Keisuke Rikimaru
Keisuke Rikimaru (りきまるケイスケ, Rikimaru Keisuke) is a shinobi of Konohagakure. A master of genjutsu, he regularly defaults to illusory techniques rather than frontal assaults, claiming to be a pacifist first and foremost despite his attitude during battle. He often preaches the benefits of non-violent confrontations to his team, though more often than not his warnings go ignored.
Originally born in Sunagakure, Keisuke was raised and trained in preparation for the Third Shinobi World War, which would result in the deaths of both of his parents. Having shown an acute affinity for genjutsu, Keisuke was enrolled in rigorous and, at times, brutal training to hone his skills so that they could be used tactically and offensively despite the passive nature of genjutsu. Keisuke eventually came to possess powerful jutsu such as Sarcophagus of Anubis and Curse Sealing: Mummy Tomb.
He grew to be both feared and revered by his fellow shinobi, though fear inevitably won out and the village desired for Keisuke's power to be harnessed under total control of the village so as to eliminate any chance of treachery. A member of Keisuke's unit during the war, Atsuya Inoue, whom he had come to regard as a close friend, was assigned the task of reverting Keisuke's own genjutsu on him in order to essentially brainwash him into complete obedience. Oblivious to Atsuya's ulterior motives, yet feeling betrayed by his friend, Keisuke fell into a rage that released the Eye of Ra Seal on his left hand, allowing him to perform a forbidden technique that had been sealed within him at birth as a precaution for the war.
Unveiling the truth of a forgotten past in which Keisuke was a test subject of the Third Kazekage in an attempt to replicate the powers of Shukaku, Keisuke awakened the portion of tailed beast chakra that temporarily enabled him to activate a chakra cloak that quickly evolved into a brief appearance of the second stage. Keisuke, still a mere child, wrought havoc on Sunagakure's enemies, wiping out many in a single blow. However, since he could not maintain this form for long and quickly depleted Shukaku's chakra, Keisuke fainted shortly thereafter and retains no memory of the event.
After that battle, Keisuke was taken prisoner by Konohagakure shinobi and was brought in for interrogation. Claiming to know nothing of what happened nor of the experimentation that had taken place years prior, Keisuke willingly offered whatever information his body might have possessed, still scorned by the betrayal of his friend and village. When their tests bore no helpful results, however, Keisuke was brought before the Third Hokage in order to determine what was to be done with him. True to Hiruzen's rumoured kindness, he offered Keisuke a choice of whether he would return to Sunagakure or remain within Konohagakure, stating that he could not ensure the child's safety if he chose the former.
In light of the actions taken against him, Keisuke pleaded to remain within the Konoha, swearing an oath of loyalty under the condition that it was not abused as it had been before. With the threat of Shukaku's remnant chakra gone, he was granted his request, and the next time he went to the battlefield, he presented himself as Sunagakure's enemy. In time, Keisuke rewrote the Eye of Ra Seal on his hand after extensive research to instead enhance his genjutsu abilities, and coupled it with a companion seal on his right hand featuring an ankh. This second seal was used to siphon off a large portion of his own chakra to be accessed when he was in dire need.
Relatively happy, if not refined, in his childhood, Keisuke did not mind making friends even during the time of war. He cherished his comrades and did everything in his power to protect them, unbending in his devotion to his village and its people. However, following Atsuya's betrayal, Keisuke turned bitter and spiteful toward the very place he once considered his home. He allied with Konohagakure more out of vindictive grief than an initial desire to turn against his homeland. He was not exempt from pain upon facing his former comrades in battle, however, and apologized profusely to the memory of the fallen amoungst their corpses after the fact.
