Kisame Hoshigaki

is a missing-nin from Kirigakure and was partnered with Itachi Uchiha within the Akatsuki.

Background
Kisame is a former member of Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, an ever-changing group of ninja that wield particularly large weapons in battle. While in Kiri, Kisame was given the title of "Monster of the Hidden Mist". He is also known to have formed a connection to Suigetsu Hozuki and his brother. His former country, the Land of Water, now seeks him out for plotting to overthrow its government and being involved in numerous assassinations. Kisame later joins the Akatsuki and was partnered with Itachi Uchiha.

Appearance
Kisame has a distinctive shark-like appearance, complete with pale blue skin, small white eyes, gill-like facial structures, and sharp triangular teeth. Even his name,, means "Demon Shark". Kisame also wears a dark purple nail color, like Itachi.

Personality
Kisame is rather battle-loving, enjoying to fight with others. However, Kisame is usually forced to leave a fight, being paired with Itachi (who only fights when necessary). When this happens, he has been known to inform his opponent(s) that they "don't know how lucky they are." Like other characters who have trained to be one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Kisame enjoys mutilating his opponents; as seen when he suggests cutting off Naruto Uzumaki's legs to make him easier to carry.

Kisame is also one of the few members of Akatsuki that got along well with his partner. Kisame has a loyalty to Itachi, willing to take any commands his senior gives without question and constantly looks out for his well-being. Although Kisame does have his pride, he acknowledges Itachi as the stronger of the duo. Madara has noted that out of all of Akatsuki, Kisame was the closest to Itachi, implying that they were indeed good friends.

Return of Itachi arc
Kisame is first introduced alongside Itachi during a mission to kidnap Naruto Uzumaki. After he and Itachi gain attention due to their unusual clothing, Kisame and Itachi face off against Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi, two Konoha Jonin. However, Asuma and Kurenai stand little chance and are almost immediately defeated. The arrival of Kakashi Hatake, however, prevents their deaths. While Itachi fights Kakashi, Kisame waits patiently for Itachi's victory. Before Itachi delivers the final blow, Kakashi remembers Jiraiya's warning and recognizes the duo as members of the Akatsuki from their black cloaks, which prompts Itachi to change his mind and orders for the latter's capture. After Itachi orders for Kakashi's capture and Asuma's and Kurenai's deaths, Might Guy arrives and kicks an attacking Kisame in the face (to which Kisame resents to this day). Following Guy's arrival, Itachi orders Kisame for their retreat, not wanting to start a large-scale battle.

Itachi and Kisame then continue hunting Naruto, finding him under the protection of Jiraiya. After Itachi hypnotizes an attractive woman to seduce Jiraiya and leave Naruto alone, Kisame and Itachi confront Naruto in a hotel hallway. Kisame considers removing Naruto's legs so he can not run away, though Sasuke, Itachi's younger brother, shows up in time that distracts the two from Naruto. When Naruto attempts to fight, Kisame uses Samehada to absorb all of Naruto's chakra. Kisame then attempts cutting off Naruto's arms so he won't be capable of leaving. Before he can do this however, Jiraiya arrives and defends Naruto. Kisame then reveals to know who Jiraiya is, and chuckles after witnessing the two share a small argument. Following the encounter, Kisame and Itachi are driven off by Jiraiya, failing to capture Naruto.

Sasuke Retrieval arc
While not making a physical appearance, Kisame does appear as a hologram during an Akatsuki meeting. In the anime, he asks about how long it's been since they were all together.

Rescue Gaara arc
Kisame gets a Part II introduction in the form of a clone to distract Team Guy from aiding Team Kakashi in rescuing Gaara. Kisame later reveals his choice to fight Team Guy as revenge getting kicked in the face (but grows disappointed when Guy doesn't remember him). While Guy is barely able to withstand Kisame's attacks, the rest of Team Guy are incapable of trading blows and are eventually locked within Kisame's Water Prison Technique. However, Neji frees himself and the rest of his team using his Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. Upon being forced into a corner, Guy opens his sixth gate and defeats Kisame's clone with the Morning Peacock technique.



