oval-shaped sunglasses and a white-coloured forehead protector. He also has his village's standard one-strap-over-one-shoulder flak jacket, and a long, red rope belt tied around his waist, the standard Kumo hand and shin guards, shinobi sandals, and a white scarf around his neck. He originally carried seven swords on his back, but now he only carries two swords on his back and stores the rest inside Samehada.

As a child, B's hair was much shaggier and he wore a simple suit along with his trademark sunglasses and scarf along with Kumo-nin shin-guards. In his adolescent years, his hair grew much longer and he wore it in a stylised, combed-back manner. In these years he donned the standard uniform of the Kumo-nin inclusive of shirt and started carrying two Supervibrato Lightning Release Swords. As he got older, he started wearing his forehead protector like a bandanna.

Years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, B's attire consisted of an long, dark, sleeveless vest that left his abdomen exposed along with baggy white pants held up by a cord and standard shinobi sandals. His hair had also gotten noticeably longer and his brow becomes hairless but more prominent.

## Abilities [ ]

As the guardian of Kumo and having long-since mastered his unique powers, Killer B is an extremely powerful shinobi, able to single-handedly overwhelm the entire team Taka consisting of other dangerous fighters . As a child, he accomplished missions by himself that were meant to be executed as a team with his partner A, causing him to note that his younger brother has more talent than he did. Even Minato Namikaze stated that B was a ninja with a great power rather than simply a jinchūriki. B could hold his own against Kisame Hoshigaki of Akatsuki , and later two tailed beasts during the Fourth Shinobi World War .

### Jinchūriki Transformations [ ]

B is a jinchūriki of Gyūki. Even more, he is one of the few individuals to achieve complete control of his tailed beast. Because he has a strong relationship with Gyūki, it can aid B by disturbing his chakra to dispel genjutsu or granting B more of its own chakra, making it more of a willing partnership than actual dominance. While B can easily access and utilise Version 1 and 2 transformations with all eight tails, and even his most powerful form is the Tailed Beast Mode, all of which while retaining complete control of himself. In this state, he can fire multiple Tailed Beast Balls and generate powerful tornadoes by spinning its tentacles rapidly. B can also regenerate any of Gyūki's tentacles if they are lost; this ability, however, does not extend to its horns, as one of them was cut off by A.

B can also partially transform parts of his body into those of Gyūki's, such as his own arm or quickly forming all eight tentacles on his back. These partial transformations can be used for various purposes. Stemming from Gyūki's "octopus" trait, B can produce ink from his mouth to write lyrics as a makeshift pencil, blind his enemies, or form ink clones that can immobilise and seal his targets.

### Chakra and Physical Prowess [ ]

As a jinchūriki , Killer B possesses a massive quantity of strong chakra and stamina, enough to fight throughout an entire day, even while fully transformed. He could quickly recover and return to battle with no ill effects shortly after being hit by his own Tailed Beast Ball. His tantalising chakra even caused Samehada to betray its master Kisame to join B. Even the Shinju was attracted to B's reserves and chased him with far more roots and branches than other shinobi in the area.

B's fighting style consists of fast unpredictable movement, aptly named, Disturbance Taijutsu. Like his brother, B generally makes use of wrestling moves, instead of standard taijutsu, which is supplemented by his immense strength. He could successfully perform a Lightning Release: Double Lariat with A as a child, and defeat a giant bear in a sumō match as an adult. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, B's natural raw strength had surpassed his brother's, even in his fully-powered state. He is also durable enough to withstand being electrocuted by Sasuke, punched hard by Jūgo, and even hit by A with no visible damage. He has also shown remarkable speed and reflexes, able to surprise the Yellow Flash when they fought.

### Ninjutsu [ ]

#### Kenjutsu [ ]

While carrying only two swords in his youth, B has greatly developed his kenjutsu in adulthood. Combining kenjutsu with his unique fighting style, Disturbance Taijutsu, B can make use of another technique, Acrobat — a unique style in which B holds seven blades in between his left armpit, both elbows, right leg, stomach, the right side of his neck, and in his mouth. As strange as it appears, B is very skilled in this style, easily pressuring his enemies with unpredictable swings from various angles in a manner similar to hip-hop dance. When he finds an opening, he can quickly impale his opponent with several blades. His ability to impale his opponents is extremely pinpoint accurate, often hitting vital spots. Killer B mentioned Sasuke only survived being impaled by him because he used Chidori Current to deflect the blades that impaled him.

B's kenjutsu could overwhelm even the most trained swordsmen , some of whom possess the Sharingan. He can also use the blades as mid-range projectiles, create an "Eighth" sword by using Gyūki's chakra, and quickly slice rocks into various shapes. After acquiring Samehada as his main weapon, B has integrated it into his fighting style by using the sword's ability to 'cut' chakra. B can also coordinate attacks with Samehada, and use it to store some of his swords when not in use. In the anime, he apparently is a talented teacher in kenjutsu, having taught Omoi feint attacks and deceptions with shadow clones or the Body Replacement Technique as set ups for a final blow.

#### Nature Transformation [ ]

B is capable of using Lightning, Fire, Water, and Yang Release nature transformations. With lightning, he has displayed the ability to flow lightning-natured chakra through his blades to increase their cutting power or clad himself in it to increase his strength and speed. B's skill with Lightning Release can even charge a pencil to pierce straight through a large tree trunk and even through the ground. As stated by Kisame, B does this by increasing the vibration frequency of his lightning chakra high enough to surpass the penetrative force of Wind Release techniques.