Following the end of the war, Keisuke experienced an early life crisis, unsure of who he was supposed to be or what his purpose was. The Third Hokage consoled him on this and explained that he was a victim of war who had been mistreated by those he had trusted, to which Keisuke responded with philosophical, introspective thought for some time. Up until his promotion to the rank of jōnin, Keisuke acted without conviction. He was often, and continues to be, on occasion, shunned and persecuted for his previous affiliation with Sunagakure, though that treatment did not seem to affect him so much as the thought that he had nowhere to truly belong. It wasn't until he was assigned a squad of genin that he realized that Hiruzen had fully entrusted him with protecting and nourishing Konohagakure as his own village, unlike the many who still viewed him as the enemy.
Steeling his resolve, Keisuke made efforts to regain his sense of self and identity. He gradually became more carefree and took on relaxed, joking mannerisms that eventually allowed others to become more comfortable around him. He proves to be rather shy in some subjects such as the true capacity of his abilities, as well as comments made about his physical appearance. He still shows hesitation at times when it comes to acknowledging his self-worth and deciding what is best for his team, but he strives to be a role model for his pupils and encourages them to find their own identities.
Moderately tall, Keisuke is shown to be well-toned and physically disciplined. He has tanned skin and pale blond hair with black streaks that is styled into thick dreadlocks that are partially tied back, with some falling over his shoulders. The ends of his dreadlocks are capped with golden cuffs. His eyes are a rich amber and are decorated with black, tapered makeup. His lips are also painted black with a thin gold stripe on his bottom lip. He appears to have sharp features, giving him a feline likeness.
A scar resides to the right side of his lips and thin scruff grows along his jaw. He has another scar across his torso, stretching from his left shoulder to his right hip, disappearing into the bandages he wears around his waist. He has large, thick red loop earrings and thin stubble grows along his jaw. He wears a black, long-sleeved shoulder top that ends just above his chest and a golden neck brace and golden bands around his biceps. He has a tattoo on each of his palms: on the right, an Eye of Ra symbol, and on the left, an ankh symbol. These represent his seals. He also wears gold fingernail polish, a staple amoung his team.
Below the waist, he wears black harem pants that end at his calves with mesh cut-outs on his outer thighs and a gold-coloured belt with his hitai-ate. Beneath that, his bandages seem to cover both of his legs, and he wears standard black sandals on his feet.
Despite his preference for genjutsu, Keisuke is well-versed in both ninjutsu and taijutsu, the latter evidenced by his disciplined physical condition. He has knowledge of basic hand-to-hand combat techniques, but shows a tendency toward versatile weapons such as kunai and shuriken. Although absent of Shukaku's chakra, he is still occasionally recognized as a Pseudo Jinchūriki by those who recall the events of the Third Shinobi World War. He is listed in some bingo books and possesses a fairly high bounty for his head to be returned to Sunagakure. Even so, he is lauded as a war hero and respected as a veteran by a select few of Konohagakure who are more accepting of his change in loyalties.
When using the enormous stores of chakra collected by his ankh seal in the Fourth Shinobi World War, Keisuke is granted greatly enhanced speed and strength to the point that even Madara Uchiha's Sharingan had difficulty keeping up with his movements.
When worse comes to worst, Keisuke does have an arsenal of ninjutsu at his disposal if his primary strategy of negotiation falls through. As a former Sunagakure shinobi, he has some knowledge of puppetry by use of chakra threads. However, his skill in this is far inferior to that of fūinjutsu, his secondary specialty next to genjutsu.
His strongest virtue, genjutsu is what Keisuke excels in above all else. He highly prefers illusory techniques over physical techniques due to their passive nature which allows him to incapacitate his target(s) without causing unnecessary harm, unless the specific technique being employed is apt to cause psychological damage. In addition to visual illusions, Keisuke wears specially-made gloves with chakra amplifiers on each fingertip, which he uses with his Wind Release to control fluctuations in the air, thus creating audible genjutsu. He controls the fluctuations via subtle movements of his fingers; the result is akin to an ominous thrum that invokes unwarranted anxiety within the target.
