Iwabee Yuino

is a Konohagakure genin. While a standout during his entire time enrolled in the Academy, his poor academic test grades lead him to be held back repeatedly. He is a member of Team 5 along with Metal Lee and Denki Kaminarimon.

Background
Iwabee had a grandfather who was killed by Yagura Karatachi. On the day of the Seventh Hokage's inauguration, Iwabee watched the event beside other villagers. Dreaming of becoming a mighty and famous ninja, Iwabee soon enrolled in the Academy. While consistently scoring top marks in all his various ninja classes, his aversion/dislike of book studies not related to ninjutsu but still curriculum-required lead him to get equal consistence poor written grades. This made him fail the graduation exams twice and ultimately forgotten by his former friends who went on to become full-fledged ninja. Blaming the new shinobi era's pursuit of both studies and physical skills for him being held back, Iwabee became rebellious. He would regularly skip classes completely and become harsh if not confrontational with the younger students.

Personality
Apparently stemming from his setbacks and misfortune in being held back in the Academy, Iwabee became very distant and blunt. While hardworking, his single-minded nature on becoming a ninja lead him to slack off on his other required studies, which ultimately became the key reason he failed the graduation exams twice. Unable to improve this area of training and unable to accept it, he took his anger out on others. Valuing strength above all else, Iwabee developed a very domineering attitude, openly proclaiming that strong people can do as they please. While raised in an era of peace, he admires the warring era, believing its constant struggles were the key to forging mighty ninja. He also views the Academy students as weak and lazy, taking advantage of the peaceful times and only becoming ninja by name alone. Desiring recognition, Iwabee despises being looked-down upon. He also has a very high opinion of himself, viewing other students as beneath him is very bossy towards them, demanding to give him privacy. He is also shown to be fairly short-tempered, as upon his views being challenged, he can get very aggressive if not violent.

This attitude changed after meeting Boruto Uzumaki. While having an especial disdain for him, seeing him as an overly-privileged son of the Seventh Hokage who took advantage of his lineage for special treatment, he was amazed to see how strong-willed Boruto was in his refusal to give up. Ironically, Boruto helped Iwabee see that he was being a hypocrite at trying to avoid his problems. Afterwards, Iwabee became much more civil to Boruto and his other classmates; even his teacher, Shino Aburame, noted a considerably more positive attitude since. His loyalty to his new friends has since become apparent, even going out of his way to help them succeed. Even more, he is shown making a serious effort to learn his academics during his free time, albeit he still struggles and requires help from his friends.

His newfound appreciation for others also was shown from his proficiency in Cooperation Ninjutsu, able to properly synchronise his techniques with others. He remains very open about his beliefs, including that no one can determine a person's potential but themselves, and that one must dream big and always push for it. Despite his improved attitude in his studies and with his fellow villagers, Iwabee is shown to be a somewhat overly-cautious individual. Having a personal bad history with Kirigakure, he showed a noticeable dislike of the "Bloody Mist Village", viewing their modern changes as irrelevant as their history as the "Bloody Mist Village" wasn't too long ago. Later, after performing a mission alongside Kiri-nin, Iwabee began to accept the change was really happening for the better in the village.

His passion as a shinobi has led him to amass a large, encyclopedic knowledge of the various famous shinobi in history. He particularly admires Naruto, openly viewing him as the greatest shinobi of all and even treasuring getting an extremely rare trading card of him. Much of his admiration of the Seven Hokage comes from recognising Naruto reaching his legendary fame despite his harsh start. He also appears to have a crush on Kurotsuchi. Being older than his classmates and more focused on actual combat, Iwabee is more conditioned for the practice, able to make quick and decisive decisions in battle. He also has shown a very tactical nature, able to use various basic techniques to outwit his foes. Given his desire to be strong, he appears to greatly prefer strong taijutsu tactics in combat, admiring those who have such skill.

