Kyōya Kaguya

Background
Early Life

Takaharu Kurama, born under the name Seno Kazuma, was the youngest son of parents Ishidate Shirogane of the Shirogane Clan and Kajura Kurama of the Kurama Clan in the village of Konohagakure. Even as a child, Seno displayed unusually high levels of intelligence, even if he lacked the motivation to apply it properly during his studies. Being the son of two prominent Jonin level parents and the youngest brother of three, the deck was already stacked against the boy from the get go to surpass his siblings and parents. Entering the Academy at age five, Seno excelled in nearly all his classes, performing especially well in Genjutsu, in which he received special training from his mother due to their clan's special prowess in the ninja art. Graduating the Academy at the age of six, Seno found himself rising in the shinobi world, becoming a Genin assigned to his father, Ishidate's team.

A year into Seno's shinobi life, Team Ishidate was sent on what was supposed to be a slightly more difficult C-Rank mission to stop a bandit ring that had made base on the main road leading out of Konohagakure, preying on defenseless travelers. Posing as a traveling caravan, Team Ishidate set out on their mission, only to discover it was more difficult then what was originally thought. Amongst the bandit population were Missing-Nin who had joined the ring to reap the benefits of profit. Realizing this, Ishidate ordered Seno and his teammates to flee, realizing that this mission was much more dangerous then his seven year old son and his teammates were trained for. However, escape simply wasn't an option. Try as Seno and his father did to survive, the bandit and missing nin team were too much to handle, and Ishidate was killed in the fight, along with both of Seno's teammates. Seno would have been killed too, yet in the light of his father being killed, and the intense fear that he was next, Seno's limits burst and he ended trapping the entire party in a nightmarish Genjutsu of his own creation, in which the boy then proceeded to slaughter the entire party. After this, the boy passed out.

The Traveling Caravan



The next thing the boy knew, he woke up in a tent, in fresh clothes and a wet towel laying on his forehead. Standing before him was a kindly looking old man by the name of Hikaru. Upon asking where he was, Hikaru revealed to him that they were somewhere in the deserts of the Land of Wind. Hikaru, who was the chief of a nomadic group of travelers who roamed the shinobi world, found the child upon their return to the Land of Wind from the Land of Fire, and took Seno with them to heal the boy. Seno, who at the time maintained little to no memory of who he was or where he came from, became fond of Hikaru, and Hikaru became fond of Seno in turn. Seno joined the traveling as the chief's adoptive son, resuming his ninja training under him. It was Hikaru who first taught him the Puppet Technique in the deserts of the Land of Wind, teaching him how to control and how to construct puppets. This training would be the basis for what would later become Takaharu's staple fighting style. Seno never officially took the Chūnin Exam to become a Chūnin, yet by the time he reached the age of nine, he had amassed the skill and intellect necessary to qualify as such by most village standards, even if he wasn't a shinobi for any village during this time. It was also during this time he discovered his ability to use Magnet Release, experimenting with Iron Sand for the first time.

By the time Seno reached the age of 14, he was considered one of the strongest nomadic warriors within the travelling caravan, becoming one of the best puppet users in the tribe, and furthering his skill Magnet Release to be able incorporate Iron Sand techniques into his own puppet techniques. The young boy was practically a prodigy by the nomadic standards. However, it was also during this time that Takaharu truly began to suffer the 'Curse of the Kurama' as he liked to call it. Even without his clan's Kekkei Genkai, his ability to create such vivid, and nightmarish illusions scared him, and began to cause him a degree of paranoia. In Essentially, he was afraid of crossing the line between reality and fantasy and losing himself to his own illusions, a fear that he holds even today, and serves as the basis for his inner demons.

