Kabuto

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Spy training and service to Orochimaru

Kabuto was trained as a spy from childhood, living among the lies and betrayals he came to despise. While operating in Sunagakure, he fell under Sasori’s mind-control technique. Orochimaru removed it without Sasori learning that Kabuto was no longer controlled 3 10.

He also helped Orochimaru create Uchiha Shin’s early clones. His attachment to the Konoha Orphanage remained strong: when facing a dangerous enhancement procedure, he asked to be buried there if he died, so he could watch over the place its director had cherished 7 8.

Accepting Sasuke’s return from the future

When Sasuke returned to Orochimaru’s hideout, he incapacitated Kabuto with Mangekyō genjutsu. After awakening, Kabuto questioned whether Sasuke had manipulated Orochimaru and demanded evidence for their account of the future. Sasuke showed him future events through genjutsu, but Kabuto still feared that the vision itself might be deceptive 2 3 5.

Kabuto offered to take Orochimaru’s place as the Shinigami ritual’s sacrifice. Orochimaru refused, explicitly valuing Kabuto’s life above satisfying his curiosity. Witnessing Orochimaru become the Shinigami’s jinchūriki finally dispelled Kabuto’s doubts and secured his allegiance to both Orochimaru and Sasuke 5.

Enhancements and the Ten Battles Plan

At Orochimaru’s urging, Kabuto accepted Hashirama cells and Ke’s Mangekyō Sharingan. Although initially unsure he could control them, he survived the transformation and began using Blade Reversal to transport the group. On Blue Moon Island, he became Sasuke’s daily sparring partner during preparation for the Ten Battles 8 9 10.

Kabuto used his old connection to Sasori to lure him to Tenchi Bridge. During the duel, he tried to intervene when Sasuke was poisoned, but Orochimaru stopped him. He later brought warning of Akatsuki’s attack on the Northern Hideout and transported the group there to help Karin, Suigetsu, and Jugo 12 13 19.

As Orochimaru abandoned his old network, Kabuto received orders to close the hideouts and dismiss most peripheral personnel. He also investigated Kakuzu and Hidan’s movements, warning that White Zetsu might have detected him 20 21.

Rōran and Gaara’s revival

At Rōran, Kabuto suppressed the Dragon Vein while Orochimaru and Sasuke worked on the Yang Seal. After the operation, he treated Baki’s injuries despite their guarded relationship as former partners 37 42.

Learning that Gaara might die before the rescue party arrived, Kabuto independently sought Chiyo. He delivered Sasori’s final message and asked her to teach him Life Reincarnation, intending to revive Gaara at the cost of his own life. His private plan was to continue supporting Orochimaru and Sasuke afterward in an Impure World Reincarnation body 43 44.

Kabuto brought Chiyo to Gaara through a Blade Reversal mark on Sasuke. Chiyo chose to perform the resurrection herself and died after reviving Gaara, leaving Kabuto deeply affected by her example. Back on Blue Moon Island, Sasuke reminded him to consult the team before taking such risks alone 46.

Protecting Sasuke and searching for Naruto

Kabuto continued observing Sasuke’s development. During the Third Match, he questioned Orochimaru about the White Cursed Seal’s adaptive properties and whether those abilities would remain after its core was absorbed. During the Fourth Battle, he recognized that Sasuke and Itachi had stopped physically moving and were instead fighting through genjutsu 50 56.

When Obito interrupted the brothers’ confrontation, Kabuto arrived with Karin and Orochimaru. He used Wood Release to bind Obito at the moment he became solid, helping prevent the ambush on Sasuke 60.

His fieldwork subsequently located Jiraiya in the ruins of the Uzumaki clan in the Land of Whirlpools. After Sasuke’s Fifth Battle, Kabuto reported that Naruto and Yamato were nearby, but respected Sasuke’s decision to postpone meeting Naruto. He also requested permission to retrieve the Uzumaki documents, receiving Orochimaru’s approval to study and safeguard their secrets 67 75.