Appearance
As an older student, Iwabee is noticeably taller than his classmates. He is lean in build with a tanned-complexion, stern dark brown eyes, and straight, dark brown hair. He wears a red cap covering his ears and secured by a blue string that holds up all his hair excluding a single bang that hangs between his eyes. He also wears a white sleeveless V-Neck shirt and bandages on his forearms, along with a dull-teal, sleeveless haori, baggy matching pants and black sandals. After finally graduating, he wears his forehead protector by attaching to his belt like a keychain. He also started wearing a dull red shirt and a black jacket and trousers.

Abilities
Despite being held back in the Academy for two years, he has a remarkable aptitude for all the physical performances in ninja combat, constantly scoring the highest in all areas. His performance has also gained special attention from the instructors. He is also shown to be an effective tutor in ninja skills. Later, apparently learning from Denki, Iwabee became a capable mechanic.

Taijutsu
Fitting his aggressive nature, Iwabee is a proficient hand-to-hand combatant. Having noticeable high scores for the Academy, he was able to quickly pressure Boruto with his might and likewise able to repel his shadow clone assault. He seems to prefer smashing kicks and powerful throws while in combat. As noted by Boruto, Iwabee has considerable raw strength.

Ninjutsu
Excelling in the physical area of ninjutsu, Iwabee can use all of the Academy-level techniques to superb effect. With the Body Replacement Technique, Cloak of Invisibility Technique, and such, he is very stealthy. At the same time, he has shown similar proficiency in more advanced skills such as using his chakra to scale walls. Despite his low overall scores on written tests, he is knowledgeable in the usage of techniques, such as the exchange of one's chakra to perform them. He also has some skill in fūinjutsu, able to immobilise his foes in the field of his technique and likewise increase the power of it by working in unison with other users. Sometime after becoming a genin, he was also trained in medical ninjutsu, showing noticeable talent for it.

Nature Transformation
Since the Academy, Iwabee has shown high proficiency in Earth Release. He has a large range of technique types, such as creating weapons, and protective walls from the surrounding ground. He is also able to seamlessly perform two techniques at on top of each other to catch his opponent off guard. Even Kakashi Hatake was impressed with Iwabee's prowess. His control over his constructs is refined enough to form massive and detailed likeness of people, and can perform them without pre-existing earth.

Bukijutsu
Iwabee is a proficient melee-combatant, effective with both shurikenjutsu and is likewise able to deflect such an assault with a kunai. His preferred weapon of choice is a jō which is bandaged at the top, able to efficiently fend off enemy assaults well and likewise is able to strike with noticeable might, cracking the surface he hits in the process. He is also able to use his staff in conjunction with Earth Release, augmenting his staff into more versatile weapons. He can also use his jō as a medium to quickly perform his Earth Release techniques without hand seals. Iwabee's jō is also revealed to contain a sword, which he can also use proficient kenjutsu with, able to swiftly strike down a foe.

Academy Entrance Arc
Two weeks into joining Shino Aburame's class at the Academy, Iwabee met Boruto, and antagonised him over being the Hokage's son. Their encounter leads to the students fighting against each other in the Training Hall. Announcing that he won't use his jō in their fight, the two begin fighting, which resulted in Iwabee becoming enraged and grabbing his weapon. Inojin Yamanaka intervened and grabbed his jō, as Iwabee said earlier he wasn't going to use it. Giving into Boruto's words of advice during their fight, Iwabee became more civilised towards his classmates. During shurikenjutsu practice, Boruto found and used Iwabee's fūma shuriken, resulting in the two and others receiving community work.

Sometime later, Shino organised a class event involving the girls and boy students competing against the other in a race to capture the flag on top the Academy. As it began, Iwabee erected a wall to cut off the girls from proceeding, leading to Chōchō Akimichi demolishing it and subduing him. The event ultimately was won by the girls. Another day, Iwabee, Shikadai Nara and Boruto encountered a rampaging boy. The three prepared to subdue him, but discovered that he had already been defeated by Mitsuki. The following day, Mitsuki enrolled into his class, leading to the pair having a sparring match. Overpowered, Iwabee was caught in Mitsuki's chokehold, prompting Boruto to intervene to make Mitsuki release him. The following day, Iwabee attended the class party Shino threw to welcome the new student. After it ended, Iwabee joined a handful of students in facing a rampaging repairman that was possessed, which they accomplished.

