Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki

, known to the world at large as the, was a legendary god-like figure who founded Ninshū, which led to the creation of the ninja world. He was the son of Princess Kaguya Ōtsutsuki‎‎ and alongside his fraternal twin brother, Hamura, were the first to be born with the same powerful chakra as their mother. Both he and his brother defeated their mother, who had become the terrifying Ten-Tails, in battle and sealed the powerful beast within him, thus making Hagoromo the first jinchūriki.

Background
Alongside Hamura, Hagoromo, the older twin brother, was born as one of the two children to Kaguya Ōtsutsuki‎‎, a princess who ate the forbidden Chakra Fruit of the God Tree that appeared once a millennium in an effort to gain divine abilities, which she used to put an end to the constant wars during that era. As a result, Hagoromo was born with the ability to manipulate the same type of powerful chakra as his mother. Angered by the fact that her chakra had been spread to others, Kaguya merged with the God Tree into the Ten-Tails, which attempted to reclaim her chakra.

The Ten-Tails rampaged throughout the lands until Hagoromo and his brother managed to defeat the beast, with Hagoromo becoming its jinchūriki, causing him to be revered as a god for the virtue of his victory. Researching his mother's technique, Hagoromo was able to free the world from her Infinite Tsukuyomi. Later, with his knowledge of the concept of chakra, Hagoromo travelled across the land, giving chakra to every one in the world as well as spreading his ideals and religion, ninshū, which eventually became the ability known as ninjutsu. According to Jiraiya, his great deeds and ultimate desire to bring peace to the war-torn world made him widely known as the.

Hagoromo's ultimate wish was to establish peace across the world, but it was a goal that would never be achieved in a single lifetime. Knowing this, he chose to entrust his dream and legacy to his two sons, and began to teach them ninshū. The older son, Indra Ōtsutsuki, was acknowledged by Hagoromo as a true prodigy, who quickly began to revel in his natural prowess and became very solitary. The younger son, Asura Ōtsutsuki, proved to be the exact opposite, having shown no special abilities or natural talent, but he pushed on through his limitations, growing stronger and more mature because of his struggles and making friends with others along the way. Hagoromo acknowledged Asura's chosen path, agreeing that love and cooperation were the true keys to peace.

Inspired by his younger son, Hagoromo separated the Ten-Tails' chakra within his body and used his Creation of All Things Technique to divide it into nine separated bodies, creating the tailed beasts and giving each a name. As a result of extracting them all at once, Hagoromo was left weakened and incapacitated for several months, though the powerful life force of the Ten-Tails' husk kept him alive. Some time after their creation, the young tailed beasts were told that they were all still linked to one another despite being separate entities. Hagoromo also told them that they would eventually become one again, yet not as they originally were, and that one shall appear at that time to show them what true power is. Hagoromo eventually sealed the husk of the Ten-Tails within the moon. On his deathbed, he chose Asura to be his successor, but Indra, overcome by bitterness and envy as well as being encouraged and manipulated by Black Zetsu, fought against his brother, beginning a war between them that would continue through their descendants.

Suspecting that Indra or one of his reincarnations would eventually attempt to take Asura's power for themselves, Hagoromo left behind a tablet detailing his history in an attempt to make them reconsider. Only those who possess the Rinnegan can fully decipher the contents of the tablet, while a reader with other dōjutsu such as the Sharingan can still partially interpret the information. However, unknown to him, Black Zetsu, a manifestation of his mother's will, had altered the contents of his tablet so he could manipulate Indra's descendants, the Uchiha clan, through the ages into resurrecting Kaguya and initiating the Infinite Tsukuyomi anew.

Even though Hagoromo died and his body was destroyed, his chakra and consciousness remained and traversed the world throughout the centuries.

Personality
Hagoromo was a man who sought peace by spreading his wisdom across the world. He was exceptionally wise, as he was able to bring about a great change to the world by simply disseminating the principles of chakra and his religion. He also seemed to care a great deal for the tailed beasts when they were still with him; he gave them each a name as a sign of their individuality, and told them that no matter how far apart they grew, they would always be together, and would someday be led down the right path. In return, the tailed beasts showed respect and adoration for the Sage. Kurama even shed a tear at the thought of his imminent passing, suggesting that the beasts might even have viewed him as a sort of father-figure.

Upon meeting Naruto, Hagoromo showed himself to be a very patient and composed individual, being unaffected by Naruto's outbursts. He was a very intelligent man, able to methodically learn new forms of study including language and culture, to which he could seamlessly change his speech patterns and dialect to be better understood by people from a different era. He was also very stern about his teachings being recognised as "ninshū", noting that "ninjutsu" was created for combat unlike ninshū's pursuit of peace, and gripped his staff rather tightly when Naruto failed to distinguish the difference between the two. At the same time, Hagoromo was a very modest man, openly admitting to his personal mistakes and shames as a father and leader. Despite his deified status, he also believed that no one should have more power than any other because it leaves a strong chance of the person becoming arrogant and desire even greater power.

