Sarutobi Asuma

Asuma Sarutobi or (Sarutobi Asuma (猿飛アスマ)) was a jonin level shinobi of Konohagakure's Sarutobi clan. As well as a former member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja. He was also the leader of Team Asuma, which consisted of Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka and Chōji Akimichi.

Background
Asuma was born to Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, and Biwako Sarutobi. During the Ninja Academy entrance ceremony, Asuma became friends with Kurenai Yūhi. In the anime, during the Chūnin Exams, Asuma was placed in a team with Kurenai and Raido Namiashi. He later cheered on by his classmates during the third round of the Chūnin Exams. In the anime, after the death of Nohara Rin. Kurenai, Asuma and Genma were worry about Kakashi's well being. Unknown to any of them, but Gai that Kakashi was going to be an ANBU member.

During the Kyūbi's attack on Konoha, Asuma along with the other young ninja were barred from participating in the defence of the village by Shinku Yūhi and the other senior shinobi. In the anime, after the Kyūbi was stopped, Asuma was present during Minato and Kushina's funeral. A few years after the event, Asuma would become a uncle to Konohamaru. He later became a chōnin and later a jōnin.

About seven years before the start of the series, he had a disagreement with his father and left Konoha to pursue his personal interests. During his absence, he became one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, a group that protected the Land of Fire's daimyō, indicated by the sash on his waist. During this time he developed a strong friendship with the monk Chiriku, who would go on to become the head monk of the Fire Temple. Prior to returning to Konoha to resume active military duty, he accumulated a bounty of 35 million ryo on the black market, something he seemed to be particularly proud of since it was a testament of his skill, even bragging that his bounty was 5 million more than Chiriku. After returning to the village, Asuma resumed his jōnin duties and became a teacher of Inomatsu and presumably some more students.

After returning to the village, resumed his jonin duties. About twelve years after the Nine-Tail's attack, seeing his classmate fall into deeper self-pity from losing Obito Uchiha and Rin. Asuma, along with Might Guy and Kurenai decided to speak with the Third Hokage, voicing their disapproval of Kakashi being in Anbu with such bitterness and suggested instead that he be re-assigned as a jōnin sensei in the hopes of restoring Kakashi's kindness.

Later Asuma is seen in the Dumpling Shop with Kurenai and Guy. He and Kurenai ask Guy about his new genin team. Guy tells them that He lucky to have great students. Then Hiruzen comes to them in the dumpling shop. Asuma tells his father that he treats him and his friends like little kids. In which Hiruzen admits that it is true. Hiruzen then tells them about a Sensei-student relationship, and how it is formed. The Hokage hopes just like, Guy, Kurenai and Asuma that Kakashi's dark side will disappear. Hiruzen then shows Guy and the others the Graduate Ninja Registration photos of Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. In which Hiruzen tells them that they will be Kakashi's true Students. Much to Asuma, Kurenai, and Guu's shock.

He was then seen heading to the Ninja Academy to pick up his new students. In this case: Shikamaru Nara, Chōji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka.

Personality
Asuma was typically a laid-back individual, and did not get himself involved in things unless absolutely necessary, as seen when he decided not to help save Hinata Hyūga during the Chunin Exams. He was a heavy smoker but despite this, he would abruptly break the habit under certain circumstances, such as when his father died, or when he learned that Kurenai was pregnant. Not always seeing eye to eye with his father, Asuma later came to respect his father's role as Hokage: referring to him as a great father, and was proud to have been born into the Sarutobi clan.

Despite Asuma's very blunt personality, often calling his students what they were unreservedly, a "glutton" for (Chōji Akimichi), a "loud mouth" for (Ino Yamanaka), and a "slacker" for (Shikamaru Nara), he had a very good relationship with all three. He often took them to Yakiniku Q for lunch and dinner where more often where Chōji would eat too much and Asuma had to pay more and apologise emphatically to the owner. To help them overcome their underachieving natures, he attempted to use bribery and outright trickery to manipulate them into doing what he wanted. This was seen most with Chōji, who Asuma was frequently able to entice into action with the promise of food and even Shikamaru whom he had to use games like shogi on to assess his skill level. Out of his students, Asuma spent the most time with Shikamaru and was the closest to him. Asuma and Shikamaru often played shōgi or Go in their free time, though Asuma was never able to beat Shikamaru. It was Asuma who first discovered that the lazy Shikamaru was actually a genius, with an I.Q. over 200.

Throughout the series it had been heavily hinted that Asuma was romantically involved with Kurenai Yūhi. The two appeared together in most of their scenes, and the other characters made it a point to note this fact on several occasions. When Kakashi Hatake found the two together at a dumpling shop, Kakashi asked if they were on a date, to which Asuma responded by quickly changing the subject. In a flashback, Asuma was shown buying flowers for a person he refused to name, though Ino asked that he say hello to Kurenai for her anyway, to which Asuma nervously asked how she knew about it. During Asuma's battle with Hidan and Kakuzu, Kurenai was often shown wondering about his progress, appearing anxious. When she heard of his death, she fell to her knees grief stricken. She later laid flowers on his grave during his funeral. The truth of their relationship was then made clear when Kurenai revealed that she was pregnant with Asuma's child.

