Suigetsu Hōzuki

((translation|Suigetsu Hōzuki|鬼灯水月|Hōzuki Suigetsu)) was the first member to join Sasuke Uchiha's Taka (formerly Hebi).

Background
Suigetsu was born in Kirigakure. Reputed to be the "Reincarnation of the Kijin", Suigetsu, together with his brother, Mangetsu, dreamed to inherit the title of Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. This acted as their motivation to finish cruel missions day by day. However, this dream was later shattered with the premature death of his brother, and Suigetsu changed his ambition to "collecting all of the swords", in order to retrieve all seven original blades that has been passed down by the swordsmen, so that he (Suigetsu), could rebuild the group and become its leader. With the humiliation of being captured by Orochimaru, his ambition was put on hold.

Personality
Suigetsu appears to be indifferent, caring only for a few things around him. He spends a considerable amount of time mocking and/or being beaten up by Karin, the only female member of Taka. Despite showing initial dislike towards his team-mates, Suigetsu has grown fond of them, and was willing to risk his own life to protect them against the Eight-Tailed Beast.

Kisame Hoshigaki claims that Suigetsu is a prodigy at the art of murder, as he has a habit of chopping off his victim's limbs before beheading them. Suigetsu, despite addressing him with the honorific term "senpai", wants to defeat him and take his sword, noting to Sasuke that he will one day serve him as "shark fin soup" (a reference to Kisame's shark-like appearance) after Sasuke suggested that he was not yet strong enough to defeat Kisame.

Suigetsu has a passion for collecting exotic swords: he made it his goal to collect all the swords from the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. He took Zabuza Momochi's Decapitating Carving Knife and joined Hebi only to take Kisame Hoshigaki's Samehada. However, his passion doesn't seem to be limited to the seven blades, as he also expressed interest in Darui's sword. His ultimate goal is to collect the seven blades, so he can reform the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist and become their leader.

It appears that Suigetsu has a certain love for killing, but he refrains from satiating this desire due to his tacit fear of Sasuke. However, there are several occasions where he has killed people when he believed Sasuke wouldn't notice. Suigetsu has been shown to have thoughts such as "just this once" and "he'll forgive me". However, he was noticeably upset that Sasuke killed several samurai during the attack on the Kage Summit, pointing out how many times Sasuke had told him not to kill anyone. He was described to have a belligerent personality.

Suigetsu apparently likes to tease animals, as he was seen taunting the talking ninja cats from the abandoned Uchiha warehouse at one point. However, he lectured Sasuke on treating animals better after Sasuke used Manda to escape Deidara's ultimate self-explosion jutsu, which resulted in Manda's death.

Appearance
Suigetsu has white hair with a light-blue tint to it, purple eyes, and wears a matching purple sleeveless shirt with gray pants. He wears a belt around his waist with water bottles attached to it, and another belt around his chest that holds his Decapitating Carving Knife.

Normally, Suigetsu looks lean and normal, but with his Hydration Technique, he can modify his body's shape and size, such as a muscular arm or merging with a larger body of water to become a tidal wave. If unconscious, Suigetsu is reduced to a jelly-like state. After the attack on the Eight-tailed beast, Suigetsu recovered in a large tank of water and resembles a fish-like being. Like all the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Suigetsu has shark-like teeth.

Abilities
Suigetsu is arguably quite powerful, or at least very confident in his abilities, since he has threatened Sasuke on more than one occasion. Kisame has noted him to be a child prodigy in the art of murder, and that he is practically the reincarnation of Zabuza. Sasuke has noted, however, that he isn't strong enough to beat Kisame yet.

Liquid Form and Water Release
Suigetsu is able to reduce himself to liquid form, and to return to bodily form at will. This ability also allows him to change his body shape, giving him the ability to increase the size of his limbs, thus proportionally increasing his strength if necessary. It also makes striking him somewhat difficult; since he is made of liquid, any regular strike will go right through his watery form. As his body is water, he is also capable of merging with already existing water to increase his attack range, as seen when he fought against Killer Bee, and to use Water Release techniques. Also, when he passes out he goes into a jelly-like state, as seen in the battle against Killer Bee.

