Suigetsu Hōzuki

, reputed as the, is a shinobi from Kirigakure's Hōzuki clan. He was held in one of Orochimaru's labs where he was experimented on for some time. After being freed by Sasuke Uchiha, he became the first member to join his group Taka (formerly Hebi).

Background
Suigetsu was born in Kirigakure and was reputed alongside his brother, Mangetsu, to be the incarnation of the demon Zabuza Momochi. He and Mangetsu aspired to inherit the title of Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. This acted as their motivation to finish cruel missions day by day. While Mangetsu eventually became one of the seven, Suigetsu's motivation was shattered with the premature death of his brother, and Suigetsu changed his ambition to "collecting all of the swords", in order to retrieve all seven original blades that has been passed down by the swordsmen, so that he could rebuild the group and become its leader. With the humiliation of being captured and experimented on by Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi, his ambition was put on hold. Through these experiments, Kabuto at least, was able to replicate Suigetsu's unique secret ability to liquefy himself at will. At some point in the past, he had to fight with Jūgo.

Personality
Suigetsu appears to be indifferent, caring only for a few things around him. He spends a considerable amount of time mocking and/or being beaten up by Karin. Despite showing initial dislike towards his team-mates, Suigetsu has grown fond of them, and was willing to risk his own life to protect them against the Eight-Tails.

Kisame Hoshigaki claims that Suigetsu is a prodigy in the art of murder, as he has a habit of chopping off his victim's limbs before beheading them. Suigetsu, despite addressing him with the honorific term "senpai", wants to defeat him and take his sword, noting to Sasuke that he will one day serve him as "shark fin soup" (a reference to Kisame's shark-like appearance) after Sasuke suggested that he was not yet strong enough to defeat Kisame, showing it to be a sign of sarcasm rather than respect for Kisame.

As a prodigy at the art of murder, Suigetsu has a certain love for killing, but he refrains from doing so at Sasuke's request. However, there are several occasions where he has killed people when he believed Sasuke wouldn't notice. Suigetsu has been shown to have thoughts such as "just this once" and "he'll forgive me". However, he was noticeably upset that Sasuke killed several samurai during the attack on the Kage Summit, pointing out how many times Sasuke had told him not to kill anyone. He was described to have a belligerent personality — witnessed through his hostile and aggressive attitude most times.

Suigetsu has a passion for collecting exotic swords: he made it his goal to collect all the swords from the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. He took Zabuza Momochi's Kubikiribōchō and joined Hebi only to take Kisame Hoshigaki's Samehada. He even went into great detail to explain about the seven swords to Jūgo, with a passionate tone to his storytelling. However, his passion doesn't seem to be entirely limited to the seven blades, as he also expressed interest in Darui's sword. His ultimate goal however, is to collect the seven blades, so he can reform the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and become their leader. Along with this passion for collecting swords, Suigetsu is very mischievous and as such, takes great joy in foiling Karin's plans to be alone with Sasuke and has stated that it is his second favourite thing to do. By his own admission, Suigetsu has an impulse to cut things up, be it a people or relationships, as he does with Sasuke and Karin.

Suigetsu apparently likes animals somewhat seen from his attempt to play with the talking ninja cats from the abandoned Uchiha warehouse at one point. He also lectured Sasuke on treating animals better after Sasuke used Manda to shield himself from Deidara's suicide technique, which resulted in Manda's death.

Appearance
Suigetsu is a lean-built young man of average height, straight white hair with a light-blue tint to it, purple eyes and like all members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist pointed teeth — one of which sticks out even with his mouth closed. He wears a purple, sleeveless shirt with grey pants, sandals and a belt around his waist with water bottles attached to it. He also wears another belt strapped to his chest which he uses to carry the Kubikiribōchō. Due to his special body, Suigetsu is able to alter his body size at will, usually to aid in his techniques and when rendered unconscious, he is reduced to a jelly-like state. Whenever he is seen recovering from these unconscious states he is placed in a large tank of water and resembles a fish-like being.

