Chiriku

(chi meaning "earth", and riku meaning "land") was one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, who once was hired to protect the Fire Country's Daimyou.

Background
He was once part of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, at which time he developed a strong friendship with Asuma Sarutobi not unlike Shikamaru with Choji. When six of the members tried a coup d'etat he alongside Asuma Sarutobi, Kitane, Nauma, Tou'u, and Seito fought against them. He alongside Asuma and Kazuma were the only survivors of the fight.

When the group disbanded he became head monk at the Fire Temple, an elite monastery that is home to monks with special abilities. During his time with the Twelve Guardian Ninja, some underground organization put a 30 Million Ryo bounty on his head.

Fire Temple Filler arc
When it was discovered that the graves of his fallen allies were robbed, Chiriku contacted the Leaf Village for help. It was also revealed that since the failed cou d'etat, Chiriku had been looking after and train Kazuma's only child Sora. Ashamed of Kazuma's decision to join the cou d'etat, Chiriku chose to never tell Sora the truth. Despite how the rest of the Fire Temple felt and treated Sora, Chiriku was sympathetic to Sora's hardship and did what he could to keep him his morale up, yet at the same time keep him in line.

Hidan and Kakuzu arc
After entering the Fire Country, Hidan and Kakuzu get into the Fire Temple believing that such a religious place would perhaps house of the Fire Country's Jinchūriki. They completely wiped out the monks and the temple and Kakuzu took Chiriku's body to a black market exchange point to get the bounty for his body. During their fight, Chiriku used the powerful Amida's 1000-arm Death Embrace, but the attack would ultimately prove useless against Hidan's immortality.

Abilities
As the head of the Fire Temple, Chiriku is well-versed in all of the Fire Temple's secret teachings. During his battle against Hidan and Kakuzu, he showed tremendous taijutsu prowess from how skillfully he initial dodged and countered their attacks. He has also demonstrated great skill in sealing jutsu from how in a flashback he along with several other monks attempted to surpress Sora's demon chakra. He also placed a fairly powerful barrier around the Fire Temple to protect it from intrudeds.

The highest level of his skill is shown from his master of the Fire Temple's ultimate jutsu Amida's 1000-arm Death Embrace, which he used to initially over-power both Hidan and Kakuzu simultaneously.