Suigetsu Hozuki: The Liquid Swordsman of Taka

A body that turns to water, a giant sword and a collector's dream: Suigetsu Hozuki is the eccentric swordsman of Sasuke's team. Here is his profile.

The Hozuki Clan and Hydrification

Suigetsu is a swordsman from Kirigakure, a member of the Hozuki clan, which settled in the Hidden Mist village after the Warring States era and whose known members all bear a name ending in -getsu, "moon." His trademark remains the Hydrification Technique, which liquefies all or part of his body: a physical attack then passes through the water without wounding him. The databook classifies it as a clan hiden , and not as a kekkei genkai.

The process is largely automatic: the area struck liquefies without a conscious decision, then the body resolidifies. In exchange, he has to stay hydrated — hence the water bottles on his belt — and he reverts to a jelly state when he loses consciousness and recovers in a tank. Sealed inside a closed container, a Hozuki can no longer move or escape. His weak point: Lightning Release.

The clan gave the Hidden Mist a Mizukage, Gengetsu Hozuki, the Second, whose hydrification produces a mixture of water and oil; no kinship is established between them, only the same clan. The name does the rest: Suigetsu, "water moon," is the moon's reflection on the surface, what you see without being able to grasp it.

Mangetsu, the Older Brother, and the Birth of a Dream

Suigetsu and his older brother Mangetsu Hozuki carried out cruel missions day after day with a single goal: joining the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Mangetsu gets there and learns to wield all seven blades, Samehada included. His early death — canon gives neither the cause nor the circumstances — breaks his younger brother's motivation and shifts his goal: to gather the seven swords himself in order to re-form the group and lead it.

The third databook completes the profile: born February 18, 16 to 17 years old in Part II, 92 official missions including four S-rank, a motto — gekokujo, "the low overthrowing the high" —, a hobby, maintaining his sword, and a desired opponent, Kisame and the other Swordsmen. No ninja rank is assigned to him: his only official classification is that of a rogue ninja.

Orochimaru's Test Subject

Between the Hidden Mist and Taka there is an interlude that summaries skip over: Suigetsu was captured and used as a test subject by Orochimaru and by Kabuto Yakushi. His ambition stays on hold throughout that period, and the databook explains why the cage holds: a Hozuki placed in a sealed container is unable to move or to escape. Sasuke frees him from a containment tube — a water tank in the anime — just after killing the Sannin.

Captivity leaves an unexpected mark. By working on his body, Kabuto develops a comparable defensive ability, the Body Fluid Excretion Technique, in which he coats himself in his own fluids. A similar but distinct technique, and not a duplicated Hydrification: the clan's secret stays with the clan.

Taka's First Recruit

Freed by Sasuke, Suigetsu becomes the first member of his team — first named Hebi (the Snake), then Taka (the Hawk), alongside Karin and Jugo. He refuses any debt, though: everyone wanted Orochimaru dead, he explains, and Sasuke simply had more opportunities because he was the favorite. His real reason for following him comes down to one name: running into Kisame Hoshigaki and taking Samehada from him. He calls him "senpai" out of pure sarcasm; Kisame describes him as a prodigy of the art of murder, used to cutting off limbs before decapitating.

When Taka enters Tobi's service, the team puts on the black coat with red clouds, in a hooded version. Their status remains that of associate members of the Akatsuki: Taka was never a cell of it nor a full-fledged member.

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The Quest for the Seven Swords

His dream: to gather the seven blades of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist in order to re-form the group and lead it. He never belonged to that lineup, and only one of the seven weapons will ever pass through his hands. Three years after the death of Zabuza Momochi, he recovers the Kubikiribocho, the executioner's blade: in the manga, he takes it from his grave, in the Land of Waves. The anime adds a detour in which the blade had been looted by a mob boss and in which Suigetsu defeats his men without killing a single one, a bet set by Sasuke.