Black Zetsu later accessed Kabuto’s memories, including the future Sasuke had shown him. Kabuto remained composed and attempted to persuade Zetsu to abandon his plan. By the subsequent rescue-planning meeting, Kabuto’s right eye was blind and his hand had been severed. Orochimaru supplied a White Zetsu replacement hand and assigned him, Jiraiya, Itachi, and Karin to investigate Naruto’s whereabouts while Sasuke continued the Ten Battles 77 78.

Kabuto later used a Flying Thunder God kunai to summon Orochimaru and Sasuke for a report. With Itachi’s illness worsening and Kabuto’s right eye still blind, Orochimaru prioritized a journey to Ryūchi Cave to obtain medicine for Itachi and have Kabuto learn its Transformation Sage Art 99.

Ryūchi Cave trials and sage training

Kabuto entered Ryūchi Cave with Sasuke and Itachi, determined to stop holding Orochimaru and Sasuke back. At the fork leading to the trials, he separated from the brothers and proceeded alone 101 102.

His opponent was the Cobra King, Manda’s father and the strongest of Ryūchi Cave’s Third-Generation Snake Kings. Unable to match the giant serpent’s power directly, Kabuto relied on movement, underground evasion, traps, and precise chakra control. He ultimately developed a compact Wood Release attack that clamped the Cobra King’s jaws shut and introduced poison through flowering growths near its nostrils. The victory impressed Sasuke, who recognized that he had underestimated Kabuto 107.

After reaching the temple, Kabuto was pleased to find Itachi restored by the Sage Medicine. The White Snake Sage then injected him with refined Sage Power. The transformation produced snake-like features and intense aggression, which Kabuto initially tried to suppress because he knew how his previous-life counterpart’s agitation had contributed to defeat. The Sage instead advised him to accept his fury and make it a weapon 108.

Recognizing his potential, the White Snake Sage sent Kabuto with Tagorihime to Dragon Transformation Sage Mountain. Tagorihime petrified him for transport. The Sage explained that learning the petrification technique would require him to become her goddaughter Shinji’s mate; when the group later prepared to leave, she already described Kabuto as her “son-in-law,” much to his surprise 108 112.

Outside the cave, Orochimaru used Kagami’s Amaterasu-Ōmikami to restore Kabuto’s right-eye sight. The returning light initially overwhelmed him, but his vision gradually became clear 112 113.

Battle with Madara and the Eighth Battle

Kabuto confronted Madara on Paradise Island after assessing the aftermath of Madara’s battle with Killer B. He revealed a more developed Snake Sage transformation and Ke’s left-eye space-cutting ability 163.

During their battle, Kabuto deliberately approached Madara to apply a Blade Reversal mark. He survived decapitation by emerging from a white snake, teleported White Rage beside Madara, and pulled the immobilized opponent into stabbing range. Madara healed with Nine-Tails chakra and severed his marked hand to remove the dōjutsu seal 164.

The confrontation escalated into a contest between Madara’s cursed-seal-enhanced Sage abilities and Kabuto’s Susanoo, eight-headed serpent techniques, and spatial slashes. Kabuto survived body destruction and being cut in half, petrified part of Madara, and used Inorganic Reincarnation and Sage Snake Poison to bring him close to defeat. Madara praised Kabuto as stronger than Jiraiya, but awakened Straight Tomoe and Perfect Susanoo while refusing to yield 164 165.

Kabuto also assisted the preparations for Sasuke’s Eighth Battle, with Orochimaru depending on him to obtain biological material for its additional opponent. He ultimately revealed himself as the caster who summoned Mu, Gengetsu, the Third Raikage, Rasa, and Izuna. After warning them that Sasuke had recently defeated the Five Kage, he withdrew and left the combat to them 153 170.

Shikamaru’s request and the defense of Sunagakure

Kabuto’s intelligence agents in the Land of Wind became the contact point for Shikamaru’s attempt to reach Orochimaru. Orochimaru initially postponed the matter until the Ten Battles were complete. Kabuto also obtained information from Shinji about Tsunade’s capture and Shikaku’s subjection to Obito’s genjutsu 242.

After Orochimaru transplanted Fugaku’s eyes into Sasuke, Kabuto agreed to oversee Sasuke’s care and handle Shikamaru’s request personally. He traveled to Sunagakure, broke Shikamaru’s initial Shadow Possession connection, and questioned him about his purpose 261 262.

