Third Kazekage


 * Please note that this is the Narutopedia's article on the former leader of Sunagakure, if you are looking for the article on the Naruto: Shippūden episode then you should head to The Third Kazekage; if you are looking for the article on the Human Puppet created by Sasori then you should head to Third Kazekage.

The was once the leader of Sunagakure and is hailed as the village's strongest Kazekage.

Background
After studying the host of Shukaku of the time, he recreated its sand-manipulating powers by combining his own magnetic chakra and iron powder, which produced the Iron Sand technique. It was for this very ability that he was noted as the strongest Kazekage in the entire history of Sunagakure.

Sasori kidnapped and killed the Third Kazekage in order to turn him into a Human Puppet. The effort involved in the Third's capture made it his favourite puppet. Sunagakure did not know this and searched earnestly for his whereabouts. Their actions are suggested to have sparked the Third Shinobi World War. With the war's outbreak the village was forced to give up the search and choose a Fourth Kazekage, though there would be other search attempts in later years.

Iron Sand
While alive, the Third Kazekage was hailed the strongest in the village's history, and Sasori claimed that he had trouble killing him. The Third possessed the unique ability to convert chakra into magnetic forces. With his research of Shukaku's powers, he crafted his own version of "sand-manipulation", the Iron Sand, by combining his magnetic force control with iron powder; this was the main reason why he was considered the strongest Kazekage there is. His magnetic control also granted him immunity from all metallic weapons, as well as the ability to nullify opposing puppets by clogging their joints with sand. With this "sand", he could make any weapon to fit any occasion, thereby making this a very versatile technique.

Kazekage Rescue Arc
The Third's fate is discovered during Sasori's battle with Sakura and Chiyo when Sasori brings out the Kazekage puppet to use against them. After a long, fierce battle, Sakura managed to destroy the puppet. In the anime, after Sakura punched the puppet to pieces, Chiyo attempted to use the head to attack Sasori, as she had sneaked a chakra string onto it during the battle, but Sasori simply incinerated it before it could reach him.