Hayate Gekkō

was a Tokubetsu Jōnin-level shinobi of Konohagakure.

Appearance
Hayate had short brown hair and dark eyes. Even though he was a young man, he had pronounced lines under his eyes as well as an unexplained chronic cough that plagued him. He wore the standard Konoha Shinobi outfit complete with a forehead protector that he wore like a bandanna, flak jacket and regular shinobi sandals. He also carried a katana with a rectangular hand guard strapped over his back.

Abilities
Little is known about Hayate's abilities, except for his use of a technique on Baki that failed. This technique is called Dance of the Crescent Moon, which is an advanced technique that creates multiple clones of the user while the real person attacks from the enemy's blind spot from above. Baki comments that the village has many talented ninja, seeing Hayate can use this technique and has mastered it at such a young age. He also possesses great speed, as he demonstrated during the Chūnin Exams when rushing in to stop Neji from fatally injuring Hinata.

Chūnin Exam Arc
At first sight, Hayate appeared to be not in the best of health, as he had an unexplained chronic cough and bags under his eyes. He is however scheduled to be the proctor during the final rounds of the Chūnin Exams, and as such, oversees the preliminary matches that will decide who advances to the final round. After the preliminaries are completed and the participants are given a chance to train and recuperate, Hayate learns of Sunagakure and Otogakure's plans to invade Konoha while eavesdropping on Baki and Kabuto Yakushi.

Before he can escape and tell the Third Hokage what he has learned, he is sensed by both parties and chased down and killed by Baki. Genma Shiranui would later replace Hayate as proctor for the finals.

Trivia

 * The name "Gekkō" means "moonlight" and "Hayate" means "quick as wind" or "hurricane". Both are names of Japanese fighter planes from World War II.
 * Despite his relatively minor role, Hayate placed in the top 10 of the character popularity poll following his death and has continued to rank in the top 20.
 * Although his lover, Yūgao Uzuki, swore to avenge his death, Baki and the rest of Sunagakure have since become allies. This would make revenge difficult.
 * In an omake in the anime, Hayate appears in one of Naruto's "dreams" along with the third Hokage, telling him that it is time to leave. Written on Naruto's ceiling states, "Be sure to visit my grave sometime, and make sure to bring Konohamaru with you!" - signed The Third and Hayate.
 * In another omake in the Shippūden anime, Hayate makes a brief appearance as a ghost, floating behind Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno who are walking through the forest from a festival. The Third Hokage shows up soon after and scares them near to death.
 * In the Naruto OVA #3, he makes an appearance, though he is dead.
 * According to the Naruto databook:
 * Hayate had completed 642 official missions in total: 56 D-rank, 83 C-rank, 407 B-rank, 96 A-rank, 0 S-rank.