Utakata

was a missing-nin from Kirigakure and the jinchūriki of the Six-Tails. In the anime, his capture by Akatsuki is the focus of its own arc.

Background
At some point, Utakata became the jinchūriki of the Six-Tails, Saiken. In the anime, Utakata was a loyal shinobi of Kirigakure during the Bloody Mist Era. Eventually he became the student of Harusame. During a mission for Harusame, Utakata returned with a scroll saying a ninja should carry out and complete his mission swiftly. Frustrated at his student, Harusame angrily said that Utakata's job was to track and locate the scroll; not return it. Harusame would go on to say Utakata's life was precious, mentioning that a ninja should not run away from conflict nor should he involve himself in a battle that was unnecessary. Nonetheless, he was grateful for his student to be safe and alive. Throughout Utakata's time working under Harusame, his master ultimately saw the tailed beast within him as a burden and took it upon himself to learn of a way to extract the Six-Tails.

Some time later, Harusame had attempted to extract Saiken from Utakata, believing the Beast would only cause trouble in his student's life, thinking he would be better off without it. The process didn't go as planned, and instead of removing the tailed beast, Harusame forced Utakata's transformation into Saiken and was killed by it, in an effort to prevent itself from being extracted which unknowingly to him, would of resulted in Utakata dying. With only fragmented memories of the incident and the impression of betrayal, Utakata grew disillusioned and sceptical of the relationship between a master and student. He became a wanderer, constantly fighting off people who were after him, particularly the hunter-nin sent from Kirigakure to retrieve him.

One day, he was attacked again. A girl named Hotaru, who happened to be there, assumed the assailants were after her. Utakata managed to fend off his attackers, but was injured in the process. Believing that Utakata had saved her, Hotaru took him to her family's fort for treatment. After he recovered, Hotaru begged him to train her in his ninjutsu, but Utakata adamantly refused, not wanting to become anyone's master.

Personality
In the manga, Utakata is described as a charming individual. Akatsuki member Deidara indicated that Utakata was possibly one of the jinchūriki that loathed humanity, due to being neglected and hated by his village, none of whom came to rescue him when he had been captured.

While in the anime, where Utakata's character is given a bit more depth, he was usually depicted with a stoic, calm and carefree personality, preferring solitude and was not particularly talkative. Although, if the sensitive subject of student-master relationships is brought up, it typically managed to rouse his annoyance and anger. Hotaru was often on the receiving end of Utakata's ire on this matter as she constantly nagged him to become her.

As a result of his complicated relationship with his late master, he utterly despised the word, having remarked that he wasn't foolish enough to ever take on the title. Originally he very much despised his master, soured by him seemingly betraying his trust and trying to kill him as he had believed, but somewhat swayed by Naruto and Tsurugi's words, he came to realise and accept the truth of what had happened. In one instance, he said, "I told you not to call me master", to Hotaru as he floated away in a bubble. Hotaru's unyielding attachment and reverence to Utakata flustered him. Despite Utakata's genuine protective feelings for Hotaru, they were hard for him to acknowledge and express due to his nomadic nature and scarring past, though he acted on them if ever Hotaru is in danger. When Hotaru showed Utakata the kinjutsu that had been sealed into her, he visibly displayed anger and outrage that someone would do something like that. He also had a strong sense of honour, often determined to repay his debts to others (like his assuming a guardian role to Hotaru since she and Tonbee saved him). Like Naruto, he had resolved not to rely on his tailed beast for power, aware of the destruction it may cause, an indicator of his maturity. Tonbee also commented that Utakata lacked greed.

Interestingly, Utakata seemed to have a better relationship with his tailed beast than most, as he could ask it to fully release its power without it forcefully overtaking Utakata's consciousness. Saiken accomplished only the task wished by Utakata and receded into him without any resistance.

Appearance
Utakata was a tall, thin young man with pale golden eyes and brown hair that reaches to his shoulders. In the manga, his eyes were very narrow, whereas in the anime his eyes were more of a typical size. His side parting let a large portion of his bangs cover the left side of his face. He wore a long, light blue kimono adorned with a small emblem of three bubbles on the back, and a pair of grey pants underneath, with an orange sash. The kimono hung loose, exposing his chest. In it, he carried a bamboo jug filled with a soap solution, and a pipe.

In the anime, during his time in Kirigakure, he wore a full body grey suit along with a variant of the village's flak jacket which had very low shoulder guards as well as a zipper and a pouch on the upper right chest. He also wore the village's forehead protector, fingerless gloves, as well as bandages on his forearms.