For his workplace field trip, Iwabee, Metal Lee and Sayū Jōge decided to do it at a fireworks factory. Later, Iwabee and Denki were recruited by Boruto to help his group discover the culprit behind the ghost incidents. After luring the person out, the culprit had a possessed Komame fight them, during which Boruto and Iwabee managed to defeat him. For a training session at the Academy to find the compatibility of students within teams, Iwabee asked Sarada Uchiha and Denki to be on his team. The next day, they faced Kō Ase, Hako Kuroi and JJ in a race to capture a flag, but were defeated. Afterwards, Iwabee and his classmates welcomed back Sumire Kakei to their class.

When the class began learning the Tree Climbing Practice, Denki was the only one in the class unable to effectively perform it. Worried that he would have to repeat the class as it was key to passing the year's final exam, a distraught Denki unintentionally compared himself to Iwabee's reputation. While Denki was ashamed of his statement, Iwabee merely brushed it off. As Iwabee continued to struggle with his academic studies, his friends attempted to tutor him, only to be left further confused. Later, he saw Denki continue to struggle with the chakra-induced climbing skill. Not wanting Denki to fall behind and lose friends like he did, Iwabee gave his friend some pointers. As Denki gradually improved, he learned that Iwabee was still struggling with his academics. The two than decided to tutor the other in their respective shortcomings. On the day of the final exam, the two came across a burning building with children trapped inside. The two used their climbing skills to get inside and save the kids. Despite arriving too late for the test, Shino was moved by how effectively they used their climbing skills to save people, deciding to still pass them.

School Trip Arc
To improve relationships with other villages and symbolically show the warring era was over, the Seventh Hokage set up an official class trip for the Academy to go to Kirigakure. While Iwabee's class was thrilled, he himself was distrusting, given Kirigakure's dark history. Upon arriving, they were met with Kagura Karatachi, who was appointed by the Mizukage to act as the class's tour guide. When Iwabee wandered off into a back alley, Boruto and Denki pursued him. They where quickly confronted by Hassaku Onomichi who apparently despised Konohagakure citizens. After a small skirmish between Boruto, Shizuma Hoshigaki applauded Boruto and Iwabee's guts at facing them before calmly walking off.

Later, the class met the retired Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumī, and the current Sixth Mizukage, Chōjūrō, who welcomed the class to their village. Afterwards, Kagura brought the class to the site of the old "Bloody Mist Village" final graduation hall where students would fight to the death to earn their genin status. While Kagura spoke happily of the changes since then, Iwabee scoffed at the idea that things have truly changed, noting that the days of the "Bloody Mist" wasn't that long ago. The class was then approached by a group of delinquents, with their leader, Tsurushi Hachiya, making their disdain of outsiders clear. Realising that Boruto was the son of the Hokage, they wanted to make a name for themselves at Boruto's expense and attack him. Their efforts were quickly repelled by Kagura and Iwabee, the latter of which who had to be held back by Boruto.

When Denki was captured by a group of delinquents who admired the "Bloody Mist Village" era, Mitsuki joined in the rescue. The leader of the group was to be Tsurushi Hachiya, and old classmate of Kagura. As they began mocking Kagura's relationship with the Konoha-nin, they attacked the visiting class. During the fight, Hachiya revealed Kagura's dark past as the grandson of the Fourth Mizukage and having his own personal bloodshed reputation from his Academy days. Ultimately, the delinquents were defeated and Denki was saved.

Later, Boruto asked Denki to make an excuse for him and Sarada if they were late for roll-call, insisting that he and Sarada had some fieldtrip supervisory matters to handle. Iwabee found that strange and decided to look into it. He soon found Tsurushi muttering to himself about Boruto and Sarada. He swiftly confronted him and intimidated the Kiri-nin to talk. He the found Boruto and Sarada fighting Shizuma's team alongside Chōjūrō, stepping in to stop Ichirōta Oniyuzu from exploding the area with Shibuki. While clashing with blunt attacks at first, Iwabee swiftly revealed his concealed sword to land a devastating blow. The stubborn revolutionary refused to let Iwabee get a clean victory, detonating his sword.

