Yagura Karatachi

was the jinchūriki of the Three-Tails and the of Kirigakure. Yagura is chiefly remembered for a bloody, despotic reign that contributed to Kirigakure being well known as the "Bloody Mist."

Background
In the anime, as a child, Yagura took part in the village's barbaric ritual where Academy students would be forced to kill each other in order to graduate. Following the Three-Tails' revival after being "killed" in Rin Nohara, the tailed beast was sealed within a young Yagura and he learned to control its powers over the following years. As a jinchūriki, he became known as the third person to achieve full control over a tailed beast. Yagura, being the strongest shinobi in his village at that time, was elected as the Fourth Mizukage. During his reign, he was known to have no tolerance for any form of treachery against the village, reinforcing its nickname as.

Around this time, a masked man who claimed to be "Madara Uchiha" took control of Yagura, effectively gaining control over the village. After Kisame Hoshigaki killed Fuguki Suikazan for leaking intel to other villages, Yagura commended Kisame for killing the traitor, before "Madara" revealed that he was manipulating the Mizukage.

In the anime, when two members of Akatsuki infiltrated the Land of Water, Yagura joined the hunter-nin to apprehend them. While his unit was killed by the duo, Yagura quickly entered his Version 2 mode and defeated Jūzō Biwa. Before he could continue his efforts, Itachi Uchiha was able to immobilise Yagura with Amaterasu, allowing the Uchiha to escape. At some point, Yagura killed Iwabee Yuino's grandfather.

His tyrannical reign lead many in Kiri into believing he was being manipulated, as well as other villagers wanting him to be executed. The genjutsu was able to send Yagura, who had a hand in various crimes such as exploiting money from the weak, to his grave, after Ao’s Byakugan dispelled it. In the anime, Kirigakure was still grieving over Yagura's death shortly before the joint Chūnin Exams.

Personality
Yagura seems to be very formal, outspoken and composed in an almost diplomatic manner as seen when he welcomed Naruto on behalf of all the jinchūriki and tailed beasts. He does, however, have an exuberant and defensive side as seen by his exasperated outburst at Naruto Uzumaki for thinking he was a weak and younger than him, who had died before experiencing the world as well as ignoring what he was saying. Yagura is also proud of his accomplishment as a Mizukage, claiming to be distinguished in his life. Also, Yagura was very talkative and curious, breaking out of his formality, asking Naruto how it was to kiss Sasuke (however, this appeared to be more in the vein of mocking Naruto over curiosity given his annoyed demeanour at the time).

During his reign as Mizukage, Yagura was known to have absolutely no tolerance for traitors. He also held grudges against them, such as Jūzō. He was ruthless in battle, refusing mercy to Itachi and Jūzō for challenging him, and was rather direct in battle, as he turned into Version 2 rather quickly to kill his opponents. Despite his reputation as a ruthless Mizukage, Yagura smiles amicably at Naruto when they first meet, hinting that he might not be as cruel as he was reputed to be; as the duration of his manipulation at Obito's hands is unknown, it is plausible that he never wished to rule Kirigakure that way.

Appearance
Yagura was a young adult, though rather short for his age with a head of short, messy, grey hair which fell over the right side of his face and spiked up on the left, pink, pupiless eyes and what seemed to be a stitch-like scar running from under his left eye, all the way down his cheek.

He wore a grey, sleeveless shirt with the Kirigakure forehead protector attached to the front, short-sleeved mesh armour over which he wore a green poncho. He also wore turquoise sash around his waist, paired with a matching green apron over his pants. He wears a pair of brown boots, and on his back he carried a club with uneven sized hooks which had a green flower on the larger end.

Abilities
Yagura was once the most powerful shinobi in his village, which led to his election as the Fourth Mizukage. He also mastered Isobu's power at a young age, becoming a perfect jinchūriki. In the anime, he was able to simultaneously fight Itachi Uchiha and Jūzō Biwa, two members of Akatsuki, killing the latter and nearly killing the former.

Yagura was always seen carrying a club with uneven sized hooks and a green flower on the larger end, implying skills in bōjutsu. In the anime, he was shown able to fend off Jūzō Biwa's assault with Kubikiribōchō using his club. After his reincarnation and serving as one of Tobi's Six Paths of Pain, Yagura was seen with both the Sharingan and Rinnegan. Combining the perceptual and predictive abilities of the former with the shared field of vision ability of the latter, allowed Yagura to use his attacks in a more precise and coordinated fashion as well as react to enemy attacks more efficiently, both individually and in conjunction with the other jinchūriki. Just like the rest of the Kage, Yagura was capable of using the Summoning Technique, although what being he was capable of calling upon is unknown.

Nature Transformation
Yagura was capable of incorporating his large, hook-ended club into his Water Release ninjutsu, which allowed him to create water mirrors that can reflect attacks by rotating the "mirror" 90°, causing the reflections to emerge and materialise from the mirror and collide with the mirrored targets. As these reflections use the exact same technique as their counterpart — regardless of its type — they repel all attacks successfully. However, upon contact, the reflections disperse into water. In the anime, he also was proficient in Wind Release, able to swiftly dispel a thick fog with a strong gust.