Shikamaru presented Inoichi’s tooth as material for Impure World Reincarnation, hoping the revived Inoichi could expose Black Zetsu’s impersonation of Sasuke. Kabuto challenged him to account for the required living sacrifice. Gaara then provided a captured White Zetsu, but Obito interrupted Kabuto’s hand seals before the summoning could proceed 262 263.

Obito demanded Naruto’s whereabouts and attacked when he rejected Kabuto’s answer. Kabuto repeatedly cut through his attacks with Spatial Severing, while Gaara, Temari, and Sand shinobi intervened to protect Sunagakure. Kabuto anticipated Obito’s attempt to attack from behind and began White Rage 264.

When Obito unleashed Super Shinra Tensei, Kabuto’s reanimated pillars supported Gaara’s immense sand defense, which Sakura reinforced. The village survived, although approximately thirty percent of its buildings collapsed. Exhausted afterward, Kabuto explained that Non-Limit Reincarnation’s changes could not be reversed. He promised to help Naruto but could not retrieve the tooth required for Shikamaru’s proposed revival of Inoichi 266.

Later support and Isshiki’s white Kāma

Kabuto continued testing and supporting Sasuke. During the demonstration of Susanoo: Living Body Mode, Sasuke evaded his spatial slash and knocked him out of Susanoo. Kabuto openly marveled at the form’s defense, speed, and future potential 280.

When Orochimaru remained out of contact for ten days, Kabuto initially moved to investigate immediately. Sasuke warned him against acting rashly, and Kabuto acknowledged that concern for Orochimaru had cost him his composure, leaving the decision to Sasuke 287.

During the effort to save Orochimaru and Sasuke from their linked crisis, Kabuto began using Chiyo’s Reincarnation Ninjutsu to transfer soul energy to the critically weakened Karin. He later remained among the observers of Sasuke’s expanded space-time abilities and explanation of his plans against the Ōtsutsuki 304 310 315.

By the battle against the Ten-Tails, Obito had taken Ke’s right eye from Kabuto during the earlier battle on Blue Moon Island. Kabuto still retained the left eye and its Spatial Severing. A later evacuation passage shows his headless corpse being carried by Jugo, although subsequent chapters again depict him alive 326 346 428.

Kabuto was the remaining prospective recipient of Isshiki’s white Kāma when Sasuke, Itachi, and Obito surrounded the dying Ōtsutsuki. Amado subsequently confirmed that Kabuto had inherited it. Kabuto accompanied the three Uchiha to Kara headquarters, then entered Isshiki’s Ten-Tails prison dimension with Sasuke and Obito 422 428.

He observed Sasuke’s preparations to overwrite Ayekashi’s near-death effect and his temporary transformation into Isshiki’s Ten-Tails jinchūriki. Kabuto suggested combining that form with Susanoo: Living Body Mode 429 430.

Death at Shi Mei’s hands

During the Deathmatch Arc, Kabuto’s body crumbled into powder in Shi Mei’s hand. Sasuke immediately activated Omotaru to reverse time to before the killing, but Kabuto did not reappear 507.

Refusing to accept the loss, Sasuke traveled back thirty years to his original arrival at Orochimaru’s hideout, only to find Kabuto absent there as well. He then traveled farther back to the Konoha Orphanage. These attempts did not recover Kabuto, distinguishing Shi Mei’s killing from a death Sasuke could simply undo through time reversal 507.

Appearance

• Glasses: Frequently adjusts them while speaking or observing battles; removes them to wipe away tears during Orochimaru’s reassurance 5 12 42.
• Right-eye Mangekyō Sharingan: Transplanted after his Hashirama-cell integration. Baki later notices the new eye and questions him about it 9 42.
• Blind right eye: Appears blank white after Izanagi. Orochimaru later restores its pupil and sight with Amaterasu-Ōmikami, but Obito subsequently takes the eye 108 113 326.
• Replacement hand: Receives a White Zetsu hand after losing his own 78.
• Initial Sage transformation: His left eye develops a white snake’s slit pupil, two asymmetrical horns emerge from his hairline, and white scales appear over the right half of his body 108.
• Developed Sage transformation: Displays purple-gold markings around his eyes and horns arranged in two sets of three. Nine white snakes emerge from beneath his clothing, one coiling around his waist and eight enlarging behind him 163.
• Serpentine lower body: Can transform his legs into a snake’s tail during combat 165.