Abilities
Suigetsu is a capable fighter, or at least very confident in his abilities, since he has threatened Sasuke on more than one occasion and was capable of stopping Jūgo's rampage with little difficulty. Kisame has noted him to be a child prodigy in the art of murder, and that he is practically the reincarnation of Zabuza.

Hōzuki Clan Techniques and Nature Transformation
As a member of the Hōzuki clan, Suigetsu is well versed in the clan's secret techniques. Suigetsu is able to transform his body into a liquid form, and to return to his solid bodily form at will. This ability also allows him to change his body shape, giving him the ability to increase the size of his limbs, thus proportionally increasing his strength if necessary. It also makes striking him somewhat difficult; since he is made of liquid, any regular strike will go right through his watery form. When struck, part of the water he turns into can also split from his body, and be used to attack others, for example, making a water blob around one's head to drown them. As his body is water, he is also capable of merging with already existing water to increase his attack range, as seen when he fought against Killer B, and to use Water Release techniques. When he passes out he enters a jelly-like state, as seen in the battle against Killer B.

Suigetsu is seen carrying water bottles with him, as he frequently needs to consume water in order to stay hydrated. Due to his water-like body, he exhibits weakness against lightning-based techniques, as exhibited in his defence of Sasuke against Killer B's chakra-charged strike against Sasuke.

Kenjutsu
From his training days with the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Suigetsu is quite adept at wielding Zabuza Momochi's Kubikiribōchō. However, he lacks the high degree of physical strength Zabuza had, as carrying the sword around for long distances seems to tire him out, and makes it necessary for him to drink more water. However, he partially makes up for this with his Hydrification Technique, which allows him to expand the muscles in his arms to help him wield such a heavy weapon with more ease. In addition to his own abilities, Suigetsu also has a good perception for swordsmanship skills, as he saw Killer B was a skilled swordsman almost instantly after the fight began. Suigetsu also seems very fast witnessed when he got away from A's assault against Jūgo and almost got C from behind unexpectedly until Darui stopped Suigetsu from landing his assault and he was fast enough to intercept Killer B's attack on Sasuke. He is also skilled as he was able to clash toe-to-toe with an powerful opponent like Darui even with the Kubikiribōchō broken in half.

In an anime-only fight, Suigetsu was also shown fighting hundreds of foes unarmed, showing that he can fight well even without the sword.

Itachi Pursuit Arc
Immediately after Sasuke defeated Orochimaru, he went into one of Orochimaru's many experimentation labs and freed Suigetsu, who was sealed inside a holding tube. After threatening Sasuke, holding his hand in a style reminiscent of the one used to perform his clan's Water Gun Technique, he pointed out that he owed nothing to Sasuke for dealing with Orochimaru as there were many who wanted to do it and it was just a case where Sasuke was able to, because he was always in close proximity to Orochimaru. Suigetsu nevertheless agreed to join him in the hopes of meeting Kisame Hoshigaki and taking Samehada for himself. Once they left, Suigetsu had Sasuke take him to the Land of Waves to retrieve Zabuza's Kubikiribōchō from his grave. In the anime, the story of Suigetsu obtaining Zabuza's sword was expanded and lengthened out slightly for this episode in order to facilitate an earlier display of his abilities. The sword in question was taken from Zabuza's grave by a politician and crime boss named Tenzen Daikoku, who wanted to take the sword as a trophy, and for "revenge" after losing many men during Zabuza's attempted coup years before.

They then went to the base where Karin resided, where Suigetsu was instructed to free all the prisoners. Before releasing them, however, Suigetsu told them to spread the word that Sasuke killed Orochimaru, and would bring peace to the world. As Sasuke hadn't ordered him to say these things, his motives appear to be unclear.

