Suigetsu Hōzuki

**Suigetsu Hōzuki** (鬼灯水月, *Hōzuki Suigetsu*) is a shinobi from Kirigakure's Hōzuki clan. Heralded as the **Second Coming of the Demon** (鬼人の再来, *Kijin no Sairai*), Suigetsu dreams of gathering all the swords of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. This dream was cut short when he was captured by Orochimaru, but by joining forces with Sasuke Uchiha he finds an opportunity to resume his pursuit.

## Suigetsu Hozuki

* Human
* Part II

### Aliases

鬼灯水月 Hōzuki SuigetsuSecond Coming of the Demon (鬼人の再来, Kijin no Sairai)

### Relatives

Mangetsu Hōzuki (Brother), Mangetsu Hōzuki (Son), Ayane Hōzuki (Wife)

## Background

Suigetsu was born in Kirigakure and was reputed alongside his brother, Mangetsu, to be the incarnation of the demon Zabuza Momochi. He and Mangetsu aspired to inherit the title of Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. This acted as their motivation to finish cruel missions day by day. While Mangetsu eventually became one of the seven, Suigetsu's motivation was shattered with the premature death of his brother, and he changed his ambition to "collecting all of the swords", in order to retrieve all seven original blades that have been passed down by the swordsmen, so that he could rebuild the group and become its leader.

With the humiliation of being captured and experimented on by Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi, his ambition was put on hold. Through these experiments, Kabuto at least, was able to replicate Suigetsu's unique secret ability to liquefy himself at will. At some point in the past, he had to fight with Jūgo.

In the anime, about two years after Sasuke joined Orochimaru, the young Uchiha delivered a vial for research on Suigetsu. Upon seeing the young Uchiha, Suigetsu asked Sasuke to free him, who simply said he had to prove his strength. As the medical-nin came in to begin their tests, Suigetsu noticed one of them was in a daze (unaware he was being controlled by Sasuke's Sharingan). The medical-nin then opened Suigetsu's chamber, allowing him to break free from the base. Soon afterwards, he was pursued by Sasuke and Karin. Using his various water abilities, he was able to fend off the duo. Taking Sasuke's sword and delighting in its design, he attacked Karin, only to be caught off guard and subdued by her chakra chain, allowing Karin to take him back to the base.

## Personality

Suigetsu appears to be indifferent, caring only for a few things around him. He spends a considerable amount of time mocking and/or being beaten up by Karin. Despite showing initial dislike towards his team-mates, Suigetsu has grown fond of them, and was willing to risk his own life to protect them against the Eight-Tails, showing care for his team-mates.

Kisame Hoshigaki claims that Suigetsu is a prodigy in the art of murder, as he has a habit of chopping off his victim's limbs before beheading them. Suigetsu, despite addressing him with the honourific term "senpai", wants to defeat him and take his sword, noting to Sasuke that he will one day serve him as "shark fin soup" (a reference to Kisame's shark-like appearance) after Sasuke suggested that he was not yet strong enough to defeat Kisame, showing it to be a sign of sarcasm rather than respect for Kisame.

As a prodigy at the art of murder, Suigetsu has a certain love for killing, but he refrains from doing so at Sasuke's request. However, there are several occasions where he has killed people when he believed Sasuke wouldn't notice. Suigetsu has been shown to have thoughts such as "just this once" and "he'll forgive me". However, he was noticeably upset that Sasuke killed several samurai during the attack on the Kage Summit, pointing out how many times Sasuke had told him not to kill anyone, his anger may have had more to do with Sasuke being a hypocrite than the samurai's deaths. He was described to have a belligerent personality, witnessed through his hostile and aggressive attitude most times.

Suigetsu, despite being hasty in anger, has shown moments of keenness and a calm attitude, such as discerning Killer B's ability as a swordsman, as Suigetsu is one himself. Other moments were when he realised Sasuke used a space-time ninjutsu with Manda to escape Deidara's blast. He was also able to predict Killer B's attack on Sasuke, which would have been fatal if Suigetsu had not stepped in to block the blow.

Suigetsu has a passion for collecting exotic swords: he made it his goal to collect all the swords from the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. He took Zabuza Momochi's Kubikiribōchō and joined Hebi only to take Kisame Hoshigaki's Samehada. He even went into great detail to explain about the seven swords to Jūgo, with a passionate tone to his storytelling. He also cares a great deal for his swords, shown when he went back to retrieve his Kubikiribōchō after losing it in the fight against Killer B. However, his passion doesn't seem to be entirely limited to the seven blades, as he also expressed interest in Darui's sword. His ultimate goal however, is to collect the seven blades, so he can reform the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and become their leader. Along with this passion for collecting swords, Suigetsu is very mischievous and as such, takes great joy in foiling Karin's plans to be alone with Sasuke and has stated that it is his second favourite thing to do. By his own admission, Suigetsu has an impulse to cut things up, be it a person or relationships, as he does with Sasuke and Karin.