After trying to undo the rift he unintentionally created between his two sons, and their respective present incarnations, he ultimately laments that he was unable to repair the damage he caused; as such he put his trust in Naruto only. Even though he fought his mother and acknowledges that she became evil, he still respectfully refers to her as "Mother".

Appearance
Hagoromo was a tall and pale-skinned man, who had deep wrinkles in his elderly age. He had spiky, shoulder-length, pale-red hair, with a chin-length braid hanging in front of his left ear. He also sported a goatee, which was short in his younger years and later tapered down to his waist in his old age. Hagoromo had a pair of horn-like protrusions extending from either side of his forehead, Rinnegan eyes and no eyebrows. He also had a red Rinnegan marking in the centre of his forehead. Hagoromo wore a white, full-length kimono with a pattern of six black magatama around a high collar, beneath which he wore a necklace which was also made up of six black magatama. On the back of his kimono was a larger, black Rinnegan marking with a pattern of nine magatama arranged in three rows of three beneath it.

Abilities
Though not a great deal is known about all of his skills, Hagoromo is widely accepted to be the most powerful figure in history, second only to his own mother, having defeated the Ten-Tails with his brother. Hagoromo came to be revered as a god himself after becoming the very first jinchūriki in history, having the Ten-Tails' great power contained within him. In addition, he was the first man to understand the very nature of chakra itself. Hagoromo's wisdom, combined with his kekkei mōra, the Rinnegan, allowed him to create the original form of ninjutsu, Ninshū. He obtained a great following, as men and women from across the world strove to learn from his teachings. The power of his chakra was later shown to even transcend time itself, becoming able to continue observing the world and meet with people long after his death. It was also stated that Hagoromo's power contains Yin–Yang Release. His power is so great that centuries after his death and his genes greatly diluted, his descendants, Kinkaku and Ginkaku were able to obtain jinchūriki-like powers by consuming the meat of Kurama instead of dying as another Kumo-nin did when attempting the same.

Rinnegan
Hagoromo possessed a derived form of his mother's dōjutsu; the Rinnegan. He was believed to have been the only person to have fully mastered the Rinnegan, and also learned to control all five types of chakra natures. As a wielder of the Rinnegan, Nagato openly admitted his power with the Rinnegan was nothing compared to Hagoromo's. The Rinnegan grants him the ability to use all of the abilities of the Six Paths Technique. With the Outer Path, he could summon souls from the Pure Land and also undo another person's use of the Impure World Reincarnation, releasing the souls from their vessels and sending them back to the Pure Land.

Six Paths Senjutsu
Hagoromo could also use Six Paths Senjutsu. With this, he could enhance his abilities with senjutsu and had the ability to fly and levitate.

Truth-Seeking Ball
Hagoromo also had the ability to manifest ten Truth-Seeking Balls,  which are composed of the five basic nature transformations, Yin–Yang Release and the Six Paths Sage Chakra. He typically shaped one of the orbs into a dual-headed shakujō. One end has a ringed hoop, while the other end possesses a crescent shaped curve, representing the sun and moon respectively. With this malleable chakra, he can also form the holy sword known as the Sword of Nunoboko, which he reportedly used to shape the world.

Nature Transformation
With the power of his Rinnegan, Hagoromo became the first person to master all five elemental nature transformations. He also obtained the power of the Yin–Yang release. By using his Yang chakra, the essence of physical energy, along with his with Yin chakra, the essence of spiritual energy, Hagoromo had the ability to create form from nothingness with a mere thought to bring it to life. Hagoromo created the nine tailed beasts from the Ten-Tails' chakra by using this ability.

Fūinjutsu
Using fūinjutsu, he was able to first seal the Ten-Tails into his own body, and was later able to seal it away when his life came to an end. Even on his deathbed, Hagoromo was able to employ his Chibaku Tensei technique on a massive scale and use that chakra to create the moon to imprison the body of the Ten-Tails within it, a clear testament to his incredible power. His mastery of this skill also allowed him to brand others with a portion of his powers.

Ninshū
A man of great wisdom and power, Hagoromo invented Ninshū as a way to bring peace to a war-torn world, sharing chakra with others as a mean to connect with everyone. He intended for this power to connect all humans and bring forth harmony, however, following his death, humans began using the newfound power they wielded to fight against others and would use this to widen the rift between them all instead, turning it into what became ninjutsu.

Bukijutsu
Hagoromo was shown carrying two objects. One was what appeared to be a katana, implying that he was skilled in kenjutsu, whilst the other was a shakujō — a Buddhist ringed staff which is meant to be used in prayer.