Once Karin was persuaded to join, they headed to meet with Jūgo. They had to fight their way through an army of people branded with the Cursed Seals to reach him, and, under Sasuke's orders, were told not to kill any of them whilst subduing them. When they found Jūgo, who promptly attacked them, Suigetsu attempted to kill him. However, Sasuke intervened, and threatened to kill both of them if they didn't stop fighting. Jūgo eventually calmed down, and, with some persuasion on Sasuke's part, was recruited. Afterwards, Sasuke told them their mission and their new team's name; they would be known as "Hebi", and their mission was to find Itachi Uchiha.

Soon afterwards the team split up, searching for information about Itachi's whereabouts. This led Suigetsu to a bank where Akatsuki member Kakuzu's banker Ginji was. Recognising him as such, Suigetsu threatened him to talk. Seeing Deidara's large suicide bomb's explosion, Suigetsu was drawn to the site of Sasuke's battle with Deidara, where he had used a special seal to summon Manda and had used the snake to escape the explosion. It had, however, been a little too late, and Manda died, making Suigetsu tell Sasuke that he should treat animals a little better.

After they had rested and continued on their way, Sasuke found Itachi in an Akatsuki hideout. The clone of Itachi then guided Sasuke to an Uchiha hideout. On their way there, the group encountered Kisame Hoshigaki, who told them Sasuke must go alone. Leaving Hebi behind, Suigetsu challenged Kisame to a battle, who gladly accepted, while Sasuke finally made Itachi's death a reality. It was later revealed that Zetsu interfered in the fight, leaving both Suigetsu and Kisame alive.

Invasion of Pain Arc
Hebi, now renamed "Taka", began working with Akatsuki. They went to Kumogakure and confronted Killer B, the jinchūriki of the Eight-Tails. Suigetsu attacked him first, but was quickly disarmed. Both Jūgo and Sasuke's individual attempts at subduing Killer B failed as well, and Sasuke would have suffered fatal injuries had Suigetsu not intervened to spare him a finishing blow from the jinchūriki. However, Killer B's electric attack overwhelmed Suigetsu, cleaving a substantial tear in his sword, and it would have severed in half had Sasuke not nullified the attack in time.

After Karin healed Sasuke, Suigetsu, together with Jūgo and Sasuke, engaged Killer B once more to no avail. At one point, Suigetsu succeeded in immobilising Killer B providing an opportunity for Sasuke to use a lightning attack. Unfortunately, to keep Killer B held, Suigetsu voluntarily received Sasuke's lightning technique as well, sustaining considerable damage.

After severely wounding Sasuke, Killer B invokes his tailed beast form in order to deal with the rest of the group. Suigetsu, thrown into the water earlier, emerged, using the body of water, to save his team-mates from what would been a devastating blow. Keeping the Eight-Tails at bay momentarily, Suigetsu valiantly told his weakened team members to escape, though somewhat amused that he was risking his life for them. When Killer B tried to use a Tailed Beast Ball on the team, Suigetsu used himself as a shield, keeping his team-mates safe.

Although Suigetsu was left unconscious, he managed to gain the time Jūgo needed to revive Sasuke. By unleashing Amaterasu on the Eight-Tails, Sasuke was able to turn the tide, at last successfully capturing the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki. After the battle was over, Jūgo carried Suigetsu away. While Taka recuperated, Suigetsu recovered in a tank of water. He yelled at Karin for leaving his sword behind, but was later seen to have recovered it.

Five Kage Summit Arc
Once healed, Taka set out for Konoha. Along the way they were intercepted by Tobi, who informed them of Konoha's destruction and their failure to capture the Eight-Tails. He convinced Sasuke to go to the Kage summit to kill Danzō, so Zetsu led them to the Land of Iron. Upon their arrival Suigetsu scouted the area, in order to find a way to the summit, but he found that there were too many samurai patrolling the area. Jūgo found them an alternate route, where they were attacked by the samurai, having been exposed by Zetsu. As Sasuke killed their attackers, Suigetsu pointed out that he (Sasuke) was doing the very thing he forbid him to do. The Fourth Raikage soon arrived to fight Sasuke and Suigetsu tried to help, but the Raikage breaks his Kubikiribōchō in half. He used what remained of his blade to fight Darui, and was able to hold his own, until Darui infused his own blade with electricity, allowing him to overpower Suigetsu and pin him to a wall. When Sasuke destroyed the room they were in, Suigetsu was freed. He retrieved his sword and regrouped with Jūgo. They contemplated following Sasuke and the Raikage, but decided that it would be too dangerous. Instead, they dressed up as samurai to gather information while avoiding drawing attention to themselves, at Suigetsu's suggestion. They were quickly detected, and Jūgo stated that it wasn't the best plan.

