Araya

Araya ( アラヤ ) is a chūnin of Sunagakure . He is a member of a team along with Shinki and Yodo .

## Personality [ ]

Araya is quick-witted and composed at all times. However, in the anime, he suffers from stage fright, not liking too many people watching him similar to Metal Lee . To compensate for that, he masquerades his puppet as himself. While functioning well as team-mates, Araya and Yodo have a tendency to argue a lot, even while on missions.

## Appearance [ ]

Araya has brown hair styled into a spiked ponytail and wore a white and purple Hannya-like mask, which has a Suna crest on the forehead, along with purple markings around the eyes, nose and mouth areas. His attire consisted of a beige jacket, brown pants and black calf-length shinobi sandals. He also carried a sword on his back, which is mounted to his right shoulder with a latch, allowing him to instantly draw it.

Three years later, Araya wears a black visor on his eyes with a Suna crest in place of his mask, leaving the lower half of his face visible, including the goatee he now sports. He wears an orange-brown hooded jacket with rib cuffs, black pants and a blue belt with a Suna crest-shaped buckle. He retains his black gloves, and his jacket and sandals have a blue inner layer.

## Abilities [ ]

### Bukijutsu [ ]

Araya is a skilled kenjutsu practitioner, wielding a long sword in battle, and is his preferred method of fighting. He was able to use the sword to easily dismember Tenten 's puppets . From his time with Shinki, he developed a technique that incorporates Iron Sand to enhance his sword strikes. He also makes use of his sword's sheath, using its long size and spear tip as an effective use of bōjutsu .

### Ninjutsu [ ]

#### Puppetry [ ]

In the anime, Araya excels in the use of the Puppet Technique , which he used to manipulate a life-like replica of himself . His control over the puppet allowed him to fight on par with Sarada Uchiha , even after activating her Sharingan . He could also manifest his Chakra Threads from a considerable distance, and remain unnoticed. He is also able to adjust to using other people's puppets, as seen from using Kankurō 's Sanshōuo .

#### Nature Transformation [ ]

Araya has proficiency in Wind Release , able to produce powerful gusts to repel targets.

## New Era: Part I [ ]

### Versus Momoshiki Arc [ ]

Main articles: Boruto: Naruto the Movie and Versus Momoshiki Arc

While en route to Konohagakure to participate in the Chūnin Exams, Araya expressed his readiness to Gaara and Kankurō when asked if they were ready for the examinations. Following attending the entrance ceremony for the exams with Shinki and Yodo , the team met Team Konohamaru at Lightning Burger . Afterwards, the three raced towards the first exam venue in the time provided in order to not get eliminated. Bypassing all traps and obstacles on their route, the team made it to Exam Venue B without using their jutsu . There, the team participated in a true or false question, which resulted in all competitors falling into a pit that contained a pool of ink. Saved by Shinki's Iron Sand , the team passed the first round of the Chūnin Exams.

Three days later, for the second round of the exams, Araya's team competed in a game of capture the flag against Team 5 . Upon Shinki capturing the enemies flag, the team proceeded to the next round. In the third round, he was matched against Inojin, whom he effortlessly defeated. In the anime, during the semi-finals, Araya faced off against Sarada Uchiha . Exploiting a loophole in the rules of the tournament, Araya secretly put his puppet in place of him while he controlled it from afar. While initially repelling all of Sarada's attacks with ease and quickly cornering her, she soon realised through her Sharingan the Araya she was fighting was a fake, using her Lightning Ball to expose him. Now flustered at so many people watching him, Araya's focus was ruined, letting Sarada easily defeat the puppet, and as a stand-in for the match, eliminated Araya.

### One-Tail Escort Arc [ ]

Main article: One-Tail Escort Arc In the anime, as Gaara and Sasuke Uchiha were battling Urashiki Ōtsutsuki , Araya joined Yodo and Kankurō to aid their allies. Upon arrival, Sasuke was warped to a different dimension by Urashiki, but Gaara was able to temporally seal away the foe with the timely aid and arrival of Shukaku . Afterwards, it was decided that Yodo and Araya would escort Gaara back to Suna to tend to his injuries while Kankurō went with Shinki and Boruto to safeguard Shukaku at Konoha.

Along the way, Araya carried Gaara on Kankurō's Sanshōuo. They were later approached by Temari and Shikadai, as the former was growing concerned for her brothers. The two genin explained the situation, directing the Konoha-nin to Shinki and Boruto's last location. Soon afterwards, the winded Kazekage muttered that the seal would soon break.

Ultimately, the two genin were able to successfully return the Kazekage to the village, relieved when he recovered.