### Intelligence [ ]

Despite his carefree nature, Killer B possesses sharp wit, as shown when he used the Body Replacement Technique to switch places with one of Gyūki's tentacle so he could escape Sasuke's Amaterasu. He can also be very persuasive and deceptive, as he quickly turned Naruto's attention away from leaving the Tailed Beast Temple by offering to train him. He also has the ability to interpret someone's "heart" as well as transmit his own feelings merely through touching someone (which is usually done through a fist bump). This ability was first demonstrated when he was training with Naruto in the Tailed Beast Temple, again when Iruka expressed his wishes to protect Naruto to him and when he stopped his brother from attacking Naruto. B is quite knowledgeable in fūinjutsu, being able to distinguish between the superiority of the Four Symbols Seal and his own Iron Armour Seal

## Blank Period [ ]

At some point, B returned Samehada to Kirigakure .

### The Last: Naruto the Movie [ ]

Two years following the Fourth Shinobi World War, after meteors began frequently hitting the planet, a Kage Summit was convened. Killer B accompanied his brother to it. Killer B and his brother later use a special chakra weapon to destroy the fragments heading to the planet. During Naruto's fight with Toneri Ōtsutsuki , A instructs B to destroy the Moon to ensure it does not fall to them once the hour time limit is up. B refuses stating he will not kill Naruto and his friends. Luckily, Naruto defeated Toneri and stopped the Moon in time.

### Konoha Hiden: The Perfect Day for a Wedding [ ]

Killer B is one of the many visitors that attends Naruto and Hinata Hyūga 's wedding, where he is seen bumping fists with Naruto while Hinata shakes hands with the Kazekage and Temari .

## New Era [ ]

Thirteen years after the moon collision event, B complained about how bored he was and considered going to see how Naruto was doing, only for Gyūki to note that Naruto was probably busy, unlike B.

### Versus Momoshiki Arc [ ]

Approached by members of the Ōtsutsuki clan in their search for Kaguya's scattered chakra, they attacked B, prompting him to transform into Gyūki. During the fight, he was immobilised and attacked Momoshiki and Kinshiki with a Tailed Beast Ball, which Momoshiki absorbed and redirected back at him after amplifying its strength. Unable to dodge, B was engulfed in the blast, during which he made a Octopus Leg Clone. Upon the clone being captured by the clansmen, it fooled them into thinking it was the real B, leading to its chakra being extracted and converted into a few pills before they continued their search. The ordeal left Gyūki unable to contact the other tailed beasts. Afterwards, B returned to Kumogakure.

## In Other Media [ ]

### Movies [ ]

#### Naruto the Movie: Blood Prison [ ]

A had B summoned following a failed attempt on his life by an assassin disguised as Naruto Uzumaki , and sent to the aid of the real one at the Hōzuki Castle . When he arrived, B saved Naruto's life from Satori's attack and repelled the beast with a punch, before engaging it with the other allies sent as backup. After Satori was eventually defeated, B lifted the Box of Ultimate Bliss and dropped it in the ocean, before going home.

## Creation and Conception [ ]

In a 2012 Shōnen Jump interview, Kishimoto stated that one of his past editors who really likes pro wrestling greatly influenced his decision to create a character that — even though he was a shinobi — used pro wrestling moves as part of his techniques. He also stated that he wanted to make him into an interesting character and one of the most powerful shinobi in the series. Kishimoto went on to say that he has trouble writing B's lines at times because he always wants them to rhyme due to his rapping style.

## Trivia [ ]

- His name is a reference to the famed rap group, the Wu-Tang Clan , often referred to as the "Killer Bees".
- Bī is the Japanese pronunciation of the letter "B" (as well as the Japanese pronunciation of "Bee"). This parallels the names of other Kumogakure shinobi such as F and J for example.
- During a fierce battle with Taka, B quoted Muhammad Ali 's famous line, " float like a butterfly, sting like a bee ".
- Killer B makes various references to bees. This is a pun on the number of tails his tailed beast has. Eight in Japanese is hachi (八), a homophone to the Japanese word for bee, hachi (蜂).
- Though not confirmed, Killer B was given the name of Kira Hachi by fans. It comes from the word " Kirābī " incorrectly translated into Japanese (Hachi is the Japanese word for " bee ", as well as " Eight ". Kira is a loanword of the English " killer "). Kira Hachi, can be translated to " Killer Eight ", following the homophone of bee.
- B's nickname may be a reference to The Killer Bees , a professional wrestling team in the World Wrestling Federation . Additionally, the Lightning Release: Double Lariat resembles the "Cross Bomber" move used by the Hell's Missionaries tag-team in Kinnikuman, a wrestling manga.
- B has used or has possession of two of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist blades so far. He used Zabuza Momochi's Kubikiribōchō in his fight with Taka and he has taken possession of Kisame Hoshigaki 's Samehada . However in the School Trip Arc of the Boruto: Naruto Next Generations anime it is revealed that Samehada was eventually returned to Kirigakure and is no longer in Killer Bee's possession.
- In chapter 542, when A and B face off against several Iwagakure shinobi while on a mission, B is first depicted with longer hair and looks a bit older. However, in subsequent panels his hair is once again short and spiky and looks much younger. Oddly, this was not corrected in the tankōbon.
- In a 2012 Shōnen Jump interview, Masashi Kishimoto stated that Chōji Akimichi and B were currently his favourite characters in the Naruto series.
- Studio Pierrot's Settei sheets of Killer B show that he was 112 cm at age 5, and 122 cm at age 7. As an adult Studio Pierrot has him at 192.7 cm.
- His birth date corresponds to Taurus , the bull in the western zodiac, further referencing his connection with Gyūki.
- With Naruto losing Kurama via the Baryon Mode , Killer B is now the last Jinchūriki in existence.

## References [ ]