Ōnoki

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Ōnoki (大野木)
Alias(es)	Third Tsuchikage; Third Lord; “Third Grandpa,” used by Natsuki 121 278 330
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Iwagakure, Land of Earth 121
Occupation/Role	Third Tsuchikage; later Tsuchikage’s Aide, mentor, and active military commander 278 330 512
Status	Alive and active; participates in the capture of the reanimated First Raikage 605
First Appearance	Mentioned in Yichen’s succession plans 4; personally infiltrates Uzushio Village 26

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Kage-level ninja	121	A retrospective account establishes that he reached Kage level while young, before succeeding Mu during the First Shinobi War.
Senjutsu training begins	228	Begins practicing Sage Arts after Yichen shares his training documents 224 228.
Sage Mode achieved	246	Can enter Sage Mode within a Sealing Barrier. Insights gained during training greatly shorten Dust Release’s charging time, producing a qualitative increase in combat power.
Lightning Release through Sage Chakra	340	With Yichen’s assistance, successfully uses Lightning Release despite never having learned its conventional nature transformation.
Improved gravity control	416	Repeated movement between Supergravity Space and the normal world markedly improves his gravity-based ninjutsu and flying speed.
Initial progress in Banshō Ten’in	416	A technique he previously could not understand begins to become accessible through Yichen’s guidance and exposure to different gravitational environments; full mastery is not established.

Background / History

Ōnoki studied under Mu, the Second Tsuchikage, who taught him Dust Release and the Light-Weight Rock Technique. During the First Shinobi War, Mu’s death left Iwagakure without a leader. Already a young Kage-level ninja, Ōnoki was appointed Third Tsuchikage despite concerns about his age, experience, and ability to deter foreign enemies. With assistance from two elders, he led the Land of Earth out of this crisis 98 121 610.

For several decades before Yichen and Ikura rose to prominence, Ōnoki was Iwagakure’s only Kage-level fighter. The possibility of its Tailed Beasts going berserk was an important reason he hesitated to leave the village. His movements became less restricted once Han developed into a Perfect Jinchūriki capable of helping suppress other Tailed Beasts 381.

Ōnoki initially favored Ikura as his eventual successor, while directing Yichen toward an advisory role centered on strategy. After observing Yichen’s growth, he began considering both men equally as candidates for Fourth Tsuchikage 98 108.

Appearance

• Short stature: Described as a tiny figure when he appears above the battlefield, and as a “short old man” in Killer B’s assessment 422 604.
• Elderly: Remains an active combatant and traveler despite his advanced age 330 604.

Personality

Ōnoki is a calculating leader who uses intelligence leaks, exposed spies, and ambiguous rumors to turn rival villages against one another. His restraint is strategic rather than absolute: he delays spreading destabilizing news until Iwagakure has secured its own agreement with Hanzo, yet readily uses Dust Release against ordinary enemy ninja when doing so benefits his village 26 109 173.

As a mentor, he is patient, punctual, and attentive to individual potential. He gives Yichen seven consecutive days of personal instruction, explains material absent from the technique scroll, and warns him against dangerous self-experimentation. He also encourages the development of original signature techniques rather than dependence on established ninjutsu 98 108 125.

His rivalry with other Kage does not erase his sense of shared vulnerability. Although he welcomed news of the Third Kazekage’s death, seeing his old rival’s corpse turned into a puppet deeply unsettles him. Later, freedom from the burdens of office reveals an adventurous side: he wants to see the world properly and investigate traces of ancient mythology 164 330.

Abilities & Skills

Dust Release

• Classification: An S-rank offensive Kekkei Tōta combining Fire, Wind, and Earth Release 173 259.
• Battlefield role: Long-range, wide-area attacks capable of opening enormous gaps in enemy formations; particularly effective against concentrated troops 69 173.
• Original limitation: Its lengthy charging process produces intense chakra fluctuations, allowing comparable opponents to anticipate its direction and evade 246.
• Senjutsu-derived improvement: Sage Arts training greatly reduces the charging time. The Fourth Raikage finds its activation much faster than Kumogakure’s intelligence described 246 250.
• Power distinction: Ōnoki reports that entering Sage Mode does not itself increase Dust Release’s power; the major benefit comes from improved mastery 249.
• Counters: Dispersed formations reduce its efficiency. The reanimated First Raikage can defend against it with Lightning Release until Natsuki disrupts his movements 426 605.

