Mei Terumī

is the of Kirigakure. After the dreadful reign of Yagura ended, she became Mizukage and worked tirelessly to reform internal policies and recreate diplomatic relations with other villages.

Background
As a young girl around the age of nine, Mei had to endure Kirigakure's brutal academy graduation ritual.

In the anime, shortly after Yagura's passing and Mei's ascension as the Fifth Mizukage, the village received an invitation from Konohagakure and Sunagakure to join an impromptu Chūnin Exams they would be hosting together. As the village was still recovering from the Fourth's passing as noted by Ao, it was decided the Kiri-nin would not take part in this event.

Personality
Mei is a cheerful person, and will smile even when swearing to kill Ao after she mishears him. She is usually kind and peaceful, speaking well of others and attempting to avoid conflict. Mei proved to be more open-minded than the other Kage, as she had shown respect and was willing to listen to Gaara, at one point even defending him from the Tsuchikage's disrespectful behaviour, and later showing admiration for Gaara after seeing how pure-hearted he was. Mei also can be very flirtatious, as she remarked to Sasuke Uchiha that he was good looking, and expressed regret that she must kill someone so handsome, but would give him a kiss before that. She is also shown to be quite respectful to others despite her status as a Kage. She often ends her sentences with "kudasai", which translates roughly to "please" and refers to all her fellow Kage with the suffic "-sama", which translates to "Lord" ("Lady" if the person is female). She also stated to Madara that though she liked when men complimented her, she would hold off in his case.

Mei seems to be somewhat sensitive when it comes to her love life, as shown when she misheard Ao say that she was "past marriageable age", and threatened to kill him for such an "insult". This seems to be a running gag, as she has made similar mistakes on multiple occasions. She also has low tolerance towards insults about her age and appearance, as she was instantly angered when Karin called her an "old hag", and beat up Ao while Fū Yamanaka possessed his body and insulted her. Despite this, she is also very sharp-witted as she pretended to be able to undo Ao's barrier technique protecting his Byakugan to fool Fū into exposing himself possessing Ao's body.

Befitting her role as the village's leader, Mei cares about the welfare and history of Kirigakure. Under the belief that Yagura, her predecessor, had been manipulated by Tobi using genjutsu, she was prepared to fight Danzō Shimura, who also possessed a Sharingan which could cast a similar genjutsu. Though Mei is courageous and calm in battle, she is not above realising her or any one else's limitations as seen from her open acknowledgement that it seems as though Madara could not be stopped. Despite usually being quite fearless and determined in battle, she possesses a pessimistic outlook against stronger opponents as witnessed during her battle with Madara; though she felt they were fighting a losing battle and voiced the fact that their efforts seemed futile, this did not ultimately prevent her from fighting alongside her comrades.

Mei does care a lot about her marital status as well as her fellow Kage. In her Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, she dreamt she was married with the other four Kage celebrating it with her. She is also a person of honour as when Sasuke broke a wall and risked leaking her acidic Boil Release to the other Kage, she changed the pH to avoid harming them.

Appearance
Mei is a tall, slender woman in her thirties. She has green eyes, and ankle-length, auburn hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back, a top-knot tied with a dark blue band, and with four bangs at the front. Two bangs are short, with one covering her right eye, and two are long, crossing each other on her bust, just below her chin.

She wears a long-sleeved, dark blue dress that falls just below the knees. It seems to be closed at the front with a zipper, and is kept open on the front-right side from the waist down. The dress only covers up to the upper part of her arms and the underside of her breasts. Underneath, she wears a mesh armour that covers slightly more of her upper body than her dress. She also wears a skirt in the same colour as her dress and, underneath those, mesh leggings reaching down over her knees. Around her waist, she wears a belt with a pouch attached to the back on the left along with high-heeled sandals and shin-guards reaching up over her knees, dark blue polish on her fingers and toes, and is usually shown with purple lipstick (fuchsia in the anime). Years after the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Mei developed minor wrinkles near the corners of her lips. Her hair was also noticeably shorter, only reaching the lower of her back.

