Kisame Hoshigaki

, the, was a missing-nin from Kirigakure, a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and was partnered with Itachi Uchiha within Akatsuki.

Background
Before becoming known as a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Kisame was a member of the secret intelligence squad of Kirigakure, guarding them as the subordinate of a previous Seven Swordsman. Caught by Ibiki Morino's platoon during a mission, he chose to kill his teammates in order to prevent any information from being leaked out. He later killed his master when he realized that he was selling information as well, taking control of Samehada for himself, replacing his master's post among the Seven Swordsmen.

Approached by Yagura who commended him for his act of loyalty to Kirigakure, Kisame rebuked him and revealed his disillusion. He said he no longer believes he really was loyal to the village while he was killing his fellow Kiri ninja, calling his life of betrayal and murder nothing but a "living lie". Madara Uchiha then revealed himself as the one controlling Yagura from the shadows, intimating to Kisame his Eye of the Moon Plan. Kisame was at first skeptical of Madara's identity and thought his plan was insane, but Kisame realized he wanted to experience this "world of truth", paving his way into becoming one of the first and most loyal members of Akatsuki.

While in Kiri, Kisame is given the title of "Monster of the Hidden Mist". He is also known to have formed a connection to Suigetsu Hōzuki and Mangetsu Hōzuki. His former country, the Land of Water, sought him out for plotting to overthrow its government and being involved in numerous assassinations, including that of a daimyo of an unknown country. As a member of Akatsuki, he was partnered with Itachi Uchiha. Though they initially greeted each other with threats, they became good partners and shared a common bond of having betrayed the people closest to them.

Appearance
Kisame was a very tall and strong shinobi, with a distinctive shark-like appearance, complete with pale blue skin, small, round white eyes, gill-like facial markings under his eyes, and sharp triangular teeth. He also styled his hair in the form of a shark fin. When he removed his cloak he was shown to have gills on his shoulders. Even his name,, means "Demon Shark". Kisame also wore a dark blue nail polish color. Underneath his Akatsuki cloak, Kisame wore an outfit similar to the one that his colleague, Zabuza Momochi, wore during his first appearance. Like all the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, Kisame also wore long arm bands with lined patterns. He wore his Akatsuki ring on his left ring finger, which bears the kanji for.

Personality
Kisame loved to fight. However, he was usually unable to finish his battles, being paired with Itachi who only fights when necessary. When this happens, he had been known to inform his opponent(s) that they "don't know how lucky they are." Like other characters who have trained to be one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Kisame will not hesitate to mutilate his opponents, as seen when he suggested cutting off Naruto's legs to make him easier to carry, and to prevent the latter from escaping on foot. Despite his aggressive nature, Kisame was very perceptive in battle. He is seemingly aware of any potential danger to his person and can immediately react to it. He is also shown to be analytical, able to quickly deduce the basics behind an opponent's technique.

Kisame was one of the few members of Akatsuki that got along well with his partner. He was very loyal to Itachi, not only willing to take any commands he was given without question but always asks Itachi for permission to take action proven when he asked Itachi for permission to kill Asuma who was annoying him, and constantly looked out for his well-being for instance, after Itachi used Tsukuyomi on Kakashi, Kisame warned that Itachi risked overusing his eyes which is dangerous. Although Kisame does have his pride, he acknowledged Itachi as the stronger of the duo, evident by Kisame saying to Itachi that he himself couldn't defeat Jiraiya, but stated his certainty that Itachi could go one-on-one with the Sannin. Kisame also has a deep loathing for Might Guy since their first encounter, and Guy seemed to continue to agitate him by not remembering who Kisame was when they met again.

Throughout his entire life, Kisame believes that everything was a lie. While his mission during his time in the intel squad was to protect his comrades, Kisame believed protecting information was far more important than protecting lives. This prevented him from forming bonds with his fellow shinobi, which was better for him when he was required to slaughter them in order to protect the codes of his village. This became his philosophy, and he lived by it strictly. When Aoba Yamashiro was reading his mind, Kisame forced himself into consciousness by biting his own tongue to prevent Aoba from extracting any important information, and then, knowing that escape is impossible, summoned sharks to allow them to devour him, effectively committing suicide. Kisame's deepest wish was to experience Madara's "world of truth".

Abilities
Kisame was a powerful member of Akatsuki who successfully captured the Four-Tailed Monkey's jinchūriki, Rōshi, all by himself, despite noting his target's exceptional powers. Though a difficult task, by his own admission, Kisame merely complained that he was "a bit tired". He was also able to kill his former master, despite Samehada being in the superior's hands at the time.

Samehada
Kisame was a powerful swordsman, and savors the use of brute strength and melee fighting over any technique. Kisame's signature weapon is called Samehada, a sentient, scale-covered sword, that shaves flesh instead of cutting it. Samehada is also capable of detecting and absorbing chakra, but requires Kisame's own chakra to perform the latter. When Samehada absorbs chakra, its scales grow and it slowly begins to unwrap itself.