Enter the Land of Snow

Seno was seventeen when he finally left the nomadic tribe to rejoin the shinobi world, after his adoptive father, Hikaru's passing. By this point, Seno had become amazingly adept in his clan's Kekkai Genkai, as well as his puppetry. Due to this, when Seno immigrated to Yukigakure and joined their shinobi forces, he found himself climbing the ranks with relative ease, become an ANBU Captain of the shinobi village by the age of eighteen. During his three years with Yukigakure, Seno served as one of Jonii Moonfeather's, the Sandaime Yukikage, closest aides within the village ANBU, performing hundreds of missions in service of the village. It was also during this time that Seno gained the moniker, "The Chameleon Sage" because of his tendency to summon Chameleons to fight alongside him during certain fights

When Seno was twenty one years old, he was sent on a diplomatic mission to Kusagakure along with another ANBU by the Sandaime Yukikage, to offer support in rebuilding the village after it was attacked by terrorists. What was supposed to be a peaceful mission to the friendly allied village of Kusagakure ended horrifically for the young shinobi. En route, he was attacked by a team of rogue shinobi, and try as he might to escape, he was unable to defeat the team and was "killed". However, Seno's story didn't truly end here. To the world, Seno Kazuma is dead. Yet in reality, he is very much alive. Having cut himself off from his troubled past, he traveled the shinobi world for years, working freelance as an assassin for hire, and maintaining as little contact with people as possible. Yet recently, the man known as 'Takaharu Kurama' has resurfaced back into the public life, returning to the Land of Wind and taking refuge with the shinobi village of Sunagakure, serving as a Jōnin of the village, deciding to make a name of himself again and to rebuild his shattered life.

Personality
Not much is known about Seno prior to his disappearance, yet Takaharu can be described as an odd man, a loner of sorts. Most have described him to be a likable person with a likable personality, yet off-putting at the same time. His quick wit has also resulted in him making sarcastic comments towards....mostly everything. In addition to such, his outward appearance and behavior can be described as overly messy and disorganized, and his attitude towards most things seems to be generally carefree and nonchalant. However, there is another aspect to him. Takaharu seems to be an overly cautious man, never one to rush full on into any situation without having a full analysis of the situation, his opponent's skills and how likely he is to survive in a certain scenario. It should also be noted that Takaharu is quite the knowledge seeker, taking a particular interest in foreign culture and the customs and practices of other village. He also has a creative streak, showing an unexpected talent for painting and sculpting, however such is a talent that he rarely shows in public, for he prefers to keep his work private. He also has several bad habits, making a habit of smoking cigarettes as well as smoking a relatively less intense variant of his hallucinogen, "just to see what it's like".

Appearance


Standing at a height of five foot eleven inches, Takaharu Kurama is an exceptionally tall gentleman with a slim athletic build. He possesses piercing deep purple eyes that serve to complement his long, disheveled green hair. Takaharu's complexion can be described as fair with a hint of tan to give himself a slightly less pale appearance. Takaharu is a relatively simple man and as such, tends to dress a bit more on the simple side. Takaharu usually wears his hair in a long ponytail, extending all the way down his lower back. His attire typically consists of a loose fitting dark blue martial arts uniform with golden lining which extends to go all the way down to his feet, covering his black pants underneath and the white boots he typically wears with the rest of the outfit. Takaharu can also be seen with a single pierced earring located on his right earlobe.

One thing to notice is that Takaharu, due to being a Human Puppet, has no definite appearance. He could easily create a puppet body in the image of his human body, and he could just as easily create a puppet body with an appearance completely different from his previous human body. As of right now, Takaharu takes the appearance of a pink haired male with the same amethyst eyes as his previous body, with a small dragon tattoo underneath his left eye. When he appears in this puppet body, his attire typically consists of black shinobi sandals with pink lining that extend up to calf level, red pants with a black string tied around his right thigh. After that, his upper body attire consists of a maroon skin tight undershirt with a black sash tied around the waist. From there, his coat color could differ. He could either wear a black short sleeved coat with a red sash and hemlines/lining, or a white coat with a black sash and black hemlines/lining.

Abilities
Puppet Technique

The key to Takaharu's fighting style is centered around his mastery control over puppets. Having learned the art at a young age when he was a shinobi in Sunagakure. His versatility as a puppet master gives him the capability to control up to ten puppets at once, one string per finger and also gives him much more control over his specially crafted puppets, the lag time between his commands and the puppet's response have reached a point of little difference. Due to his prowess as a puppet master, Takaharu excels in the art of long range combat and usage of Bukijutsu, as each of his puppets possess their own unique array of weapons and traps.