Abilities
Mei is a powerful kunoichi whose abilities earned her the title of Fifth Mizukage. She is calm, observant and perceptive and can pick up on slight discrepancies in another person's personality, as seen when she detected the difference in Ao's behaviour when Fū Yamanaka inhabited his body. She has shown some skill in taijutsu, being able to intercept Black Zetsu from attacking the daimyō with a single kick, sending him crashing out of his hiding spot during the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Nature Transformation
Mei is proficient in the nature transformations of Water, Fire, Earth, and Lightning Release. With Water Release, she can create a large torrent that can extinguish a powerful Fire Release technique from Madara Uchiha and quickly use the same water to form a giant dragon. Mei can also use the Hiding in Mist Technique to obscure the movements of herself and her allies. Two years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, her mastery of Water Release enabled her to successfully protect her village from the massive meteorites that had broken off from the falling Moon.

Mei possesses two elemental kekkei genkai, the first of which is Lava Release. By combining earth and fire natures, she can spit out acidic mud that can melt almost anything in its path. The great amount of steam generated after the fluid strikes can serve as an effective smokescreen, allowing her to attack again while the enemy is distracted. A significant amount of exposure was enough to partially melt Madara's Susanoo ribcage. The second kekkei genkai, Boil Release, allows her to simultaneously use water and fire natures to release a corrosive mist that can burn away almost anything it touches. It even managed to burn through Sasuke's Susanoo ribcage. She also has the ability to alter the potency and acidity of the mist created by her Boil Release techniques and is apparently not affected by the mist herself.

Five Kage Summit
When Mei leaves for the Kage Summit, the villagers of Kirigakure cheer for her. One of her bodyguards, Chōjūrō, expressed worry that he will not be able to protect her, so Mei cheered him up by voicing confidence in his abilities. She continued to speak kindly to Chōjūrō during their journey to the Land of Iron. Similarly, whenever Ao, her other bodyguard, tried to scold Chōjūrō for not acting like a man, Mei mistook his words and threatened to kill him.

When the Summit began, Mei proved to be more open-minded than the other Kage, as she had shown respect and was willing to listen to the Fifth Kazekage; even at one point defending him from the Third Tsuchikage's disrespectful behaviour. The Fourth Raikage explained his suspicions of the other Kage, and stated that Mei and the rest of her village were the least trustworthy; as the Summit was being held to discuss Akatsuki, and Akatsuki is rumoured to have been created in Kirigakure, the village's actions made it suspect. Over Ao's objections, Mei admitted that many in Kirigakure believe her predecessor to have been manipulated by someone. When Tobi's involvement with Akatsuki was brought to light, the Summit mediator, Mifune, suggested forming an alliance to be headed by Danzō Shimura. Although Mei does not object, Mifune explained that Akatsuki's supposed ties with Kirigakure left her unsuited to lead a task force meant to eliminate the organisation.

Ao soon afterwards exposed that Danzō's manipulation of Mifune. Before he can be questioned about it, Zetsu infiltrated the meeting and informed them of Sasuke Uchiha's presence. The Raikage broke Zetsu's neck while trying to learn Sasuke's whereabouts, prompting Mei to scold him for killing a potential information source. Mei and her escorts remained in the Summit room while the Fourth Raikage, and Fifth Kazekage, went to deal with Sasuke. Believing Danzō's mind-controlling dōjutsu may somehow be related to the manipulation of the Fourth Mizukage, she instructed Ao to not let Danzō out of his sight.