Shinobi World War Arc
As the war was being waged, Suigetsu and Jūgo escape their cell in the Land of Iron, having taken care of the guards, and stating that security had got looser. Suigetsu said he wanted to go looking for his Kubikiribōchō, to which Jūgo agrees to help. He then states that Jūgo is nicer than Karin, and then they decide to look for her as well. During their search for the sword, Jūgo asks why Suigetsu, being a person who gets bored easily, is so particularly obsessed with those swords. Suigetsu then reveals his dream of reforming the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and becoming their leader.

Suigetsu and Jūgo escape from the samurai compound. They walk through a forest and discuss their plans. Suigetsu tells Jūgo that even if they reunited with Sasuke and Karin, it wouldn't be a grand reunion of sorts as Karin wanted Sasuke to herself in order to seduce him. As they continue onwards, Suigetsu tells Jūgo that they'd continue to get in Karin's way which was his second favourite thing to do after collecting swords. They proceed to head towards one of Orochimaru's hideouts. On the way there, they learn about the war. After arriving, Jūgo and Suigetsu have a brief conversation before Jūgo loses control and attacks Suigetsu, who is unharmed. Breaking into a wall, Orochimaru's secret room is discovered and within it, Suigetsu finds a scroll — the contents of which shock him somewhat. He takes the scroll stating that it could be beneficial to Sasuke and to possibly gain control of the war.

Trivia

 * is a poetic term for the moon reflecting on the surface of the water. As an extension of this, the word can also refer to something illusory, without true substance; perhaps referring to Suigetsu's ability to turn his body into water.
 * The full phrase of which Suigetsu's name comes is, meaning the moon reflected in water and a flower in a mirror are things that can be seen but not held; this is a Chinese proverb for seeing and desiring something that is a dream that cannot be easily grasped in hand, teaching people about temptations.
 * is the Japanese word for the Chinese Lantern, a plant bearing fruit which resemble Chinese paper lanterns; like all members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, his surname is derived from a type of produce.
 * According to the third databook:
 * Suigetsu wishes to fight Kisame and the other Seven Ninja Swordsmen members.
 * Suigetsu's favourite foods are jello or yogurt (preferably anything drinkable), while his least favourite is dried cuttlefish.
 * Suigetsu's favourite phrase is.
 * Suigetsu's hobby is looking after his beloved sword.
 * Suigetsu has completed 92 official missions in total: 2 D-rank, 33 C-rank, 40 B-rank, 13 A-rank, 4 S-rank.
 * In the omake of Naruto: Shippūden episode 161, he asked Karin the reason why she is in the male's room. He then looks for his toothbrush which was mistakenly taken by Karin thinking its Sasuke's.
 * Suigetsu is the only member of Taka whose eyes and hair are not of the same colour. However, the colour of Suigetsu's eyes is similar to the top that he usually wears.
 * While not officially a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, he can be used in the Ninja Storm games alongside actual members to form the Mist Ninja Swordsman team.

Quotes

 * (To Sasuke) "Free at last… Thanks, Sasuke."
 * (To Sasuke) "You're quite a ladies' man, aren't you, Sasuke?"
 * (To his team) "…Guys, can't we rest a little bit?"
 * (To himself) "I can't believe I'd be protecting their hides this often!"
 * (To Jūgo about Sasuke and Karin)