Koharu Utatane

Koharu Utatane ( うたたねコハル , Utatane Koharu ) is a former member of the dissolved Team Tobirama . She and her teammate Homura Mitokado now serve as members of the Konoha Council .

## Background [ ]

In the anime, shortly after the foundation of the village, she was shown to be part of a class alongside Homura Mitokado and Torifu Akimichi . Later she watched on, as Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō Shimura were about to spar, along with Torifu and Kagami Uchiha .

Under the guidance of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju , Koharu and her teammates, Hiruzen and Homura, completed numerous missions and became close friends. On one mission during the First Shinobi World War as Tobirama's Escort Unit , the team had been surrounded by the brutal Kinkaku Force . Koharu suggested that they wait and ambush the opposition since the Kinkaku Force did not know their exact location or numbers, thinking that would give them somewhat of an advantage. She later watched on as Hiruzen, Danzō, and finally the Second, offered himself as the decoy, allowing them to escape.

When Hiruzen became the Third Hokage , Homura and Koharu became his councilors. With their years of experience, knowledge and their unending effort to make Konohagakure a better place, they eventually gained similar respect and social status as the Hokage himself.

Many years later, during the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack , Koharu was seen fighting alongside her teammates and many other shinobi, attempting to restrain the beast and drive it out of the village before it could cause any more mayhem and destruction.

## Personality [ ]

Koharu is a stern and strong-willed individual who is noted to always have Konoha's best interests in mind. She holds the belief that the group is more important than any of its individual members, and as such, seeks to act in the best interest of the village as a whole rather than its individual citizens, which often clashes with the Third and Fifth Hokage's view. Like Homura, she is more militant than the Hokage she serves under, to the point of leaning towards Danzō 's way of thinking. This became apparent when she and Homura supported Danzō's suggestion to exterminate the Uchiha Clan upon learning of their plans of a coup d'etat against Konohagakure, believing it to be the most advantageous course of action for the village's sake. Nevertheless, she and Homura are not above going against Danzō, such as when the latter blamed Hiruzen for the Fourth Hokage's death, Koharu confronted Danzō on his notable absence from the battle against the Nine-Tails. Later, they wanted to restrict Naruto Uzumaki 's movements, and after Pain's defeat she agreed that Tsunade was partly to blame for Konoha's destruction. She has also been described as a humble person.

## Appearance [ ]

In her youth, Koharu was a beautiful kunoichi with dark eyes. Her hair is pulled back in a twin bun locked by a traditional Japanese hair pin with two pearls dangling off the side. She also had fringes that covered her forehead protector . Her shinobi outfit consisted of a simple black outfit, a grey breastplate, arm guards, fishnet tights with a skirt over it, a pouch strapped to her back with bandages, and regular shinobi sandals. During the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha, she was seen in the same outfit as her teammates Hiruzen and Homura, complete with a gauntlet on her right arm and mesh armour.

In her old age, she maintains her original hairstyle without the bangs. The pearls on her hair needle have also increased and tassels were added to the other end. Her earrings are also considerably longer. As a member of the Konoha Council, Koharu wears a simple long kimono, closed by an obi, a jacket, and a sash over it. Koharu has also taken to squinting, barely opening her eyes at any point in time. By the reign of the Seventh Hokage, Koharu aged considerably. She gained deep wrinkles, her hair turned white and was longer, and her eyes became heavily drooped. She also requires a cane to move about.

## Abilities [ ]

In Book of Bright Light , Danzō alleges that Koharu and Homura are not very skilled and have never done anything noteworthy on the battlefield. He claims they've only lived for so long due to luck and by aligning themselves to more talented allies.

In the anime, Koharu is shown to be highly perceptive, detecting an explosive tag hidden in a wall, extracting it , and noticing that the tag was decades old.

## Part I [ ]

### Chūnin Exams [ ]

Main article: Chūnin Exams

Koharu is first seen in the series at a meeting between the Konoha Council and the jōnin-level shinobi of the village. They discussed Hayate 's death and the looming threat of Orochimaru . She tells them that they already have the Anbu gathering information in other countries and that they shouldn't be too focused on Orochimaru as the enemy may use it to their advantage.