Sasuke soon arrived in the Summit hall to kill Danzō who fled. Sasuke tried to follow him, but Mei uses her Lava Release to block his path. She advised that the Tsuchikage should get out of the way if he was not intending to participate in the battle and attacks Sasuke again. Chōjūrō forced Sasuke into an adjacent hall, where Mei sealed him in with her, intending to destroy him by filling the hall with a corrosive mist. As a weakened Sasuke began to feel the effects of her technique and the bones of Susanoo's ribcage visibly melting, Mei was caught in Zetsu's Spore Technique before she can finish him, which transferred her chakra to Sasuke. As he broke back into the Summit hall, Mei neutralisws her Boil Release so that it didn't harm anyone else. She returned to the hall once she has recovered and, finding Tobi, was told about his Eye of the Moon Plan. As he ended his explanation by requesting the Kage give him Naruto and Killer B, Mei and the other Kage refuse, leading Tobi to declare the start of the Fourth Shinobi World War.

With the outbreak of war, Mei and the other Kage agree to form a Shinobi Alliance to be led by the Raikage. Mei argues that Naruto and B should be protected from Akatsuki, which the other Kage agree to before returning home. Mei and Chōjūrō take a detour to look for Ao, who had followed Danzō. They find him in time to stop him from decapitating himself. He explains that his body was being controlled by another ninja and asks that Mei remove the seal protecting his Byakugan. Since Ao would never ask her to do so, Mei knows his body is still being controlled and she asks to borrow Chōjūrō's Hiramekarei. Ao calls her a hag before she can use it on him and she beats him up, unaware that he has finally been released. When they return to Kirigakure, they hear that the daimyō have approved the formation of the Shinobi Alliance.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Countdown
A few days later, the Kage convene again to discuss war tactics, Ao accompanying Mei once again. Mei expresses relief that the Fifth Hokage returned to her position. She then suggests the villages combine their intelligence networks in an effort to locate Akatsuki's base of operations.

After learning that information on the jinchūriki was leaked to Akatsuki, Mei comments, that the enemy won't send a large number of soldiers. It was agreed on that the Tsuchikage will be going to the island as reinforcement.

When the Tsuchikage is returning from the island, she then meets the Tsuchikage and begins to discuss what went on at the island. After she is briefed then the last meeting is held in order to fully prepare for the war. Mei orders Chōjūrō to contact Ao in the Sensor Division and tell him that they need to hurry.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Confrontation
Mei was tasked with leading a team of elite shinobi tasked with guarding the daimyō and ensuring their safety from their homelands into protective custody. She explained to the Frost Daimyō their defence plan, where the daimyō would travel between five separate hideouts at regular intervals as well as being guarded by some of the Shinobi Forces' most powerful ninja to keep them safe. When Black Zetsu who was sent after the daimyō, found them, before he could launch an assault, he was confronted by Mei. Black Zetsu prepared to fight her but she told him that she's not the only one he will have to defeat, but her entire team as well. As the battle waged on, Naruto's shadow clone eventually appeared on the battlefield and charged at Black Zetsu who simply sidestepped the attack. With this new addition to the battlefield, Mei looked on bewildered as to what was occurring (though, in the anime, she realised that it was Naruto who appeared). Though Raidō and Genma merely confirmed that Naruto's rash nature had not changed in the slightest as Chōjūrō, who took advantage of Naruto's distraction, was finally able to land a hit on Black Zetsu and pin him down, ending the fight to everyone's amazement.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax
At that point, Genma was notified by Shikaku of the reincarnation of the real Madara Uchiha. As Mei contemplated leaving to aid her fellow Kage, she was reassured by Chōjūrō that she could leave this battle to him, as he would protect it with his life — this caused Mei to marvel on how much personal growth he'd made since the war began. Using the combined abilities of Genma, Raidō and a third ninja from the Hokage Guard Platoon, Mei was teleported to the front-line via the Flying Thunder God Technique. Mei then stood alongside her fellow Kage as they confronted Madara.