Suigetsu is also the first ninja seen carrying water bottles on his outfit. Given his somewhat frequent desire to consume water, Suigetsu may require regular hydration to sustain his watery form. Due to his water-like body, he exhibits weakness against lightning-based techniques, as exhibited in his defense of Sasuke against Killer Bee's chakra-charged strike against Sasuke.

Kenjutsu
From his training days with the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Suigetsu is quite adept with wielding Zabuza's sword. He can also expand the muscles in his arms to help him wield swords with more ease. However, carrying Zabuza's sword for long distances seems to tire him out, and makes it necessary for him to drink more water. In addition to his own skills, Suigetsu also has a good perception for swordsmanship skills, as he saw Killer Bee was a skilled swordsman almost instantly after the fight began. In an anime-only fight, Suigetsu is also shown fighting hundreds of foes, showing he can fight well even without the sword.

Itachi Pursuit Arc
Immediately after Sasuke defeated Orochimaru, he went into one of Orochimaru's many experimentation labs and freed Suigetsu, who was sealed inside a holding tube in the form of water. After pointing out that he owed nothing to Sasuke for dealing with Orochimaru, Suigetsu agreed to join him. Once they left, Suigetsu had Sasuke take him to the Land of Waves to retrieve Zabuza's Decapitating Carving Knife from his grave. In the anime, the story of Suigetsu obtaining Zabuza's sword was expanded and lengthened out slightly for this episode in order to facilitate an earlier display of his abilities. The sword in question was taken from Zabuza's grave by a politician and crime boss named Tenzen Daikoku, who wanted to take the sword as a trophy, and for "revenge" after losing many men during Zabuza's attempted coup years before.

They then went to the base where Karin resided, where Suigetsu was instructed to free all the prisoners. Before releasing them, however, Suigetsu told them to spread the word that Sasuke killed Orochimaru, and would bring peace to the world. As Sasuke hadn't ordered him to say these things, his motives appear to be unclear.

Once Karin was persuaded to join, they headed to meet with Jūgo. They had to fight their way through an army of people branded with the Cursed Seals to reach him, and, under Sasuke's orders, were told not to kill any of them whilst subduing them. When they found Jūgo, who promptly attacked them, Suigetsu attempted to kill him. However, Sasuke intervened, and threatened to kill both of them if they didn't stop fighting. Jūgo eventually calmed down, and, with some persuasion on Sasuke's part, was recruited. Afterwards, Sasuke told them their mission and their new team's name; they would be known as "Hebi", and their mission was to find Itachi Uchiha.

Soon afterwards the team split up, searching for information about Itachi's whereabouts. This led Suigetsu to a bank where Akatsuki member Kakuzu's banker Ginji was. Recognizing him as such, Suigetsu threatened him to talk. Seeing Deidara's large suicide bomb's explosion, Suigetsu was drawn to the site of Sasuke's battle with Deidara, where he had used a special seal to summon Manda and had used the snake to escape the explosion. It had, however, been a little too late, and Manda died, making Suigetsu tell Sasuke that he should treat animals a little better.

After they had rested and continued on their way, Sasuke found Itachi in an Akatsuki hideout. The clone of Itachi then guided Sasuke to an Uchiha hideout. On their way there, the group encountered Kisame Hoshigaki, who told them Sasuke must go alone. Leaving Hebi behind, Suigetsu challenged Kisame to a battle, who gladly accepted, while Sasuke finally made Itachi's death a reality. It was later revealed that Zetsu interfered in the fight, leaving both Suigetsu and Kisame alive.

Invasion of Pain Arc
Hebi, now renamed "Taka", began working with Akatsuki. They went to Kumogakure and confronted Killer Bee, the host of the Eight-Tailed Giant Ox. Suigetsu attacked him first, but was quickly disarmed. Both Jugo and Sasuke's individual attempts at subduing Killer Bee failed as well, and Sasuke would have suffered fatal injuries had Suigetsu not intervened to spare him a finishing blow from the Jinchūriki. However, Killer Bee's electric attack overwhelmed Suigetsu, cleaving a substantial tear in his sword, and it would have severed in half had Sasuke not nullified the attack in time.

