Shinki

is a shinobi of Sunagakure's Kazekage clan.

Background
In the anime, as a young boy, Shinki was unable to control his power prompting Gaara to approach him. Fearful, he attacked the Kazekage, who surprised him by hugging him despite Shinki injuring him. Offering to teach Shinki how to use his power, he told Gaara his name before accepting his offer. Following the encounter, Gaara adopted him, who soon after began teaching Shinki proper control of his power and likewise how to effectively use it in battle.

Personality
In the anime, Shinki was originally very nervous and easily-tempered. He was shocked at Gaara showing him such compassion. Since being raised by the Kazekage, Shinki is described as the calm and collected leader-like figure of his team. He's shown to be very prideful and proud of his heritage, telling his adoptive father their team won't tarnish his name and will achieve victory. As noted by Temari, he cherishes his family very much and his greatest desire is to live up to their reputation, willing to put his mission above all else even if his heart tells him otherwise. Despite his young age, Shinki has the seriousness of an adult to the point even his uncle Kankurō is afraid of making him angry. He is shown to be just as mature for his age, wanting to settle things peacefully, settling problems with just enough power it requires. Likewise, he is very astute and perceptive, able to see the true nature of his opponent and quickly determine how seriously they are fighting.

Shinki takes great pride in his abilities to the point of being arrogant, like Sasuke and Gaara initially were. Having no interest in fighting anyone who he views as weak, he viewed the calibre of most genin competing in his Chūnin Exams as sad. After defeating Chōchō Akimichi, he bluntly states that she was much weaker than him, despite her going full strength. Once facing someone of respectable strength however, he shown a noticeably more excited side to himself, showing a strong competitive nature. He is also shown to be fixated on seeing the true power of those he finds strong, openly berating Mitsuki when he hides his true strength from him. He is also very blunt in his views of others, openly criticising their weaknesses and mistakes. While respectful of his adoptive-father's views and policies, he openly feels that the compassionate administration of the Seventh Hokage has made Konohagakure grow soft. Shinki is also fearless, as he was prepared to fight Kinshiki and Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki, knowing he was no match for them, but instead chose to abide by Gaara's orders to confront the pair.

Shinki is shown to be a respectful person when interacting with others, most notably referring to Shukaku with an honourific, something the Tailed Beasts do not hear very often.

Appearance
Shinki has dark spiky hair, small eyebrows and green eyes. Just like Kankurō, Shinki sports face paint, which takes the shape of two red markings that are similar to designs on Gaara's Sand Gourd.

His outfit consists of a Suna flak jacket, a brown full-body outfit that covers his throat, complete with a dark blue Suna forehead protector and black calf-length shinobi sandals. He can also sometimes be seen wearing a large black coat with a fur collar, made of Iron Sand. As a child, Shinki had face paint that took the shape of lightning on his left side and one line under his right eye to the jaw on the right side. He wore a cream long-sleeved shirt and light brown pants with a poncho with hem draping on the right side.

In the manga, he doesn't wear a flak jacket, instead wearing a dark body suit with an asymmetrical armour plate on his chest, a long belt tied at the waist, and bandages wrapped around his wrists and ankles.

Abilities
Shinki is considered the ace of his village, who excels in his team due to his observant eye. He could single-handily defeat Team 5 in combat with ease, and Team 10 was regarded as having no chance against him. From his performance in the Chūnin Exams, Boruto Uzumaki and the other finalists were also considered as having no chance against him, a statement which Shinki lived up to in the final fight of the competition with his skills being held in high regard by the five Kage and senior shinobi.

Physical Prowess
While normally stationary in battle, Shinki is shown to have a deceptively quick response to those who can penetrate his defences, being able to effectively dodge physical attacks and swiftly counter attack. He is also noted to possess extraordinary chakra. With it he is shown able to perform a myriad of advanced techniques without showing visible exhaustion.

Ninjutsu
Taught by his uncle, Shinki is a puppeteer, wielding a skeleton-like puppet alongside him. In the anime, he is shown able to store his puppets scrolls for later use. Using his sand instead, Shinki can control his puppets without chakra threads. He also has advanced proficiency in fūinjutsu and to subdue foes as powerful as a Ōtsutsuki Clan member for a period of time.

Nature Transformation
Shinki possesses Earth and Wind Release, which when combined, allows him to use Magnet Release. While initially lacking control of the kekkei genkai, under Gaara's tutelage his control of using it to manipulate Iron Sand improved to the point his jutsu exceeded the Kazekage's, due to its properties and intensity, and likewise can maintain multiple techniques at once. Using the durable substance in the form of a cloak for him and his puppet, Shinki can manipulate its structure to engage in combat while remaining stationary, with it being capable of withstanding strong taijutsu attacks with ease. Offensively, he can use his Iron Sand for close-range combat, or form a large wave that can be used to bind and crush a target. He can also mark a target to have them magnetically draw in any of his iron sand weapons. For supplementary purposes, he can use his Iron Sand to restrain individuals or create a platform to levitate on. In the anime, he can also utilise Lightning Release to create an electromagnetic field that strengthens his Iron Sand. Alternatively, he can produce multiple sand eyes that grant him additional surveillance in the are and likewise can link his own sight with.

