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The was the previous leader of Sunagakure.

Background
Because the Land of Wind's daimyō cut down Sunagakure's budget and instead used Konohagakure's less expensive services, the Fourth Kazekage saw his own village in danger of extinction. In order to prevent that, he decided to focus on increasing the quality of the ninja in the village. As such, he ordered Chiyo to seal Shukaku within his youngest son, Gaara, so that he could become Suna's ultimate weapon. As a result, his wife, Karura died from childbirth while Gaara was born prematurely, despite the Fourth's desperation to save her life. He then taught Gaara ninjutsu, but assigned Yashamaru to be Gaara's caretaker ostracising him from his elder siblings Temari and Kankurō.

However, as Gaara grew and his abilities began to manifest, the Fourth realised that this had been a poor choice, and started to view Gaara as a failed experiment that threatened the inhabitants of Suna, due to Gaara's unstable nature of attacking citizens unintentionally. Being pressured by the village's dying resources and with the council declaring that Gaara was useless to them, the Fourth formulated a plan with Yashamaru to test out Gaara's control over Shukaku. Upon this Yashamaru died and Gaara lost control, allowing Shukaku to go wild. The Fourth used his Gold Dust to stop the beast. After this incident the Fourth saw Gaara was indeed a failure and began issuing orders for Gaara's assassination, but all six attempts ended unsuccessfully. However, later when Gaara began to have more control over his powers due to his new ideals of being alone, the Fourth Kazekage learned to appreciate Gaara's usefulness, and stopped issuing attempts on his son's life, in hopes of him becoming a powerful tool.

The Fourth Kazekage also covered up the death of Pakura when she sent to meet the ninja of Kirigakure and was killed by them, pinning the blame out the ninja of Iwagakure whom his village had a feud with at the time.

Personality
Befitting his status and responsibility as leader, the Fourth Kazekage cared deeply about the well-being of his village, so much so that he was willing to ally with Orochimaru to destroy Konohagakure to bring Sunagakure's resources back up, despite knowing Orochimaru is a highly dangerous criminal. This turned out to be a fatal mistake on the Kazekage's behalf, as he and his bodyguards were betrayed and assassinated by Orochimaru. Upon returning from the dead, he hoped that the Third Raikage was right about the next generation being strong enough to stop them from their mindless actions. He also had a habit of putting "value" on things which might be an allusion to the fact that he used gold dust.

He loved his wife and children dearly but was also torn between his duties as the village leader and those as a father. This conflict was seen when Gaara was deemed a failure by the council, he was visibly disappointed and ultimately decided to give his son one last chance before deciding whether or not to eliminate him. To this end, he was willing to set an elaborate and potentially heartbreaking lie to see his son's determination. Seeing the failure, he chose the village's safety over his son.

Given his eventual willingness to sacrifice and later ally with Orochimaru for the sake of Sunagakure and the greater good are evidence to suggest that the Fourth Kazekage had a strong utilitarian mindset.

Appearance
The Kazekage had auburn hair, dark eyes and was usually depicted with a very stern look on his face. He wore a simple black jacket and pants with mesh armour underneath. He carried a small canister strapped to his hip. As he got older, he gained two creases around his mouth. When using his Gold Dust, dark markings appeared around his eyes that bore strong resemblance to Gaara's own dark markings. During his time as Kazekage, he wore the standard attire of the Kazekage which consisted of a loose fitting blue kimono with a white jacket and the signature hat with the kanji for on it.

Abilities
The fact he was the Kazekage implies that he himself is a very powerful shinobi. He was shown to be quite observant, pinpointing Gaara's Third Eye that was spying on them after Mū sensed his chakra. He also has the same stationary type fighting style as his son.

Nature Transformation
The Fourth Kazekage possessed the kekkei genkai Magnet Release that when in use, caused dark rings to appear around his eyes, similar to the permanent ones around those of his youngest son. He utilised this ability to manipulate quantities of Gold Dust in a manner reminiscent to that of Gaara and his sand, being capable of summoning vast amounts of these particles as necessary seemingly from the immediate vicinity around him, over relativity short spans of time. When used offensively, the Kazekage tended to form dense fast-moving surges that could range in size from narrow streams to colossal waves, intended to injure a target by violently crashing the compacted material into them. However, when used defensively, he instead created thick barricades of the dust that were durable enough to block even Gaara's Sand Hail technique. He was also able to use the Third Eye technique.

Due to the fact that gold is heavier than sand, he was able to use this additional weight to subdue even Shukaku whenever it went on a rampage and later stopped a massive amount of sand during his battle with his son, simply by mixing the two substances together.

