Gozu

is a shinobi who appears in the second Naruto Shippūden filler arc. He is a subordinate of Guren.

Personality
He's unsociable and quiet, making people unable to figure out what he's thinking, but his battle skills are without a doubt very good. He's the power type and prefers fighting alone. He seems to hold a special sentiment towards Guren.

Hunt for the Three-Tails Arc
After the selection battle Kabuto Yakushi and Guren held in the hideout, Gozu becomes Guren's subordinate. When Guren returns, she orders him and the rest of his team to dispose of Team 8.

As the arguably strongest member, he was sent in first to face off against Kakashi and draw him away. There, he quickly showed off his tremendous might that kept Kakashi on his toes. When Kakashi's cunning and skill proved too much for him, he pulled of his trump card to alter his body even further, giving him even greater speed and strength. In the end, he barely survived his fight against Kakashi, having sustained a broken arm and forced to retreat.

When next he appears, with apparently his arm already healed, he watches as Guren faces Team 8. When Guren's crystal barrier is destroyed, he is the first to charge in to aid Guren. Later when Kabuto appears to retrieve Yukimaru, Gozu joins them and is tasked with rowing the boat. Soon thanks to Guren and Yukimaru's combined power, he finds himself in the presence of the Three-Tailed Beast.

Abilities
He seems to be quite strong since while his comrades were fighting in groups in the battle royal, he held his own by himself. His body was altered by Orochimaru, giving him great physical strength and the ability to turn his body into mud. He is also able to expand his body in a manner similar to the Akimichi clan expansion techniques to enhance the strength of his arms of legs for more powerful strikes and accelerated movement. A interesting ability of his is to reduce his bulk in a manner similar to the effects of Akimichi clan's red soldier pill, effectively giving him even greater speed capable of at least equalling Kakashi Hatake and equally impressive strength.

He has also shown signs of a powerful healing rate as shortly after receiving a broken arm from Kakashi, his arm was healed and strong enough to row a boat. But since this could have been the work of Kabuto, there are no evidence of any improved healing rate.

Trivia

 * His name is sometimes confused with Gouzu's of the Demon Brothers (in the English dub, Gouzu's English name is romanized as Gozu, making the confusion with the names understood).


 * The ability to liquify his body into mud and expand his limbs may be based on Suigetsu's ability to transform into water.