Suien, a former Takigakure jōnin and Shibuki's teacher, abandoned his village to become a missing-nin. Driven by a power-hungry nature and impatience, he demonstrated cruelty toward former allies and villagers to achieve his goals. His appearance featured long spiky hair, a goatee, and a bandanna, typically dressed in a dark blue jacket and grey pants.

He masterminded an attack on Takigakure, recruiting Amegakure rogue ninja—Teams Kirisame, Murasame, and Hisame—to infiltrate. His objective was seizing the Hero Water, an artifact that temporarily multiplied the drinker's chakra at the cost of their lifespan. To pressure Shibuki into surrendering it, Suien took villagers hostage and threatened their lives.

Highly skilled in Water Release techniques, kenjutsu, and taijutsu, Suien manipulated water instantly without hand signs, creating defensive walls or offensive blades. Novel adaptations expanded his skillset to summoning giant koi and catfish, generating labyrinthine barriers with traps, and projecting his voice via an Echo Technique. He possessed vast chakra reserves even before consuming the Hero Water.

After Shibuki drank the Hero Water and fought him, Suien impaled him, recovered the remaining water, and consumed it himself. This augmented his strength and chakra further, allowing him to overpower opponents like Naruto and Sasuke until Naruto tapped into the Nine-Tails' chakra. During the battle, Suien attempted to drink more Hero Water but was disarmed by Sasuke. Naruto then defeated him with shadow clones, launching him off a waterfall to his death.