Ibiki Morino

is a tokubetsu jōnin of Konohagakure and the commanding officer of the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force. In the anime, he was also later made team leader of Team 40.

Background
In his youth during the Chūnin Exams, Ibiki, and his teammates Hayate Gekkō and Tokara confronted Team Orochimaru in the Forest of Death during the second round of the examination.

Several years later, Ibiki led a squad that was trying to retrieve secret codes held by the Cypher Division of Kirigakure. One of its members, Kisame Hoshigaki, identified him as Konoha's top Anbu interrogator. However, before the team could restrain the Kirigakure ninja, Kisame killed them all stating that the mission (protecting information at all costs) called for such extreme actions, visibly disturbing Ibiki.

In the anime, Ibiki was the proctor for the first portion of his brother Idate's Chūnin Exams. He failed Idate, feeling that he wasn't fit to be a shinobi. Later, after his brother left the village, Ibiki discovered that Idate was helping his sensei, Aoi Rokushō, steal the Sword of the Thunder God. Ibiki and two fellow Anbu members gave chase. However, Aoi quickly brought in Amegakure allies to capture Ibiki and eliminate the two Anbu members with him. Aoi then tortured Ibiki to read the scroll, in the process accidentally setting the building on fire after Ibiki managed to free both himself and his little brother. However, despite Ibiki's efforts, the flames soon separated the two siblings. Believing his brother to be dead, Ibiki was forced to return to the village alone.

Personality
Ibiki is a very strict person, and has even been described as being a sadist by Kakashi Hatake. Compounded with this is his belief that pain is an effective form of communication, which he employed whenever he carries out his duties of torture and interrogation. His mental fortitude is formidable as, in the anime, even after being horribly tortured by Aoi Rokushō, Ibiki never revealed any information to the latter, who years later openly acknowledged Ibiki's fortitude. Nonetheless, he did confess to his subordinates during the Konoha Crush that he was scared of Orochimaru as a child, noting him to be somewhat "inhuman, but in human form". He was also visibly shocked when Kisame massacred his own comrades to protect information.

Nevertheless Ibiki has shown a more relaxed side, which shocked Temari during the Chūnin Exams due to the drastic change in personality as well as the fact he hinted to Kankurō he saw right through the latter's attempt to disguise Karasu as a test proctor, but allowed him to get away with it. He also laughed after finding out that he had passed someone who didn't answer a single question in the exam. Despite his harsh interrogation methods, Ibiki is shown to also be quite reasonable. One example was when Karin agreed to forfeit all information regarding Kabuto, Sasuke, and the Akatsuki in exchange if she was fed a fried pork cutlet bowl, which Ibiki agreed to, even though it would take two days for a delivery and did not press the interrogation any further. In addition, he was not one to be swayed by a sob story and kept a strict no-nonsense demeanour when interrogating someone. He was noted to be fond of Naruto due to the child's energy and ability to inspire confidence, as well as his signature antics and sense of humour. In the anime, despite his strict demeanour, he does show care towards his younger brother Idate, as he told him to run as he fought Aoi off. Upon briefly reuniting with him, Ibiki was pleased by how much Idate had changed and felt gratitude towards Naruto for changing his brother. In the anime, despite his harsh demeanour, he has a remarkable affinity towards animals as they tend to be jovial with him.

Appearance
Ibiki has a large, imposing figure, which he complements with a rugged head and face covered with old wounds and scars. Ibiki's head is always covered by his forehead protector to conceal a collection of burn marks, punctures from where screws were used, and long slash marks. The scars are indicative of the physical torture he has endured in the past, and illustrates his capacity to endure pain without giving up the desired information to the enemy. As a child it was revealed that he had a short crop of silver hair.

He wears a darker version of the standard uniform of the Intelligence Division, along with a black trench coat and gloves.

As a genin, Ibiki wore a simple black outfit with chain-mail armour underneath, over which he wore a beige utility flak jacket of sorts with several pouches strapped to it and calf-length sandals. He wore his forehead protector in the same, bandanna style.

Fifteen years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, Ibiki wears a light coloured trench coat, with a striped shirt underneath.

Intelligence
Ibiki is a master of interrogation both physically and psychologically, and plays an important part in the extracting of information, as he interrogates suspects and prisoners of war. He has the ability to subject people to great suffering without ever using physical torture. He has complete knowledge of human psychology; by attacking a person's mind, he can gain control over their spirit. His interrogation skills are so reputed that, once he discovered that Ibiki was the one going to interrogate them, Kisame Hoshigaki immediately decided to kill all his comrades of the Cypher Division to prevent them from revealing any information. He is also a sharp individual, able to easily tell if someone is lying, quickly seeing through Karin's elaborate story.