Abilities
In the anime, he was shown to be agile and nimble in battle, effortlessly dodging and out-manoeuvring all of Naruto's attacks and the assaults from Nangō, Akaboshi, Benten, and Chūshin. He showed signs of being a sensor-type, or at least was very observant, as he noticed that Akaboshi and his group had a change in their chakra flow. He is also knowledgeable in tracking and herbal remedies. He also was able to track the natural energy that was gathering from Shiranami's Tsuchigumo Style: Forbidden Life Technique Release: Creation of Heaven and Earth technique with his Soap Bubble Ninjutsu.

After his reincarnation and serving as one of Tobi's Six Paths of Pain, Utakata is 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 Utakata 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 and with the other jinchūriki.

Nature Transformation
Utakata fights using Water Release ninjutsu. He primarily relies on style, performed by combining his Water Release with a unique kind of bubble-blowing relic. In the anime, he showed proficient skill and knowledge in its normal application of Water Release with feats like expelling strong streams from his mouth.

With his bubble pipe, Utakata's bubbles have shown an explosive property as seen with his Water Release: Bubbles Technique which themselves can explode on contact with the target or be manipulated to explode all at once by the user. In the anime, this style of ninjutsu is shown to be very versatile. Capable of tactics beyond simply harming opponents, the bubble technique grants Utakata a wide array of offensive and defensive options in combat. With the Explosive Bubble technique — an example of an offensive skill, Utakata emits streams of explosive bubbles that detonate at will. Utakata can also craft dozens of ink-filled bubbles that can immobilise and kill opponents instantly without leaving any trace of them, another offensive variation. Defensively, the bubbles are equally adaptable. Using the Water Release: Bubbles Technique — Drift, Utakata can transport and conceal himself simultaneously. He can also create an enormous bubble barrier to protect himself or his allies from attacks like an explosive tag.

Utakata has also shown to able to create bubbles without the use of his bubble pipe. In one instance, when Shiranami's technique was pursuing a messenger bird, Utakata popped his floating bubble and conjured another beneath his feet while his bubble pipe was occupied with defending the bird.

Jinchūriki Transformations
When Utakata loses his temper, he taps into Saiken's power, enabling him to discharge a burst of Saiken's chakra and enter a form similar to the one initially assumed by Naruto Uzumaki. Although he is not one of the four mentioned to be able to fully control their tailed beast, Utakata is able to use the power of each level of Saiken's chakra up to the full Six-Tails form, like Yugito Nii. Despite promising to never use Saiken's power, he was able to stop and absorb a powerful technique, Fury, without any harm by transforming into it out of desperation.

In the anime, Utakata was shown to be able to quickly access a six-tailed Version 2 form, though he did not appear to have much control over himself while in the state, much like Naruto. Regardless, Utakata's power in this form was able to defeat two of Nagato's Six Paths of Pain, one of his summonings, and even pressure the Deva Path. In this form, he is able to secrete and ooze a corrosive substance to burn enemies on contact, including giant targets such as Pain's snake-tailed chameleon and Gyūki. In a unique fashion, Utakata is able to make his body extremely malleable as well as slither and coil around targets with great speed and efficiency, making it difficult for others to catch him. In the anime, his chakra cloak assumed a distinct blue colour while he used these abilities. He also showed the ability to extend his tails for a long distance attack.

When he was reincarnated and the Six-Tails was resealed into him, Utakata was able to partially transform into Saiken, manifesting one tail. When attacked and immobilised by Killer B's clone, Utakata transformed into his Version 2 form to avoid being sealed away. In Tailed Beast Mode, his corrosive substance was strong enough to burn the skin of the Eight-Tails. While in this form he is also able to emit a corrosive gas from his mouth.

Six-Tails Unleashed
Wishing to repay the debt of having his life saved, Utakata agreed to make sure Hotaru and her grandfather's secret technique would safely be delivered to her clan's village. Along the way, though, he met Naruto Uzumaki and his team, who had also been assigned to protect Hotaru. Seeing that the Leaf ninja were strong, he felt that he could trust them to guard Hotaru without him, freeing him from his debt. He then left, despite Hotaru's pleas for him to stay, as he noted that he was not foolish enough to want the title of "master".

Later on, he was seen resting under a tree, eventually falling asleep and having a dream regarding his past with Hotaru at the fort, which turned into a nightmare about his own master's betrayal. Shortly after awaking from this nightmare, Utakata spotted a flicker of a shadow, and decided to investigate.He came across a group of bandits, none other than Akaboshi's team, who were talking about the kinjutsu. Utakata confronted them and mused about taking the technique for himself, if it was so tantalisingly powerful. He then proceeded to fight them, easily besting them and their technique, until, however, they cornered him with a barrier, which then exploded with Utakata still inside. When Akaboshi and his group managed to find Hotaru and surround her in the forest, Utakata arrived and saved her from the group, who were shocked to see Utakata still alive and unscathed from their technique. Utakata fled with Hotaru in a bubble to some place safe nearby. Utakata was about to leave Hotaru again, but Hotaru, trying to convince him not to leave her alone, partially took off her shirt, showing him something on her back that shocked him.