Kisame could heal and replenish his chakra by momentarily fusing with Samehada. He could also fuse all the way to further increase his power along with adding to his shark-like appearance. When fused with Samehada, he gains the ability to breathe underwater using gills. While using his Water Prison Shark Dance Technique, he could take full advantage of that ability by drowning his opponents. In this form he can sense other peoples' chakra, and absorb it just by touching the foe with any part of his body. He can also hide within Samehada, which he states is flawless as he and Samehada have similar chakra, that not even sensors can tell where he is.

Only Kisame was able to wield Samehada; if anyone besides him tries to pick it up, spikes protrude from its handle, and it returns to Kisame's side. Samehada's loyalty seems to be only because it likes Kisame's chakra. If it finds a ninja with better chakra, it may turn to that ninja's side, demonstrated when Samehada protected Killer Bee from Kisame's attempt to slash off his legs. Despite its wavering loyalty, Kisame was capable of wielding Samehada against its will.

It was stated by Suigetsu that, if he killed Kisame, he would be able to wield the Samehada, which is how Kisame earned Samehada, by killing the former master. Chōjūrō describes the Samehada as the most terrifying sword of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

Physical Prowess and Chakra
Unlike his partner Itachi, Kisame prefered direct physical combat, with which he has repeatedly been shown to be very proficient and dangerous. Generally while fighting, he combines strong taijutsu strikes with powerful slashes from Samehada. He has been seen displaying astonishing raw speed and immense physical strength, making it highly difficult for his opponents to directly overpower him, as shown from overpowering Might Guy, a powerful taijutsu master, during their battle. He also managed to overpower another skilled melee-weapon user, Asuma Sarutobi, by using only the tip of Samehada (wielded with one hand), against Asuma's two blades, which he held overhead using his body as extra support. Even after being injured badly by Guy, Kisame managed to break free of Yamato's chakra-enforced wood restrains, which is normally difficult.

Kisame had an unusually large amount of chakra, even by Akatsuki standards. Karin, upon sensing Kisame, stated she had never seen so much chakra in one place. Even when he fought at 30% power in one instance, Neji compared his chakra supply to that of Naruto. Chōjūrō claims that Kisame is a, due to his inhuman chakra level and combination with Samehada.

Even without Samehada, Kisame has been shown to absorb chakra while he is in a water source. Aoba Yamashiro discovered it when he used his Secret Technique Stone Needles in an attempt to paralyze Kisame, who instead just sucked the chakra through the threads and exhausted him. He can even steal chakra from Samehada by simply grabbing onto it.

Nature Transformation
Kisame's shark-like attributes carry over into his battles, for he even shapes his Water Release attacks into sharks. He is also able to alter the entire battlefield by using his Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave, to create a lake's worth of water to give him the field advantage, and to use for attacks. Against stronger opponents, he increases his field advantage even further by creating a giant dome of water around himself, forcing his opponents to battle him underwater. He was able to make many sharks that overwhelmed Might Guy's Morning Peacock, producing more than all the blows Guy could unleash. Using Earth element, Kisame can use Earth Release: Underground Submarine Voyage to travel under the earth, with the tip of his sword, Samehada, jutting out making him look like a shark swimming towards his prey.

Summoning
In keeping with his shark theme, Kisame had shown the ability to summon sharks for both battle and message sending purposes, and can combine the one summoned shark with the Water Release: A Thousand Feeding Sharks as a way to conceal the messenger to let it get away.

Search for Tsunade Arc
Kisame accompanied Itachi to Konoha to help kidnap Naruto Uzumaki. After the two gained attention due to their unusual clothing, they were stopped by Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yūhi. Asuma and Kurenai stood little chance and were quickly defeated, but Kakashi arrived in time to save their lives. Asuma was able to distract Kisame while Itachi fought Kakashi. He waited patiently for Itachi's victory, but before Itachi delivered the final blow, Kakashi remembered Jiraiya's warning and recognized the duo as members of Akatsuki from their black cloaks. Itachi changed his mind and ordered Kisame to kidnap Kakashi and kill Asuma and Kurenai. Before he could do so, Might Guy showed up and kicked an attacking Kisame in the face. Following Guy's arrival, Itachi ordered Kisame to retreat, not wanting to start a large-scale battle. Kisame seemed quite annoyed with Itachi's idea, as he desperately wanted to fight the Konoha shinobi.

