Ranmaru

is a young orphan from Kirigakure, and later an apprentice chef at the Curry of Life Shop.

Background
Ranmaru grew up with a weak body, but the farmers living near him gave him food to survive. One day, he used his kekkei genkai, and accidentally revealed witnessing an injury that he otherwise could not have seen. The villagers realised that he was abnormal and stopped feeding him. Ranmaru became very lonely after a while. Not long afterward, Raiga arrived in the course of a mission, and was planning on killing Ranmaru, but Ranmaru revealed his ability and his perception of the sorrow within Raiga. Raiga then carried him on his back, allowing Ranmaru to see the outside world. During this time, Ranmaru began working in unison with Raiga, using his eyes' various powers to contribute to Raiga's fighting prowess, meeting the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist in the process (despite the famous group not even being aware of his existence under Raiga's cloak). After Raiga's defection, he and Raiga enslaved a town and forced its villagers to work in its mines, also assembling some followers (including Karashi) to form the Kurosuki family.

Personality
Ranmaru was a quiet and gentle boy with a fierce loyalty towards Raiga for showing him the world. Though later Ranmaru technically betrayed Raiga when he sided with Team Guy, this was, from Ranmaru's perspective, to Raiga's benefit, as he wanted Raiga to see a life without killing.

Appearance
Ranmaru is a young boy with chin length purple hair which is parted in the middle. He also has red-coloured eyes that would glow whenever he used his dōjutsu. He wore a light-purple shirt with black stripes on each side, a sash around his waist, a pair of dark-coloured pants and sandals. He also has a slightly feminine appearance.

Kekkei Genkai
By his own admission, Ranmaru believes his dōjutsu to be superior to the Byakugan. Among a number of vaguely defined abilities, the dōjutsu gives him extrasensory perception allowing him to remotely see and hear events from vast distances. Boasting remarkable analytical prowess, it can be used to can even read someone's innermost thoughts or predict a series of attacks. While he can see chakra, he can also see the physical life force inside a human's body to accurately determine their status being alive or dead. With it, he can cast powerful genjutsu that, even when being aware of its influence, could not be resisted. When competing with other dōjutsu, such as the Byakugan, he can manifest a red dust that hinders their ability to view chakra and overcome genjutsu.

Uniquely, he can revitalise another individual's life force — bringing back to life someone who is mostly dead — by transferring some of his own.

Kurosuki Family Removal Mission
Ranmaru was first introduced spotting Rokusuke's party escaping from the Katabami Gold Mine for Raiga. Raiga and Ranmaru then fought Naruto Uzumaki and Team Guy (minus Guy himself) when they arrived to defeat the Kurosuki family. Raiga initially gained the advantage due to Ranmaru's abilities and his powerful lightning technique, but after Ranmaru was knocked away from him, Raiga became distraught over losing him, and Naruto knocked him off a cliff. Ranmaru then revealed his role and past to the Konoha shinobi and asked to die. Naruto's group left him in a small shed on the mountain and took him back to the Curry of Life Shop after defeating the remaining Kurosuki family members.

Karashi took Ranmaru on his back, and then brought him to Raiga, who thought was dead yet. Ranmaru revived him with his chakra, but then passed out, seemingly dead, from doing so, which caused Raiga to demand that Karashi bring him the Konoha ninja. Tenten discovered that Ranmaru was alive, and brought him to a shed in the middle of a thunderstorm, trying to bring down his fever. While Ranmaru was willing to die, Tenten told him that he didn't deserve to decide that, as the people he helped Raiga kill could not make that decision. Ranmaru recovered his health, and became able to walk after eating the Curry of Life, and wished for Raiga to eat it.

Ranmaru accompanied Tenten, Sanshō and Karashi to the mountain where Neji, Lee, and Naruto were fighting Raiga, and fed the wounded ninja the curry. Ranmaru returned to Raiga and using his mist, tried to trick him into walking over a cliff in order to atone for his actions. The plan failed when Lee attacked and interrupted Raiga, and when Ranmaru attempted to convince Raiga to stop the battle, Raiga believed that Ranmaru had betrayed him. Naruto rose to protect Ranmaru, and punched Raiga off the cliff through successive attacks with shadow clones. Raiga realised how Ranmaru could never be a truly free soul as long as he depended on him, and gave himself a funeral in one of his more coherent moments. In the end, Ranmaru becomes an apprentice at the Curry of Life shop.

Trivia

 * means orchid. is a common name ending for Japanese boys' names meaning "perfection" or "full circle".
 * Ranmaru's name derives from the famous historical character, who was the Wakashū of daimyō , one of the most important and famous people in the history of Japan. Ranmaru is well-known for his devotion, loyalty, and bravery, culminating in his seppuku upon Nobunaga's death.
 * Ranmaru's Kekkei Genkai fits the description of the "Ketsuryūgan" from Sasuke Shinden: Book of Sunrise. It is unknown whether the two dōjutsu are one and the same. The anime's depiction of this dōjutsu, however, gave clear difference in design between the two.
 * Ranmaru's Japanese voice actress Akiko Yajima is best known for voicing Crayon Shin-Chan in the Crayon Shin-Chan series. Coincidentally, Ranmaru's mentor Raiga's Japanese voice actor Keiji Fujiwara voiced Crayon Shin-Chan's father until his death.

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