"I pity those who think rain is regenerative. Regenerative weather comes after rain, the soil turns green after rain, and nature is rejuvenated after rain. Have you ever seen someone recovering in the rain, a seed sprouting as the rain pierces the earth with all its might, or birds chirping in the rain? The pressure of the rain activates the good, but oppression is still oppression."
-Amegetsu Hozuki
Amegetsu Hozuki (雨月 鬼灯) is a once-known but now forgotten member of the Hozuki Clan from the Land Of Water. He lives away from his homeland as a bounty hunter.
Background[]
Amegetsu spent his early years living in comfort in the Hozuki Region. His father was a highly skilled and hardworking shinobi who had led the Hozuki Clan for a time. Although his step-uncle, Yamigetsu (Black Moon), had been a companion to his brother and had been his teammate for many years, his feelings of exclusion due to his black hair turned into intense jealousy over time. Amegetsu's brilliant older brother, known as Enkaigetsu, was assassinated at a young age, and as a result, their older sister died protecting the child. Due to a chain of triggering events, the Hozuki clan leader had to bring his family along for even the smallest diplomatic meeting. During one of these trips, a shipwreck resulted in the family, who had been working for the Mist Village for years, losing their lives in a ruthless manner. After this incident, Yamigetsu briefly took on the role of clan leader but was killed by notable enemies. Although Amegetsu, who survived the shipwreck by sheer chance, was only known to his uncle, his young age meant he was not considered important, and his existence was kept secret to prevent certain events from coming to light. At a young age, Amegetsu was found and raised by a group of Uzumaki. The assassins sent by Yamigetsu were neutralized by the Uzumaki. During his time with them, he was pushed towards samurai training and received a brief period of samurai education. However, due to his personality, he was looked down upon by the community and referred to as a disgrace to the samurai. The Uzumaki, wanting to keep Amegetsu under control, secretly placed a tracking seal on him. During a mission, one of his summon animals mentioned that no one trusted Amegetsu and spoke about the seal. As a result of this trust issue, Amegetsu is known to have separated from the Uzumaki group and torn the throat of his summoning animal. For about three years, Amegetsu has been traveling through various regions, engaging in gambling, bounty hunting, and other low-profile illegal activities. Valuing his freedom and life greatly, he has mostly avoided dangerous situations. Having lived a life mostly based on escaping, he has become highly skilled in hiding, infiltration, and danger detection.
Personality[]
Amegetsu was always the youngest child in his family, who consistently overlooked him. No one had any expectations of him, nor was he ever given any responsibilities. Despite this, he had a warm and sarcastic family. All of this led Amegetsu to become indifferent to authority on paper. In his early years, he was spoiled, flirty, and quite talkative. This approach made it difficult for others to understand his deep skepticism and insecurity. His brutal attitude, which began to emerge during adolescence, gradually diminished. He has a pragmatic, outspoken, diplomatic, and melancholic nature, doing what is necessary independently of moral rules when needed. Though he is loyal once trust is gained, his loyalty can easily be lost if he senses betrayal or similar situations. Due to his melancholic, flirtatious, and insecure nature, he has acquired many romantic partners of both genders during his journey. He is not very good at teamwork but is supportive of those around him. His responses to rules and values are often unexpected due to his individual style and tendency to analyze and think deeply. Believing that the weak will be crushed, he constantly focuses on improving and developing. He avoids unnecessary fights and doesn’t like to expend extra effort. He often engages in skirmishes and prefers attrition battles where he prioritizes gauging and analyzing his opponent. Survival is his primary goal, and he is quite successful in this regard.
In daily life, in his comfortable clothing.
Appearance[]
He has an average build with a slightly lightweight, flexible body but with sufficient muscle distribution. He has pearl white, pale skin and silver hair that reaches down to his waist with bangs. His electric blue eyes and soft facial features for a man are contrasted by shark-like pointed teeth, which add a monstrous expression to his handsome face. Although he prefers loose and comfortable clothing in daily life, he typically wears half-body suits during training. He has long, pointed, black-painted nails, which he keeps long for easier sword handling and close combat.
