Gozu

is a shinobi who appears in the second Naruto Shippūden filler arc. He is a subordinate of Guren.

Personality
He's unsociable and quiet, making people unable to figure out what he's thinking, but his battle skills are without a doubt very good. He's the power type and prefers fight alone. He seems to hold a special sentiment towards Guren.

Hunt for the Three-Tails Arc
After the selection battle Kabuto Yakushi and Guren held in the hideout, Gozu becomes Guren's subordinate. When Guren returns, she orders him and the rest of his team to dispose of Team 8.

As the arguably strongest member, he was sent in first to face off against Kakashi and draw him away. There, he quickly showed off his tremendous might that kept Kakashi on his toes. When Kakashi's cunning and skill proved too much for him, he pulled of his trump card to alter his body even further, giving him even greater speed and strength. In the end, he barely survived his fight against Kakashi, having sustained a broken arm and forced to retreat.

Abilities
He seems to be quite strong since while his comrades were fighting in groups in the battle royal, he held his own by himself. His body was altered by Orochimaru, giving him great physical strength and the ability to turn his body into mud. He is also able to expand his body in a manner similar to the Akimichi clan expansion techniques to enhance the strength of his arms of legs for more powerful strikes and accelerated movement. A interesting ability of his is to reduce his bulk in a manner similar to the effects of Akimichi clan's red soldier pill, effectively giving him even greater speed capable of at least equalling Kakashi Hatake and equally impressive strength.

Trivia

 * His name is sometimes confused with Gouzu's of the Demon Brothers (in the English dub, Gouzu's English name is romanized as Gozu, making the confusion with the names understood).


 * The ability to liquify his body into mud and expand his limbs may be based on Suigetsu's ability to transform into water.