Third Kazekage

The was the leader of Sunagakure, and is hailed as the village's strongest Kazekage of his time.

Background
After studying the jinchūriki of Shukaku of the time, he recreated its sand-manipulating powers by combining his own magnetic chakra and iron powder, which produced the Iron Sand technique. At some point, Sasori kidnapped and killed the Third Kazekage in order to turn him into a human puppet. According to Sasori, the effort involved in the Third's capture made it his favourite puppet. Sunagakure was not aware of what Sasori had done and searched earnestly for his whereabouts. However, with the ongoing war, the village was forced to choose a Fourth Kazekage, though they still attempted to search for him in later years. It was not until the start of the Fifth Kazekage's reign, did his fate become known.

In the anime, Orochimaru, in his quest to obtain absolute mastery of all ninjutsu, managed to acquire some of the Kazekage's DNA, which he used as a source for the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation. To test this new pawn, once aware of Sasori coming after him in the Land of Wind, along with his new partner Deidara, Orochimaru unleashed the reincarnated Kazekage to face off against his human puppet counterpart. While Kazekage's Magnet Release ultimately proved stronger than the puppet's imitation, being called a pawn by Orochimaru sparked the Kazekage's consciousness. Refusing to be a tool for anyone, he regained control of himself and forced the release of the technique, returning to the Pure Land, leaving Orochimaru to speculate that the reincarnation technique was still imperfect.

Personality
In the anime, after being revived by Orochimaru, the Third showed himself to be a very calm and stoic person, displaying no visible emotion. He held a grudge against Sasori for killing him, proclaiming to him that things would not go the same way in their upcoming fight. Also, he is a very proud individual, firmly stating that he is not a pawn. To which, he showed a remarkable willpower, able to regain control of himself despite Orochimaru's brainwashing and cancelled the Impure World Reincarnation Technique on him.

Appearance
The Third Kazekage was a tall man with fair complexion. He had short messy dark-blue hair and narrow yellow eyes. He wore the normal Kazekage attire minus the Kage hat, plus a flowing ankle-length white cape.

Abilities
The Third was undoubtedly a powerful shinobi. He is hailed as the strongest Kazekage for decades after his death, and even Sasori, an Akatsuki member, claimed that he had trouble killing him. He also appeared to have possessed a high level of intelligence as he was able to comprehend the One-Tail's unique powers and produce his own version of the same, thus creating Iron Sand.

Nature Transformation
The Third possessed the kekkei genkai Magnet Release which allowed him to convert his chakra into strong magnetic forces, enabling him to manipulate magnetic objects. Combined with his research of Shukaku's powers, he crafted his own version of "sand-manipulation" by combining the magnetic forces with iron powder to create Iron Sand. His magnetic control also granted him immunity from all metallic weapons, as well as the ability to nullify opposing puppets by clogging their joints with sand. With Iron Sand, he could make weapons to fit various occasions, thereby making this a very versatile technique, which Chiyo considered to be the "most feared weapon in the history of Sunagakure". In the anime, it was shown that his Magnet Release was especially powerful. Despite Sasori gaining control of the Kazekage's corpse and powers by turning him into a Human Puppet, the puppet's Magnet Release was noticeably weaker even compared to the Third's diminished strength from the reincarnation technique. His ability to use Iron Sand is what led many to believe that he was the strongest Kazekage.

Kazekage Rescue Mission
When Sasori faced off Chiyo and Sakura Haruno, he revealed the Third Kazekage puppet, finally resolving the mystery of his disappearance.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes
The Sage of the Six Paths calls upon the souls of the Third and all the other deceased Kage at the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War. The Kage combine efforts to summon the members of Team 7 and all nine tailed beasts from Kaguya's Dimensions. Once their task is complete, the Sage returns the Kage's souls to the Pure Land.