Personality

Kabuto’s loyalty is intense but not uncritical. His childhood experiences make deception by trusted people particularly painful, and he insists on verifying Sasuke’s claims rather than accepting Orochimaru’s confidence alone. His caution during the Shinigami ritual comes from concern for Orochimaru’s safety, not a lack of devotion 3 5.

Being needed gives Kabuto a sense of belonging. Orochimaru’s reassurance and Sasuke’s invitation to pursue a greater purpose strengthen his resolve to support them. He can respond with dry humor, joking that even death would not free him from a life of service 8.

His concern increasingly extends to Sasuke’s emotional and moral burdens. The effort to save Gaara leads him to contemplate sacrificing his own life, while Chiyo’s final act teaches him to value the responsibilities of a ninja beyond obedience to the people he admires 43 44 46.

His pursuit of sagehood is driven by dissatisfaction with being a burden to Orochimaru and Sasuke. Rather than trying to imitate Sasuke’s large-scale Wood Release, he learns to value his own strengths in medical skill, precision, and tactical planning 102 107.

Ryūchi Cave’s Sage Power introduces intense aggression into his normally controlled disposition. Conscious of the mistakes made by his previous-life counterpart, Kabuto asks how to manage those emotions. He accepts the White Snake Sage’s advice to turn fury into an individual weapon rather than pursue an unattainable imitation of perfect calm. His subsequent combat manner becomes more provocative and openly mocking 108 164.

Kabuto remains a measured negotiator despite this ferocity. With Shikamaru, he probes motives, demands acknowledgment of Impure World Reincarnation’s moral cost, and recognizes the implications of the younger ninja’s deductions. Concern for Orochimaru remains a particular weakness: when his master disappears, he admits that anxiety has impaired his judgment and accepts Sasuke’s direction 262 287.

Abilities & Skills

Blade Reversal

A space-time dōjutsu housed in Uchiha Ke’s transplanted right Mangekyō Sharingan 8 9. Ke’s left eye later supplies a complementary space-cutting ability also called Blade Reversal, specifically identified as Spatial Severing 165 326.

• Transport: Moves himself and companions through a black vortex to marked destinations 9 11 19.
• Target retrieval: Can pull a distant marked target to his side; uses this against Sasuke during sparring 10.
• Inherited markers: Retains access to marks established before transplantation 9.
• Contact requirement: New marks must be applied through direct contact 10.
• Removable marks: Marks are visible and can be physically erased; Sasuke removes those on his body before sleeping 10.
• Operational secrecy: Kabuto avoids freely using the eye while Obito and Zetsu are watching 26.
• Senjutsu-reinforced marks: Sage chakra strengthens a mark beyond ordinary chakra-based removal. Madara sacrifices his marked hand to escape its effect 164.
• Attack relocation: Teleports White Rage beside a marked opponent, then retrieves the immobilized target for a close-range attack 164.
• Spatial Severing: The left eye produces space-cutting slashes that penetrate Madara’s Susanoo and Kurama armor. Kabuto later cuts through Obito’s Wood Dragon, Susanoo, and massive trees 164 264.
• Counterability: Madara’s Reflection redirects a spatial slash back at Kabuto, bisecting him. Sasuke later avoids the technique through the speed and perception of Susanoo: Living Body Mode 165 280.
• Eye availability: The right eye becomes blind after Izanagi, is restored by Orochimaru, and is later taken by Obito. Kabuto retains the left-eye Spatial Severing ability afterward 113 326.
• Origin knowledge: Kabuto knows that Ke, the original owner of the eyes, was Obito’s father; Obito does not know this connection during their Sunagakure confrontation 264.

Hashirama Cells and Wood Release

The transplanted cells improve Kabuto’s chakra and physical capabilities and enable Wood Release 9 10 37.