Invasion of Konoha Arc
When Orochimaru approached Sunagakure with the proposition of joining forces in invading Konohagakure, the Fourth Kazekage agreed due to the economical decline brought about by the Land of Wind's daimyō using the shinobi of Konoha. Hoping that the success of the invasion would prompt additional funding, the Kazekage planned to have Gaara unleash Shukaku from the centre of Konoha during the Chūnin Exams to put the Konoha shinobi at a disadvantage from the get-go. However, before he could see his plans unfold, the Kazekage was murdered by Orochimaru impaling him in the chest with the Sword of Kusanagi.

Having also killed the Kazekage's guards, ditching the corpses in the desert, Orochimaru uses his Vanishing Facial Copy Technique to pose as the Kazekage until the invasion began, making it easier to manipulate Sunagakure. After the failed invasion, Baki and some other Sunagakure ninja learn the truth of Fourth Kazekage's demise when they found the faceless corpses of him and his bodyguards decomposing out in the desert. Eventually, he was succeeded by his son Gaara.

A insinuated that the Fourth Kazekage's death may have been the result of a secret plot of Danzō Shimura with the Akatsuki, more exactly Orochimaru who at the time was no longer a member of the organisation.

Shinobi World War Arc
In preparation for the Fourth Shinobi World War, the Fourth Kazekage was reincarnated by Kabuto Yakushi alongside other deceased Kage, in order to fight against the Allied Shinobi Forces.

When Mū, despite his camouflage, is later detected approaching the Fourth Division, Kabuto has him summon three other Kage in order to provide support. Amongst this number is the Fourth Kazekage who, during the conversation between the others, discloses that he was only aware of their exploits due to his elders. He then declared that whilst the Second Hokage had died many years before his own lifetime, the wretched ability used to reincarnate them had come into the possession of another, a shinobi named Orochimaru. While the others are preoccupied by their mutual desires to confront each other, only the Fourth notices his son's Third Eye observing them from afar.

Pursuing the retreating division throughout the night, each of the Kage lament the possibility of opposing shinobi from their own respective village, with the Kazekage remaining sceptical of the Third Raikage's belief that the current generation had surpassed their own. Confronted by an enormous wall of sand, he integrates his heavier Gold Dust into the approaching wave in order to slow it down, under the presumption that Gaara had already unleashed Shukaku. Divulging that it was this very method which allowed him to stop the beast in the past, just as his son manages to restrain them with arms of sand, he then dwells on their strength having increased. When Gaara finally comes into view, he is shocked to see his son before him rather than Shukaku, causing him to question about the beast's location, receiving in reply that Gaara was no longer the jinchūriki his father had created.

Unable to comprehend the circumstances surrounding his son's revival after the extraction of the One-Tail, especially in regards to how he obtained friends, the Fourth Kazekage's surprise only escalates when informed that Gaara does not hate him, due to his role as Kazekage now providing perspective into the motives behind his father's previous actions. Recollecting the past, including both his son's birth and eventual descent into failure as a jinchūriki, the Fourth Kazekage supposes that there is some value in his reincarnation as it allows him to determine the worth of his child. Questioning whether Gaara was truly capable of surpassing him, the battle between father and son recommences with the collision of gold and sand, resulting in a mixture of the two. However, by attempting to protect two of the other Kage from an aerial barrage, Gaara's sand is able to restrain all three in an inescapable embrace that adopts the form of his late wife.

Admitting the growth of his son as his counters continue to fail in the face of Gaara's Shield of Sand, the Fourth Kazekage comes to the realisation that all a parent needs do is trust in their children, contradicting his prior concepts of value. Declaring that Gaara's strength comes not from Shukaku but instead from his mother, he tells his son that Karura truly loved him and explains that it was he who had ordered Yashamaru to lie about his mother simply as a test. Apologising to his son for all that he had stolen from him during his childhood, he acknowledges that for all his failures as a parent and having no right to call himself a father, he was still glad that Karura's strength had helped Gaara throughout his life. After hearing Gaara forgive him, before the Fourth is sealed, he tearfully recognises that his son had surpassed him and gladly entrusts the village's future to him.

Later, with the release of the Impure World Reincarnation technique, a light of sorts encased the Fourth Kazekage's sealed body as the technique was dispelled and his soul was returned to the afterlife.

Trivia

 * His hair colour was a dull purple colour in his first appearance, but it is auburn in other appearances.
 * A scene of Orochimaru killing him was shown only in Kimimaro's flashbacks in the anime, it was not seen in the original manga.

Quotes

 * (To Gaara) "You've truly grown Gaara… The only thing a parent needs to do, is trust in their children. That's all… And that in itself has true value."
 * (To Gaara) "It appears that I didn't have an eye for value after all. The sand will always protect you… It's not Shukaku's strength that you wield, but your mother Karura's. Your mother truly loved you."
 * (To Gaara before he is sealed) "More than I ever could have hoped. You've surpassed me… I entrust the village to you now… Gaara…"