Z

**Z** (ゼィー, *Zī*?) is a shinobi from Kumogakure. He was once a ninja monk from the Lightning Temple, where he was highly respected and had established himself as the most powerful monk in the Temple's multi-century history. After his departure from the Temple and subsequent return to Kumogakure, he was entered in the village's ninja academy and rapidly rose to the rank of jōnin. He also served in the village's ANBU black ops for three years before becoming the jōnin leader of a team of his own.

## Appearance

Z is a lean-built man of average height, standing in at 69 inches. His body is well-toned and decorated in scars. He has sharp, dark brown eyes and short, light blonde hair. As a ninja monk, he wore pink face paint around his eyes. He has a slightly hooked nose and a broad chin.

In his days as a ninja monk, he used to wear self-designed hats and kimonos with brightly colored scarfs. After becoming a ninja, he began to wear tan flak jackets and dark turtlenecks with sports sandals. At times, he would wear black and silver body armor.

## Personality

Z is a cynical, disagreeable individual known for his dry wit and tendency to speak with brevity. A man who has a lack of patience for speeches or memorials, almost allergic to politics and suspicious of causes, he is laser-focused on his missions and is ever-ready to execute them with machine-like precision. Often confronted with a difficult mission, he is never interested in knowing the odds of succeeding.

As a young boy, he only had a few people he could call his "friends." He did not like to talk much and would not shut up on the very rare occasion when he does start talking.

In his youth, Z was often curious, impatient, looking ahead to the future with little regard for his present surroundings. Mayuri's first impression of Z was a naïve kid who needed to be taught a thing or two. He was impulsive, reckless, and often had little regard for his own personal safety. It is this attitude that led him to not only get involved with smugglers and other criminals, but also to volunteer for more and more dangerous tasks. Despite these traits, Z had a happy childhood anyway, having found solace in work and solitude.

When he was younger, he believed that every great ninja had to go through a traumatic experience to attain grandiose, and as such, was mildly irritated by the lack of sorrow in his life. As he grew older, however, he would joke about the lack of sorrow in his life, while also being confident of his own abilities that he achieved with hard-work.

As his skills progressed, Z became more patient and seasoned, and was often seen as having wisdom beyond his years. At some times, he could be almost passive, serene, remaining calm and in control even in the heat of battle.

Z has an affinity for chess and gambling games. He also has a loud snore that bothers everyone around him. He is known to dislike samurai and avoids interacting with them in his missions, although he relented in certain circumstances, as seen when he recruited a former samurai in his team. Nevertheless, he rarely has a good word to any of the samurai.

He is dedicated to whatever job he is doing, and would often suspend grudges if it meant completing his mission. He pays close attention to all details and double-checked his surroundings to calculate the best option to solve a problem. While he is willing to be ruthless and go to extreme lengths to complete his mission, he does not take any pleasure in the collateral damage wrought by him. He once said he preferred to strike first as opposed to striking second, and used to his advantage on at least one occasion the fact that he was ambidextrous. He also acknowledged his great talent at lying and bluffing, a trait that many people could infer. Despite the fact that he frequently encounters jinchūriki, sages and dōjutsu-toting ninja in his missions, Z is far from helpless in comparison. His ability to think up inventive and often extremely unorthodox solutions to problems on the fly proved to be a constant source of frustration to all enemies he encountered (and often his friends).