Kazuma

Kazuma ( カズマ ), also known as Furido ( フリド , Furido ), was a member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja , and eventually led half of the group to stage a coup d'etat against Konohagakure , and more specifically, the Hokage .

## Background [ ]

Kazuma was once part of the Twelve Guardian Ninja . At some point, he had a son, Sora , who he left in the care of the monks of the Fire Temple . Over time, he and five other members developed a radical new view of safety and stability for the Land of Fire. Feeling that Konohagakure's more passive methods of protecting the country were ineffective, Kazuma's faction decided to do away with the ninja village. They did this with the goal of restoring full authority of the country and its military resources to the Fire Daimyō, thereby uniting their country under one king. At the same time, their new ambitions for the Land of Fire including using this newfound "unity" to invade and conquer the other countries of the world. When it became clear that the Fire Daimyō would not back this plan, Kazuma attempted to assassinate the ruler, only to be stopped by Asuma Sarutobi . After a long fight, Kazuma, Asuma, and Chiriku were left as the only surviving members of the Twelve Guardian Ninja. Kazuma then had one final showdown with Asuma, where he was ultimately struck down. Chiriku was the only one who knew about this, and kept it a secret.

Despite Asuma and Chiriku's victory, unbeknownst to them, Kazuma had survived. His goals had not changed despite all his allies now being dead. He spent the next several years training and coming up with a new plan to achieve his goal. He later changed his name to "Furido" and persuaded Fuen , Fūka , and Fudō , to join him. During the attack of Kurama on Konoha, Kazuma discovered that the Nine-Tails' chakra was so great that it had leaked out. Kazuma took advantage of this by collecting the extra chakra. With no one knowing, not even his son, Kazuma then infused Sora with this chakra and cells from the Nine-Tails, and kept it mostly contained inside his son with various seals as insurance for later.

## Personality [ ]

According to Sora, Kazuma was once a kind, loyal, and upbeat man who took pride in his appearance and abilities, which was proven by how hard he trained and how diligent he was in keeping his Twelve Guardian Ninja sash clean and in pristine condition. According to Asuma, Kazuma was a man with great faith in his beliefs and committed to making his dreams come true. Indeed, Kazuma proved to have much resolve in the actions he took and in his own way was unwaveringly loyal to his country. Kazuma even admitted himself that he was once an honourable man who refused to involve bystanders.

However, in his growing concern for the continued safety and prosperity for the Land of Fire, he eventually adopted a radical new ideology. He became convinced that the status quo was too fragile and only by branding the rest of the world with the Land of Fire's flag would protect his country. He also believed Konohagakure was unfit to protect the country and desired to do away with it to restore full command of the country to one leader. This paranoid and aggressive new outlook made Kazuma a hypocrite, as once the Fire Daimyō rejected Kazuma's plans, he resolved himself to assassinate the man he swore to protect. Ultimately, this made him very ruthless, stopping at nothing to "unite" the Land of Fire. In his shameless new goal, he completely abandoned his former nature, including all forms of moral and emotional attachment to pursue his goals. He openly became disgusted by those principles, indifferently willing to sacrifice whoever he must for success, as he showed through his use of his own son.

As Furido, he appeared to be laid-back and a little goofy, regularly making light of the battle. He also becomes quite deceptive, concealing his true identity from Sora and only claiming that he "knew his father", all to manipulate Sora into joining up with him (until Sora learned that Kazuma wished to kill everyone, not just the Hokage). Contrary to Asuma, who believed the "king" in shōgi was the next generation of children, Kazuma viewed the "king" to be leader of the Land of Fire. For this reason, he set about trying to kill Tsunade, Konoha's Fifth Hokage, whom he viewed to be a threat to what he called the "true king" of the Land of Fire.

## Appearance [ ]

Kazuma was a tall man of tanned complexion. He wore simple dark clothing that matched his brown hair, long pants and a short-sleeved shirt with black shoes. He also wore a red sweatband on his head. As Furido, he wore a purple qípáo-like garment that was lined with yellow, blue, and grey and straw sandals. His hair had become white and long while worn-out in texture. He also had a pale long scar stretching diagonally across his face, presumably from Asuma's final attack on him during the implosion of the Twelve Guardian Ninja. After the extended period since last seeing his former ally, Kazuma's appearance had changed so much that Asuma barely recognised him.

## Abilities [ ]

As one of the former Twelve Guardian Ninja , Kazuma was a highly capable ninja. In his quest to destroy Konoha and conquer the world, Kazuma gathered a variety of proficient skills. Alongside his four-man team, he easily bypassed all of Konoha's outer defenses and likewise threw the village into turmoil (albeit they tricked the main forces of the village to relocated elsewhere).

