Hanzō

, also known as, was a legendary ninja who was the former leader of Amegakure.

Background
Hanzō became famous around the time of the Second Great Shinobi World War; when he fought some of Konoha's forces, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru were the only ones to survive. As a reward to them for this accomplishment, he named them Konoha's Sannin in exchange for letting them live.

Years after his battle with the Sannin, when a group of ninja began a quest to end war through unorthodox means within his country, Hanzō viewed them as a threat to his power and sought to get rid of them. He teamed up with Konoha's Root organization to kill the group's leader, Yahiko. He lured Yahiko to a meeting where he forced Nagato, Yahiko's team-mate, to kill Yahiko in exchange for Konan's life.

However, Yahiko committed suicide by impaling himself upon Nagato's kunai to spare his friend the anguish and burden of killing him himself. Nagato slaughtered Hanzō's forces in retribution along with the shinobi of Root who had come to aid Hanzō. After a brief skirmish with Nagato, Hanzō fled the scene realizing that he could not deal with Nagato when he was so enraged and thus escaped.

Nagato, under the alias of "Pain", would later begin a civil war within Amegakure. According to the stories, he single-handedly killed Hanzō, his family, and his retainers, and then conducted a systematic genocide of anybody even remotely associated with Hanzō, even to the extent of terminating the ambassadors of the villages Hanzō was associated with.

Personality
Hanzō was a very security-conscious individual, trusting no one. He was guarded twenty-four seven, and did not allow anyone in his presence, even children, without being thoroughly searched. He cared greatly about his position as village leader, and dealt with threats harshly. He was willing to ally with foreign nations, even those who had caused him great harm, in order to remain in power. He was also willing to betray people without remorse, leading the Ame Orphans and their team into a trap, then attempting to have them all mercilessly; this betrayal, ironically, led to his own demise.

Appearance
Hanzō had long blond hair and scar on his right cheek. He also wore a breathing mask that differed from the ones worn by other Amegakure ninjas by being bigger and having two filter cartridges instead of one, a flak jacket and a cloak. In the manga, he has unusual eyes, with the whites being dark, while in the anime, they are normal colored.

Abilities
While Hanzō's abilities as a ninja are mostly unknown, Hanzō was easily one of the strongest ninja of his time. When battling alongside his trademark salamander, Hanzō was strong enough to fight and eventually overpower all three Sannin in their youth. His power was such that Jiraiya expressed intense shock upon hearing that Hanzō had been defeated singlehandedly by Pain. During his attempt to kill Nagato, Hanzō demonstrated impressive skill for trap-oriented techniques, as he anticipated Nagato attacking him and had a series of exploding tags prepared. The databook also stated that his speed in water was unsurpassed.

Trivia

 * Hanzō's eyes in the manga are very similar to Kakuzu's and the Third Raikage's, while in the anime they are normal.
 * According to the third Naruto Databook:
 * His favorites phrase was: "Security is the greatest enemy".
 * In water, he had unsurpassed speed.
 * Hanzō may have been named after a famous real-life samurai and possible ninja Hanzō Hattori.
 * It is popular Japanese legend that Hanzō Hattori was killed by Kotarō Fūma. Pain's First Animal Path was said to be from the Fūma clan.
 * Hanzō's nickname and his element affinity have significant meaning because in ancient mythology, although being amphibious, the salamander was considered the living symbol of fire and as such was completely fireproof and able to live in fire itself.