Itachi and Kisame then continued to hunt Naruto, finding him under the protection of Jiraiya. After Itachi hypnotized a woman to distract Jiraiya and leave Naruto alone, Kisame and Itachi confronted Naruto in a hotel hallway. Kisame considered cutting off Naruto's legs so he could not run away, though Sasuke, Itachi's younger brother, showed up and drew their attention from Naruto. When Naruto attempted to fight, Kisame used Samehada to absorb all of Naruto's chakra. Kisame then attempted to cut off Naruto's arms so he wouldn't put up a fight. Before he could do this, however, Jiraiya arrived, and defended Naruto. Following the encounter, Kisame and Itachi were driven off by Jiraiya, failing in capturing Naruto.

Kazekage Rescue Arc
While Akatsuki extracted the One-Tailed Shukaku from Gaara's body, they learned that Team Guy was nearing their location. Remembering his last encounter with Guy, Kisame volunteered to keep them occupied while the sealing was completed. Pain used the Shapeshifting Technique to make a duplicate of Kisame's body that would be remotely controlled by Kisame, and engaged Team Guy, but was quickly disappointed to find that Guy didn't remember him. While Guy was barely able to withstand the clone Kisame's attacks, the rest of Team Guy were incapable of trading blows, and were eventually locked within Kisame's Water Prison Technique. Neji soon freed himself and the rest of his team, using his Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. Upon being forced into a corner, Guy opened his sixth gate, and defeated Kisame's clone with the Morning Peacock technique.

Itachi Pursuit Arc
Kisame successfully managed to capture the Four-Tailed Monkey, his assigned tailed beast, without a scratch. During the following Akatsuki meeting to seal the Four-Tails, Kisame and Itachi were informed of Hebi's formation, with Sasuke as its leader. Kisame was later told by Itachi to stand guard outside the Abandoned Uchiha Stronghold and to let only Sasuke through. After Sasuke left the rest of Hebi, Suigetsu (who was a former candidate for The Seven Swordsman of the Mist) started a fight with Kisame, wanting to claim Samehada as his own. It was later revealed that Zetsu had stopped the fight.

Invasion of Pain Arc
Following Itachi's death, Kisame is confronted by Tobi, who revealed his identity as Madara Uchiha. Recognizing him and addressing Madara as former Mizukage, Kisame commented that he felt a lot better knowing it was Madara who was pulling the strings. Madara apologizes for leaving Kisame the last member of Akatsuki to know his identity when in fact he is closest to Kisame. Kisame later assisted with the sealing of the Eight-Tails captured by Sasuke. When this turns out to be a fake, Kisame notes that the Eight-Tails' host, Killer Bee, fooled Sasuke.

Five Kage Summit Arc
After Zetsu reported Pain's death, Madara ordered Kisame to capture the Eight-Tails by himself. Kisame used Samehada to find Killer Bee, being drawn to Bee's immense chakra. When he arrived at the residence of Sabu, Kisame was immediately attacked by Ponta, who he quickly defeated. Bee and Sabu then join forces, Bee even entering a four-tailed form. Kisame fended them both off and absorbed Bee's chakra cloak. He then removed the bandages from Samehada, noting that it liked the "taste" of Bee's chakra.

Killer Bee entered a version 2 form and used his Lariat to destroy Kisame's entire midsection. Kisame fused with Samehada to heal his injuries, becoming a monstrous shark-like creature. After trapping Killer Bee, Sabu, and Ponta inside a giant, movable dome of water, he continued his assault on Killer Bee. Bee was forced to throw Sabu and Ponta from the dome to save them from drowning, allowing Kisame to overpower him. He dissipated the dome and moved in to finish the job, but was stopped by Samehada, who protected Bee and gave him some chakra. He kicked Samehada away and prepared to try again with one of Bee's own swords.

Using the chakra he got from Samehada, Bee attacked Kisame. Kisame barely evaded the attack and tried to cut off Bee's legs, but was stopped by the arrival of Bee's brother: the Fourth Raikage, and his two bodyguards. After being told how he was discovered because of the large dome of water and noticing Samehada giving more chakra to Bee, The Raikage and Bee join forces against Kisame as he attempted to use Water Release: Great Shark Missile Technique. Before he could finish the jutsu he was decapitated by their Double Lariat. With his last breath, he stated with a grin that their lightning-quick speed was simply too fast for him. His head then flew a distance and landed in front of the scared Sabu.

Confining the Jinchūriki Arc
It was later revealed that the decapitated body was a clone of Zetsu and that the real Kisame had been hiding inside Samehada in order to infiltrate Kumogakure. The sword itself was taken by Killer Bee, who planned to use it as his new weapon. Kisame was later seen spying on a Kumogakure war meeting, considering Killer Bee to be a "blithering idiot", while gaining an idea on the village's military strength.