The first databook, the one from the Zabuza era, gives the weapon's stats: 250 centimeters for 30 kilos, a detachable handle, near-instant regeneration thanks to the iron in its victims' blood. Suigetsu does not have his predecessor's strength and tires from carrying it. As for the nickname "Second Coming of the Demon," echoing Zabuza, it refers to the two Hozuki brothers, and not to Suigetsu alone.

Another blade escapes him: Samehada. The duel he fights for it names no winner, Zetsu interrupts it; the weapon is sentient: it chooses its wielder and bristles with spikes to reject those it does not want.

Against Killer Bee, the Notched Blade

Tobi assigns Taka the capture of the Eight-Tails (Hachibi) jinchuriki, and the mission goes wrong. Suigetsu charges first and is disarmed at once: Killer Bee even wields the Kubikiribocho briefly. He then intercepts the blow that would have killed Sasuke and takes a lightning-charged strike that notches the blade deeply; Sasuke cancels his attack just in time to keep it from breaking.

Merged with the body of water, he forms the Water Release - Tate Eboshi and holds off the Eight-Tails in Tailed Beast Mode for a few moments, before acting as a shield against a Tailed Beast Bomb (Bijudama) fired at point-blank range. He does not defeat the eight-tailed beast: he stands up to its host, then collapses into a jelly-like state. The mission fails anyway, since Bee had swapped himself out with a tentacle clone.

The Kage Summit and the Loss of the Blade

At the Five Kage Summit, the Fourth Raikage strikes the blade exactly on the notch left by Killer Bee and breaks it in two; Suigetsu carries on with the remaining stump. The duel against Darui starts because he charges C, the Kumogakure sensor, and Darui intercepts the attack: he holds his own with a half-broken weapon, until Darui electrifies his own and pins him to the wall. Sasuke then abandons him with Jugo in the Land of Iron, where the samurai capture them and confiscate the sword.

After their escape, he searches for the weapon in vain: it had been given back to the Zabuza reanimated by the Edo Tensei (Reanimation Jutsu), who only fully restores it by wounding Kakashi; Kakashi seizes it, but no longer has it a few chapters later, and the Boruto anime finally shows it returned to Kirigakure. Suigetsu never sees it again in the manga.

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The War, Then Orochimaru's Lab

It is in the rain, once free, that Suigetsu learns of the existence of the Fourth Great Ninja War. He first flatly opposes Orochimaru's resurrection, then himself suggests attacking Konoha and obeys him with an honorific. He helps Katsuyu gather the two halves of Tsunade, cut in two by Madara, while Karin restores chakra to her, before being caught by the Infinite Tsukuyomi like the rest of the world. Taka then dissolves: he, Karin and Jugo return to Orochimaru's hideout to work there as assistants — the jailer turned employer.

Fifteen years later, he delivers the most talked-about episode of his adult life, the DNA test requested by Sarada: from Karin's office he takes what he believes to be a sample of hers, in reality the girl's umbilical cord, kept by Karin, who had assisted at Sakura's delivery — hence a "perfect" match and a complete misunderstanding. On the anime side, the Boruto series tasks him with keeping watch over the New Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, thieves of the seven blades he dreamed of gathering.

Summary Table

FAQ

• Who is Suigetsu in Naruto?
  A swordsman from Kirigakure of the Hozuki clan, the first member recruited into Sasuke's Team Taka.
• What is Suigetsu's power?
  The Hydrification Technique: he liquefies his body to avoid blows. His weakness is Lightning Release.
• What is Suigetsu's goal?
  Gathering the seven blades of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, a dream born after the death of his brother Mangetsu.
• Which sword does Suigetsu wield?
  The Kubikiribocho, the executioner's blade he recovers near Zabuza's grave.
• Who was Suigetsu's brother?
  Mangetsu Hozuki, a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, said to be able to wield all seven blades.

In summary

Elusive and wisecracking, Suigetsu brings his lightness to Sasuke's team — and the shadow of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist hangs over every one of his fights.