Jinchūriki Transformations
As the Three-Tails' jinchūriki, Yagura was granted a significant amount of chakra and stamina from the beast. He was also one of the few people mentioned by Danzō Shimura to have achieved full control over their respective beast. He displayed a partial transformation into the Three-Tails, being able to manifest one of its tails. Furthermore, when attacked and immobilised by B's clone, Yagura transformed into his Version 2 form to escape being sealed. As such, he could perform the Tailed Beast's ultimate technique, the Tailed Beast Ball. In the anime, Yagura had enough control over this form to prove it was powerful enough to survive Amaterasu, albeit Yagura was left severely injured. In this form Yagura was able to perform Coral Palm, a technique which causes corals to grow on any surface he chooses, when used on opponents, it restricts their movement and eventually immobilises them. When forced to transform into his full Three-Tails form, Yagura was able to move with both tremendous speed and force by simply curling himself up into a ball. Even with a small capacity Tailed Beast Ball, Yagura is able to harness all the power into one spot in which he can fire to cause severe damage.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Confrontation
In preparation for the Fourth Shinobi World War, Yagura was reincarnated by Kabuto Yakushi to fight against the Allied Shinobi Forces, where he was mobilised alongside the other deceased jinchūriki. As dawn broke on the second day of the war, it was revealed that Tobi had turned the reincarnated jinchūriki into his own customised Six Paths of Pain, with each having a Rinnegan and Sharingan in place of their left and right eyes respectively. Each jinchūriki also had their particular tailed beast resealed within them and a chakra receiver embedded into their body.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax
Yagura later travelled together with Tobi, in pursuit of Naruto and Killer B. Encountering their targets, the reincarnated jinchūriki were sent into battle. After the enemy evaded Rōshi's attack, Yagura used his Water Release: Water Mirror Technique to counter their attacks; repelling them momentarily. However, when this initial assault failed, he, like the others, unleashes the power of their respective tailed beast by materialising the first of its tails. Incapacitated in the wake of the Eight-Tails' devastating attack, after B's recent transformation, Yagura was then restrained by the latter's sealing technique. However, before the technique's completion, he managed to escape by adopting his Version 2 form, where he then proceeds to strike Naruto from behind and covering him in coral.

Regrouping with the other reincarnated jinchūriki, after Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy's intervention, Yagura charged past the pair towards Naruto. Rallying once again, he along with the other jinchūriki prepare to confront the two Konohagakure jōnin, after Han's previous attack was thwarted by Kakashi. After Son Gokū was resealed into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Yagura was forced to enter his full Three-Tails form, as Tobi prepared to go all-out. Unleashing a Tailed Beast Ball along with the others, the jinchūriki instead resorted to a direct assault when these attacks are deflected by Naruto, only to then be repelled as the latter adopted his Tailed Beast Mode. In the resulting chaos, Yagura evaded the plummeting Seven-Tails by rolling into a ball, before attempting to run over the Nine-Tails. However, he was stopped by the Eight-Tails' grasp, but once freed, the rival beasts regrouped and prepare a collaborative Tailed Beast Ball, launching it towards their opponents only to have it diverted by an opposing one.

As Naruto attempted to remove the opposition's chakra receivers in the ensuing blast, Naruto entered the joint consciousness of the tailed beasts, where Yagura greeted and thanked him for his efforts on behalf of the others. Shocked by Naruto's tearful reaction to his belief that Yagura was a child younger than he was and as such had not experienced the world before dying, he desperately tried to correct Naruto and regain his attention. Once achieved, he introduced himself alongside his tailed beast, Isobu. After Isobu was resealed into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Yagura and the other jinchūriki's corpses were collected by B and held in the Gyūki's tentacles. With the release of the Impure World Reincarnation, Yagura and the others were enveloped in a light of sorts before their bodies start to deconstruct and his soul returned to the afterlife, but not before waving Naruto and B goodbye.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes
Subsequent to Kaguya Ōtsutsuki being sealed by Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, he and the other deceased Kage were summoned from the Pure Land by Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki to aid him and the Hokage in summoning Team 7, the tailed beasts and Madara Uchiha from Kaguya's dimension. Later, his and the other Kage's souls were returned to the Pure Land.

Legacy
Yagura Karatachi's legacy in the shinobi world is a very dark one, being viewed as a monster even years after his death. Even as Kirigakure continued to modernise and have a more peaceful relationship with the rest of the world, the citizen's hatred for him lived on. It was so great that, in the anime, they even mistreated Yagura's descendants.

Trivia

 * The word means "tower", specifically the Japanese watchtowers or festival towers, otherwise it can mean "turret". It could also refer to the tombs in the middle ages. The surname "Karatachi" refers to the trifoliate orange, also known as the Japanese bitter-orange
 * In order to prevent the jinchūriki from turning traitor, it is tradition for the host to be selected from the family of the village's own Kage. Due to this, Yagura may have been connected to one of the previous Mizukage.

Quotes

 * (To Kisame) "I can trust you because of who you are, Kisame. For the sake of our nation and village, you've done our dirty work. And additionally, you've followed through on traitorous assignments. You're well aware this world is full of lies, and deceit."
 * (To Naruto) "Welcome! I thank you on behalf of all of us jinchūriki and tailed beasts! I've wanted to meet you, Naruto Uzumaki!"
 * (To Naruto) "I'm the former Mizukage! And I was really distinguished! I'm an adult too!"
 * (To Naruto) "The Four-Tails was right. You don't listen very well at all."