Ninjutsu
In the anime, during his fight against Pain's Animal Path, he is shown skilfully using the Summoning Technique, which he used to summon a variety of torture devices, including an Iron Maiden and a Torture Chamber. Ironically, these summons are modelled after engimono statues — lucky charms that are commonly used to bless shrines and businesses with good fortune. Also some of these summoning were a double edge sword, where the summoner will receive the same amount of pain as the opponent. He claims this has something to do with becoming equals through pain (ironically being Pain's philosophy). Ibiki's abilities in the manga remain largely the same, with him being able to use the and. He also carries a great deal of hidden weaponry and tools, such as a piece of flint hidden in his molars, which he can use to ignite flammable substances, as well as a small dagger hidden in the heel of his boot.

Physical Prowess
While normally staying off the battlefield or implying indirect battle tactics, Ibiki is shown to have a great deal of stamina and endurance. To which, he also showed some skill in taijutsu, capable of tripping and then injuring Aoi Rokushō even though he was battered and still tied to a chair and afterwards escaping. He is also shown to have considerable raw strength. A simple squeeze from Ibiki's hand on Boruto Uzumaki's made the genin cringe in pain, which Ibiki claimed was only 1/10 of his real strength.

Chūnin Exams
Ibiki is the first examiner of the Chūnin Exams, testing his students during the written exam with questions too hard for any genin to answer. Before beginning the Exams, Ibiki gave a warning to Team Dosu after their attack on Kabuto Yakushi. During the first part of the exams, Ibiki secretly put two chūnin into the crowd to answer the questions and to make other genin try to cheat off of their exams. Although the point of the test was to test the participants' information-gathering skills, Naruto Uzumaki did not realise this, but acted like he did. Nevertheless, Naruto was able to pass the exam without answering a single question, a fact Ibiki took great interest in.

Konoha Crush
Ibiki later guarded Konoha's borders during the invasion of the village by Sunagakure and Otogakure. He recounted to his colleagues the dark past of Orochimaru, and greeted Jiraiya when he came to their aid.

Land of Tea Escort Mission
In the anime, Ibiki is one of the ninja sent to the Land of Tea to pick up an injured Sasuke Uchiha. While there, he ends up meeting with Idate again for the first time in years. Though he had little interaction with him, he told Idate that he no longer has the eyes of a coward any more.

Twelve Guardian Ninja
In the anime, Tsunade brought in Ibiki to get some answers out of Tatsuji, a shinobi from Amegakure who was meeting with Danzō Shimura, until Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane arrived revealing that Tatsuji is a double agent for Konohagakure and Amegakure.

Akatsuki Suppression Mission
He interrogated Kakuzu's bounty-hunting contact in order to gain information on Akatsuki. He is later briefly seen attending Asuma's funeral.

Pain's Assault
Though Jiraiya died in battle against Akatsuki's leader, Pain, one of the clues he managed to send back to Konoha was a prisoner from Amegakure. When Ibiki's interrogation methods proved ineffective, he called on Inoichi Yamanaka for assistance.

During Pain's assault on Konoha, the Animal Path tracked Shizune to the Intel Division, where Inoichi was probing the prisoner's mind. There, Ibiki and a team of three Anbu made a stand against Pain in order to give Inoichi, Shizune, and Ino a chance to escape to the Cypher Division and finish their investigation.

In the anime, the Anbu did battle against Pain's Giant Multi-Headed Dog while Ibiki restrained the Giant Rhino with his own Iron Maiden summon and captured the Animal Path using his Summoning: Torture Chamber technique. Ibiki attempted to torture and interrogate the Animal Path, but soon realised that it was unable to feel pain, and seemed to be cold like a corpse. The Animal Path broke free from its bindings, stating that Ibiki "would never understand true pain" before performing a Summoning Technique, placing the summoning seal directly on Ibiki's stomach. Ibiki's Torture Chamber disappeared and he fell to his knees in pain; moments later, Pain's Giant Drill-Beaked Bird erupted from his back, severely injuring him. Katsuyu quickly attached herself to him, healing him and saving him. He continues to fight until the Animal Path flees in order to escape the village's destruction.

Power
In the anime, Ibiki and a group of shinobi were sent to a cemetery outside the village to investigate graves which have been defiled.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Countdown
When Karin was taken by Kakashi Hatake to the village, Ibiki and his colleagues interrogate her about everything she knew about Sasuke Uchiha and Kabuto Yakushi. He maintained a straight face and stern personality when Karin was sobbing while telling her story, and was seemingly unperturbed when she demanded food before she would talk further. While his other two colleagues started to make an attempt to fulfil Karin's request, Ibiki remained stone-faced and told Karin to drop the act and start talking.