To buy Tsunade time to heal Ōnoki and Gaara, Mei and A attacked Madara with a series of lava-based and lightning-enhanced physical attacks, forcing Madara to use his Susanoo. As he complimented their offence, Mei replied while she liked being complimented by men, she would hold off in Madara's case. Madara then attacked with his Yasaka Magatama technique, which was blocked by Gaara and Ōnoki's combined defence. Mei asisted A and Ōnoki's assault on Madara by using the Hiding in Mist Technique to obscure Madara's vision. Before Naruto's clone dispersed, she and the other Kage told him to defend the other battlefield and left him with one word: "win".

As the battle dragged on, Mei fell back to be healed by Tsunade while A and Ōnoki attacked Madara, who soon created a forest. As Mei warned the others not to inhale the pollen, Madara's Susanoo ambushed and knocked them into the forest. Mei tried to counter Madara's subsequent fire technique, only to pass out with the other Kage from inhaling the surrounding pollen. They recovered after Ōnoki destroyed the forest in time to see the face formed from the First Hokage's DNA on a regenerating Madara's chest. When Madara decided to kill Tsunade first, Mei retorted that killing a platoon's medic was a basic strategy that he would not get away with. Madara corrected her, saying he was targeting Tsunade due to her heritage, not because she was a medic. She later smirked as Tsunade refuted Madara's claim she was a weak woman who inherited nothing from her grandfather. Somewhat shocked initially as Tsunade stepped forward to attack Madara, Mei interjected to counter Madara's fire technique with a large volume of water followed immediately by a water dragon, sending him flying into the air where he was attacked by Tsunade, A, and Ōnoki. Mei later stared in shock as Tsunade was impaled by Madara's Susanoo Sword, revealing they had sealed Madara's wood clone instead of the real one. Tsunade quickly recovered and launched a counterattack alongside Ōnoki on Madara, to no avail. As Madara retorted Tsunade's mockery for his use of clones, Mei told Madara to not look down on them because they were fighting him altogether, but instead take it as an acknowledgement of his power. Madara created twenty-five wood clones to surround the five Kage, returning Mei's comment and asking them if they want the clones to use Susanoo or not.

Mei became overwhelmed by five of the Susanoo-clad clones, but rallied to the side of the other Kage after once again being spurred on by Ōnoki to continue fighting. After Ōnoki destroyed all of the Susanoo-clad clones, Mei, A and Gaara attacked Madara with a sand and lightning-enhanced water dragon to prevent him from escaping. As the sealing nearly completed, Madara foiled their efforts by releasing his Complete Body — Susanoo, declaring that even the power of the five Kage was futile against his technique. Awestruck at the newly-formed giant construct, Mei was knocked off her feet along with the other Kage from a single swing of Madara's Susanoo sword. As she and the other Kage later stood to face Madara again, she listened on to the Ōnoki's words of encouragement. As Madara prepared another attack with his Susanoo sword, however, Mei remarked that it seemed like the end for them before being silenced by the still-defiant A.

Bewildered as a light suddenly surrounded Madara, Mei wondered what exactly was transpiring before being told that the Impure World Reincarnation technique had been cancelled. When Madara didn't disappear with the technique's deactivation, Mei questioned whether he had been restored. Madara responded by severing the Impure World Reincarnation's contract with the summoner, allowing him to remain in the living world with his reincarnation benefits. He criticised a horrified and shocked Mei for not understanding that, after fighting him, he was not one to let himself be under someone else's control. As Madara prepared to leave to capture Naruto, Mei urged a still defiant Ōnoki their opponent was too strong, to which Ōnoki responded that they needed stop Madara no matter what. Despite their attempt to stop Madara from leaving their battlefield, Mei and the other Kage were ultimately defeated and left severely wounded.

Later, upon the arrival of Karin, Suigetsu and Orochimaru at the battlefield, Tsunade was healed by Karin. After being considerably healed, she in turn helped in healing Mei and the other Kage. With no time to lose, they all made their way to the battlefield atop Gaara's sand. While closing in on the battlefield, the Kage noticed the tree form of Ten-Tails in the distance and were updated by Katsuyu as to what was happening on the battlefield. They are later contacted by a reincarnated Hashirama Senju telepathically to update all everyone on what he had uncovered during his battle with Madara. As Naruto's anger at the comrades he had fought so hard to protect grew, his emotions and memories were channelled to everyone within range of Ino Yamanaka's technique.