In addition to just controlling puppets, Takaharu has achieved extreme success in the controlling of people and corpses, able to seize control of one's body using the chakra threads if the target is willing or weakened enough to relinquish control to him. This serves as a last resort in the rare case that all of his pre-prepared puppets are deemed unusable.

The puppet known as 'Yashamaru' is the newest of Takaharu's collection of deadly weapons, and meant to replace the previous model: 'Shiroyasha'. Like the previous model, Yashamaru is meant to be extremely versatile in nature, equally balanced between offensive function, defensive function, and supplementary function. It also serves as Takaharu's puppet armor when out in field missions. The puppet is built in a way that allows for Takaharu to fit inside and control the puppet from the inside, providing a deadly yet protective shell to conceal himself in. Yashamaru typically takes the appearance of a large dragon creation, with serrated blades protruding from multiple points over his body, oversized claws and a long jointed tail which is capable of extending across great distances, with retractable blades at the tip of the blade. The puppet also has the ability to extend a flamethrower from its' mouth, making it capable of shooting powerful streams of intense flames at their opponent. This puppet can also take the appearance of a male with a red/white Yin-Yang pattern across the mask, with a long black (or white) cloak that covers the puppet from head to toe. This appearance is possible through application of an advanced form of the Transformation Technique, applied as a seal on the puppet's body. It is reported that the transformation technique can last on the puppet until Takaharu dispels it, even if the puppet suffers damage.

Human Puppetry

A recent development in Takaharu's arsenal of skills. Takaharu has recently begun experimentation with the dark side of medicine, essentially working to surgically transfer a human's organs and chakra into that of a puppet. As of right now, it is unknown as to how far Takaharu's prowess in this newly found skill is, but it can be assumed that the practice is still in it's early stages, as Takaharu has not brought forth any human puppets of his own creation.

Nature Transformation

Even from early childhood, Takaharu had developed an extreme interest in his primary nature, Earth Release. Throughout most of his teenage and adult life, Takaharu worked diligently to perfect this ninja art, finally reaching mastery over Earth Release. This effectively allows Takaharu to hide himself and his puppets underground, and be able to transport them across long distances in a short period of time. In addition to Earth Release, Takaharu later discovered an affinity for Wind Release however that category of study is mainly used for offense and Takaharu hasn't dedicated nearly as much time to it's mastery.

Chakra Reserves, Chakra Control and Medical Ninjutsu

Having learned Medical Ninjutsu during his time with the nomadic group from his adoptive father, Hikaru, Takaharu has grown into an extremely capable Medical Nin. He has great knowledge of the human body, and how to shut down body functions with as few blows as possible. However, Takaharu's true talent in the art is shown through what he calls "Dark Medical Ninjutsu". This is, the creation and application of poisons, attacking and manipulating body functions and pathways and other equally gruesome ways of dispatching an opponent. The greatest testament of his skill being his creation of the Nexus Poison. Takaharu is also known to have immense chakra reserves, which were only honed by his extremely precise chakra control, honed from years of acting as an emergency medic during his early years in the ANBU. Haru's chakra control allows him to use only the minimum amount of chakra to use techniques to their full potency.

Genjutsu

Being a member of the Kurama Clan, Takaharu was born destined to be an excellent user of Genjutsu. Even in the Academy, Takaharu expressed a great deal of skill in Genjutsu, being able to create high level illusions with relative ease. As a child, Takaharu also sported a wild imagination and often imagined fake scenarios in his head, some of which would come into play whenever he used Genjutsu, creating fantastical sceneries and illusions that would normally be only possible to those of much more experience in the ninja art. Even without inheriting the Kurama Clan's Kekkei Genkai, Takaharu still possessed near prodigal skill in the ninja art. However, due to his frequent use of illusions, Takaharu has a fear of being caught in an opponent's Genjutsu, for he knows that he himself has spent years devising ways to torture his opponents through Genjutsu, and Takaharu fears what his opponents would do to him in return. In addition, Takaharu fears the day where he may accidentally blur the lines between reality and illusion, and begin to lose his grip on reality.