While seemingly caught in the blast, Iwabee was treated by Tsurushi. Once the rebellion was stopped, Iwabee carried a battered Boruto and the Konoha-nin quickly ran back to their hotel to make curfew.

Graduation Exams Arc
Before graduation exams begin, Iwabee goes camping with his friends. As graduation exams for the ninja classes were nearing, Iwabee was interviewed along with the other students about his future goals. Iwabee's immediate goal was to finally cast off the reputation as a repeater in the Academy while his future goal was to become a famous ninja like the Seventh Hokage.

During the exams, taking up Shino's subtle offer to try stealing the test answers for the written test, Iwabee and his friends were able to easily pass the test. Later, during the practical and final test, the class was brought to the training field. There, the entire class was set up to face Shino, Anko Mitarashi and Konohamaru for 24 hours. While the teachers were there to evaluate the students' respective performances, Kakashi Hatake was the true goal of the test. While Iwabee was awe-stricken to being proctored by the legendary shinobi, it was noted that the Sixth Hokage that he would only pass the first student who could take the single bell attached to his hip.

When the test began Iwabee found himself caught in a genjutsu by Anko, but soon broke free from it to join his friends in facing her. Ultimately, Anko defeated her foes and captured the Ino-Shika-Chō trio. Iwabee then went to save Boruto from the clutches of Kakashi with Mitsuki's, using his Earth Release to give him a diversion. As Boruto's injuries were treated, deeply affected by Kakashi's hard words, Boruto apologised to his friends for "failing" them by dragging their performance down with his lazy attitude. Hearing Boruto say that he made them jokes as ninja infuriated Iwabee, grabbing Boruto fiercely and rejecting those words. He insisted that it was because of Boruto that they overcame so many of their problems. Inspired by Iwabee and the other students' praise, Boruto realised the truth behind the teaches' deceptions. He then conceived a series of plans to pass the test, which the friends all backed up. Together, they were able to eliminate the other teachers save the students that were captured, the latter of which in turn helped back Boruto's play against Kakashi. They all attacked Kakashi while disguised as Boruto, but the Sixth Hokage easily blocked their assault. This however was a setup, allowing the team to catch Kakashi in a Multiple String Light Formation. While pinning down Kakashi somewhat, he quickly repelled them with his Lightning Release. Ultimately, time ran out. However, despite no one getting the bell, Kakashi passed all the students as they succeeded at the test's true goal; loyalty and team-work. Iwabee was especially overjoyed to finally end his days as an Academy-repeater.

Genin Mission Arc
At the Academy, Iwabee was placed on Team 5 with Metal and Denki. The team personally received their first mission from the Seventh Hokage. Much to Iwabee's dismay, it involved pulling a giant turnip out of the ground, which they succeeded in doing. Later, the team repaired a bridge for a mission.

Byakuya Gang Arc
With the continued thefts performed by the Byakuya Gang throughout Konohagakure, Team 5 was assigned alongside the other genin teams to help stop the self-proclaimed noble thieves. However, the genin were not permitted to engage the Byakuya Gang without aid from a chūnin or higher-ranked shinobi. Later, they were alerted to the Byakuya Gang's appearance. Following Iwabee's overzealous nature, Metal and Denki joined their team-mate in engaging the thieves, which resulted in Metal getting injured and being hospitalised. Udon scolded Iwabee for his reckless actions and clear disregard of orders. He punished Iwabee to remain confined to his home until further orders.

Versus Momoshiki Arc
Training with his teammates, the three are discovered by Sarada, leading to Iwabee questioning if she was spying on them. Later, the genin approached Udon, to get his permission to participate in the Chūnin Exams. After beginning the exams, Team 5 made it passed the traps and obstacles to get to the first exam venue. There, the team participated in a true or false question, which resulted in all competitors falling into a pit that contained a pool of ink. Using Earth Release to stop his team falling into the ink, the three passed the first round of the exams.