### Kara Actuation Arc [ ]

Main article: Kara Actuation Arc Araya and his team-mates were assigned a mission with Team 10 to retrieve a puppet left over from the battle against Urashiki. Upon arriving at the general area, Araya used Sanshōuo to dig up the puppet. Quickly afterwards, they were encountered by Deepa . The man demanded to be given the puppet. When they refused, Deepa pelted them with a barrage of carbon cubes that even Shinki's Iron Sand Wall couldn't completely resist, knocking Araya and Yodo out. Their allies were soon defeated as well. Despite the defeat and them destroying Deepa's target, Deepa decided to leave them alive. After awakening, they reported the assault.

### Chūnin Re-Examination Arc [ ]

Main article: Chūnin Re-Examination Arc Having become a chūnin, Araya and his team were instructed by Gaara to go watch the Chūnin Exams in Konoha, arriving during the second match of the finals. While talking to Sarada and Chōchō, he expressed interest in watching the matches. By the end of the exams, the Suna-nin returned home, having completed their true objective of investigating Kawaki .

## New Era: Part II [ ]

### Boruto's Return Arc [ ]

Main article: Boruto's Return Arc Three years later, Suna was invaded by the sentient God Tree , Matsuri . Araya joined his team and the Fifth Kazekage to face the threat, but was quickly repelled. As Gaara was severely injured, he made the decision to restrain the children with his sand so as to keep them safe from battle. When the Claw Grimes attacked Gaara, Shinki managed to break free and sealed his father to protect him but as the result, he was consumed by a Claw Grime. Araya held Yodo back when she attempted to save Shinki. Shinki told his team-mates not to worry about him and warn Kankurō of what happened before he was transformed into a tree.

### Matsuri and Ryū Arc [ ]

Main article: Matsuri and Ryū Arc Later, at the request of the Eighth Hokage , Araya and Yodo joined Team 7 to intercept the sudden appearance of two Human God Trees in the Land of Wind. Following Shikamaru's plan to feign befriending the God Trees, having learned that Matsuri had feelings for Konohamaru, the team approached the God Trees. They pretended not to know who and what they were, telling the two that hunting down Boruto. It was agreed to join with the God Trees to find Boruto. Soon, Konohamaru convinced the God Trees to separate under the pretense of better searching the area, Araya and the other kids pairing up with Ryū.

When Araya and Yodo introduced themselves to the God Tree, Yodo struggled to hide her hatred towards Ryū, which Araya insisted that it was just shyness. Mitsuki asks Ryū why the God Trees want Boruto dead so badly. Ryū admits that Jura finds it too troublesome that Boruto knows about the Thornsoul Bulbs. As Sarada suggests that they use a Thornsoul Bulb to lure out Boruto, Ryū agrees and produces his own. Unable to restrain herself in the hopes of free Shinki, Yodo rushes to steal the bulb, only for it to be a fake made of Iron Sand. Having seen through the shinobi's deception, Ryū decides they must be punished. He uses his Iron Sand, which he secretly coated them with, to manipulate their bodies into attacking each other. To Ryū's surprise, Araya frees everyone with his Magnetic Iron Sand Sealing Blade .

With Araya's technique to protect them from Ryū's Iron Sand, the team goes on the offense. As they seemingly pin the God Tree down, he reveals his ability to transform himself into Iron Sand to escape. Ryū then summons several Claw Grimes to aid him, overwhelming the shinobi with their relentless attacks. As Araya slashes a Claw Grime, the creature quickly secures the blade in its wound. Ryū then teleports the Claw Grime away, with Araya's sword and leaving him defenseless.

As Ryū quickly overpowered his foes and captured them, he offered to spare them if they revealed any useful information on Boruto or his accomplice. Ultimately, as no one gave him a good answer, Ryū struck her down Yodo. As Yodo was still clinging to life, Ryū used his sand to force Sarada to finish the job with a kunai. At the last second, Sarada revealed her Mangekyō Sharingan producing orbs to suck up all the iron sand, freeing everyone. Araya then watch in awe as Sarada proceeded to soundly defeat the Human God Tree, imploding his body and producing his Thornsoul Bulb.

As Mitsuki told Araya to take the Bulb to free Shinki, Jura appeared through a Claw Grime. Mitsuki instantly recognised him as the Human God Tree's leader. Araya wondered if he was here to retrieve the Thornsoul Bulb. Despite this, Jura paid them no attention, instead flying off after a long-distance blast failed to hit its target. As Araya wondered where he was going, Mitsuki quickly realised Jura was heading in Konohamaru's direction.

With his mission completed, Araya took Yodo and Ryū's Thornsoul Bulb back to Sunagakure, eager to use the latter to finally free Shinki. Upon which, Shinki was successfully freed from his tree prison, and following which, the Kazekage was freed from Shinki's seal.

## In Other Media [ ]

### Video Games [ ]

Araya is a playable character in the following video games:

## Trivia [ ]

- According to character trivia from Boruto :
- Araya's hobbies are miniature games and model building.
- His favourite foods are marshmallows and gummi candy , and his least favourite food is donuts .
- According to his Naruto Mobile profile, Araya could also puppet Sanshōuo .

## References [ ]