• Chakra suppression: Raises eight wooden pillars around the Dragon Vein altar and uses Hokage Style: Ear-Wrapping, Hand-Hanging Technique to stabilize its violent chakra 37.
• Endurance demand: Maintaining suppression for three days and nights is harder than initially containing the eruption 37.
• Cell quality: Orochimaru describes Kabuto’s cells as exceptionally pure, surpassing those given to Yamato 37.
• Power ceiling: Orochimaru explains that cell recipients can approach Hashirama’s power but cannot equal the original through transplantation alone 9.
• Suppression limit: Orochimaru does not assure him that he could suppress the Nine-Tails, despite expressing confidence about the Dragon Vein 37.
• Thorn Killing Technique: Uses vine-like wood to bind Obito, with additional wooden pillars restricting his movement 60.
• Precision specialization: Recognizes that his Wood Release cannot reproduce Sasuke’s sweeping power and instead applies his fine medical-ninja chakra control to compact, carefully shaped growths 107.
• Poison-delivery growths: A small wooden dragon seals the Cobra King’s jaws while flowers introduce incapacitating poison through its nostrils 107.

Medical Ninjutsu

Kabuto uses healing techniques both for himself and for others 10 42.

• Heals ordinary sparring injuries efficiently after his physical enhancement 10.
• Treats Baki with green-glowing chakra from his hands at Orochimaru’s request 42.
• Possesses extremely precise chakra control, which he applies beyond medicine to develop his personal Wood Release fighting style 107.
• Accepts responsibility for overseeing Sasuke’s care after the transplantation of Fugaku’s eyes 261.

Espionage and Intelligence

Kabuto’s childhood training and experience across several nations support the group’s intelligence work 3 44.

• Exploits Sasori’s belief that he remains a controlled spy to arrange the Tenchi Bridge encounter 10 12.
• Receives the Northern Hideout attack report from an informant 19.
• Tracks Kakuzu and Hidan while recognizing the danger of White Zetsu’s surveillance 21.
• Locates Jiraiya in the Land of Whirlpools despite the difficulty of tracking his movements 67.
• Maintains intelligence agents in the Land of Wind, through whom Sunagakure’s ANBU and Shikamaru establish contact with Orochimaru’s group 242.
• Uses Shinji as a source for information about Jiraiya’s visit to Ryūchi Cave, Tsunade’s imprisonment, and Shikaku’s condition 242.
• Correctly anticipates much of Shikamaru’s purpose before their meeting and recognizes how closely his deductions approach the truth about Sasuke 261 262.

Research and Combat Support

• Cloning research: Co-created Shin’s twelve early clones with Orochimaru 7.
• Sparring: Combines enhanced physical abilities, healing, and Blade Reversal to challenge Sasuke’s developing techniques 10.
• Battle analysis: Recognizes threats such as Sasori’s poison and identifies the steel-wire setup behind Sasuke’s shadow-clone tactic 13 15.
• Genjutsu recognition: Notices that Sasuke and Itachi remain physically motionless despite their apparent battle, identifying it as a genjutsu contest 56.
• Uzumaki archives: Seeks to retrieve, study, and protect documents from the ruined Land of Whirlpools with Orochimaru’s approval 75.
• Flying Thunder God signaling: Channels chakra into Orochimaru’s marked kunai to call him across a great distance; this is a means of summoning Orochimaru’s assistance, not a demonstration of Kabuto independently casting Flying Thunder God 99.
• Group combat testing: Joins Itachi, Nagato, and Suigetsu in testing Sasuke’s Susanoo: Living Body Mode 280.

Ryūchi Cave Senjutsu

Kabuto receives Sage Power directly from the White Snake Sage and undergoes further training at Dragon Transformation Sage Mountain 108.