During the second exam, it was a battle of capture the flag, which ultimately led to Iwabee's team facing Team Shinki. Ultimately, they were easily defeated by Shinki's Magnet Release and thus eliminated from the exams. On the day of the final round, Iwabee watched the competition with his teammates. He and his team-mates cheered for Boruto when he defeated Shinki to win the tournament, but were very distraught when learning that he cheating used an advanced ninja tool, the Kote, which was deemed banned from the Chūnin Exams and thus was disqualified.

When Momoshiki and Kinshiki Ōtsutsuki appeared and began devastating the arena, Denki used his laptop to look up the design of the arena, plotting out the best escape route. Iwabee was then told where to take spectators. After the attack ended and the Seventh Hokage saved all the lives there at the cost of being captured himself, Iwabee was sent to the hospital to tend the citizens' injuries. A few days later, after the Ōtsutsuki were defeated and things began returning to normal, Iwabee helped in repairing the village.

Later, Iwabee was ecstatic to watch a lecture from the legendary taijutsu master and hero of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Might Guy, about proper close-range tactics. During his lesson, Guy decided to demonstrate his point by having a brief sparring match against Iwabee and Lee. With Lee's anxiety getting the best of him again from the large crowd, Iwabee was forced to face Guy alone, who despite his handicap of a single good leg, effortlessly defeated Iwabee.

Mitsuki's Disappearance Arc
After the apparent betrayal of Mitsuki to Konohakagure and his desertion, the village was put on lockdown. Later, when Boruto approached Iwabee and his team to see if they had seen Mitsuki, they informed him they hadn't.

As Iwabee and his team continued their patrol duties during the lockdown, they bumped into a frantic Yurito. He claimed that someone attacked one of the guards in recovery and was rushing to get help, but Udon saw through the lie as Yurito would have sent someone else to report such an act as he was head of the Medical Security. Realising he was found out, Yurito took Denki hostage, only for the genin to escape with a flash bomb. As the team's genin attempted to subdue Yurito, Udon realised that he was under genjutsu. He proceeded to free him. As the man began coming to his senses, a C1 Explosive Clay emerged from his flack jacket, detonating and hospitalising Yurito.

Later, after eavesdropping on the Hokage, Iwabee and his friends learned of the danger Team 7 was in at Iwagakure. The genin were determined to help their friends and requested to join the Hokage. While Naruto initially refused to put the genin in danger, the group firmly said they will go with or without his approval. Admiring their loyalty to their friends, Naruto decided to let them. Upon arriving at Iwa however, the battle was already won and Team 7 was safe, leaving Iwabee and the others relieved.

The victory however came at the personal sacrifice of the Third Tsuchikage. While the Konoha-nin wanted to attend the funeral, Naruto sent them all back to Konohagakure.

Konoha Shinden: Steam Ninja Scrolls
After Shikadai selected as the first of their graduating class to be promoted to chūnin, Iwabee was selected to join Shikadai on his first mission as team captain. They were joined by Boruto and Wasabi to retrieve a rare but potent medical flower called the gekkōran, which only blooms very rarely and just as quickly welters. They were also given a special tracking-pig named Tonsuke that could locate the flowers by scent. The mission progressed roughly as Wasabi and Iwabee kept bickering with each other. The mission became even more difficult when they were attacked by bandits and stole Tonsuke. Fed up with his team-mates not listening to him, Shikadai decided to handle the rest of the mission alone. While Iwabee gruffly let Shikadai do as he pleased, he noticed the trap from bandits had injured Shikadai, deciding to catch up to help his friend. Once reconciling with Shikadai, the team was able to rescue Tonsuke while capturing the bandits and securing the gekkōran to complete their mission.