### Ninjutsu [ ]

Kazuma acquired great knowledge and proficiency in various ninjutsu, including different kinjutsu . His knowledge was so great that he was able to allow him to easily sneak through Konoha's barrier undetected and even pass through Fuen's giant barrier , a feat that astonished several shinobi as they believed it to be normally impossible. His knowledge could also dispel techniques used to trap him, like Sai's ink technique binding him. He could refract light to conceal himself from view of his enemies.

#### Nature Transformation [ ]

Kazuma was proficient in various element techniques. With Wind Release, he could infuse his weapons with the element to greatly increase their penetrative power . When using his monk staff, he is able to produce a large twister strong enough to easily repel Sora's demonic wind blasts. With Earth Release, he could merge himself into and within a forest environment. Combining his kinjutsu with Earth Release, Kazuma also was able to revive the dead using at least two different methods . The first version required a large area of earth , which would allow him to continuously summon people as mindless zombies. The second version would bring a person back as a perfect resurrection, able to use all their skills from when alive.

#### Fūinjutsu [ ]

Kazuma showed impressive knowledge and mastery of sealing techniques. Not only did he find a way to capture and contain Kurama's excess chakra for five years, but also was able effectively infuse it into Sora, where he just as easily kept it controlled and later released it. His sealing method was so effective that even after a medical team at the Fire Temple examined Sora, after his demon chakra caused him to rampage and nearly destroy the temple, they were unable to find traces of what might have caused him to rampage.

#### Physical Prowess [ ]

Kazuma specialised in melee combat, showing outstanding prowess in both bukijutsu and taijutsu. He was able to easily overwhelm Sora, who is highly skilled in close-range combat, and likewise fight on par with Asuma, one of Konoha's top ninja who is also noted for his melee skills. His primary weapon in battle was a multi-section monk staff , which he could strike from a distance with great accuracy using the multiple parts split with a chain in between the joint and destroy large boulders and trees in the blink of an eye. He was also proficient at close-range with a triple-bladed hand claw . Even without his weapons, Kazuma was more than proficient enough to easily outpace and incapacitate Sora, appearing right beside his son, mid-sentence, without the younger shinobi noticing his movement, and delivering a strong enough punch to stun Sora.

## Part II [ ]

### Twelve Guardian Ninja [ ]

Main article: Twelve Guardian Ninja

Furido encountered Team Yamato in the fields near the Fire Temple , after they had been lured there by the stolen bodies of Kitane , Tōu , Seito and Nauma . There, he came face-to-face with Sora again for the first time in years. Clearly, Furido was more interested in how Sora used his powers than how he had grown as a person. During their skirmish, Furido continued to taunt Sora to force him to show more of his true power. Eventually, Furido performed the Five Elements Unseal on Sora, causing his son's demonic arm to appear more frequently.

Later, shortly before the attack on Konoha, he revealed to Sora that it had been Asuma who had "killed" his father as part of his plan to get Sora to join him. Initially he had convinced Sora to join him in his plans to destroy Konoha's "king", but then Sora had discovered that Furido intended to also destroy the entire village and all of its inhabitants, prompting Sora to help stop him. When his initial plan to destroy Konoha by using four resurrected Ninja Guardian members to perform Limelight failed, he decided to rely on unleashing the full force of Sora's demonic chakra, knowing full well that Sora's body would not be able to handle it and that he would ultimately destroy everything around him.

After all of Furido's allies perished, Asuma and Team Yamato caught up to Furido, where Asuma revealed who Furido really was. It was then that Kazuma revealed that it was because of him that Sora possessed his demonic powers. Whilst Naruto tried to deal with Sora, Asuma chased after Kazuma into the woods. There Asuma scolded Kazuma for using Sora as a tool and weapon. Eventually, Kazuma was captured (with assistance from Sai ). Asuma tried one last time to make Kazuma understand that his goal was unnecessary as, in reality, they were both trying to protect the wrong king. Refusing to believe that, Kazuma broke free and attempted to finish off Asuma, but was struck down by his former ally. As Kazuma collapsed and feels his end drawing near, he voiced his fear for the future of the country. Asuma merely stated that it would continue to exist as it always has, which Kazuma scoffed at before finally dying. His sash of the Twelve Guardian Ninja fell in front of his corpse, remaining unstained, which made Asuma recall that Sora stated the only thing he could remember of his father was the sash that never got tainted.

## Trivia [ ]

- The name Kazuma means "true harmony", alluding to his goal of bringing prosperity to the Land of Fire .
- As an anime-only character, Kazuma seemed to be made as an extension over the repeated talking about the "true king" during the Akatsuki Suppression Mission.
- Kazuma's favourite food seemed to be roasted sweet potatoes, which he was seen eating often.
- While for different reasons, Kazuma and Minato Namikaze both put part of Kurama into their respective sons.

## References [ ]