While having no knowledge of sealing techniques before defecting to Konohagakure, and in fact being prohibited from learning of such for fear of his breaking the Eye of Ra Seal, he dedicated many hours to studying fūinjutsu in order to rewrite the seal on his right hand and create the seal on his left hand. He makes frequent use of seals to aid him in battle, wherein he mostly relies on weaponry unique to his skill set.
The Eye of Ra seal on his right hand was originally placed on him in order to contain a forbidden jutsu sealed within him by the Third Kazekage to be used as a trump card of sorts during the Third Shinobi World War. Keisuke rewrote the seal itself to act as an amplifier to his genjutsu, which now allows him to produce far more vivid and intense illusions on his opponents. The Ankh Seal on his left hand serves to store a large amount of chakra that he can call upon when he most needs it.
Prior to the beginning of the series, Keisuke was sent on a mission to Kiyomizu Temple, where he was tasked with reclaiming a priceless artifact, the Scroll of Enlightenment, from a notorious thief who had stolen it from the temple. After retrieving the scroll, Keisuke was given the blessing of the ancient guard that had taken residence in the temple for centuries to view the contents of the scroll. This was how he came to learn the art of senjutsu—the ability to harness natural energy—and thus became a sage. However, he is never seen to use senjutsu after that point until the Fourth Shinobi World War, where he unleashes the chakra stored in his ankh seal, including the nature energy he gathered while training at Kiyomizu Temple, and activates his Sage Mode.
Keisuke possesses both Earth and Wind Release common of those who hail from the Land of Wind, as well as Yin Release in accordance to his genjutsu prowess. With Earth Release, he can perform a variety of jutsu known to Sunagakure shinobi, such as Earth Release: Sunadori, and he can combine his Wind and Yin Releases to execute the Wind Release: Sajin Senpu. He often incorporates sand-based ninjutsu into his genjutsu, most commonly in conjunction with Curse Sealing: Mummy Tomb, wherein he seals the target's consciousness and proceeds to entrap them in a real tomb of sand.
Team Keisuke is sent to infiltrate a masquerade ball in the Land of Tea to protect important guests.
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Seiki and Yukari discover the truth about Kiyoshi Moriyama's and Kaisei Nikuhitsu's deaths.
Team Keisuke is tasked with escorting a nine-months pregnant woman to her sister's abode on the other side of a perilous mountain range.
On the way back from the Land of Snow, they lose their way and end up at the mysterious Shrine of Mikazuki, where strange phenomena begin to occur.
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Team Keisuke is assigned a reconnaissance mission to Yugakure, where they gather information regarding the Akatsuki member Hidan. Later they relax at a hot spring resort.
Seiki faces off against Deidara, leaving her severely injured. Backup consisting of her team and some others arrive just in time to rescue her and retreat before she can be killed, reluctantly letting Deidara escape in the process.
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Keisuke is assigned to the Fourth Division of the Allied Shinobi Forces during the Fourth Shinobi World War. The tensions between himself and his former village give way to a stalwart camaraderie that allow them to fight flawlessly side-by-side. Keisuke shows a far more vicious side of himself during the ensuing battles, strengthened by the use of his ankh seal after so many years of dormancy and collecting chakra. He activates his Sage Mode in doing so, surprising his opponents, and is able to head the attack on the reincarnated Kage.
While he's able to hold his ground against Madara Uchiha in the beginning, Keisuke ultimately runs out of stamina long before he comes close to injuring Madara. He is consequently killed by a combined barrage of attacks from Madara's shadow clones using Fire Release: Gokakyu no Jutsu. His spirit is briefly called back to the world of the living by Tōrai's Summoning: Spiritual Awakening jutsu, allowing him to say one final goodbye to his team before the effects of jutsu wear off.
- The name "Keisuke" means "kindness" and "help", while his family name "Rikimaru" means "sphere of strength".
- According to the Databook(s):
- (To x) "Quote"
