Ameyuki

was a valuable bounty living in Shangri-la. While living there, he went by the name of his friend, Hohozuki.

Background
Like many who possessed a kekkei genkai, Ameyuki was hated by most of the people in the village he was born in. The exception was Hohozuki, his only friend. When slavers attacked their village and kidnapped the women and children - Hohozuki included - Ameyuki went after them and killed the slavers with his Mud Release, saving Hohozuki and the others. Rather than thank Ameyuki for stopping the slavers, the villagers became fearful of his power and tried to kill him. Hohozuki made plans for them to escape to Shangri-la, but the villagers found out about this before they could leave and killed Hohozuki. Ameyuki became enraged and killed the villagers, earning him a high bounty and a listing in the Bingo Book.

Ameyuki felt guilty for his role in Hohozuki's death, but decided to live on at Hohozuki's request. He went to Shangri-la and used the Transformation Technique to assume Hohozuki's identity. Yet he used his kekkei genkai to make a mud copy of himself (which he called Ameyuki) to follow him around and do as he instructed; Kakuzu suspected he did this because he wanted to be found and killed.

One day, while wandering through the Valley of Lies near Shangri-la, Ameyuki (as Hohozuki) came across Kakuzu and his partner, Hidan, killing a man from Shangri-la. Ameyuki was fascinated by Hidan's Curse Technique: Death Controlling Possessed Blood, which allowed him to kill the man by stabbing himself in the heart. Hidan explained that this was possible through the power of Jashin, whose teachings and practices he shared with Ameyuki after performing a lengthy post-killing ritual. When Ameyuki expressed interest in converting to Jashinism, Kakuzu, weary of listening to the two of them, asked how to find Shangri-la. Ameyuki told him how to get there and sent instructions to his mud copy to escort Kakuzu around the village.

While Kakuzu explored Shangri-la, Ameyuki stayed with Hidan. Although Jashin's creed of providing salvation through self-inflicted pain appealed to Ameyuki, he had some misgivings: he asked Hidan about Jashin's demand that worshipers kill their neighbor, asking if that meant Hidan would need to kill Kakuzu. Hidan made explicit that he hated Kakuzu, and for that reason he would never consider Kakuzu to be his neighbor. Hohozuki was comforted by this. When Kakuzu returned from Shangri-la, Ameyuki left them, promising to come see them the next morning before they planned to leave.

Later that night, Kakuzu and Hidan attacked Shangri-la in order to collect the bounties on the villagers' heads. Ameyuki and his mud copy sought them out and were immediately attacked by Hidan. He destroyed the mud copy first, compelling Ameyuki to remove his Transformation Technique and shared his history with Hohozuki. Hidan didn't follow most of his explanation, but at least understood that Ameyuki wanted to fight; Ameyuki explained that he regarded Hidan as his neighbor and was willing to kill him.

Hidan had never encountered Mud Release before, putting him at a disadvantage and allowing Ameyuki to force large quantities of mud down his throat; Hidan saved himself from suffocation by piercing himself in the lung. Hidan retaliated against Ameyuki and was able to get a sample of blood. But every time he tried to initiate his ritual by drawing Jashin's symbol on the ground, Ameyuki turned the ground into mud. At Kakuzu's suggestion, Hidan fled back into the valley with Ameyuki in pursuit. After putting some distance between himself and Ameyuki, Hidan located a tree stump upon which he could draw Jashin's symbol. Because Ameyuki could only turn dirt into mud, he was unable to destroy the symbol on the tree stump, allowing Hidan to create a link. Hidan stabbed himself in the side, preventing Ameyuki from moving further.

Ameyuki praised Hidan's skills and, when Hidan promised to kill him, said it was what he wanted. Although Ameyuki looked forward to being made a sacrifice to Jashin, he wanted to make a sacrifice of his own first. Quoting Jashin's commandment that he kill his neighbors, Ameyuki performed Mud Release: Landslide, causing the mountain to fall upon Shangri-la and kill everyone still living there. Hidan praised Ameyuki's last act and stabbed himself in the heart, killing him. Afterwards, Kakuzu made plans to turn in Ameyuki's body for the bounty, as he was by far the most valuable of Shangri-la's residents. Because of this, he asked Hidan to hurry up with his post-killing ritual. Hidan refused, noting he would in fact take longer than usual because he had a martyr to celebrate: Ameyuki.

Appearance
Ameyuki had brown skin, silver hair, and a sleek physique. His appearance was very androgynous, but Kakuzu believed he was a boy.

Abilities
Ameyuki possessed the Mud Release kekkei genkai, a combination of water and earth. With it, he could convert any earthen substance into mud.