Sakura Hiden: Thoughts of Love, Riding Upon a Spring Breeze
Ibiki interrogates Kido Tsumiki and Magire after they are defeated by Sakura. He manages to get Kido to confess that he collected hair and blood samples that were left behind by Naruto and Sasuke from their battle in the Valley of the End and used the body of another known descendant of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki in order to cultivate enough for their drug to create the tailed beast cloaks.

Time Slip Arc
In the anime, when Enko Onikuma' secret clan technique injured her team's jōnin leader, Ibiki was assigned to take over as Team 40's leader. However, he immediately decided to disband Team 40, feeling that Dōshu Goetsu and Tsuru Itoi's growing fear of Enko's power would only hinder performance for all. He instead decided to train her personally as an interrogator. Soon after, when Ibiki told Enko how her team-mates would be reassigned to a new team, her loneliness triggered her technique and made her go berserk again. As Ibiki struggled to detain her and even considered cutting off her arms, Dōshu and Tsuru happened upon the event. Knowing that her rampage came from her feelings of loneliness, the two were able to reach her, insisting they won't leave their friend. Their genuine friendship ultimately calmed her down. Ultimately, Ibiki conceded that the three genin together would be best for Enko and officially reinstated Team 40.

Mujina Bandits Arc
In the days following the Ōtsutsuki attack on the Chūnin Exams, Ibiki reports to the Seventh Hokage that Katasuke Tōno had been under mind-control, and that there's evidence that he was leaking information about their technology to his controller. After the report, Naruto has Ibiki and Sai Yamanaka continue their investigation.

Later, Ibiki and Sai are tasked to interrogate newly apprehended leader of the Mujina Bandits, Shojoji. When the latter refuses to speak because of the lack of benefit for him, Ibiki promises he would regret it. However, when Sasuke joins the interrogation process, Shojoji quickly changes his mind, and Ibiki listens to him along with Sasuke and Sai as he talks about the mysterious organisation called Kara.

Kara Actuation Arc
In the anime, Ibiki was approached by Kakashi, who had a favour to ask of him. Kakashi had Ibiki arrange a meeting between Boruto and the imprisoned Shojoji, so Boruto could test the progress he made on his Rasengan training. Ibiki was concerned by the idea, but Kakashi promised to take full responsibility.

As Shojoji reminded them of the terms of their agreement, Kakashi reminded him that the condition also was that Shojoji would have to actually defeat Boruto to have his sentence reduced. As Shojoji's Wind Release: Shield of the Wind Count proved be as powerful against Boruto's attacks as previously, Boruto used his new Compression Rasengan. Ibiki and Kakashi were both impressed by its power, which overcame Shojoji's defence, defeating him.

Ao Arc
In the anime, Ibiki attended the memorial service for the fallen people of the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Trivia

 * The name "Ibiki" literally means, while his family name "Morino" means . In Japanese, his full name can be interpreted as.
 * Ibiki interrogating Zangei was shown as only an omake in the anime.
 * Studio Pierrot's Settei sheets of Ibiki show that he was 161 cm at his Chūnin Exams.
 * According to the databook(s):
 * His favourite food is sautéed enokitake or any dish with meat while his least favourite is maize.
 * He wishes to fight Orochimaru.
 * Ibiki's favourite word is.
 * His hobby is suggestive interrogation.
 * Ibiki has completed 861 official missions in total: 181 D-rank, 297 C-rank, 301 B-rank, 79 A-rank, 3 S-rank.
 * According to character trivia from Boruto: Naruto Next Generations:
 * His attributes are: 100 in strength, 120 in intelligence, 130 in perception, 98 in dexterity, 100 in chakra, and 120 in negotiation.
 * He was also given a skill rating in these particular areas:
 * Torture & Interrogation: ★★★★★
 * Medical Science: ★★★☆☆
 * Psychology: ★★★☆☆
 * In "Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Online", his chakra nature is Earth Release.

Quotes

 * (To the Chūnin Exams candidates) "Because… in times, information is more important than life… and on missions and on the battlefield, people risk their lives to get their hands on it."
 * (To the exam candidates) "Important information in your hands… can be a powerful weapon for your comrades and the village."
 * (To the exam candidates) "The ability to be courageous and survive any hardship… These are the abilities needed to become a chūnin captain. Those who can't put their destinies on the line… who cling to the uncertain future of "there's always next year"… and walk away from their chance… those pieces of trash who can only make such cowardly choices do not deserve to become chūnin!"