Tatewaki

Tatewaki ( タテワキ ) was a former samurai from the Land of Iron who later served as a retainer to the daimyō of the Land of This .

## Background [ ]

Tatewaki left his homeland at some point, becoming a rōnin , and took up a lifestyle as a hired mercenary. He later went to work for a small nation known as the Land of This as a bodyguard to its daimyō and his daughter Chiyo . During the nations annual food-eating contest, he was assigned to guard the kidnapped son of another daimyō named Shū . He would regularly train Shū in swordsmanship. The following day while beginning another session, he noticed "Shū's" performance was much greater than normal, realising that he was an imposter, revealed to be Naruto Uzumaki . While Naruto was able to deceive the other guards in his escape, Tatewaki saw through his deception and found him. When he asked what happened to Shū, Naruto informed him that he and his ninja team were assigned to return Shū to his country. This relieved Tatewaki, who truly wanted Shū to be safe and happy in his homeland. The moment was quickly ended by the sudden attack of the Akatsuki on the nation.

Tatewaki begged Naruto to protect Chiyo while he fulfilled his duties to the This Daimyō. Upon returning to the castle, he met Akatsuki member Sasori , who announced that he just killed the daimyō. Despite this, Tatewaki felt compelled to make Sasori pay. Despite a strong assault, he was ultimately poisoned by Sasori. Knowing his demise was near, he made one final assault on Sasori.

Tatewaki died later, presumably from the poison. Some time afterwards, Kabuto Yakushi acquired a DNA sample of the late samurai for future use.

## Personality [ ]

Tatewaki was a solitary man who only spoke when necessary. While no longer considering himself a samurai, he was very committed to his duties, willing to give his life to perform them. He also appeared to dislike resorting to violence if possible. Trained as a samurai, he valued peace above all. Tatewaki was also very perceptive, capable of seeing through deceptions. He cared deeply for Shu and Chiyo, beyond his mere duties as their bodyguard, as he would gladly give his life to give them a chance to escape, and after his reincarnation, he was glad to hear they have grown up and wished to see them, but knew not to as it would sadden them to see him in his undead state, which ultimately gave him closure to return to the Pure Land .

## Appearance [ ]

Tatewaki was a tall and middle-aged man of lean-built and fair-skin. He had long wavy black hair that he kept in ponytail with some loose strands hanging over his forehead and bushy sideburns. He had a long face with pronounced cheekbones and tear-troughs under his eyes, plus stubble on his chin and upper-lip. He had grey eyes with a long scar running down over his left eye.

Normally, he was dressed in a simple samurai attire consisting of a dull green robe and beige pants. In battle, he donned traditional samurai armour with two large slash marks forming a cross on his chest-plate, several faulds, and one shoulder guard.

## Abilities [ ]

As a former samurai, Tatewaki was a highly skilled fighter, further shown from his position as a personal guard to a daimyō. His skills were great enough to defeat several of Sasori 's puppets, earning praise from him. Years later, Kabuto Yakushi chose to reincarnate him for the Fourth Shinobi World War to make use of his skill. When battling several high-ranking ninja of the Allied Shinobi Forces , he easily overwhelmed them, even kenjutsu experts. He showed great speed and agility, being able to quickly react to Sasori's various hidden weapons and block the majority of them.

### Kenjutsu [ ]

As a trained samurai, Tatewaki was masterful in his swordsmanship, able to launch fast and powerful attack with great precision with Iaidō . With just the hilt of his sword, he was easily able to defeat a shadow clone. With just his raw skill, his blade was easily able to destroy several ninja puppets. His strikes even from a distance are dangerous, able to focus them into powerful shockwaves to slash and blow back respectively his opponents. His chakra control was apparently high, as Karui considered his skills similar to a ninja, able to use his chakra to enhance his strikes and create powerful slashes .

## Part II [ ]

### Fourth Shinobi World War: Confrontation [ ]

During the second day of the war, Tatewaki was forced to attack and strike down several ninja. During the battle, he was approached by Naruto Uzumaki, who he had not seen in three years. After recognising him, Tatewaki asked Naruto what became of the two children he was guarding. Naruto told him that Shū and Chiyo were safely brought to Shū's land , where his father welcomed Chiyo, and have since been safely travelling together. Relieved to hear that, Tatewaki's regrets from life vanished, breaking his contract with the summoning and allowing him to return to the afterlife .