Hunt for Uchiha arc
Kisame successfully manages to capture the Four-Tailed Beast (without a scratch), his assigned Tailed-Beast, around the same time Team Snake formed. During the following Akatsuki meeting to seal the Four-Tails, Kisame and Itachi are informed of Team Snake's formation with Sasuke as its leader. Kisame is later told by Itachi to stand guard outside the former Uchiha clan headquarters and to let only Sasuke through. After Sasuke leaves the rest of Team Snake, Suigetsu (who is a former candidate for The Seven Swordsman of the Mist) starts a fight with Kisame, wanting to claim Samehada as his own (although it is unknown if Suigetsu can even hold it, since spikes will appear when held by anybody but Kisame). It is presumed that their fight was interrupted by Zetsu (based off of Kisame's conversation with Tobi later on), but Suigetsu and Kisame are revealed to both be alive following Sasuke's fight with Itachi and it seems he will be aiding both Akatsuki and Hawk. Kisame later encounters Tobi, who reveals his identity as Madara Uchiha (who was a former Mizukage whom Kisame worked under). Kisame comments that he feels a lot better knowing it's him who's pulling the strings.

Sasuke & The Eight-Tailed Beast arc
Kisame is seen with Madara and Zetsu, all of whom appear as holograms, sealing the Eight-Tails (which Sasuke successfully captured) in another hidden Akatsuki hideout. In a surprised twist of events, the host popped, reverting back into a tentacle of the Eight-Tailed beast. Madara is shown to remain silent, as Kisame comments that Sasuke has been fooled in the latter's attempt to capture the jinchūriki.

Overview
Kisame is said to be the strongest of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. At one point Guy battled a clone of Kisame's with 30% chakra-supply, and Guy was forced to open his Sixth chakra gate in order to survive. Kisame himself proved powerful enough to successfully capture the Four-Tailed Beast's Jinchūriki, despite noting his target's exceptional powers. Though a difficult task by his own admission, Kisame merely complains that he is "a bit tired".

Samehada
Kisame's weapon is called Samehada, a sentient, scale-covered sword that shaves skin instead of cutting it. Samehada is also capable of absorbing chakra, but requires Kisame's own chakra to perform such feat. Only Kisame is allowed to wield Samehada; if anyone besides him tries to pick it up, spikes protrude from its handle and it returns to Kisame's side.

Physical Prowess and Chakra
Guy notes that Kisame has superhuman strength in their battle. Kisame has also been known to display astonishing speed and incredible physical strength capable of matching (if not surpassing) Guy in taijutsu skills capable of staying toe-to-toe with him. The main reason of Kisame performing such a feat is because he has the largest chakra reserve in all of Akatsuki (according to Pain), implying that he has a particularly large amount of chakra flowing through his body (Karin states she has never seen so much chakra in one place), though it is unknown how much he can use. Even when he fights at 30% power in one instance his chakra supply is compared to that of a Nine-Tailed Demon Fox-enhanced Naruto Uzumaki during the Chunin Exams. The reason for this might be because of his Samehada, capable of absorbing chakra.

Water Release
Kisame's shark like attributes tend to carry over into his battles, for he even shapes his water release attacks into sharks. He is also able to alter the entire battlefield by using his Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave to create a lake's worth of water to give him the field advantage and to use for attacks.

Quotes

 * "My massive blade, Samehada... does not slice. It shreds!"
 * "My sharkskin doesn't slice... It cuts you to ribbons!"
 * "I heard that that kid Zabuza fought you."
 * "I'll enjoy shaving you to death."
 * "Itachi, it would be annoying if he moved around... Perhaps we should cut off a leg or two."
 * "It seems this beast has the brain of one as well."
 * "I take back what I said earlier. You have the brain of an insect, not a beast."
 * "My five sharks will rip you to shreds!"
 * (To Kakashi in the English anime) "I heard you and that punk Zabuza had it out awhile back..."
 * (To Jiraiya in the anime) "You're being outwitted by a little boy, I must say Master Jiraiya, but that is really disappointing, especially when you're one of the three Sannin."
 * (To Guy in the English anime) "Might Guy, huh? Mighty stupid-looking guy is more like it!"

Trivia

 * According to Pain, Kisame's reason for fighting is "Spite".
 * It is shown in omake chapters that Kisame is insecure of his blue skin. This is portrayed when Deidara comments on how handsome his partner is, and how that must make him popular with the ladies. When he asks Kisame if he's popular with the ladies, he implies he is not and sulks and blames it on his shark-like appearance and skin.
 * Kisame (Excluding Akatsuki members that have already died), is the last Akatsuki member to know Tobi's identity as Madara Uchiha.
 * Suigetsu stated that he wishes to collect the swords of all of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, which may mean conflict between Kisame and Suigetsu in the future.