Magnet Release

Takaharu possesses the kekkei genkai Magnet Release, which allows him to convert his chakra into strong magnetic forces, enabling him to manipulate magnetic objects. By combining his Magnet Release with Iron Sand, Takaharu is able to manipulate the sand in any way he wished, choosing to use the iron sand to crush his opponents, or mould it into weapons. Takaharu keeps a medium sized pouch filled with the sand on his person at all times, in case he needs it in an emergency. A larger quantity of the sand, however, is stored within Kohaku.

Nexus Toxin/Smoke Ninjutsu

A rare poison created by Takaharu Kurama, the likes of which is applied to all of his weapons, and his puppet's hidden weapons. Meant to serve more as a hallucinogen then anything else, the Nexus poison is a nonlethal drug meant to dull the senses and cause the victim to experience wild and vivid hallucinations, the likes of which only become more realistic and nightmarish the longer the drug courses through the person's system. The drug is relatively fast acting, coming into focus in only a few minutes after entering the bloodstream, and gradually getting worse as time goes on. Takaharu has been known to use this poison in conjunction with Smoke Ninjutsu in order to manipulate the gaseous form of the toxin so as to more effectively spread the toxin.

Summoning Technique

The only testament to Takaharu's former identity is his summoning animal: Chameleons. Derived from his previous title," The Chameleon Sage", Takaharu has established a close relationship with the resourceful reptiles, and has been known to utilize their services on several occasions.

The Final Five
The Final Five came into formation after Takaharu's spar with his master, Phantasos, in which Takaharu noticed several design flaws in his previous collection, one of the main being specific specialization amongst his puppets, meaning each puppet had a focused task, and were meant to cooperate in order to truly reach it's full potential. After realizing the strain this may put on a puppet master, Takaharu took to constructing puppets after Kohaku, his favorite puppet of the previous collection. These puppets were created with balance in mind, in order to ultimately adapt to as many situations as possible, and to ultimately rip victory from the hands of his opponents.

Kazehana

Modeled to be Takaharu's heavy offensive puppet, Kazehana is a humanoid puppet with long, shaggy blond hair that covers one of the puppet's eyes. Kazehana is usually draped in a long, ragged red robe which plays along with the whole "Pyro" theme that is the basis of the puppet's abilities. As made obvious by its' appearance and its' title as "The Pyromaniac", Kazehana's main attack method involves fire and explosives, usually meant to cause large amounts of damage in a short period of time, and to physically alter the landscape to fit Takaharu's preferences. The puppet has two hands, which holds hidden pipes that are capable of acting as flamethrowers, shooting large, concentrated blasts of fire that are easily capable of melting rock. The puppet also has extra appendages, in the form of two "limbs" that protrude from the puppet's back. These limbs take the appearance of arms without hands, instead ending in flamethrower pipes, which are also capable of shooting concentrated blasts of fire at their opponent. There is also a sealed portion of Kazehana which houses Iron Sand, which can be withdrawn from the puppet at Takaharu's discretion, in order to make use of Magnet Release.

Genbu



The only puppet of the Final Five that resembles an animal, Takaharu created Genbu with the intent of him being portrayed as a demonic freak of nature, resembling the design of 'Genbu, the Black Tortoise of the North' in which the design was inspired from.. Genbu is a large puppet, easily as tall as Takaharu himself and nearly twice as wide, Genbu takes on the appearance of a huge tortoise, complete with a large protective shell which is covered by black cloth. Takaharu designed the shell to be reinforced and as such is capable of taking on crushing blows without taking damage, a feat that most puppets couldn't claim. In addition to the puppet resembling a tortoise, it also has two snake like appendages that protrude from the sides of the shell, essentially making the giant tortoise a three headed animal. The two snakes are extendable, capable of covering great distances without worrying about being restricted by Seiryuu's movements. The snakes can also wrap around and reel an opponent towards Seiryuu. Like Kazehana, Genbu also carries a storage of Iron Sand within him, in which Takaharu can withdraw from the puppet with a single gesture, allowing Takaharu the use of Magnet Release.