### Search for Tsunade [ ]

Main article: Search for Tsunade After the death of the Third, Homura and Koharu find Jiraiya spying on women bathing, an action which Homura reprimanded him for. They then discussed the situation between Konoha and Suna which Jiraiya said he was fully aware of. Koharu then tells him that no one knows when another nation may try to invade them again. She then tells him that they need to hold an executive committee meeting but before that they needed to select a Hokage as trouble could come at the village from any angle. She then attempts to tell Jiraiya the decision that was made at a meeting that they held on the previous day, however Jiraiya cuts her off and declines the post that they were offering to him. Homura tells him that it had already been decided as he was the most eligible person for the post. Jiraiya however makes mention of another candidate that was possibly even more qualified than he was. She then acknowledges the fact that Tsunade was in fact eligible for the post, but her location was unknown. When Jiraiya states that he will go and look for Tsunade, Homura insists that three Anbu accompany him, Jiraiya declines once again and says that there is no need to have him "followed" because he wasn't running away. He however did request to bring one person along with him: Naruto Uzumaki .

### Konoha Plans Recapture Mission [ ]

Main article: Konoha Plans Recapture Mission In the anime, when Tsunade learns that the village is rigged with explosive tags, Koharu and Homura volunteer to aid in the search and removal of the tags. Tsunade sends them to an abandoned section of the village where they find an explosive tag lodged in the walls of one of the buildings. Bringing this back as evidence to Tsunade, they also note that the tag was really old judging from how the seal was written on it.

## Interlude [ ]

### In Naruto's Footsteps: The Friends' Paths [ ]

Main article: In Naruto's Footsteps: The Friends' Paths

About two years later, in an effort to restore Konoha's reputation, Tsunade proposed to host an early Chūnin Exams in Konoha, hoping to get Sunagakure's approval and assistance as co-sponsors. When meeting with the Fifth Kazekage and the Sand Siblings , Kankurō quickly realised that Konoha's reputation was not the only reason for this unorthodox proposal. It was explained that with their intel on the Akatsuki suggested that they would be making a move soon, she hoped this improvised exams would lure the enemy out. Ultimately, it was agreed to host the first exam in Konoha and the second exam in Suna, conceding that the Sunagakure's location would make for a better survival exam.

## Part II [ ]

### Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission [ ]

Main article: Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission

After Shizune becomes increasingly uneasy about how liberal Tsunade was with Naruto and the missions he went on that constantly put him at risk of encountering Akatsuki, she speaks to Homura and Koharu, who in turn, hold a meeting with Tsunade. Koharu tells Tsunade that Naruto was no ordinary boy, Homura voices that as such shouldn't be leaving the village at all and should have been kept under constant supervision. Throughout the whole meeting Homura remains predominantly neutral in the conversation. After Shizune states that as Kakashi was still recuperating so a interim leader would have to be selected, Koharu tells Danzō to enter the room. He suggest that someone from the Anbu be selected to lead the team, to which Koharu agrees.

### Twelve Guardian Ninja [ ]

Main article: Twelve Guardian Ninja After Tsunade deploys a team of Anbu to capture Danzō and the unknown assailant that he had been secretly communicating with, they are captured and brought back to the village. During the interrogation, Homura and Koharu intervene. She informs them that while Tatsuji had been passing information to Danzō, he was also relaying the same to them as well. She then tells that even though they are uncertain that Sora possesses a special ability, the people that attacked the Fire Temple may be after him as well.

### Pain's Assault [ ]

Main article: Pain's Assault

When Tsunade tells Kōsuke to head back to Mount Myōboku and get Naruto after Pain invades Konoha, before he is able to leave, Homura and Koharu interrupt saying that she should leave Naruto where he was safe. Homura then tells Tsunade that, according to Danzō, the leader of Akatsuki was heading the assault and their target was Naruto. Koharu tells Tsunade that although she overlooked it last time, this time was different as this was the man that killed even Jiraiya. As Tsunade physically accosts them, Koharu demands that she let them go. Tsunade then tells them both that Naruto was a shinobi of Konoha and not a tool of the village. She also tells them that unlike Jiraiya and Hiruzen, and even Chiyo , they lacked faith and trust in the younger generation. After initially reacting with shock, they tell her to do whatever she pleased, giving up on trying to change her mind.

Koharu is not seen again until the conclusion of the invasion at a meeting of the country and village's heads. She informs the Fire Daimyō and his delegation that Tsunade was still in a coma and that they couldn't decide on a plan for the village when they didn't know when she would wake up. She also used the opportunity to lay partial blame on Tsunade for the invasion.

### Five Kage Summit [ ]

Main article: Five Kage Summit When Kakashi returns to the village from the Land of Iron , and informs the council that Danzō had died, Koharu states that they'd have to hold a meeting to appoint a new Hokage immediately. She then tells Kakashi that they had no choice but to nominate him for Hokage. Later, at another meeting with the daimyō, as they prepared to appoint Kakashi as the new Hokage, the meeting is interrupted by a ninja (Might Guy in the anime) who tells them that Tsunade has awoken from her coma.

She is later seen at a war council meeting that Tsunade calls. She tells them that foremost they need to acquire tools and provisions and that the forces would be split into a war division and support division. She then tells them to bring her a list of all the ninja in the village.