All of a sudden, the Kirigakure Anbu found Utakata and wrapped him up with their Water Release: Water Whip technique and began subduing him with their Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder. The captain revealed to Hotaru, who he was holding hostage, that Utakata was in their bingo book, and was wanted for killing his master. Naruto and his team arrived and managed to loosen one of the water whips holding Utakata. Both parties began to fight, but the leader of the Kirigakure Anbu appeared, and discussed the situation with Yamato. Due to Hotaru's insistence to be with Utakata, it was agreed that until she was safe, they wouldn't hunt him, but afterwards, they'd resume tracking Utakata down. Tsurugi, the leader, asked Utakata to return to Kirigakure, saying that the village changed, no longer earning the nickname of Village of the Bloody Mist. Utakata refuses, and says that he'll keep doing as he pleases.

After the groups part ways, Hotaru begins hurting from an injury sustained during the earlier altercation. Utakata has Naruto collect medicinal herbs. When Naruto returns, he witnesses what was done to Hotaru's back, where her clan's kinjutsu was put. Utakata voices his absolute disdain for people who selfishly take advantage of people's loyalty, only to treat them as tools.Utakata is shocked to learned that Hotaru actually requested for the technique to be sealed in her. She explained that she wanted her grandfather's dream to restore their clan's glory to come true. When Tonbee voiced his sorrow that by now the clan had probably lost too much strength to ever return to such a status he suggested they end the potential danger of the kinjutsu by destroying it. Utakata was surprised that Hotaru's grandfather had created a way to safely remove it from Hotaru's body. When Tonbee insisted that no true master would do such horrific things without a way to undo them, Utakata wondered if the same was true for his master, when Hotaru at first insisted, he slaps her, and later apologised. Once Hotaru was convinced to have the forbidden technique removed and destroyed, Utakata resolved to find Tsurugi again to learn some answers about his late master.

When unable to find Tsurugi, he finds a messenger bird with a note for him. While it is from Hotaru saying she found Shiranami, Utakata is still uneasy, feeling something is wrong. He goes to the location Hotaru wrote and finds that Shiranami is actually the leader of the bandits. He also find Akahoshi and his group trapped Naruto in their technique. Utakata then uses his demon chakra to scare the bandits and make them run. Afterwards, he and Naruto track Shiranami back to Hotaru's village, where it is discovered that Shiranami took control of it with his technique. Fortunately, Yamato and the others arrive to hold back the villagers while Utakata and Naruto went on to save Hotaru.

When they arrive, Shiranami was using Hotaru to gather raw chakra needed to use Fury, and binds the two jinchūriki with his Character Bind Technique. Both however used their tailed beasts' chakra to break their bonds and went in for the attack, only for Shiranami, who has control of the kinjutsu, to use Fury. Although injured by Fury, he survived and as Naruto took on Shiranami, Utakata moved to save Hotaru, before the kinjutsu was used a second time. After asking Saiken to lend him strength to save Hotaru, Utakata suppressed the explosion by transforming into his full Six-Tails form. With Shiranami defeated and Hotaru safe, Utakata accepts his role as Hotaru's master, but first leaves to gain permission from Anbu to travel and train with his new student.

On his way, he discovered a bloodied Anbu mask and is confronted by all Six Paths of Pain. Pain attacks Utakata, forcing him to go into the Version 2 form. As they began their assault, Utakata manage to defeat two of the the Six Paths of Pain but eventually, Utakata was overwhelmed by the remaining Paths of Pain. Before he is taken away, he sends a myriad of bubbles to Hotaru, who was unaware of his impending fate to, extending his sight through them to see Hotaru one more time. After his capture, Akatsuki extracted Saiken from Utakata, resulting in his death.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Confrontation
In preparation for the Fourth Shinobi World War, Utakata's DNA was recovered and was reincarnated by Kabuto Yakushi to fight against the Allied Shinobi Forces, before being mobilised alongside the other deceased former jinchūriki. As dawn broke on the second day, 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. The jinchūriki also had their respective tailed beasts resealed into them, and each had a chakra receiver implanted in their bodies.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax
Utakata later travelled together with Tobi, in pursuit of Naruto Uzumaki and Killer B. After crashing into Naruto, Tobi sends the reincarnated jinchūriki into battle against the two jinchūriki. After Naruto and B had been repelled by Yagura, Utakata surrounds them with his Water Release: Bubbles Technique.