Main Abilities[]
Water Release[]
Amegetsu is a member of the Hozuki Clan, renowned for its water manipulation techniques, and due to his position, he has undergone deadly training in Hydrification Technique , the foundational technique of the clan, from a very young age. This Hozuki, with a research-oriented and analytical nature, has focused on the weaknesses of this technique and its potential modifications. Although energy-based releases are not preferred by clan members due to their ability to harm Hozukis in the form of Hydrification, he has dedicated years to working on fire releases and combinations by pushing himself to alter the mineral balance and acidity in the water's composition. By manipulating the mineral balance in his water form, he has reduced its conductivity and brought lightning attacks' damage close to that of other attack types. Specializing in concealment, this Hozuki has worked on physical invisibility by bending light from the water surrounding objects and has also engaged in viscosity changes to move comfortably underground. He can burn opponents with acid in the moisture infused with his chakra, nearly blinding them and impeding their movements by sticking to their bodies. His high control over water manipulation and his body eliminates the dependency on hand seals for chakra guidance and jutsu activation. In jutsus requiring long hand seal sequences, the number of hand seals required has been significantly reduced. He is a formidable opponent in close combat. Despite his seemingly weak appearance, the Hozuki techniques that strengthen his body provide him with a layer of acid that burns any skin it touches, along with the other benefits of Hydrification. He is the creator of the deadly assassination technique known as the Sea Urchin Technique.
- The techniques he uses deplete the amount of water in his body more quickly compared to his fellow clansmen, and he is often on the brink of dehydration.
- Although he can use two other chakra natures, he is not able to achieve significant results with them. They serve a supportive role for his other techniques.
- In most Hozuki techniques, his sole guide for self-improvement is the scroll containing the Hozuki Hidden Jutsus that he salvaged from the shipwreck. Therefore, because he employs dangerous yet effective methods for learning the techniques and his thought process is oriented towards analysis and application, he is an excellent trainer/jutsu creator.
Summoning[]
He made a pact with a very large bat colony many years ago. During a period of about two years, when he took refuge in a cave, he lived and became friends with them. The first bat he made a pact with, Phoebe (Wise old man), trained and acted as a father figure to him, but this bat is the same one that Amegetsu later tore apart.
The most striking feature of his bats is their ability to scan large areas and individuals over wide ranges. They can detect inaudible frequencies either with or without chakra. If done with chakra, it allows them to analyze the thickness and strength of structures and find a person if they have chakra within that range. Without chakra, they can create aerial maps and detect physical conditions. Each bat's range varies between 130 and 230 feet. When positioned correctly, they can search large areas, but as their numbers increase, Amegetsu's control weakens and chakra consumption rises. Except for some special bats in the colony, other bats communicate by first allowing themselves to be bitten and have their chakra drained. Through this bond, they communicate via chakra vibrations. This drained chakra is used for both communication and activating certain jutsus at a distance.
These bats can perform difficult-to-detect mass genjutsus using inaudible sounds. For more powerful genjutsus, they pass through the opponents' line of sight in a swarm and deepen the genjutsu with wing movements. They create two-dimensional and very powerful genjutsu mazes as a combination of visual and auditory genjutsu. Since they usually use Amegetsu’s chakra for genjutsus, he bears the entire cost and control.
The bats' bites carry two types of infections. The first is a physical disease that, if not detected long-term, will definitely be fatal. The second targets the chakra system, poisoning the chakra network. To avoid this, the entire chakra system must be cleansed with foreign aid before it spreads. If not detected or treated in time (which can range from 2 days/8 days for all gates or 4 hours/1 day for a single gate depending on the person's resistance), the infection that infiltrates the chakra gates will seal the affected gate permanently.
The known number of bats is 63. The named bats are Wise old man Phoebe and the three sisters: Tisiphone, Alekto, and Megaira.
Genjutsu[]
In his early years, he was forced to perform various actions through genjutsu by his uncle, which instilled a deep fear of genjutsu in him for many years. However, being shaped by his fears and his obsessive caution towards genjutsu led him to develop methods for protecting against it. As a result, he became a highly skilled genjutsu user himself.
He generally manipulates the existing reality to blind, deceive, and cause severe confusion in his opponents by creating a second, similar reality. He often does not want those under his genjutsu to realize it, and therefore, he is a keen observer and imitator of the current world.
