Iwagakure Chief

* Anime
* Manga

The **Iwagakure Chief** (石 (いわ) 隠 (がく) れ衆長 (おさ) , *Iwagakure Osa*) was the leader of Iwagakure, as well as the father of Yui.

## Appearance

The Iwagakure chief was a tall, bald old man with a long flowing beard that went all the way down to his waist line. As for his attire, the chief wore a simple robe underneath a black haori.

## Personality

The Iwagakure chief was a cruel and ruthless man who held little to no love for anyone, even his own children, who he scarred one of them to crush her dreams of living a normal life. He valued seeing the shinobi under him develop into strong and merciless assassins and taught them into believing that sentimentality would make them weak. He was also very cunning as he used genjutsu to trick the shinobi he commanded into believing that he was immortal as a way to keep them in line and tricked Gabimaru into granting him his wish of living a peaceful life with Yui if he were to take on one last mission that was set up for him to be arrested and executed. When in business, the chief acted professional and sought to please his clients.

He also saw all his fellow shinobi as dispensable pawns and more as tools rather than humans. When he found out Gabimaru went on the mission to retrieve the Elixir of Life he granted the shogun a large amount of his army because on that island was "something that belonged to him", proving that he was also extremely possesive and egoistic, refusing to let anyone be outside of his supervision.

## Relationships

### Family

#### Yui

The Iwagakure chief has no love for his own child and made sure she abandoned any hope of having a normal life by burning her face. He viewed his daughter as a prize as he allowed Gabimaru to marry her because he recognized his abilities.

#### Gabimaru

The Iwagakure chief had Gabimaru's parents executed after learning of their plan to leave the village, he then took it upon himself to raise Gabimaru. Although that was the case, it seems he held no love for him, seeing as he easily had Gabimaru captured and sentenced to death after he was told of Gabimaru's plans to leave the village in order to live a normal life with his own daughter.

## History

### Past

During his leadership of Iwagakure, the Iwagakure chief created a fabricated story that soon spread famously about how he became an immortal man after a merchant sold him the legendary Elixir of Life, which was a measure so that no one under him would dare to oppose his authority. Using his mastery of genjutsu, he managed to fool people, including his fellow shinobi, into believing that the story was true by having his illusionary body heal itself from life threatening injuries. He soon came to raise ten daughters and scarred his eighth child Yui after she wished to live a normal life. At some point, the Iwagakure chief took in an infant after the babies parents had planned to leave Iwagakure and raised him to become Iwagakure's strongest "Gabimaru the Hollow". After proving his worth, the chief gave Gabimaru the privilege to marry Yui, which resulted in the young ninja becoming attached to her and wanted to start a new life. The chief disapproved of his wishes and tricked him into taking on one last mission where it would result in him being captured.

### Lord Tensen Arc

*Main article: Lord Tensen Arc*
The shogun comes to the chief in wanting to hire shinobi from Iwagakure to partake in a mission to acquire the Elixir of Life from an unknown island. Upon learning that Gabimaru is a part of the first expedition team, the Iwagakure chief happily accepted the mission, stating that "something of his" was in fact on the island. He then gave the order to his shinobi to find and kill Gabimaru in order to reclaim back the alias. He also gives the same order to Shija personally in hoping that they will become the next Gabimaru the Hollow.

### Departure Arc

*Main article: Departure Arc*
Having find out about the chief's scheme through Yamada Asaemon Jikka, which was viewed as treason against the shogun, the Iwagakure chief gets arrested by the authorities, which results in Iwagakure being dissolved. Before being executed, the Iwagakure chief is forced to consume the acquired Elixir of Life to test its effects and transforms into a tree. His head is then presented to Sagiri and Jikka as evidence, which also proved that the story about him being immortal was false.

## Abilities and Powers

As the chief of Iwagakure, he held a great amount of authority.

### Genjutsu

According to Yuzuriha, the Iwagakure chief was a well-known master in genjutsu. Using this ability, the chief managed to fool his people, including Gabimaru, into believe that he was an immortal that could heal from any mortal wounds on the spot after supposedly consuming the Elixir of Life.

## Trivia

* The Iwagakure chief ranked 34th place in the manga's 1st Character Popularity Poll.

## References

1. ↑ *Jigokuraku Kaitai Shinsho*, page 67
2. ↑ *Jigokuraku Kaitai Shinsho*, page 181