Time Slip Arc
Iwabee joined the other genin in testing out new surveillance equipment designed to follow their location. During the field test, Urashiki Ōtsutsuki was spotted in the area, Iwabee joined several other Konoha-nin in pursuing him. However, this turned out to be division by the alien, who placed a genjutsu on them to let him sneak into the village.

Later, some time after Urashiki was finally defeated, when Sumire Kakei resigned from her genin team to join the Scientific Ninja Weapons Team, Iwabee joined his friends in a farewell party for the former class rep.

Mujina Bandits Arc
As Iwabee and his friends began buying some card packs for the Extreme: Shinobi Picture Scrolls trading card game, Boruto was annoyed to get another Seventh Hokage Naruto card, despite it being an extremely rare and sought-after card. Offhandedly, Boruto gave it to Iwabee, much to his joy. Soon after, they then met Tentō Madoka, son of the Fire daimyo. When seeing that Iwabee had a rare Seventh Hokage card that he was looking for, he begged Iwabee to sell it to him, but Iwabee refused. Trying to sway Iwabee, Tentō began buying up Iwabee's favourite hangouts. As Iwabee got angry and was ready to hit Tentō, Boruto Uzumaki stepped in to stop him. He insisted that having a lot of money is nothing special. While Tentō didn't think much Boruto as he wasn't made a trading card yet, Boruto insisted that one day, he will be come a powerful and cool enough ninja to be added to the game. Intrigued by Boruto, Tentō decided to leave Iwabee alone and his friends alone.

Later, Iwabee began taking medical ninjutsu training as it became mandatory that at least one member of each team be a medical-nin.

Kara Actuation Arc
After Team 7 was defeated by Deepa, Iwabee and his team went to check on Boruto who was recovering in the hospital. They were surprised to see how relaxed and upbeat Boruto was. While everyone else was happy to their friends were fine, Iwabee grew concerned. After hearing about Sarada in a similar light, Iwabee feared that their friends lost the will to be shinobi anymore. When Iwabee and his friends went to check on Boruto and Sarada, they were horrified to see that they secretly left the hospital. Iwabee came to the new conclusion that Boruto and Sarada were looking for revenge for what happened to Mitsuki. Sakura deduced that the two would meet up with Konohamaru to join him on his undercover mission. Upon arriving, the group was relieved to see that Boruto and Sarada had resolved to leave the mission to the jōnin for now and instead focus on getting strong enough to rejoin the battlefield.

After learning that Boruto was hospitalised following a match against Shojoji, Team 5 visited him. In the hospital, they met a patient named Nattō, who was causing trouble for the staff. Learning that they were shinobi, Nattō asked them to get an autograph from Orochimaru on his Extreme: Shinobi Picture Scrolls trading card. They initially refused, but later agreed to it upon learning of Nattō's upcoming surgery, which he was dreading. Finding out Orochimaru's location from the Hokage's office records, they were warned to be very careful by a Konoha jōnin who was filling in for Yamato in monitoring Orochimaru. They stumbled on Suigetsu, and began fight him, only to be overwhelmed. Orochimaru stopped the fight, and while incredulous of their intention, autographed the card anyway. Team 5 returned the card to Nattō, and admitted they were scared to do it, noting that one needs to be brave, inspiring him to have his surgery.

Later, after Mitsuki recovered and returned to the village, Iwabee's team worked on a new experiment of Denki's to improve on wireless communication technology. He and Metal were tasked with piloting a hot air balloon high enough. The experiment was technically a success as they increase the range of communication, but would still need to figure a way to stabilise the signal, as the balloon was incapable of staying in the air too long to sustain transmissions.

Ao Arc
Iwabee attended the memorial service for the fallen people of the Fourth Shinobi World War. Later, Iwabee watched the sparing match between the Seventh Hokage and Boruto at the Training Hall, impressed both by Boruto's improved skill and Naruto's mysterious new ability to absorb enemy techniques.