### Paradise Life on a Boat [ ]

Main article: Paradise Life on a Boat

### Fourth Shinobi World War: Confrontation [ ]

Main article: Fourth Shinobi World War: Confrontation In the anime, with the war taking place, Ebisu gathers Koharu, Homura and the villagers for a meeting about the possibility of an attack. Both Koharu and Homura are visibly sleeping during the meeting only to awaken when the Allied Mothers Force have their say in the matter.

## Blank Period [ ]

### Sakura Hiden: Thoughts of Love, Riding Upon a Spring Breeze [ ]

Main article: Sakura Hiden: Thoughts of Love, Riding Upon a Spring Breeze When the Sixth Hokage meets with the Land of Fire's daimyō to discuss Konoha's annual budget, Koharu accompanies him.

## New Era: Part I [ ]

### Mitsuki's Disappearance Arc [ ]

Main article: Mitsuki's Disappearance Arc In the anime, when two chūnin gate guards were attacked by unknown assailants, the village was put on lockdown. After one of the guards' condition was stabilised, Homura and Koharu oversaw Ino Yamanaka 's probing of the guard's mind for answers, learning that Mitsuki had left willingly with the attackers. When it was revealed by Naruto that Mitsuki was in fact Orochimaru's son, the elders were furious at such a secret being kept from them. Naruto rationalised this on the grounds that Orochimaru's conduct has changed from before and that he was aiding in investigating the Ōtsutsuki. Despite this, noting the unpredictable nature of Orochimaru, the elders insisted that they had to treat the Oto-born boy as a threat.

As the council and Hokage continued to talk about how best to deal with this, Kakashi voiced his overall approval of Naruto's actions, noting that Naruto would never do anything he thought would bring danger to the village and that the elders wouldn't even consider letting the boy into the village had they known the full story to begin with.

## New Era: Part II [ ]

### Boruto's Return Arc [ ]

Main article: Boruto's Return Arc Following the world's memories of Boruto and Kawaki being swapped and the Seventh Hokage apparently being killed by Boruto, Shikamaru was apointed as Eighth Hokage, something he agreed to on a provisional basis for three years. During a meeting following Boruto's driving Code back during his attack on Konoha, Koharu and Homura pressed Shikamaru to permanently accept the title to solidify his position on the global stage, and stressed that Boruto should be killed to assuage the daimyō responsible for the village's budget. Shikamaru merely agreed to report to them again.

Later, after Boruto was captured during his aid to protect Konoha from the sentient God Trees' assault on the village, the elders listened in on the interrogation. Boruto explained what the man-like God Trees are but refused to reveal his source . The elders demanded more intel, noting that as a Hokage-killer, he is already sentenced to death, but what intel he gives can make his death less painful. Boruto then revealed that the Seventh Hokage and Hinata are both alive, but gave no other information, annoying the elders.

Shikamaru then called in Mitsuki to help with the interrogation through his venom. As Mitsuki suddenly became enraged and tackled Boruto, he used this moment to free Boruto from his cuffs, secretly ordered to do so by Shikamaru. As Boruto teleported away, Koharu voiced her displeasure in Shikamaru's failure, noting that there would be consequences.

### Matsuri and Ryū Arc [ ]

Main article: Matsuri and Ryū Arc Later, Koharu and Homura met with Ikkyū Madoka , who was displeased with Boruto's escape. They promised to deal with the "threat" immediately.

### Mamushi Arc [ ]

Main article: Mamushi Arc Upon the Fire Daimyō questioning the interim Hokage's ability to carry out the responsibilities of being the head of his village, a meeting was held. The elders of Konohagakure and the Fire Daimyō's chief advisor, Kobu , summoned the Eighth Hokage. During their meeting, the possibility of a mole being in the inner circle of the village was brought up. As Konohamaru voiced his belief that Boruto was not an enemy after he saved the Jōnin from the Human God Trees, Koharu scoffed at the suggestion after what "Boruto" did to the Seventh Hokage. Shikamaru was then questioned in order to identify who helped Boruto escape custody in the village.

## Trivia [ ]

- The name "Koharu" ( 小春 ) means "late summer", while her family name "Utatane" ( うたた寝 ) means "nap".
- Studio Pierrot's Settei sheets of Koharu show that she was 160cm when Tobirama died.
- According to the databook(s):
- Her favourite food is umeboshi and iced noodles with mixed vegetables. Her least favourite food is yogurt .
- Koharu's ninja registration number is the earliest known out of all Konohagakure shinobi: alongside the other members of Team Tobirama, she was one of the first shinobi to be raised in the village.

## References [ ]