Suigetsu apparently also likes animals somewhat seen from his attempt to play with the talking ninja cats from the abandoned Uchiha warehouse at one point. He also lectured Sasuke on treating animals better after Sasuke used Manda to shield himself from Deidara's suicide technique, which resulted in Manda's death. Suigetsu also has what seems to be a chronic fear of Orochimaru, which is to be expected due to the latter imprisoning and experimenting on him. This fear was witnessed when Sasuke declared that he would revive Orochimaru and Suigetsu's ensuing attempt to dissuade him from doing so. When Orochimaru was revived, Suigetsu even refused to stay on the same side of the cave with him, retreating to opposite ends depending on where Orochimaru went. On the other hand while always being wary of Orochimaru and his intentions, Suigetsu willingly offered to help his former jailer attack Konoha and then later even referred to Orochimaru using honourific while obeying his orders.

While showing courage against such fearsome opponents like Killer B, even taking a Tailed Beast Ball for his comrades, Suigetsu also has a cowardly side at times. Despite his confidence (if not arrogance), he would show a rather cowardly side when someone of a clearly higher calibre directs their killing intent at him, as he hid behind Orochimaru in fear during an exchange between Tobirama and Hashirama Senju. He also seems to retain a sarcastic sense of humour even in serious situations, this trait being exemplified when, as Kabuto was healing Sasuke, he asked Kabuto if he was trying to absorb Sasuke, and if he wanted to be 'Kabuke' or 'Sasuto'.

## Abilities

Suigetsu is a very capable shinobi. Akatsuki member Kisame Hoshigaki referred to him as a child prodigy in the art of murder, and that he is practically the reincarnation of Zabuza Momochi. Suigetsu was even shown to be able briefly go up against Killer B, a perfect jinchūriki, while in his Tailed Beast Mode.

### Ninjutsu

#### Hōzuki Clan Techniques and Nature Transformation

As a member of the Hōzuki clan, Suigetsu is well-versed in the clan's secret Water Release technique to transform his body into a liquid form, and to return to his solid bodily form at will. This gives him a higher level of control for his various Water Release techniques, able to perform them without hand signs. This ability also allows him to change his body shape, giving him the ability to increase the size of his limbs, thus proportionally increasing his strength if necessary. It also makes striking him somewhat difficult; since he is made of liquid, any regular strike will go right through his watery form. When struck, part of the water he turns into can also split from his body, and be manipulated, for example, making a water blob around one's head to drown them. In the anime, he can also camouflage himself to go about unseen.

As his body is water, he is also capable of merging with already existing water to increase his attack range, as seen when he fought against Killer B, and utilise it for large scale Water Release techniques. When he passes out he enters a jelly-like state, as seen in the battle against Killer B. Also he can fire compressed, highly pressurised water bullets from the tips of his index fingers, that can cause great damage, able to fire it from both hands. A supplementary usage of his techniques is the ability to gather information via water such as rain, seen when he learned about the Fourth Shinobi World War after his imprisonment. In the anime, Suigetsu is also shown capable of creating clones made of water.

Suigetsu is seen carrying water bottles with him, as he frequently needs to consume water in order to stay hydrated. Due to his water-like body, he exhibits weakness against lightning-based techniques, as exhibited in his defence of Sasuke against Killer B's chakra-charged strike. Suigetsu is also capable of using Wind Release.

#### Kenjutsu and Physical Prowess

From his training days with the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Suigetsu is quite adept at wielding Zabuza Momochi's Kubikiribōchō. However, he lacks the high degree of physical strength Zabuza had, as carrying the sword around for long distances seems to tire him out. Nonetheless, he was able to uproot a massive amount of earth when he swung the blade down at Killer B, despite the latter absorbing a good deal of the force. Furthermore, his Hydrification Technique allows him to expand the muscles in his arms to help him wield such a heavy weapon with more ease. Suigetsu has shown to be very fast, witnessed when he intercepted Killer B's attack, and later the Fourth Raikage's attack, on Sasuke. His swordmanship skills allowed him to go toe to toe with another skilled swordsman like Darui with a half-severed Kubikiribōchō. Even without a sword, he has proven to be a capable taijutsu fighter, as seen when defeated hundreds of Tenzen Daikoku's men with little effort.