Movie
Description
Ohnoki was the Third Tsuchikage of the Hidden Stone Village, a position he held for so long that he became known as one of the longest-serving leaders among the five great ninja villages. He carried the title Ohnoki of Both Scales, rendered in the English version of the series as Ohnoki the Fence-Sitter, a nickname reflecting his habit of weighing both sides of a conflict before committing himself. In his youth he was the student of the Second Tsuchikage, Mū, who taught him the secrets of Dust Release and eventually passed on both the technique and the office of Tsuchikage to him. Early in his career he fought Madara Uchiha and survived, making him one of the few living people who had directly faced the legendary shinobi, and that encounter left him deeply wary of the scale of power Madara represented. He also acted as mentor to Deidara, a relationship marked by frequent complaints about Deidara's preoccupation with explosive art, even though Ohnoki privately remained proud of his former student. Concerned about the military buildup of the Hidden Cloud Village, he had at times hired the mercenary organization Akatsuki in the past, a choice he rationalized through his anxieties about the balance of power between the villages.
In personality, Ohnoki was proud, headstrong, and boastful, often behaving as though age had not slowed him despite his frail body and his recurring complaints about his hips and back. He stubbornly refused to retire or choose a successor as Tsuchikage, insisting that he was still strong enough to govern, and his granddaughter Kurotsuchi frequently described him as a stubborn old man. His pride made him dismissive of younger leaders, and he often belittled Gaara, the much younger Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village, before eventually coming to respect the young leader's wisdom. This capacity for change was something he acknowledged himself, saying that his long life had reshaped who he was. In the anime he demonstrated that growth by sending his bodyguards to the Land of Water to apologize for an old tragedy involving his village. He could be ruthless when he believed the situation demanded it, as when he moved to eliminate the injured Sasuke Uchiha during the Kage Summit, yet he was also willing to hear an enemy out, as he did when he urged the other Kage to listen to Madara before passing judgment. Beneath his bluster he carried a strong sense of duty and loyalty to his village and a deep desire to protect the generations that would come after him.
His motivation in the Boruto era grew directly from personal loss. After his grandson Kozuchi was killed by rogue ninja, Ohnoki, who had by then retired from the office of Tsuchikage, sought a way to protect the Hidden Stone Village without placing more living people in danger. He created a group of artificial human warriors known as the Fabrications, intended to serve as a defensive force that could fight and fall in place of real shinobi. The project went catastrophically wrong when the Fabrications developed wills of their own and turned against him, setting off a conflict in which a clone he had created, Kū, led the synthetic beings in an attempt to seize control of the village and reshape the world according to its flawed understanding. Ohnoki was forced to confront the consequences of choosing artificial life over trust in people, a theme that brought him into conflict with members of Boruto's generation who helped defend the village. In the end he gave his life while fighting to protect the Hidden Stone Village, a final act that underscored his enduring commitment to the home he had served for so many years.
By the time of the events of Boruto: Naruto the Movie, Ohnoki had already stepped down, and his granddaughter Kurotsuchi had taken his place as the Fourth Tsuchikage. Earlier in his long career he played a key role in the Allied Shinobi Forces during the Fourth Great Ninja War, where his firsthand knowledge of Madara proved invaluable to the alliance. His relationships with the other Kage were shaped by rivalry that gradually gave way to cooperation, and his encounters with Gaara and Naruto Uzumaki during the war influenced his outlook, reminding him of the strength found in trust and unity rather than isolation.
As a fighter, Ohnoki was physically frail and unsuited to close combat, but his techniques more than compensated. He wielded Dust Release, a rare advanced nature transformation known as a kekkei tōta that combined the elements of earth, wind, and fire, an ability he inherited from Mū and which made him only the second known user in the world. Dust Release allowed him to reduce his enemies to molecule-sized dust, and its most powerful applications were reputedly capable of destroying an entire island. He also commanded mighty Earth Release techniques, including one that could turn a target to stone at his touch, and he was famous for his flight ability, which let him soar at high speed even in old age and which he could extend to other people and objects, on one occasion carrying an entire island-turtle through the air. His combat experience, strategic mind, and willingness to take calculated risks made him a significant presence despite his age, and he remained determined to be remembered as a leader who protected his people to the very end.
In personality, Ohnoki was proud, headstrong, and boastful, often behaving as though age had not slowed him despite his frail body and his recurring complaints about his hips and back. He stubbornly refused to retire or choose a successor as Tsuchikage, insisting that he was still strong enough to govern, and his granddaughter Kurotsuchi frequently described him as a stubborn old man. His pride made him dismissive of younger leaders, and he often belittled Gaara, the much younger Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village, before eventually coming to respect the young leader's wisdom. This capacity for change was something he acknowledged himself, saying that his long life had reshaped who he was. In the anime he demonstrated that growth by sending his bodyguards to the Land of Water to apologize for an old tragedy involving his village. He could be ruthless when he believed the situation demanded it, as when he moved to eliminate the injured Sasuke Uchiha during the Kage Summit, yet he was also willing to hear an enemy out, as he did when he urged the other Kage to listen to Madara before passing judgment. Beneath his bluster he carried a strong sense of duty and loyalty to his village and a deep desire to protect the generations that would come after him.
His motivation in the Boruto era grew directly from personal loss. After his grandson Kozuchi was killed by rogue ninja, Ohnoki, who had by then retired from the office of Tsuchikage, sought a way to protect the Hidden Stone Village without placing more living people in danger. He created a group of artificial human warriors known as the Fabrications, intended to serve as a defensive force that could fight and fall in place of real shinobi. The project went catastrophically wrong when the Fabrications developed wills of their own and turned against him, setting off a conflict in which a clone he had created, Kū, led the synthetic beings in an attempt to seize control of the village and reshape the world according to its flawed understanding. Ohnoki was forced to confront the consequences of choosing artificial life over trust in people, a theme that brought him into conflict with members of Boruto's generation who helped defend the village. In the end he gave his life while fighting to protect the Hidden Stone Village, a final act that underscored his enduring commitment to the home he had served for so many years.
By the time of the events of Boruto: Naruto the Movie, Ohnoki had already stepped down, and his granddaughter Kurotsuchi had taken his place as the Fourth Tsuchikage. Earlier in his long career he played a key role in the Allied Shinobi Forces during the Fourth Great Ninja War, where his firsthand knowledge of Madara proved invaluable to the alliance. His relationships with the other Kage were shaped by rivalry that gradually gave way to cooperation, and his encounters with Gaara and Naruto Uzumaki during the war influenced his outlook, reminding him of the strength found in trust and unity rather than isolation.
As a fighter, Ohnoki was physically frail and unsuited to close combat, but his techniques more than compensated. He wielded Dust Release, a rare advanced nature transformation known as a kekkei tōta that combined the elements of earth, wind, and fire, an ability he inherited from Mū and which made him only the second known user in the world. Dust Release allowed him to reduce his enemies to molecule-sized dust, and its most powerful applications were reputedly capable of destroying an entire island. He also commanded mighty Earth Release techniques, including one that could turn a target to stone at his touch, and he was famous for his flight ability, which let him soar at high speed even in old age and which he could extend to other people and objects, on one occasion carrying an entire island-turtle through the air. His combat experience, strategic mind, and willingness to take calculated risks made him a significant presence despite his age, and he remained determined to be remembered as a leader who protected his people to the very end.