Naruto- Kokezaru Saizo

From the founding days of Kumogakure no Sato under Shodai Raikage, there has existed an organization hidden even from the village's rank and file shinobi. Its overriding purpose was simple: to adapt enemy Nin- and Genjutsu for the use of the Hidden Cloud and to develop new techniques to help raise their village to the peak of military power. This organization is known as 'Summit,' the top secret Research & Development division of Kumogakure's Intelligence community, and no one shinobi has best exemplified its ideals than the 'Noble Savage of the Cloud,' Kokezaru Saizo.

A prodigy amongst his generation, young Saizo studied deeply into the art of creating and manipulating jutsu from even a young age, a skill which rivaled only his use of them. He advanced through the ranks quickly, becoming a Jounin at age 14 and garnering him the attention of the village's Director of Intelligence, Kageri Kuromaku. Within days, Saizo was recruited onto Director Kageri's team and placed as the lieutenant of the head of Summit at that time.

By the time of the Third Great Shinobi War, Kokezaru Saizo had already garnered many an ally within Summit and had begun to plot his ascension to the head of the organization before being sent to the battlefield. Along with his subordinates, Kamenoko Yuudai and Hasami (known as 'Saizo's Shield' and 'Saizo's Blade respectively), this trio made a name for themselves on the battlefields against the shinobi of Sunagakure and Konohagakure, all the while preparing for a personal project that Saizo had been ruminating on for some time. By collecting cell samples from powerful summoned animal companions from various hidden villages, Saizo had created a special curse seal that would inject these cells into the host's body and grant them the strengths and powers of whomever the sample had been taken while in the subject was in their 'Animal Form.'

For Yuudai, Saizo created the 'Cursed Tortoise' seal, taken from a tortoise summon from Konohagakure. For Hasami, the 'Cursed Scorpion' seal was created, imbuing him with the power of a scorpion summon from Sunagakure. Saizo's own research assistant, Hitokage Heizen, was given the 'Cursed Salamander' seal, using cells taken from the personal summoning of Hanzou of Amegakure, while Kokezaru Saizo himself took on the 'Cursed Monkey' seal, which made use of DNA samples taken of the Monkey King Enma during the legendary battle between Sandaime Raikage and Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure.

The success of his research and the effectiveness of Saizo's curse seals on the battlefield made possible his promotion to head of 'Summit' by the Sandaime, but under Yondaime, funds were cut from the project in favor of research into enemy Doujutsu and the perfection of the sealing of Bijuu into Jinchuuriki. Saizo did all he could to regain favor with the Raikage, but when that failed, he turned to outside means to gain the funds, including collaboration with a group of Missing-Nin called the Akatsuki. In exchange for information on how to infiltrate Kumogakure in order to acquire the Nibi no Nekomata, Saizo was promised a substantial reward and further samples for his research. Upon meeting up with his contact, a former shinobi from Takigakure name Kakuzu, Kamenoko Yuudai, Hasami and Kokezaru Saizo himself were promptly killed when they requested their payment after fulfilling their end of the deal.

The deaths of Saizo and his associates by the Akatsuki are well-known by Kumogakure's Intelligence community, but the new head of 'Summit,' Hitokage Heizen, has ensured that the treachery of his old master has remained hidden to this day.

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Naruto (c) Kishimoto Masashi
Kokezaru Saizo (c) R-Zion