Third Kazekage

Please note that this is the Narutopedia's article on the former leader of Sunagakure, if you are looking for the article on the Naruto: Shippūden episode then you should head to The Third Kazekage; if you are looking for the article on the Human Puppet created by Sasori then you should head to Third Kazekage.

The was the leader of Sunagakure prior to the Third Shinobi World War and was recognised as the village's strongest Kazekage.

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. It was for this very ability that he was noted as the strongest Kazekage in the entire history of Sunagakure.

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 did not know this and searched earnestly for his whereabouts. With the outbreak of a war, the village was forced to give up the search and choose a Fourth Kazekage, though they still attempted to search for him in later years.

Abilities
While alive, the Third was hailed as the strongest Kazekage in the village's history, and even a very powerful shinobi like Sasori claimed that he had trouble killing him. He also appeared to have possessed a high level of intelligence as he was able to comprehend One-Tail's unique powers and produce his own version of the same.

Nature Transformation
The Third possessed the kekkei genkai Magnet Release which allowed him to convert his chakra into magnetic forces and magnetise an object. Combined with his research of Shukaku's powers, he crafted his own version of "sand-manipulation", the Iron Sand, by combining his magnetic force control with iron powder; this was the main reason why he was considered the strongest Kazekage there was. 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 this "sand", he could make any weapon to fit any occasion, thereby making this a very versatile technique, which Chiyo considered to be the "most feared weapon in the history of Sunagakure".

Kazekage Rescue Arc
The Third's fate was discovered during Sasori's battle with Sakura and Chiyo, when Sasori brought out the Kazekage puppet to use against them. After a long, fierce battle, Sakura managed to destroy the puppet. In the anime, after Sakura punched the puppet to pieces, Chiyo attempted to use the head to attack Sasori, as she had sneaked a chakra string onto it during the battle, but Sasori simply incinerated it before it could reach him.