Zuo Hao

Biodata

Power Progression

Background and History

Zuo Hao and his younger brother Sasuke survive the Uchiha massacre and spend the following five years in the largely abandoned clan compound. Villagers shun them, while ANBU keep them under surveillance. Zuo Hao generally meets public insults with indifference but resents Konoha’s failure to explain the massacre or protect its survivors 2 3 5.

He graduates from the Ninja Academy in first place with full marks and joins an unusual four-person Team 7 alongside Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura, under Kakashi. When Root operatives attack him during team training and again while he is with Ino, Zuo Hao fights back lethally. Danzo subsequently accuses him over the Root deaths, while Kakashi and Ino support his account that Root attacked first 3 7 9 10 12 13 14.

Zuo Hao comes to believe that the Third Hokage is protecting Danzo. He chooses a system mission to cooperate with Orochimaru’s planned attack on Konoha and kill Hiruzen himself, despite recognizing what that could cost him with Sasuke and Team 7. During the Chūnin Exams, he meets Orochimaru in the Forest of Death and forms an alliance with him inside the Kamui Dimension, on the condition that Orochimaru not harm Sasuke again 16 38 41.

On the eve of the exams’ preliminary round, Torune Aburame impersonates Ino and exposes Zuo Hao to chakra-consuming poisonous insects. Paralyzed and gravely ill, Zuo Hao sends Sasuke to find Kakashi before allowing ANBU to take him to Konoha Hospital 49 50.

Appearance

Zuo Hao has black hair and normally dark eyes that turn scarlet when he activates his Sharingan 5 6 28.

• At twelve, he is nearly half a body shorter than an adult ANBU operative 5 6.
• His active Sharingan bears three tomoe 12 28.
• Cursed Seal Stage Two spreads black markings across his body and produces a pair of wings 12.

Personality

Zuo Hao is outwardly relaxed and often taunts opponents even when they are dangerous. He mocks Kisame while letting Samehada pass through him and provokes Zabuza into repeatedly attacking his intangible body 18 22. His composure is less secure where Konoha’s authorities are concerned: after Hiruzen stops his retaliation against Root, he admits to himself that his growing strength still does not feel sufficient 11.

Protecting Sasuke takes precedence over his standing in the village. He also puts himself between Ino and attacks he could otherwise evade, and sends Naruto toward Iruka after intervening in Mizuki’s deception 4 11 12 47. His willingness to spare Lee after Guy accepts responsibility contrasts with the lethal force he uses against Root operatives trying to kill him 10 13 33.

Abilities and Skills

Kamui Dimension and intangibility

Zuo Hao gains basic control of the Kamui Dimension through his link with Obito. He can make attacks pass through his body and open a passage into the dimension 1 18 24 41.

• Uses brief intangibility to evade strikes and counterattack immediately afterward 6.
• Stores Zabuza’s Kubikiribōchō in the dimension and later transports Orochimaru there 24 41.
• Cannot rely on evasion when an attack would instead hit someone behind him; he takes a wind attack to protect Ino 12.

Sharingan and genjutsu

His Three-Tomoe Sharingan tracks fast movements and supports powerful illusions 23 25.

• Follows Haku’s movement through the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals and identifies an opening in the technique 23.
• Immobilizes Gato and more than a hundred armed followers with Sharingan genjutsu 25.
• Suppresses Gaara’s emerging transformation and puts Shukaku to sleep with a glance 48.
• Creates Mirror Flower, Water Moon, a two-layer illusion in which recognizing and trying to dispel the apparent first illusion draws a victim into the second 35.

Ninjutsu and combat

• Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame — A B-rank technique awarded after graduation. Indra’s Chakra greatly increases its power; Zuo Hao later directs its flames around a fallen opponent and toward Torune’s hiding place 3 6 43.
• Cursed Seal of Heaven — Stage Two grants wings and flight and more than doubles his speed. The seal carries senjutsu chakra and, according to Zuo Hao, lacks the usual side effects 12 13 14 16.
• Nine-Tails Chakra affinity — After Naruto’s bond reaches Level 3, Zuo Hao can touch Nine-Tails chakra without being burned. He uses a small amount to temporarily disrupt Haku’s chakra flow 24.
• Close combat and Body Flicker — Combines rapid movement with precise strikes against ANBU and defeats three Rain ninja in three breaths 6 38.

Equipment and Items

• Kubikiribōchō — Takes Zabuza’s sword after Kakashi mortally wounds him and stores it in the Kamui Dimension 24.

Relationships

• Sasuke Uchiha — Younger brother and fellow massacre survivor. They compete, but Zuo Hao repeatedly places Sasuke’s safety above his own interests 2 3 47.
• Itachi Uchiha — Older brother. Itachi warns Danzo against harming Zuo Hao or Sasuke and later acknowledges Zuo Hao’s growth 17 18.
• Naruto Uzumaki — Teammate and Bond Link target. Zuo Hao protects him from Mizuki, teases him regularly, and helps him against Haku 4 19 23 24.
• Ino Yamanaka — Confesses that she likes Zuo Hao because he defended Sasuke years earlier. After he protects her from Root, they agree he will answer her confession in three years if her feelings remain 11 12 13.
• Kakashi Hatake — Team 7 instructor. Kakashi defends him from Root, supports his account of the attacks, and tells him he is on the brothers’ side 9 13 47.
• Obito Uchiha — First Bond Link target. Zuo Hao later offers Gato’s fortune to support Obito’s Akatsuki efforts and hopes to strengthen their bond 1 26.
• Neji Hyuga — Zuo Hao identifies a weakness in Neji’s Rotation, defeats him, and challenges his reliance on inherited techniques and prescribed forms 29 30.
• Danzo Shimura — Root leader whose operatives repeatedly target Zuo Hao. Their conflict drives Zuo Hao’s break with Konoha’s leadership 9 12 14 16 49.
• Orochimaru — An uneasy ally in the planned attack on Konoha; Orochimaru agrees to cooperate in exchange for access to study the Sharingan 41.