Treasured Tools
Hagoromo wielded unique tools which became known as the Treasured Tools of the Sage of Six Paths, each of which possess a unique and powerful ability. The five treasures are: the Bashōsen, Benihisago, Kōkinjō, Shichiseiken, and the Kohaku no Jōhei. By combining the Benihisago, Kōkinjō, and Shichiseiken, Hagoromo could capture the word soul of his victims, and then draw them into the gourd to seal them away. With the Bashōsen, he could generate any of the five basic elements. The Kohaku no Jōhei allowed him to seal anyone without the elaborate procedures used for the Benihisago. All five of the tools requires enormous amounts of chakra to use, which can easily kill an average person by exhaustion, though Hagoromo shows no trouble with this issue.

Birth of the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki
After Yang-Kurama was extracted from Naruto Uzumaki, the legendary sage met within Naruto's mind to speak with him, noting that he felt drawn to Naruto. After the young shinobi grew angry from Hagoromo's philosophical speech, Hagoromo gets to the matter at hand. He begins to explain his family history from his mother to his two sons, to Naruto, which lead him to reveal to the latter, that he is in fact the transmigrant of his younger son Asura. Realising that Naruto had already realised this on some level, Hagoromo also went on to explain that similarly, Indra has repeatedly transmigrated his chakra into others, most recently, as Naruto correctly guessed, Indra's chakra is in possession of Sasuke Uchiha. Hagoromo explained that Indra's previous transmigrant, Madara, sought not only the Sage's power, but that of his mother's, having broken from the normal cycle of life. As the Sage asked Naruto to stop Madara, Naruto thanked him for his trust, to which Hagoromo insisted that he deserved no praise after his failings as a father and leader as well as having let the world continue to follow the belief of power for peace. Naruto disagreed with Hagoromo being a failure, to which Gyūki, Shukaku, and Yin-Kurama agreed as they appeared inside Naruto's mind, having just been transferred inside Naruto's body from Obito. As the tailed beasts voiced their agreement to Naruto being the child of the prophecy, Hagoromo summoned the other tailed beasts. Admitting to his mistake of solely trusting one son and ignoring the other, Hagoromo entrusted Naruto to help reshape the world for the better. He then asked Naruto what his goal was after the war ended. Simultaneously elsewhere, Hagoromo met with Sasuke, telling him the same story and asking him the same question. Accepting the answers of his successor, Hagoromo transferred his power to the two friends, ensuring he did not repeat the mistake of only entrusting the task to just one. Dividing his power evenly between the two young ninja, Hagoromo gives his chakra to Naruto and Sasuke, which ultimately leads to them awakening the Six Paths Sage Mode and the Rinnegan, respectively.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes
Later on, after Hashirama placed his hand on half of Madara's body, Hagoromo emerges from it in front of the reanimated Hokage, recognising Hashirama as Asura's previous transmigrant. Hagoromo then explains the current situation to the Hokage, telling them of a powerful summoning technique that he is unable to perform now as he gave nearly all his power to Sasuke and Naruto. Unable to act himself, he instead gives instructions to the Hokage.

After sensing his mother had finally been sealed by Naruto and Sasuke, the Yin and Yang marks he gave them reappearing on his own hands, he called the spirits of the deceased Kage to aid him in performing a Summoning Technique to bring Team 7, the tailed beasts, and Madara back from Kaguya's Dimension. Afterwards, he thanks Naruto and Sasuke for saving the world. Hagoromo then thanks Kakashi for effectively leading his students against Kaguya, who humbly says they did most of the work. Sasuke, noticing Madara was still alive, goes to finish him, only for Hagoromo to stop him, saying that having the tailed beasts removed from him without the assistance of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path means he will soon die on his own. After everyone says their final words, Hagoromo then sends all the past Kage back to the afterlife.

As plans for the future were expressed, Hagoromo insisted to Yang-Kurama that it return to Naruto's side, to which the fox agreed. Turning his attention to the present, Hagoromo began instructing Naruto and Sasuke on how to dispel Infinite Tsukuyomi. Before any such action even started, Sasuke made his own plans known. Planning to kill the current Kage and take control of the tailed beasts, he then swiftly placed the latter under his genjutsu and sealed them away in his own Chibaku Tensei. Sasuke then explained he wished to reshape the world as it should have been, doing so with revolution. Knowing already of Sasuke's intentions from their last talk, Hagoromo was saddened to see despite his efforts to make things right with his children in a new life, they still ended up fighting each other. Naruto however firmly said he would put an end to this sibling feud. Knowing his time left in this world was nearly up, Hagoromo chose to trust Naruto. Watching as Team Kakashi dissolved once more, he approached Kakashi as he tended to an unconscious Sakura. Citing that the past is there as a reminder, he expresses his confidence that Naruto would be able to transform Sasuke's hate into love. Hagoromo begins to disappear and he tells Kakashi to believe in them, because there was nothing more they could do.