Kawaki Arc
In the anime, when Kawaki was brought to the village for his ties to Kara, it was decided that the boy would be treated as a guest in the Hokage's home. Iwabee and his friends soon met him, with Iwabee quickly disliking the stranger's harsh attitude. Over time, Kawaki began warming up to everyone, even learning how to play Extreme: Shinobi Picture Scrolls. Later, as Iwabee was playing with Shikadai, repeatedly losing, the group began discussing their views on Kawaki, Iwabee particularly not liking Kawaki.

Prior to the village's attack by Jigen, word spread that a village archive was attacked and data on shinobi was stolen. Iwabee and his team-mates were impressed to hear later that Team 10 were able to stop the culprit, Koji Kashin, from stealing more data.

Chūnin Re-Examination Arc
Following Isshiki's attack, Naruto decided to host another Chūnin Exam to boost more and promote more chūnin. Iwabee passed the written exam with help from Denki, who passed him answers with a device that copied his movements. For the second test, in the Forest of Death, Iwabee had to find and rescued an injured ally within a time limit. Despite arguing with Wasabi over an ally, both completed the exam within the time limit. Iwabee was one of 10 genin to pass the second exam, and would have to fight one of the other 9 in an one-on-one battle for the final exam. The following day, Iwabee and his team-mates went to the Scientific Ninja Weapons Team's facilities to test Denki's new creation, as such tools created personally by the user were now permitted in the exams.

During the final exam, Iwabee watched the first match between Inojin and Hōki, impressed by the latter's Earth Release: Fighting Blade Rod. Iwabee's name was drawn for the second match, against Wasabi. When the match began, Iwabee quickly took the offensive, pressuring Wasabi, but he noticed she was being very withdrawn in her efforts. When she disclosed how pressured she felt by her family, and how incapable she felt due to her clan's undistinguished background, Iwabee was furious. He insisted one must believe in themselves and dare to dream big. To prove his point, he used his Earth Release to create a giant cat, like the one from Wasabi's grandmother's stories. However, this exhausted him, and he had to be saved from the cat's collapsing head by Wasabi with her clan's jutsu. As he couldn't fight any longer, the match was called in Wasabi's favour. After Iwabee recovered, he rejoined his team-mates to watch the rest of the finals. Iwabee cheered on Denki in his match against Tsubaki Kurogane, and celebrated his victory through the use of a power suit of his own making and Lightning Release. He joined his team-mates and Team 15 to celebrate Denki's and Wasabi's promotions at the Lightning Burger.

Path to Becoming a Ninja Arc
Later, Kawaki was being tested to earn qualification as a genin. One of his missions was along Team 5. Completing the mission, the boy showed little interest, falling asleep as Denki's plan was executed. Iwabee was furious about Kawaki's attitude.

Great Sea Battle of Kirigakure Arc
Iwabee and Metal were growing frustrated at their uninteresting missions, and were overjoyed when informed by Denki of their first B-rank mission, delivering brand-new automated puppets to aid in gold mining at Dotō Island in the Land of Water. After delivering the puppets, Iwabee helped assemble the puppets under Denki's instruction. Two bandits revealed themselves among the miners, stole some gold, and locked them inside the mine. Denki stopped Iwabee from using his Earth Release against them, aware it could cause a collapse, and instead dug a path with the puppets. Using them to track the stolen gold, Team 5 fought the bandits. Iwabee blocked their Water Release attack with his Earth Release, giving Denki time to adapt the puppets to capture their boat. Iwabee damaged its engine, and he and Metal defeated the bandits. The mining chief praised them, and Denki reminded his team they had more work ahead as the puppet developers had arrived.

Later, the Funato Clan attacked the island, capturing all its inhabitants and the Konoha research team. Team 5 was forced to retreat and wait for an opportunity act. As Iwabee grew frustrated at the situation, Team 5 was found by Mitsuki and Sarada, who were on a mission to help them. Catching each other up, they designed a plan to rescue the hostages, Team 5 being responsible for securing a ship for their escape. Iwabee helped keep Funato soldiers from getting on the ship while Denki took control of it. Iwabee and Metal celebrated their success on what turned out to be dangerous mission.