Rather than using simple genjutsu, he typically employs complex, multi-dimensional genjutsu resembling labyrinths. The structures he creates within the brain’s prosencephalon lobe, filled with dead ends, force the person to solve this maze to awaken from the genjutsu, even if they are aware of it.
He has managed to perform up to 4-dimensional genjutsu, but this has caused intense pain to his own mind and required a large amount of chakra. Each dimension is managed by creating a step-by-step bridge into the opponent's brain using different senses. He does not use the genjutsu's properties until the planned structure is fully established.
In his past, he encountered friends who were users of the Sharingan, and through them, he gained insights into the use, mechanics, and certain effects of this special eye.
Fuinjutsu[]
Although he does not have the same level of skill/heritage and knowledge in seal techniques as an Uzumaki, he is still regarded as a Fuinjutsu prodigy. Since a young age, he has been constantly pushed to study, understand, and solve various seal patterns and structures in his daily life. Objects presented to him for everyday use were often sealed within, compelling him to solve these seals reflexively to make his life easier. Over time, this has turned into an enjoyable mental game for him. With the resources available from the family he was raised in, he has had access to some archives. His deep knowledge of seals and advanced analytical ability allow him to understand and decipher foreign seals effortlessly, enabling him to adapt and protect himself.
As with other types of jutsu he has mastered, he designs seals that facilitate his life and adapt to his fighting style. He is a creative and highly flexible individual.
- Chakra Rings:
These are chakra holder rings that passively contain a small amount of chakra. They provide minor chakra boosts and keep genjutsu from affecting his body throughout their usage. By biting the rings, a small amount of chakra seeps out and re-enters his chakra system for use.
- Retentive Seal:
Kenjutsu[]
He was trained in various types of equipment and skills, subjected to strict ethics and intense training to adopt the morality of sword mastery and the nobility of the samurai. Despite this, he was considered dishonorable due to his preference for a more evasive and tactical fighting style. After these events, he managed to become a unique swordsman by integrating clan jutsus, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and fuinjutsu into his sword fighting style.
- Clan Jutsus and Kenjutsu:
He frequently uses his swords and equipment to scatter around. As his equipment returns to him, he performs attacks in areas that are difficult to avoid and include himself. The transformation liquid wrapped around his sword creates acid effects that splash around with each clash of the sword.
- Ninjutsu and Kenjutsu:
By surrounding his sword with water and wind chakra, he can create various effects. The refraction of light by the water makes him invisible, and the temporary vacuuming of the surrounding air allows for silent sword strikes. This technique is highly lethal and particularly effective in assassination missions. Additionally, by utilizing the elasticity of water, he can stretch the metal’s structure, allowing for unexpected evasive maneuvers during combat. The sticky, high-viscosity water surrounding the sword can defend against attacks from opponents and can adhere equipment to his own sword.
- Genjutsu and Kenjutsu:
Using the sounds or images of his sword that he swings or throws, he creates disappearing or shimmering attacks that cause momentary confusion.
- Fuinjutsu and Kenjutsu:
It is known that before a fight, he places a Tether Seal on the hilts of his swords, which determines the duration and range of the seal for retrieving his thrown or dropped swords back to his hand. The short sword named Rin, given to him by the his Uzumaki family, is known for having seals that reflect all chakra types. Neither Amegetsu’s chakra nor chakra attacks from opponents can seep into the sword; instead, they are deflected. This short sword serves as a constant reminder of the rejection of noble methods and has also mimicked the reflective properties of water.
- Of course, all these methods and techniques are categorized under a heading due to their frequent use. However, the outcomes of battles and his tactical maneuvers are not limited to these.
Trivia[]
- When he first made the contract with his summoning animal, he developed immunity in his immune system because they constantly bit him when he didn't listen them.
- He has a great interest in board games and enjoys woodcarving when he's alone.
- "Ame" can be written with two different kanji: one meaning "heaven" (天) and the other meaning "rain" (雨). Thus, the name Amegetsu can mean "the moon in heaven" or "the moon within the downpour," reflecting Amegetsu's melancholic nature and his quest for redemption.