Later, while Naruto shows Killer Bee and Yamato the power of his new seal, he detects Kisame's presence hiding within Samehada, forcing him to reveal himself. Rather than face two jinchūriki and a Wood Release user, he attempts to flee the scene, but not before commenting on Naruto's ability to discern his concealed presence (said by Kisame himself that it is something even the most skilled sensory-type shinobi are incapable of doing) and notes this as a result of having achieved control over the Nine-tail's chakra, only for Naruto to use sheer speed to catch up to him and punch him. Despite being injured and bleeding from the mouth, he continues to flee, marvelling at Naruto's speed. Later, while Might Guy attempts to use the Falls to face his true self, Kisame emerges from the waterfall and charges at Guy. Guy responds by knocking Kisame into the side of the waterfall.

Through strategy and outmaneuvering his opponents, Kisame drained both Killer Bee and Aoba of their chakra - the former after taking advantage of Samehada's affection for the Eight-Tailed Giant Ox's chakra to get to Bee and the latter after Aoba used his Secret Technique: Stone Needles in an attempt to paralyze him. He then fled to the Island's exterior, with Might Guy, who had entered the Sixth Gate following him.

He removed a scroll from his mouth after summoning his shark, slipping it into his mouth. Guy arrived and the two confronted each other. To hide his summon shark, Kisame used the Water Release: Thousand Feeding Sharks to conceal it in a wave of them. Guy countered with the Morning Peacock and in an attempt to box the shark in he used the Seventh Gate. Both fighters then clashed, with Guy using the Daytime Tiger and Kisame using the Water Release: Great Shark Missile Technique. As the two techniques clashed, Kisame was surprised that the Daytime Tiger won and subdued him. Restrained by the Konoha shinobi and the information he was to send back retrieved, Aoba Yamashiro attempted to read his mind. Kisame bit off his own tongue in order to force himself back to consciousness and prevent them from obtaining any information. In a fit of rage, he quickly burst out of his restraints, created a dome of water around himself, and then summoned three sharks within it. In his weakened state, Kisame remembered his first meeting with Itachi, and considering his words about what type of person they might be and how it was only revealed before one's own death, he made the sharks consume him, leaving nothing but a bloody splatter behind. Despite his final act of suicide, he was able to booby-trap the scroll containing the information he gathered from Kumogakure, ensuring that it would get back to Akatsuki through his shark summons.

Trivia

 * "Kisame" means demon shark, while "Hoshigaki" may mean dried persimmon.
 * Kisame's birth date, March 18th, makes his Western astrological sign Pisces, or fish.
 * Kishimoto first intended to make Akatsuki's members monsters with almost no human traits. Zetsu, Kisame and Kakuzu (and, to a lesser extent, Deidara and Sasori) are prime examples of this.
 * At 195 centimeters, Kisame was the tallest member of Akatsuki.
 * It is shown in the anime's omake specials that Kisame is insecure of his blue skin. This is portrayed when Deidara commented on how handsome his partner was, and how that must make him popular. Kisame sulked, and replied with, "After all, I'm strangely colored".
 * Kisame has been impersonated twice in battle, first by a shapeshifted Mukade against Team Guy and later by one of Zetsu's clones against Killer Bee and A.
 * According to the Third Databook:
 * Kisame's hobby was taking care of his sword, Samehada.
 * Kisame wished to fight anyone.
 * Kisame's favorite foods were shrimp and crab, while his least favorite, predictably, was shark fin soup.
 * Kisame had completed 332 official missions in total: 3 D-rank, 68 C-rank, 154 B-rank, 78 A-rank, 29 S-rank.
 * Kisame's favorite phrase was.

Quotes

 * (To Yagura) "I knew that from the first time I had to kill my comrades... Kill a Kiri ninja as a Kiri ninja. What does that make me? Am I a friend or foe? What is my purpose? My position? Where do I go? Where can I go? I'm well aware that my entire life has been a one giant lie."
 * (To Itachi) "Sharks start out as eggs, but incubate and hatch in the womb. Sometimes the number of pups is less than the number of eggs that were fertilized. Do you know why? Cannibalism. The pups start eating each other within the mother's womb the moment they hatch. They start killing their siblings the moment they enter the world, viewing everything they see as nothing more than prey. As of today you and I are fellow members of Akatsuki. So be careful... of me."
 * (To Asuma) "My Samehada doesn't slice... It shreds you to ribbons!"
 * (To Guy) "Might Guy, huh? Mighty stupid-looking guy is more like it!"
 * (To Itachi) "Itachi, it will be a pain in the neck if this kid makes a run for it... maybe we should chop off a leg just in case."
 * (After Naruto tries to perform the Summoning Technique) "Forget the legs, maybe we should start with those arms of his."
 * (To Pain) "I liked Tobi, he was good at making this gloomy organization seem more cheerful."
 * (To Killer Bee) "I get stronger in direct proportion to how strong my opponent is. I do not tire, and cannot be defeated."
 * (Last Words) "Itachi-san... It seems that in the end... I'm not so terrible after all."