On the way back to rendezvous with Kagura and the others, Iwabee was assigned as lookout. He alerted them of a massive Chakra Cannon from the enemies' fortress ship. After narrowly dodging the first shot on the ship, everyone was saved by Kagura's team, having turned the Chakra Cannon back on the fortress. After picking up Kagura and the others, Team 5 was horrified to see members of the New Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Sarada however assured them that they were technically allies now, before they all returned to Kirigakure.

Along the way, Iwabee remained distrustful of the swordsmen. The following morning, Taiki was discovered to have been murdered. Suspicion fell on Kyohō Fuefuki, who was found cleaning blood off Kabutowari, and had recently gone through a rage he had no memory of. Kyohō and Iwabee grew hostile, but Hebiichigo separated them with Nuibari. Boruto talked him down. While everyone else searched the ship, he and Boruto kept watch on Kyohō. Boruto thought Iwabee didn't truly believe Kyohō was guilty, recalling that Iwabee's grandfather was killed fighting Kirigakure, surprising Iwabee for remembering. A witness came forward with damning testimony, which agitated Kyohō, causing him to flee. Iwabee chased him, and the two were joined by Kawaki, who informed them of a plan to expose the real culprit by faking Kyohō's death. He was annoyed to be the last one informed of the plan, which Kawaki attributed to him being a poor actor. It worked, causing Kobasoza to reveal himself, having hidden inside a refugee's body. He was chased to the engine room, where he killed himself to damage the ship's engine. Learning of Kyohō's past trauma with the Funato, Iwabee apologised to him, who in turn apologised for taking so long to explain himself, even offering to show his scars, which Iwabee declined.

Eventually, they were discovered by master shipbuilder, Kajiki. Unable repair the engine, Kajiki instead towed the ship back to his port for proper repairs. There, Iwabee agreed to help with the repair and also serve the islanders food. Later that night, the Funato Clan attacked the island, using leeches to control the islanders. Iwabee was saved by Denki using his bug spray to repel one. Iwabee then helped repel the Funato Clan as they tried to destroy the repaired ship, blocking their flaming arrows with earthen walls before fighting them. By morning, the Funato attack had been foiled.

Iwabee and Boruto joined Kagura, Sarada, and Denki as they attempted to decipher a coded message recovered from the Funato. Iwabee commented it might just be origami, inspiring Kagura on how to fold it, revealing its contents. The Funato planned to use the sea battle as a distraction to launch a surprise attack on Kirigakure while most of their forces were away. Kagura took everyone to his childhood village, which was on the route the Funato were taking, hoping to intercept them. Iwabee was tasked with helping to destroy two bridges in order to funnel the Funato to a ravine, putting them at a disadvantage.

The next day, Iwabee and Denki spied on the Funato as they reached the destroyed bridges. Seeing them sent scouts, they rushed back to the village to warn everyone. Needing to trick the scouts there was nothing suspicious about the village, they had the villagers evacuated and hidden. When a baby began to cry, Iwabee muffled the sound with his Earth Release.

As the group prepared to unleash their trap, Team 5 was sent back to protect the village. Later, Team 5 was contacted by Mitsuki's snake, revealing that the enemies saw through their trap and was pinning them down. Team 5 quickly returned, unleashing a rockslide to block off the enemies. As the team regrouped back at the village, they quickly evacuated all the villagers while working to block off all existing water sources for Funamashi's technique, Iwabee using his Earth Release to help. Soon the Funato arrived, where the Kiri and Konoha-nin split into teams of two. Iwabee happily showed great team-work with Kyohō as the latter used Iwabee's Earth Release as projectiles. Funamashi then absorbed the blood from some of his soldiers as a source and unleashed his technique again. As Funamashi's technique began demolishing the village, Kagura used all his chakra to empower Hiramekarei and destroy Funamashi's technique. Funamushi however escape the attack that last second, emerging unharmed while Kagura was too drained to fight back. He captured Kagura and forced the team to drop their weapons. Upon which, Funamushi stabbed Kagura through the back.