• Transformation Sage Art: Ryūchi Cave’s tradition emphasizes physical energy in the balance of physical, spiritual, and natural energy. It produces extensive bodily changes and aggressive emotions, whose control improves with mastery 108.
• Individual emotional discipline: Learns to harness fury rather than simply suppress it, distinguishing his approach from Shikkotsu Forest’s ideal of absolute stillness 108.
• Natural-energy gathering: His developed transformation draws an astonishing quantity of natural energy while the eight snakes behind him enlarge 163.
• White Rage: Emits blinding light, overwhelming noise, and vibrations that leave Madara conscious but unable to fight. Blade Reversal lets Kabuto reposition the attack to make evasion difficult 164.
• Eight-Headed Serpent Devour: Uses an eight-headed serpent defense against Madara’s Sage-enhanced attacks 164.
• Eight-Headed Serpent Sage Jade: Fires sage-power cannons from eight enlarged white snakes, intercepting eight simultaneous attacks from Madara. The effort nearly exhausts his Sage Mode 165.
• Stone Spit: Petrifies an opponent with Sage-powered saliva. Madara prevents further spread by sealing his chakra points, but cannot restore the portions already turned to stone 165.
• Inorganic Reincarnation: Infuses the environment with life-like movement, transforming the earth into sharp barbs that trap and attack Madara 165.
• Sage Snake Poison: Uses Ryūchi Cave poison to weaken Madara and disable his Susanoo 165.
• Non-Limit Reincarnation: Produces altered pillars that help support Sunagakure’s defenses. Kabuto states that the resulting changes cannot be undone 266.
• Resource limit: His strongest serpent attacks can consume enough sage power to bring his transformation close to ending; his fight with Madara forces him toward this limit 165.

Serpentine Survival and Mobility

• Body shedding: Survives Madara’s decapitation by emerging from the white snake coiled around his waist 164.
• Replacement body: Escapes a devastating strike by producing a new body while the attack destroys his discarded snakeskin 165.
• Reconnection: White snakes extend from the severed surfaces of his torso and lower body, link together, and reconnect him after Reflection bisects him 165.
• Snake-tail movement: Replaces his legs with a serpentine tail for rapid combat movement 165.
• Underground evasion: Uses Subterranean Voyage to escape the Cobra King and prepare a surprise attack 107.

Susanoo

Kabuto demonstrates Susanoo during his battle with Madara, using it alongside his serpentine defenses. Madara’s enhanced attacks nearly crush it, forcing Kabuto to answer with Spatial Severing 164.

He later uses Susanoo while testing Sasuke’s Living Body Mode, but Sasuke’s counterattack knocks him out of it 280.

Reincarnation Ninjutsu

• Impure World Reincarnation: Summons Mu, Gengetsu, the Third Raikage, Rasa, and Izuna for Sasuke’s Eighth Battle 170.
• Summoning requirements: Recognizes the need for the deceased person’s biological material and a living sacrifice. He begins preparations to revive Inoichi using a tooth and a captured White Zetsu, but Obito interrupts the ritual 262 263.
• Life Reincarnation: Initially asks Chiyo to teach him this life-for-life forbidden technique to revive Gaara. Later demonstrates its soul-energy transfer aspect when attempting to save Karin 44 304.
• Original contingency: Before Chiyo revives Gaara herself, Kabuto privately plans to sacrifice his life and continue serving Orochimaru and Sasuke in a reanimated body 44 46.

Izanagi

Kabuto uses Izanagi at the cost of sight in his transplanted right Mangekyō Sharingan. Its resulting blindness temporarily removes the space-time transportation on which the group relies 78 113.

Orochimaru later reverses the blindness through Kagami’s Amaterasu-Ōmikami, restoring the pupil and vision 113.

White Kāma

Kabuto inherits Isshiki’s white Kāma, as confirmed by Amado at Kara headquarters 428.

The white form entrusts an Ōtsutsuki’s power without carrying the reincarnation function of black Kāma. Sasuke anticipates Kabuto as Isshiki’s remaining possible recipient after Isshiki has used his opportunity to implant black Kāma and cannot reach Sasuke, Itachi, or Obito 422.

Relationships

• Orochimaru — Master and central source of belonging. Kabuto repeatedly offers his life for him; Orochimaru’s insistence that Kabuto is precious strengthens their bond 3 5 8. Orochimaru sponsors his sage training, supplies a replacement hand, and restores his blinded eye. Kabuto later takes responsibility for Sasuke’s care and negotiations so Orochimaru can leave the island, but remains vulnerable to losing composure when his master is endangered 78 102 113 261 287.
• Sasuke Uchiha — Initially distrusted, later supported as a leader and teammate. Kabuto serves as his sparring partner and transporter; Sasuke insists they face risks together 5 8 10 46. Sasuke watches his Ryūchi Cave trial with concern and admiration, continues testing new abilities against him, and attempts to reverse his death through repeated journeys into the past 107 280 507.
• Sasori — Former controller during Kabuto’s espionage work in Sunagakure. Kabuto helps lure him into Sasuke’s First Battle, then conveys his final wishes to Chiyo 10 12 44.
• Chiyo — Initially distrustful of Kabuto’s reputation as a double agent. Her decision to revive Gaara in his place profoundly changes his understanding of responsibility 44 46. He later uses her Reincarnation Ninjutsu in an effort to save Karin 304.
• Baki — Former partner with whom he shares guarded familiarity. Treats Baki’s injuries while deflecting questions about his transplanted eye 42.
• Karin — Teammate. Restrains her from entering Sasuke’s Second Match, prompting her to bite his arm; both collapse in relief when Sasuke survives 24 25. They participate in the search for Naruto, and Kabuto later attempts to save her through soul-energy transfer 78 304.
• Konoha Orphanage director — An enduring emotional influence. Kabuto wishes to protect the place the director cherished, even imagining watching over it after death 8. Sasuke’s search for him after Shi Mei’s killing reaches the orphanage and Yakushi Nonō’s encounter with Danzo 507.
• Itachi Uchiha — Teammate whose recovery sincerely pleases Kabuto. They travel together to Ryūchi Cave, and Itachi recognizes Kabuto’s devotion as a source of potential growth 101 107 108. They later accompany Sasuke and Obito to Kara headquarters 428.
• White Snake Sage — Grants Kabuto Sage Power and makes an exception to her customary practice by giving him personal instruction. She recognizes his potential, arranges further training, and later calls him her “son-in-law” 108 112.
• Tagorihime — Assigned to escort and train Kabuto at Dragon Transformation Sage Mountain. Petrifies him for transport, combining teasing familiarity with forceful handling 108.
• Shinji — The White Snake Sage’s goddaughter. The Sage links learning Stone Spit to becoming Shinji’s mate and later identifies Kabuto as her “son-in-law.” Shinji also provides him with intelligence about Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shikaku 108 112 242.
• Madara Uchiha — Opponent on Paradise Island. Their battle becomes a contest of specialized counters and endurance; Madara praises Kabuto’s sage strength as exceeding Jiraiya’s, while Kabuto brings him near defeat before his Perfect Susanoo awakening 163 164 165.
• Obito Uchiha — Initially an enemy who suspects Kabuto’s space-time abilities, fights him in Sunagakure, and takes Ke’s right eye from him 31 264 326. After Obito’s change of allegiance, they accompany Sasuke on the Kara and Ten-Tails mission 428.
• Shikamaru Nara — Negotiating partner in the attempt to revive Inoichi and clear Sasuke’s name. Kabuto tests his motives and understanding of the ritual’s cost, then attempts the summoning before Obito interrupts 261 262 263.
• Gaara — Beneficiary of Kabuto’s effort to involve Chiyo in his rescue. Gaara acknowledges Kabuto’s role without treating it as a simple debt, protects him during Obito’s attack, and combines defenses with him to save Sunagakure 264 266.
• Temari — Helps arrange a concealed Sand shinobi force to protect Kabuto during his confrontation with Obito 264.
• Isshiki Ōtsutsuki — Source of the white Kāma Kabuto inherits near the end of Isshiki’s defeat 422 428.
• Shi Mei — Kills Kabuto in a manner that Sasuke cannot undo through immediate time reversal or recover from by visiting earlier periods of his life 507.

Notable Quotes

“If what you've said is truly the truth, then I will do everything in my power to follow you... and Sasuke-kun!” 3

“The past is set in stone, but the future can still be changed.” 44

“Thank you... Lady Chiyo. I will remember you and your words!” 46

“I won't let you down, Lord Orochimaru!” 102

“If I apply that fine control to Wood Release, I can create a style of Wood Release that belongs to me alone!!” 107

“You're right, Sasuke-kun... with Lord Orochimaru's safety at stake, I lost my composure!” 287