Earth Release

• Primary conventional style: Uses Earth Release for routine combat, reserving Dust Release as his trump card. His Earth Release is itself comparable to that of a Kage-level ninja 294.
• Aerial interference: Uses Earth Release alongside Dust Release to slow fleeing opponents while overtaking them in the air 426.
• Limitations: The Fourth Raikage’s Lightning Armor allows him to force his way through these attacks; the First Raikage’s Lightning Release also restrains Ōnoki’s Earth Release 540 605.

Light-Weight Rock Technique and Gravity Control

• Flight: Alters gravity to achieve weightlessness and controlled aerial movement. He can fight while maintaining the technique 98.
• Transport: Uses the technique on other people; a clone helps him carry Han and Roshi back to Iwagakure 436.
• Aerial agility: His movement in the air is smoother than running on the ground, giving him greater maneuverability than the Fourth Raikage using flying armor 540.
• Environmental training: Alternating between Supergravity Space and normal gravity substantially increases his flying speed 416.
• Related techniques: Had previously studied Banshō Ten’in without success. Later shows signs of understanding it under Yichen’s guidance; Shinra Tensei is recommended, but mastery is not documented 416.

Sage Arts

• Entry method: Initially achieves Sage Mode within a Sealing Barrier 246.
• Elemental flexibility: Demonstrates that Sage Chakra can support a nature transformation he has not conventionally learned, successfully using Lightning Release with Yichen’s help 340.
• Ongoing training: Even after achieving Sage Mode, he acknowledges that fully mastering it remains time-consuming 294.

Teaching and Technical Research

• Practical instruction: Teaches through direct chakra infusion, controlled flight, and repeated exercises in precise gravity manipulation 98.
• Kekkei Tōta guidance: Supervises Yichen’s attempts to fuse three chakra natures and prepares the training ground before the experiment 260.
• Preserved knowledge: Supplies a detailed scroll combining Mu’s Dust Release development notes with his own learning process and post-senjutsu insights 409.
• Collaborative research: Draws on decades of Dust Release experience when analyzing Kekkei Tōta with Yichen, contributing more suggestions and ideas during their discussion 507.

Strategic Command

• Intelligence manipulation: Uses a known Sunagakure mole to deliver selected information and distract rival elites while he infiltrates Uzushio Village 26.
• Ambush planning: Deliberately leaks information to Root and personally leads four Anbu squads into the resulting operation 66.
• Risk management: Stops offensives rather than pursuing every defeated enemy; later chooses territorial expansion over occupying Sunagakure 173 512.
• Morale management: Has Matsutani Shinya impersonate Yichen in camp to conceal the Tsuchikage’s temporary absence 537.

Relationships

• Mu — Teacher and predecessor. Taught him Dust Release and the Light-Weight Rock Technique; Mu’s sudden death also left Ōnoki with unanswered questions about older ninjutsu and their origins 98 121 330 610.
• Yichen — Subordinate, pupil, research partner, and eventual successor. Their relationship develops into reciprocal instruction: Ōnoki guides Yichen’s advanced ninjutsu, while Yichen assists his Sage Chakra and gravity training 98 278 340 416.
• Ikura — Initially his preferred successor. Ōnoki deliberately nurtures his combat ability and later trusts his plans for reorganizing Iwagakure’s presence in the Land of Lightning 98 586.
• Natsuki — Agrees to adopt her after Yichen reports her unusual talent. She calls him “Third Grandpa,” accompanies his travels, and later helps him defeat the First Raikage 149 330 605.
• Sokai Uchiha — Lives in Ōnoki’s household. Participates in Iwagakure’s outreach to the Uchiha Clan and later monitors Shinno alongside him 282 328 564.
• Uchiyama Takuhiro — Young escort and gravity-technique trainee. Joins his journey so that he can experience Supergravity Space 330 416.
• Roshi — Traveling companion and fellow combatant. Ōnoki complains about being responsible for him, but they cooperate against Sunagakure and other enemies 381 422 580.
• Third Kazekage — Long-standing rival and occasional ally against Konoha. The discovery of his puppetized corpse prompts Ōnoki to reflect on the fate of defeated Kage 164.
• Fourth Raikage — Temporary ally against Konoha, later aerial opponent. Their alliance retains mutual suspicion; their subsequent duel initially ends in a stalemate 250 540.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Uzushio and the Sasori Ambush

Ōnoki secretly informs Konoha and Sunagakure about plans to destroy the Land of Whirlpools and seize its sealing techniques. While the rival forces fight, he enters Uzushio Village with a small elite guard. Yichen later credits him with rescuing Uzumaki survivors who subsequently joined Iwagakure 26 489.