In the anime, while still conscious of his actions, Utakata mentally communicated with Naruto, explaining to his former ally what happened to him since their last meeting. As Utakata expresses his true feelings regarding Hotaru to Naruto, regretting how things turned out, he thanked Naruto for listening to his true feelings, as his remaining consciousness faded away.

With a snap of his fingers, Utakata engulfed the area in a series of explosions from his bubbles. When his initial assault failed, he, like the others, unleashed 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, Utakata 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, only to be caught by the Eight-Tails when he charged at the beast. Utakata then proceeded to free himself from the crushing grasp using his Leech Gap technique, burning the Eight-Tails' hand in the process. Regrouping with the other reincarnated jinchūriki, after Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy's intervention, Utakata charged towards the pair. Avoiding Kakashi's strike and then repelling both with his tails, Utakata is forcefully transformed into his full Six-Tails form by Tobi.

He then proceeds to expel a large amount of corrosive gas from the beast's mouth, forcing the opposition to momentarily retreat, until Guy dissipates the gas. After Son Gokū is resealed into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Tobi, intent on going all-out from this point onwards, forces the remaining jinchūriki to transform into their respective tailed beasts. 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 adopts his Tailed Beast Mode. In the resulting chaos, Utakata manages to immobilise the Nine-Tails' right arm by swallowing it whole, but is ultimately wrenched free after being swung into the Two-Tails. With this, the rival beasts regroup and prepare a collaborative Tailed Beast Ball, launching it towards their opponents only to have it diverted by an opposing one.

Attempting to remove the opposition's chakra receivers in the ensuing blast, Naruto enters the joint consciousness of the tailed beasts, where he meets Utakata along with the other jinchūriki and their respective beasts. During this encounter, he speaks of how they promised Son to remain here in order to tell Naruto something, just before introducing himself (stating Naruto already knows him in the anime) alongside his beast, Saiken. After Saiken was resealed into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Utakata and the other jinchūriki's corpses were collected by B and held in Gyūki's tentacles. With the release of the Impure World Reincarnation, Utakata and the others were enveloped in a light of sorts before their bodies started to deconstruct and his soul returned to the afterlife.

Trivia

 * refers to bubbles on the surface of a liquid. Idiomatically, it also means "transient", "ephemeral".
 * In the manga, Utakata was possibly one of the jinchūriki that were captured before Gaara.
 * He has two musical themes that are remixes of music used earlier in the series. One is called and the other is called.
 * In the anime, it was shown that Kirigakure's bingo book states that Utakata is worth a bounty of 50,000,000 ryō.
 * In order to prevent the jinchūriki from becoming a traitor to his or her village, it is tradition for the host to be selected from the family of the village's own Kage. Due to this fact, Utakata could be connected with one of the Mizukage: however, regardless of these potential connections, it ultimately did not prevent Utakata from defecting in the anime.
 * In the anime, Naruto and Utakata had met during the events of the Six-Tails Unleashed. In the manga, however, the two did not meet until the Fourth Shinobi World War.
 * In Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, their previous encounter in the anime is taken into account, as when introducing himself, Utakata asks if Naruto remembers him. This only happens in the English version, however, as the Japanese audio makes no mention of a prior meeting.
 * In the Six-Tails Unleashed, it was implied Utakata had been aware Naruto was a fellow Jinchūriki; however, he didn't truly find out until after his death and subsequent reincarnation during the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Quotes

 * (To Hotaru) "My only reason for fighting, is to protect my own life."
 * (To Hotaru) "I am not foolish enough to be someone's master."
 * (To Tsurugi) "I sacrificed myself, for the good of the village. I trusted my master's words, and did everything he told me to, but he betrayed my trust… and tried to kill me!"
 * (To Hotaru) "If you really want what's best for your clan, then there's no need to rely on such a thing. If people have too much power, it will only lead to great sadness."
 * (To Hotaru) "To hell with the forbidden technique. To hell with the clan. To hell with "Master"."
 * (To Naruto) "These are just selfish people who do these kind of atrocious things to their followers, without even the slightest sense of remorse. They just think of us… as tools. Tools… who cannot speak."
 * "My hatred had shut my ears off… But I did hear…"
 * (Last words) "Hota…ru… you… must live…"
 * (To Naruto) "I was like a bubble floating aimlessly in the wind, and Hotaru showed me the way."
 * (To Naruto) "Naruto… I don't know if it's because of these circumstances or not, but… I just ended up telling you my true feelings. Thanks for listening."