Kankurō

**Kankurō** is a jōnin-level shinobi of Sunagakure and one of the three Sand Siblings, as well as a excellent puppet master.

## Physical Appearance

Kankurō is a slim, toned young man of average height with brown hair and fair skin. He wears the standard, Sunagakure dark tan chest-guard with clipped-on shoulder pads and high-collars colored dark grey, along with a black long-sleeved top and dark trousers with a red sash around his waist. He also wears a black hood which covers his head complete, and has cat-like ears, and also has the standard Suna forehead protector around his head. He even wears a pair of black fingerless gloves, black, calf-high sandals and a pair of scrolls in which carries his puppets. Kankurō wears purple facepaint on his face when he goes to battle. His facial painting design is a cross-like design with broard-like linings.

## Personality

In the original *Naruto* series, one noticeable personality trait he displayed was an apparent dislike for children, first seen when he attempted to beat up Konohamaru for running into him. This carried over to many of his interactions with other characters, as he was noticeably irritated when in the presence of someone younger than him. This was most evident when he was seen with Gaara, who Kankurō was forced to put up with due to the fear his younger brother imposed on him. After Gaara's defeat in the hands of Naruto, Kankurō's relationship with Gaara improved drastically.

During the mission to help retrieve Sasuke, Kankurō was shown to be very prideful of his village, saying they're not as soft as Konoha-nin.

Despite their apparent differences, Gaara and Kankurō become very close over the timeskip, as Gaara began to confide in Kankurō  and shared his dreams of wanting to risk his life to protect Sunagakure. As such, Kankurō has become very protective of Gaara, getting angry at anyone who insults Gaara in his presence. When Gaara was captured by Akatsuki, Kankurō rushed to his brother's aid alone in an attempt to save him, and risked his life for him, despite the dangers that he put himself in. When he was incapacitated as a result of the battle with Sasori, he pleaded with Naruto to bring his brother back, and as soon as he had recovered, joined Temari in looking for Gaara. At one point when Kankurō had been poisoned by Sasori he was heard muttering Gaara's name though he was unconscious, which showed how much he cared for Gaara. Once Gaara was found and saved, Kankurō joined Temari in thanking Team Kakashi for saving their brother. It was also noted that he likes collecting puppets, and installing and upgrading the mechanisms in them.

During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kankurō indicated signs of being a caring leader when he pulled Zaji from the explosion and protecting his group from any danger. He also shows determination during his battle against Deidara, Sasori, and Shin. Kankurō keeps Omoi from overreacting and getting anxious by telling him to win the war at all costs to protect his family and friends. When Sasori was captured inside of Kuroari, Kankurō helps make Sasori realize his true faults during his lifetime as a puppeteer which makes Sasori entrust his "Father and Mother" puppets to him.

## Abilities

**Puppet Master**: Kankuro is a highly talented puppeteer, indicated when Sasori, a renowned master of the Puppet Technique, complimented Kankuro's abilities. He has great skill in both modifying and controlling puppets, and was physically strong enough to carry around two puppets on his back in the original *Naruto* series, though in *Naruto Shippūden*, he instead uses scrolls to store them in. When initially introduced, Kankuro could only use a single puppet per time. However, he would in subsequent years hone his puppeteer skills and become a puppet master himself, capable of maneuvering more puppets at the same time. He also displayed the ability to attach his own chakra threads to another puppeteer's, a feat that earned him Sasori's praise. Kankuro utilizes what he calls the Black Secret Technique - a name not unlike Chiyo's White Secret Technique and Sasori's Red Secret Technique - the latter of which he claims has been surpassed by his own style. With each of his appearances in the major arcs, Kankuro is seen with a new puppet in his arsenal. The four puppets that have been introduced were all originally created by Sasori (the fourth actually being Sasori himself), and came into Kankuro's possession some time after Sasori left Sunagakure. His first three puppets are destroyed by Sasori. After having his puppets destroyed, he took Sasori's body and used it as a puppet after his death. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, he is seen with the previously destroyed puppets, that have been repaired, plus a duplicate of the Kuroari.

As puppeteers are long-range fighters who rely on their puppets in combat, Kankurō is weak against close-range combat. However, he has come up with many ways of escaping it: he's shown to act quite deceptively, switching places with his puppets using the Body Replacement Technique, also altering their appearances to resemble his, to escape close combat when an opponent gets too close, while at the same time putting his puppets in range of the enemy, allowing Kankurō to catch his foes off guard and kill them. Kankurō's puppets seem to be designed to work together to some degree, as seen when they use the Black Secret Technique Machine One Shot, where Karasu navigates an opponent into Kuroari's torso. Once trapped, Karasu separates its limbs to reveal a number of concealed weapons, which enter the slots on Kuroari's body to impale the opponent. Black Secret Technique — Machine Triple Shot is used by Kankurō to trap more people and kill them at the same time. Kankurō was also shown combining his puppets' attacks to make them more dangerous, as seen when they use the Poison Mist Hell: Hundred Continuous Firing technique, where Karasu blankets the area in a smokescreen while Kuroari fires poisoned needles at the blinded opponent.

Kankurō's puppetry skills are also highly adaptable as shown through his latest puppet, Sasori — which he obtained after Sasori's death and made several modifications to in order to apply his own Black Secret Technique style. It retains the coil in its stomach cavity, flamethrower and the blades on its back, plus he installed the mechanism to use Mechanical Light Shield Block on its right arm and modified its left arm to extend. Kankurō can use the Red Secret Technique Machinery Triangles with this puppet. After he defeated Sasori in the Fourth Shinobi World War, the puppet master passed his Mother and Father puppets on to Kankurō. Somehow Kankurō managed to distinguish Chiyo's feelings through her chakra threads.

**Expert Tactician**: He has shown himself to be a capable leader, having his division set up a miniature headquarters before assigning individuals to various roles. In addition, he has shown the tactical sense to call a retreat when outmatched as well as attack accordingly, and synchronize skills with his teammates for the most appropriate outcome.

**Great Chakra Power**:

## Equipment

**Karasu**:

**Kuroari**:

**Sanshōuo**:

**Scorpion**: