Tōrai Yanagi

Tōrai Yanagi (柳トウライ, Yanagi Tōrai) is a chūnin-level shinobi of Konohagakure. A bit of a mysterious character, Tōrai's distant and reserved disposition gradually gives way to a more open and friendly attitude after being assigned to Team Keisuke. However, he suffers from a debilitating condition caused by his body being unaccustomed to his own chakra. Despite this, he still puts forth his best effort to protect and stand alongside his teammates, Seiki Hyakurai and Eiya Heike. After suffering the consequences of overusing his power during the Fourth Shinobi World War, Tōrai has been made to retire from shinobi life and now spends much of his time in the hospital.

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A descendant of the obscure Yanagi Clan, Tōrai was born in possession of the clan's thought-to-be-extinct kekkei genkai, which produced the ill side-effects known to accompany it. Because of this, he was never known to be very active as a child and often stayed closed off in his room, never bothering to go outside and socialize with other children his age. Thus, when he finally entered the Academy against his wishes, but at the behest of his parents, no one knew him. Due to his reserved nature, no one bothered to approach him, either. He faded into the background of most academy activities.

He did, however, come to grow a certain fondness for one of his classmates, Seiki Hyakurai. He would often watch her from afar, admiring her bright, yet intimidatingly belligerent attitude. To Tōrai, she embodied the pride and strength he wished he could have in himself. In fact, she reminded him a great deal of his idol, the Nidaime Hokage Tobirama Senju. Tōrai looked up to Tobirama as a pioneer of his generation and a symbol of physical and tactical power. Tōrai secretly had dreams of becoming Hokage himself one day, but those dreams quickly fell through as he became more aware of his deteriorating condition.

Regardless of his tendency to observe others, however, Tōrai was rarely ever perceived by his other classmates. Even their instructors sometimes forgot he was there. It was clear that no one remembered him when his name was announced to join Team Keisuke after graduating to genin with the rest of his class. He was extremely shy when meeting Seiki and his other teammate, Eiya Heike, though he seemed more disinterested in the latter's introduction. Eiya took this as a challenge and announced then and there that he would see to it that he would make Tōrai acknowledge him. Tōrai only found this public declaration even more embarrassing and resolved to meet Eiya's challenge with his own brand of spiteful disregard.

In his youth, Tōrai was quiet, calculating, and introspective—a stark contrast to his loud-mouthed and hot-headed teammates—and rarely spoke unless spoken to. He prefers to sit back and observe rather than involve himself in the action. Tōrai's level-headed judgement is a cornerstone in his team's dynamic, but it also earns him quite a bit of playful scorn from Seiki and Eiya. He is often told to "lighten up" and to not act so serious all the time, to which he responds with confusion. He doesn't understand how or why others get so excited about things that seem so trivial and meaningless to him. Most jokes go right over his head and he doesn't appear to have a sense of humour himself.

He is also flummoxed by the use of sarcasm. Mocking exaggeration of an assumed truth just seems exceedingly odd to him. He wishes people would just be more straightforward with their thoughts because he has much trouble deciphering them otherwise. In spite of this, Tōrai has proven to be a whiz at psychoanalyzing the behaviours of others. Having had much time to read into the scientific intricacies of the human mind (due in part to a piece of literature written by the Nidaime Hokage himself), Tōrai can almost always correctly guess the roots, causes, and supplementary symptoms of a person's attitude and mannerisms. This has been known to make others feel highly uncomfortable around him, which is just one more thing he doesn't understand.

After spending time with his team and getting to know them better, Tōrai gradually comes out of his shell. He starts to catch on to certain things that once befuddled him, though he is never known to utilize them himself. He becomes less of an observer and more of an active participant in the goings-on around him, and shows a warmer, more relaxed and welcoming predilection toward others. He is even seen laughing for the first time at a benign joke Eiya makes at his own expense, shocking both Eiya and Seiki as well as their sensei, Keisuke Rikimaru.

Tōrai is of average height with a lithe build and delicate features. He has a warm beige skin tone that later takes on a more pallid complexion due to his illness, wavy black hair, and bright green eyes. Pale blue-green spots cover parts of his skin, notably his cheeks, shoulders, and hands. These are painfully sensitive chakra manifestations that gradually develop across his entire body the more he uses his kekkei genkai and eventually become large splotches rather than dots.

As a genin, Tōrai dresses in a low-cut, red, short-sleeve shirt underneath a black jacket with a white fur hood and trim inspired by Tobirama Senju's attire. His hitai-ate is attached to the bottom of his jacket, connecting the two sides at the front. He also wears plain black pants and black combat boots that have a number of holsters for weaponry such as shuriken and kunai. His hair is styled to the left, with the right portion tucked behind his ear, and is kept just above his shoulders. Per Team Keisuke's personal staple, he paints his fingernails black.

In Part II, Tōrai is seen without his jacket, but he still wears his red shirt, along with a slightly larger fur collar that simply hangs over his shoulders. Underneath his shirt is thin mesh lining that covers the upper part of his chest and over his arms, ending at his wrists. He now displays his hitai-ate as a red headband over his forehead, and his hair has grown a bit longer, now tied back into a low, loose ponytail. He wears the same pants and shoes as before and his chakra manifestations have spread out and become more defined.

In the New Era, unable to continue his career as a shinobi, Tōrai wears a simple black yukata with red trim, his hitai-ate tied around the red band around his waist. His skin is noticeably more pale and his chakra manifestations have grown more severe. He has distinct dark circles under his eyes, which are now blind after exhausting himself to near death during the Fourth Shinobi World War. He has let down his hair, which now falls over his shoulders.

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• The name "Tōrai" means "afterlife", while his family name "Yanagi" means "willow tree".
• Tōrai's hobbies are sleeping and stargazing.
• Tōrai does not wish to fight anybody.
• Tōrai's favourite foods are tamogoyaki and mentaiku, while his least favourite food is anything with beans in it.
• Tōrai's favourite phrase is "Wake from death and return to life" (起死回生, Kishi kaisei) and his favourite word is "nostalgia" (郷愁, kyōshū)

• (To x) "Quote"

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