Legacy
It is almost impossible to overestimate Hagoromo's effect on the course of the ninja world's development. As the first true ninja, he created the ninja world, revolutionised it, and left it forever changed. As his disciples grew continuously greater in number, it led to the creation of ninja clans. However, despite his efforts of using ninshū to promote peace through the world, over time following his passing, people began to use chakra as means to get stronger and weaponised this power, deviating away from the true teachings of ninshū and ultimately formed what became ninjutsu.

As time passed, Hagoromo ultimately faded into legend. His bloodline was divided into the descendants of his two children, which would eventually form the Senju clan — and through distant relations, the Uzumaki clan — and the Uchiha clan. As a result of Madara Uchiha acquiring and integrating the DNA of Hashirama Senju into his body, thereby fusing the chakras of Indra and Asura and creating Hagoromo's chakra, the Rinnegan would later resurface. Though he noted nothing happened initially after the DNA integration, when Madara neared the end of his natural lifespan, the dōjutsu finally awakened. With that, Madara managed to undo Hagoromo's seal on the vessel of the Ten-Tails by summoning it from the moon and formulated the Eye of the Moon Plan to become the Ten-Tails' new jinchūriki.

Because Nagato, a pupil of Jiraiya's, possessed the Rinnegan, the latter suspected being was Nagato to have been the reincarnation of the Sage himself. However, in reality, Madara had secretly transplanted his own Rinnegan into the boy without his knowledge. Nagato, as a descendant of the Senju-related Uzumaki clan, was the perfect host for the dōjutsu; however, Nagato himself noted that his own power would have paled in comparison to the Sage's. Others, including Kakashi Hatake, noted that the Rinnegan was viewed merely as a mutation. The tailed beasts' recognition of Hagoromo (and their apparent status as the only survivors from his lifetime), lended credibility to his existence. Before he died, Hagoromo was told of a prophecy from Gamamaru that a blue-eyed mischievous boy will unite the tailed beasts and change the world, which he relayed to the young tailed beasts. The tailed beasts would all later come to agree that this person is Naruto Uzumaki.

Video Games
Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki makes his first video game appearance in the main story of Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 where he plays the role as the game's narrator. At the beginning of the game's story mode, the unseen Hagoromo presents the player with a scroll without a name which records the game's story. Upon completing the main story, Hagoromo decides that all there is left to do is to give the scroll a name and names it The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki.

If the player is KO'd in story mode, Hagoromo will appear and will allow them to continue the battle, giving them the option of increasing either their attack or defence power for the remainder of the battle. However, if the player gets KO'd during the Kabuto vs Itachi battle, Itachi will appear instead of him.

Trivia

 * literally means feather mantle and is a reference to The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, in which Princess Kaguya is given a hagoromo to wear upon her return to the moon. The surname roughly means 'big bamboo tree' and is derived from an obscure passage in the second volume of the Kojiki about the genealogies of Emperor Suinin, eleventh emperor of Japan, which states that he had a consort named, the daughter of a king named ; tradition holds that these individuals served as the basis for Princess Kaguya and the old bamboo cutter in the aforementioned tale.
 * His horn-like appendages may in fact symbolise rabbit ears, representing his connection to the moon by evoking the moon rabbit; pop culture depictions of Princess Kaguya and the moon-folk often incorporate features like rabbit ears for this reason.
 * The necklace that Hagoromo wore might be a reference to the Yasakani Jewel; a legendary magatama necklace that is part of the Japanese Imperial Regalia, together with the Kusanagi Sword and the Yata Mirror.
 * Hagoromo shares the same nickname with both the First and Third Hokage, who were all known as the.
 * In chapter 656, the Rinnegan marking on Hagoromo's back was depicted as a magatama, much like the marking on Obito Uchiha's back as the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki.
 * Prior to his full appearance being revealed in the manga, the anime depicted Hagoromo with a different colour scheme: he had light-coloured skin and greyish hair, and both the magatama around his neck and the pattern on his back were red; additionally, the top part of his shakujō was golden, rather than black. This colour scheme was also used in Naruto: Colour Edition.
 * Due to the Gold and Silver Brothers' ability to assimilate Kurama's chakra by eating some of its flesh, the Fourth Raikage suspected them to be distantly related to Hagoromo. The fourth databook confirms this assumption as a fact.
 * Despite using Truth-Seeking Balls in the manga and anime, he is not listed as a user of the Truth-Seeking Ball in the fourth databook.

Quotes

 * (As quoted by Jiraiya)
 * (To the tailed beasts)
 * (To Naruto) "Not ninjutsu, Ninshū! My Ninshū was created to inspire hope. Do not confuse it with ninjutsu, which was made to create war!"