He later engineers another confrontation by leaking information to Root, then personally leads four Anbu squads into the field. Yichen’s sensory abilities help locate the targets, and Ōnoki’s Dust Release contributes to a disastrous outcome for Konoha: only five of sixty elite Anbu and Root personnel survive the operation 66 67 69.

Nurturing Successors and Exploiting the Land of Rain

Ōnoki personally helps Yichen learn the Light-Weight Rock Technique and increasingly recognizes his potential as a successor. However, he remains candid about his own limits: after hearing about Nagato, he admits that even a Dust Release ambush might fail if the Rinnegan can detect or absorb it 98 107 108.

After securing Iwagakure’s agreement with Hanzo, he spreads vague reports of heavy losses in a Konoha–Amegakure clash. The resulting border attacks and retaliations nearly ignite another world war 109.

Third Shinobi World War

The Third Kazekage’s disappearance leads Ōnoki to assemble Iwagakure’s Official Jonin and order war preparations. When Yichen later brings back the Third Kazekage Puppet, Ōnoki and the leadership decide to return it to Sunagakure through negotiations handled by Ikura 113 164.

On the battlefield, his Dust Release forces Konoha into retreat. After Iwagakure pushes the front to the Land of Fire’s border, he accepts the need to stop despite the victory; more than a fifth of Iwa’s force has become casualties 173.

Senjutsu Breakthrough and Jiraiya’s Death

Ōnoki completes senjutsu training and sharply improves Dust Release’s casting speed. Eager to test this new strength, he plans an ambush on Jiraiya in the Land of Hot Water, using Cloud ninja as a distraction and taking Yichen with him 246 248.

His Dust Release disrupts Jiraiya and Orochimaru during their combined counterattack, enabling the Fourth Raikage to kill Jiraiya. Ōnoki then proposes an alliance with Kumogakure to launch the Fourth Shinobi War against Konoha 250.

Succession and Continued Administration

Ōnoki oversees the succession contest and personally dresses Yichen in the Tsuchikage’s hat and cloak at his inauguration. Although he steps back from the position, Yichen appoints him Tsuchikage’s Aide, responsible for matters when the Fourth cannot be contacted 275 278.

Yichen’s extensive delegation leaves Ōnoki frustrated that his successor appears to want the title without the routine work. Nevertheless, he continues supporting the administration and remains involved in policy toward Konoha and the Uchiha Clan 278 282.

Travels and Advanced Research

Ōnoki leaves Iwagakure to explore the ninja world with a young escort group. Beginning in the Land of Snow, he investigates clues found in the belongings of the First and Second Tsuchikage, hoping to learn whether ancient mythical figures and the village’s unusual techniques are connected 330.

His travels bring him to remote shrines and eventually Supergravity Space near Uzushio. He exchanges knowledge with Yichen, provides Dust Release research, and substantially improves his own gravity control 381 409 415 416.

Later Campaigns

Ōnoki joins Roshi and Kawakita in attacking Sunagakure’s retreating army. His improved flight and Dust Release speed allow him to overtake Chiyo and Pakura despite their preparations 422 426.

He later leads the defeat and looting of Sunagakure but declines to occupy the village or pursue all survivors, concentrating instead on expansion into the northern Land of Wind 512.

Against Kumogakure, he fights the Fourth Raikage in the air; neither can initially overcome the other. After Iwagakure’s later capture of Kumogakure, he works with Ikura on withdrawal and the establishment of a better-positioned branch in the Land of Lightning 540 586.

Turtle Island

Ōnoki accompanies Yichen’s Kage-level force to Turtle Island, where Kumogakure deploys reanimated historical fighters. He initially targets the Third Raikage but instead engages the First Raikage after the latter intercepts his Dust Release 604.

Although he holds the advantage, the First Raikage’s Lightning Release prolongs the fight. Natsuki briefly takes control of the enemy’s body with Spirit Transformation Jutsu, creating an opening for Ōnoki’s Dust Release; Shion then seals the reanimated Raikage 605.

Notable Quotes

“We were just as young when we assumed our positions. We had two elders assisting and guiding us then, and when the time comes, we can guide Ikura and the others as well.” 121

“Wait until you've fully become Kage-level before leaving the village.” 185

“Now that the village has young people like you, I can take this chance to go out and see the world properly.” 330