Birth of the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki
Later when Hashirama — through the same medium — shared his own memories, Mei recognised the scene as the first Summit of the five Kage before arriving on the battlefield as Hashirama declared his wishes for the future of the world. After echoing A's sentiments that protecting their dreams was a moot point, Mei made her way to one corner of the battlefield. Rallying the troops there, Mei noted that it was unacceptable to be late to the battlefield as a woman before telling those around her that they were heading out.

She later confronted Tobi alongside A and Ōnoki. After being overwhelmed due to not being able to use jutsu because of her chakra level, she and the remainder of the Allied Forces were saved from Tobi's elemental attacks by the Third Hokage's shadow clones. Afterwards, she fell victim to Madara's Infinite Tsukuyomi and was bound by the holy tree afterwards. Inside of the genjutsu, she dreamed of finally getting married while the other Kage attended the ceremony.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes
Ultimately, Mei and the rest of the world were freed from the genjutsu by Naruto and Sasuke who ended the war.

Kakashi Hiden: Lightning in the Icy Sky
Mei appears in this novel.

The Last: Naruto the Movie
Two years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, with the moon beginning to descend towards Earth, the five Kage band together once more to discuss their solution to this ongoing threat. Mei was later seen destroying meteorites with her Water Release and Lava Release. When Kakashi pleaded with A to halt blasting the moon due to Naruto and the others being on there, Mei voiced her support, noting that Naruto, as the hero from the previous war, is one worth betting on.

Sasuke Shinden: Book of Sunrise
Mei appears in the novel.

Epilogue
Years later, Mei stepped down as Mizukage and passed on the title to Chōjūrō. Despite the retirement, Mei and the other former Kage would regularly have meetings together, usually at the Tsuchikage residence where Ōnoki never moved out. She remained single, complaining about the scarcity of nice men in her life.

Creation and Conception
Masashi Kishimoto noted that in order to give the Mizukage a measure of attractiveness, he could not make her too young, and as such she is in her thirties. Her long hair, and elaborate hairstyle is also done to aid in this effect. Due to her age, he decided to make her eager to get married as well. Overall, he noted that it took great trial and error to get Mei to look the way he envisioned. In the earlier stages of her conception, she was drawn with high heels.

Trivia

 * Mei as the Mizukage can be seen as a sign of change for the village as ninja with kekkei genkai were once feared and persecuted in this village. Mei herself has stated that the dark days of the village were over.
 * The kanji for "Terumī" means "shining beauty". However, they are usually pronounced with a lengthened "I" sound. This, together with the fact that the furigana are written in katakana, suggests that her name is meant to invoke a different meaning.
 * In Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, as seen in the mailing system in-game, Ao tells a tale of when he saw Mei without her make-up, making suggestions to how horrifying she looked, but breaking off mid-sentence. Also, as shown in several side quests, she enjoys being called "Miss" Mizukage by Naruto.

Quotes

 * (To Genji) "Sir… I swear on my name as Mizukage that I will fulfil my duty."
 * (To Chōjūrō) "Have faith in yourself. You're strong."
 * (To Ao while smiling) "Shut up or I'll kill you."
 * (To Ao) "The Fourth Mizukage's nightmare is long over… quit talking about the old days."
 * (When about to kill Sasuke) "It always hurts my heart to melt a good-looking guy… But you're going to have to die."
 * (To Tobi about his Eye of the Moon Plan) "What does that hold for us!? There's no hopes or dreams! It's just an escape!"
 * (To the Hokage Guard Platoon) "Roger that! Marrying is the only thing I intend to do late!"
 * (To Madara) "As much as I like compliments from men… I will have to hold off in your case."