Ao

Personality

Ao was calm, prideful, stern and was the epitome of a stereotypical masculine individual. He believed that men should be tough and decisive, constantly scolding Chōjūrō for his pessimistic and weak demeanour. This attitude seemed to be caused by his upbringing during the times when Kirigakure was known as the "Village of the Bloody Mist". He had a tendency of bringing up how things were done during those days, usually while fussing over Chōjūrō's behaviour. Despite his fussing, Ao did seem to have some type of friendship with Chōjūrō as he offered to treat him to a meal for luck in the upcoming war. After surviving the Fourth Shinobi World War, while outwardly becoming mellow and at peace with his glory days behind him, grateful to even be alive, Ao had in reality grown bitter and disillusioned with the Shinobi world due to his belief of having no further purpose in life due to his disability and also due to the current peaceful era. Despite his previous loyalty to Kirigakure, he had not returned to the village since the war's end. Ao also seemed to possess a colder and battle-hungry outlook, seen when he looked forward to taking part in combat for the first time in sixteen years. Openly saying he abandoned his identity as a shinobi long ago, he preferred to rely on the more modern combat methods using Scientific Ninja Tools, noting that they offered great power to those who could never achieve it naturally. At the same time, Boruto noted that Ao still retained some of his former shinobi outlook, particularly being critical of his Water Release usage as a former Kiri-nin. After his defeat at the hands of Boruto Uzumaki, the young genin's mercy and words of using the tools available properly, along with still seeing Ao as a living person with worth resonated with him. This apparently restored his former shinobi pride, as he saved Boruto from an attack meant to kill him and the Konoha-nin and doing so with ninjutsu.

Appearance

He was a middle aged man with blue hair which was styled in a moused-up manner. His left eye was blue and his right eye was covered with an eye-patch, under which he concealed the Byakugan that he obtained from a Hyūga clan member he defeated. He wore a talisman in each ear with the kanji for a humble form of "to hear" (承, shō) written on them twice on each side. These talismans reacted when his Byakugan was under threat and would protect it from anyone, even himself. He also wore the standard striped, grey suit, with a green haori that had white trimmings that stop halfway down, over them, and a forehead protector. With the outbreak of the Fourth Shinobi World War, he donned the standard outfit of the shinobi alliance with a Kirigakure flak jacket over it. Sixteen years after the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Ao had aged noticeably, with wrinkles lining his face. He wore a dark suit jacket over a pinstripe turtleneck shirt and matching pinstripe pants. The attack from the Ten-Tails cost him his Byakugan. Also, his left arm and leg had been replaced with experimental cybernetic prosthetics. The right side of his face was heavily scarred, and a craniofacial prosthetic covered his right eye, cheek, and ear. The back of his right hand and right wrist were also heavily scarred. He no longer wore a forehead protector.

Abilities

As a veteran of Kirigakure's hunter-nin, Ao was a highly capable tracker and has extensive knowledge of the human body. Ao had rather impressive speed and reaction, able to grab and redirect the kama back at the assailant before the latter could sneak attack him from behind.[8] His prowess was such, that he could survive a fight with Shisui Uchiha, a feared shinobi who was regarded as a genius even amongst the Uchiha. Even in old age, Koji Kashin, an Inner of Kara, held Ao's abilities in high regard, viewing him mighty enough on his own to not need additional weapons. Ao was shown to be very fast, able to strike with blazing speed that can easily catch his foe off guard. He also had advanced taijutsu prowess. In the anime, it was shown that after his rehabilitation, his physical abilities greatly declined, having failed to hit a single target with shuriken.

NinjutsuNature Transformation

Common among Kiri-nin, Ao could utilise Water Release, able to create a vortex of water. He could also use Yin Release to perform genjutsu, as he was capable of controlling an individual for a extended duration of time, using a fake identity of "Kuso" while doing so.

Body Modifications

After defeating a Hyūga, Ao transplanted one of his eyes with the latter's Byakugan. He wore talisman seals as earrings, which would protect the dōjutsu if anyone tried to take or attack it. Once activated, the seal could only be deactivated by a hunter-nin like himself. With the Byakugan, he could distinguish chakra colours of certain individuals and determine if an individual was under the influence of genjutsu. One of the many physical injuries Ao received during the Fourth Shinobi World War was the loss of his Byakugan. After his body was modified with Shinobi-Ware and he completed his rehabilitation, Ao's body became capable of withstanding a cave collapsing on top of him. Further advances on his modified body was the usage a mechanism embedded in his chest to fire Fire Release Bullets, and was equipped with a double-sided sabre below his left arm, denoted a "Style Three Shinobi Gauntlet".

Bukijutsu

During his battle against Team 7, Ao utilised condenser-type Scientific Ninja Tools given by Koji Kashin. He wielded a minigun that can rapid-fire Fire Release Bullets, and four (nine in the anime) Mirror Drones he could control with chakra to fire powerful chakra blasts. He also took one of Katasuke's gauntlets that can create Absorption Sphere to absorb incoming jutsu, and briefly used a prototype Chakra Blade of Katasuke's, before being forced to cast it aside due to the huge chakra consumption.

Sensory Perception

Ao was a highly skilled sensor-type shinobi, which allowed him to be appointed as the leader of the Sensor Division during the Fourth Shinobi World War. With his sensory skills, he could even pick out the reincarnated shinobi out of thousands of White Zetsu clones, a feat that his counterparts could not perform. Along with Inoichi Yamanaka, he was able to erect an immense Sensing Barrier, which allowed him to monitor the battle between the Allied Shinobi Forces and the White Zetsu Army. Ao also counted as one the few sensors that have shown the ability to sense natural energy.