Hayattori

Hayattori is the strangest of Takaharu's creations while following the Final Five project. The puppet known as Hayattori seems to be a mix of human and hawk, due to the added appendages. Hayattori is a humanoid puppet, who's head seems to be permanently lowered, never showing any facial features. Hayattori's shaggy hair also helps in covering the puppet's face, ensuring that the puppet will never show it's facial features. The puppet itself is garbed in what seems to be a brown fur pelt of some kind, but that is the only type of clothing it has on. Sporting four arms, Hayattori also seems to have four blade like appendages protruding from it's back, each extension sprouting four large blades, which are easily capable of rotation. The blades in themselves are kept wicked sharp and made of a reinforced metal which is considered very difficult to break, and allows chakra to flow through easily, in order to guarantee it's lethality. Hayattori also seems to possess bird-like talons for feet, further following the hawk-like trend of this puppet. Like the rest of the Final Five, Hayattori carries a storage of Iron Sand within him, in which Takaharu can withdraw from the puppet with a single gesture, allowing Takaharu the use of Magnet Release.

Oni



The largest of Takaharu's collection, Oni is draped in a long, dark cloak with deep purple hemlines (ignore the Akatsuki design). The puppet has white stringy hair that hangs in front of it's face at all times, covering the puppet's face from being seen. Attached to Oni's back are two, gigantic dual swords which is hard enough and sharp enough to cut through tough rock with relative ease, let alone bone and flesh. The hilts of the blades are both fastened by chains which run along the arms of the puppet, allowing Oni to treat the blades as projectiles as well without risk of losing it, for he can simply reign the blades back in. The puppet also displays extreme agility, speed and flexibility in conjunction with monstrous strength, making the puppet armor highly versatile in any situation.

Himself



The final and strongest puppet in Takaharu's arsenal is himself. After undergoing and strenuous and time consuming surgical procedure, Takaharu's master, Phantasos assisted the pink haired male into turning himself into a human puppet. This essentially makes Takaharu practically immortal. Having placed all of his organs in his 'Core of Living Flesh' (生身の核, Namami no Kaku), Takaharu benefits from having an eternally youthful body in which he is practically unkillable unless the core is destroyed. Takaharu has since forfeited his real body, and his body is actually that of a puppet, with an opening that houses his core, which is titled 'Puppet' (傀儡, Kugutsu). As he is a puppet, Takaharu does not have to eat, sleep, or drink necessarily, as his core is fed by his chakra. As such, he does not feel any pain (as he has no nervous system), nor can he be affected by poison (for the same reason). His puppet body is also crafted from a reinforced material that makes the body hard to destroy, yet is also built in a way to absorb impact. The joints themselves are fastened together by chakra, and when hit with enough force, the joints will separate, essentially causing Takaharu to fall apart instead of straight up splintering and breaking. Granted that the core was not damaged/destroyed, the puppet body will merely piece itself back together and resume the fight. Only by destroying the core can one truly kill Takaharu Kurama at this point. The puppet body itself has a wide array of weaponry and a higher level of versatility then any other puppet body Takaharu has ever crafted. In place of his intestines was a thick cable coiled around a pole, allowing him to use it as a stinger and retract it if necessary. Attached to his back was a scroll holder, containing four scrolls that store extra armament that the man can utilize. The first scroll allows Takaharu to summon pipes from his hands that allow him to shoot out powerful jets of intense flame. This effect can be mimicked with the second scroll, which allows Takaharu to shoot out powerful jets of water from his hands as well. This effect could also be mimicked with the third scroll, which allows Takaharu to do the same thing but shooting out his Nexus Toxin in powerful streams of noxious gas. As of currently, the fourth scroll is blank. Another prominent feature of Takaharu's puppet body are his Puppet Tendrils. Four long tendril-like blades with arrowhead points that protrude from a fixture on his back (built to fit around the scroll holder like a protective casing). These tendrils can extend and retract at will, shooting forth and covering long distances in only a short amount of time. They're also extremely flexible, capable of bending and wrapping around objects at Takaharu's whim, as they are remotely controlled by his chakra.

This is only a mere portion of the hidden weapons Takaharu keeps within his body when using 'Himself'. Typically, the man keeps his body hidden from view with his clothes, typically not using any portion of himself until he is given no other option. This mentality is the reason why Takaharu named his collection the 'Final Five' for he is the 'Final Opponent' any adversary of his has to face.