Versus Momoshiki Arc
Departing Suna on a Thunder Train to participate in the Chūnin Exams held at Konohagakure, Shinki expressed his belief that his team would achieve victory and would not sully his adoptive father's name. He exclaimed that the other teams would be no problem for them. In the first round, the genin had to answer a truth or false question. To their surprise, it was trick question that automatically caused the genin to fall into an pit of ink. However, Shinki is able to use his Iron Sand in time to keep him and his teammates afloat, allowing them to pass the round. Three days later, for the second round of the exams, Shinki's team competed in a game of capture the flag against Team 5. While Araya and Yodo guarded their flag, Shinki managed to defeat Denki Kaminarimon and Iwabee Yuino. Asking not to be disappointed, Shinki effortlessly blocked all of Metal Lee's attacks, leading to him capturing Team 5's flag after he became distracted by anger.

In the final exam, he was matched against Chōchō whom he defeated using his Iron Sand. In the anime Shinki participated in his semi-final match against Mitsuki instead. While his opponent's versatility was able to catch Shinki off-guard and pressure him, he ultimately cornered Mitsuki with his Iron Sand in an act to force him to use Sage Transformation. Choosing not to activate it for personal reasons, Mitsuki surrendered, resulting in Shinki progressing to the finals against Sarada Uchiha and Boruto. During the match, though the Konoha shinobi teamed against Shinki, he managed to defeat Sarada, before Boruto relied on using his Shinobi Gauntlet to overpower Shinki's Iron Sand to win. In the manga, Shinki was scheduled to face Araya in the semi-finals but was stopped before the match could begin by the attack of Kinshiki and Momoshiki.

During the devastation on the arena, Shinki tried to join the offensive against them, but was stopped by Gaara, who told him that it's not the kind of enemy he can take on and that they should focus on evacuating the civilians instead. After the ordeal a few days later, Shinki's team boarded a Thunder Train with Gaara and Kankurō in preparation to return to their village, during which he was thinking about Boruto somehow managing to defeat Momoshiki. Apologising for holding his son back during the attack, Shinki said the matter was instead about not seeing himself winning in that situation. Gaara insisted that he cannot keep comparing himself to others, but must walk his own path. Considering these words and thinking back on Boruto's actions, but against such a foe and owning up on his mistakes at the exams, Shinki came to find Boruto very intriguing.

One-Tail Escort Arc
In the anime, despite his father telling him to watch over Shukaku, Shinki pursued his father, saving him in time from an attack by Urashiki Ōtsutsuki. He was surprised to find Boruto there. Shukaku arrived to aid its former host and the two were able to temporally seal away their foe, they were approached by the rest of Shinki's team. It was decided to safeguard Shukaku at Konoha. While Gaara returned to Suna to tend to his wounds, Shinki was chosen to join Boruto and Kankurō in escorting Shukaku. Shinki was against joining Boruto, but Gaara insisted that he can learn something from Boruto, something important that Shinki was lacking. Also during which, to make sure Urashiki would not sense its chakra, Shukaku willing sealed itself inside a kettle. Along the way, it became clear that Shinki did not like Boruto, constantly berating him for his immature nature. The group was intercepted by four of Urashiki's puppets. Kankurō chose to face the threat alone while Boruto and Shinki went on ahead with Shukaku.

Soon afterwards, they noticed a massive explosion from the battlefield. While Shinki insisted to head on, despite also being concerned for his uncle, Boruto refused leave Kankurō when he needed them most, saying it would be a trashy thing to do. Boruto went back, while Shinki moved on with Shukaku. Before long, they were engaged by one of Urashiki's puppets. While Shukaku was concerned about this threat, Shinki was determined to avenge Kankurō.

Quickly, the puppet proved itself to be very versatile and dangerous as is easily breached Shinki's defences and injected him with a paralysing poison. Shinki was forced to retreat with Shukaku, but was saved by the timely arrival of Boruto, Shikadai and Temari. While Shikadai and Temari held of the puppet, Boruto helped Shinki and Shukaku to safety. Shinki was so annoyed at Boruto's insistent illogical approach to problems. Shukaku however found Boruto very interesting, reminding it of Naruto at that age. Ignoring this, Shinki quickly picked up the tailed beast and resumed his mission to Konoha.

After Boruto caught up with Shukaku and Shinki, they were soon intercepted by Urashiki. While the two genin knew they were no match for the foe, they were able to pull of a strategy to again temporarily seal. Knowing Urashiki would soon escape and intercept them again at the border to the Land of Fire, it was decided that Boruto would distract Urashiki with a clone disguised as Shinki and caring an empty tea kettle while Shukaku and Shinki went on ahead. During the plan, Shukaku noticed how hesitant he was with this plan that had a high suicide-rate for Boruto.

Trivia

 * According to character trivia from Boruto:
 * Shinki's hobbies are gardening and embroidery.
 * His favourite foods are gizzard and braised stew, and his least favourite food is nattō.