After Karin healed Sasuke, Suigetsu, together with Jūgo and Sasuke, engaged Killer Bee once more to no avail. At one point, Suigetsu succeeded in immobilizing Killer Bee providing an opportunity for Sasuke to use a lightning attack. Unfortunately, to keep Killer Bee held, Suigetsu voluntarily received Sasuke's lightning technique as well, sustaining considerable damage. After severely wounding Sasuke, Killer Bee invokes his tailed beast form in order to deal with the rest of the group. Suigetsu, thrown into the water earlier, emerged, using Water Release: Demon Fish Wave Crash, to save his team-mates from what would been a devastating blow. Keeping the Eight-Tails at bay momentarily, Suigetsu valiantly told his weakened team members to escape, though somewhat amused that he was risking his life for them. When Killer Bee tried to use a Tailed Beast Ball on the team, Suigetsu used himself as a shield, keeping his team-mates safe.

Although Suigetsu was left unconscious, he managed to gain the time Jūgo needed to revive Sasuke. By unleashing Amaterasu on the Eight-Tails, Sasuke was able to turn the tide, at last successfully capturing the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki. After the battle was over, Jūgo carried Suigetsu away. While Taka recuperated, Suigetsu recovered in a tank of water. He yelled at Karin for leaving his sword behind, but was later seen to have recovered it.

Five Kage Summit Arc
Once healed, Taka set out for Konoha. Along the way they are intercepted by Madara, who tells them of Konoha's destruction and their failure to capture the Eight-Tails. He convinces Sasuke to go to the Kage summit to kill Danzō, so Zetsu leads them to the land of Iron. Upon their arrival Suigetsu scouts the area, but finds there are too many samurai patrolling the area. Jūgo finds them an alternate route, where they are attacked by the samurai, having been exposed by Zetsu.

As Sasuke kills their attackers, Suigetsu points out that he is doing the very thing he forbids Suigetsu to do. The Fourth Raikage soon arrives to fight Sasuke and Suigetsu tries to help, but the Raikage breaks his Decapitating Carving Knife in half. He uses what remains of his blade to fight Darui. Darui infuses his own blade with electricity, allowing him to overpower Suigetsu and pin him to a wall.

When Sasuke destroys the room they are in, Suigetsu is freed. He retrieves his sword and regroups with Jūgo. They contemplate following Sasuke and the Raikage, but decide that would be too dangerous. Instead, Suigetsu suggests they dress up as samurai to gather information while avoiding drawing attention to themselves. They are quickly detected, and Jūgo stated that it wasn't the best plan.

Shinobi World War Arc
Later during the the war, Suigetsu and Jūgo escape their cell in the Land of Iron, having taken care of the guards, and stating that security had gotten looser. Suigetsu said he wanted to go looking for his Decapitating Carving Knife, to which Jūgo agrees to help. He then states that Jūgo is nicer than Karin, and then they decide to look for her as well.

Trivia

 * is a poetic term for the moon reflecting on the surface of the water. As an extension of this, the word can also refer to something illusory, without true substance; perhaps referring to Suigetsu's ability to turn his body into water.
 * is the Japanese word for the Chinese Lantern, a plant bearing fruit which resemble Chinese paper lanterns. It can also refer to the fruit of this plant. All known family names from Kirigakure are related to fruits:, , and.
 * Suigetsu is left-handed.
 * According to the third databook:
 * Suigetsu wishes to fight Kisame and the other Seven Ninja Swordsmen members.
 * Suigetsu's favorite foods are jello or yogurt (preferably anything drinkable), while his least favorite is dried cuttlefish.
 * Suigetsu's favorite phrase is "The student always surpasses the master".
 * Suigetsu's hobby is looking after his beloved sword.
 * Suigetsu has completed 92 official missions in total: 2 D-rank, 33 C-rank, 40 B-rank, 13 A-rank, 4 S-rank.
 * In the omake of episode 161, he asked Karin the reason why she is in the male's room. He then looks for his toothbrush which was mistakenly taken by Karin thinking its Sasuke's.
 * Suigetsu is the only member of Taka whose eyes and hair are not of the same color. However, the color of Suigetsu's eyes is similar to the top that he usually wears.

Quotes

 * (To Sasuke) "Free at last.. Thanks, Sasuke."
 * (To Karin, Sasuke & Jūgo) "..Guys, can't we rest a little bit?"
 * (To Sasuke) "You're quite a lady's man, aren't you Sasuke?"
 * (To himself) "I can't believe I'd be protecting their hides this often!"