Appearance
Asuma was a tall man, with brown eyes, short, black spiky hair, and beard. His clothing consisted of the standard Konoha ninja uniform with the sleeves rolled up half way,flak jacket, regular shinobi sandals and forehead protector. He also wore the Twelve Guardian Ninja sash that had the kanji for "Fire" (火) marked on it around his waist, a pair of black bangles and bandages wrapped around the arms of his sleeves.

As a genin, he wore a short-sleeved, white shirt with a blue and black collar over chain-mail armour, along with a simple white vest along with a pair of black pants and a white belt. In the anime, it was shown that while he was a member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, he wore a simple long sleeved shirt with bandages on the arms, pants, that sash denoting he was a guardian and a jacket with a fur collar. He also had his trench knives with him at that point.

Abilities
Asuma was a highly talented jōnin-level shinobi, having even once been part of the Twelve Guardian Ninja — an elite hand-picked team which served to protect the Land of Fire's daimyō, a role which later earned him a bounty of 35,000,000 Ryo. During the Invasion of Konoha he was able to kill nine Otogakure ninja — who were noted to have been of of chunin-level or above — with seemingly very little effort. He could also fight evenly with Hidan: a powerful member of Akatsuki while also protecting his team using his skill set. He also established a great record in military prowess — something which many upcoming shinobi greatly admired.

Ninjutsu
In the anime, Asuma was taught how to use the ultimate technique of the Fire Temple, Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder, which allowed him to manifest the spirit of the Thousand-Armed Kannon to defend him and attack any enemies.

Bukijutsu
Asuma was hailed as Konoha's foremost skill in the village with close-ranged melee combat. His battle style revolved mainly around taijutsu, combined with his special trench knives to create a melee-type fighting style. These knives are made of a special metal that is capable of easily being infused with chakra. With his Flying Swallow, he could extend the blades with his chakra to injure an enemy several feet out of the blade's physical range, as well as increasing the cutting power of the blades to the point of easily slicing through trees, rocks and even iron. He was also physically strong enough to counter one of Kisame Hoshigaki's attacks using his trench knives.

Nature Transformation
Asuma had the ability to use both Fire Release as well as Wind Release nature manipulations. He would mainly use his wind-nature manipulation abilities in combination with his trench knives to increase their lethality. When tutoring Uzumaki Naruto about wind-natured chakra, Asuma explained that enhanced with it by someone with an affinity for Wind Release, the trench knives possessed enough striking power to pierce through rock. Asuma was also well-versed in ranged wind techniques, such as the Wind Release: Dust Cloud Technique. In the anime, it was shown that he could use his wind chakra to levitate his trench knives and control them remotely.

His proficiency with Fire Release techniques was demonstrated mainly through his use of the Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning technique to breathe out a cloud of superheated ash capable of causing third-degree burns. Because it was ash and not flame, the attack remained in the air around the target, and therefore remained potent for a longer period of time. The ash was in fact gunpowder, which could be ignited for a devastating explosion causing intense damage.

Introduction arc
He was seen in the third episode, learning about Naruto was Kurama's Jinchūriki, and that Sasuke was the sole survivor of the Uchiha Clan.

Chunin Exam arc
When Chōji, fearing the competition, contemplated forfeiting his match during the preliminaries of the Chūnin Exam, Asuma convinced him not to by offering to take him out for "all you can eat" barbecue (yakiniku or Korean kalbi). Asuma also claimed that he'd stop the match if it got out of hand, as the other jōnin did during Hinata Hyūga's match. Both Ino and Shikamaru noted to themselves that Asuma didn't actually help in that instance.

Invasion of Konoha arc
During the invasion of Konoha, Shikamaru was left by himself to defend against a group of invading Oto-nin. Later, just as Shikamaru had run out of options, and the nine Oto-nin were about to finish him off, Asuma appeared and single-handedly defeated the group saving his student. After the invasion, he attended his father's funeral.

Search for Tsunade arc
During his brief battle with Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, Asuma managed to catch Kisame off-guard with his trench knives, leaving a cut on Kisame's cheek below the eye. Witnessing the blade made of wind chakra, Kisame switches to ninjutsu using Water Release: Water Shark Bullet Technique with Asuma seemingly still battle stationed with the blades. Kakashi Hatake arrived in time to copy the technique, and used it to block the attack for Asuma's own surprise. Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi then faced off with the two Akatsuki members, only for Kakashi to fall victim to Itachi's Tsukuyomi. Might Guy arrived just in time to stall the Akatsuki duo and buy time for the rest of his comrades who were about to get targeted by Kisame, leading to him coaching Asuma and Kurenai on the essentials on how to fight against a Sharingan-using shinobi when the pair fled to pursue Naruto Uzumaki, their true target.

Asuma was later seen at Tsunade's inauguration ceremony as the new fifth Hokage, amongst the villagers.

Sasuke Retrieval arc
Prior to Chōji's setting out with the squad assembled by Shikamaru to track down the renegade Sasuke Uchiha and the Sound Four, Asuma berated him for eating so much and not training enough. After Chōji's recovery from his battle against Sound ninja Jirōbō, he quickly regained his lost weight, but also approached Asuma for more intense training, which Asuma agreed to, with some admiration.

Pre-Shippuuden Filler arc
In the anime, Asuma and Kurenai were dispatched by Tsunade to bring the criminal Chunin, Mizuki in for questioning, regarding his suspected involvement with Orochimaru. The pair arrived at the Leaf Village Maximum Security Prison, only to be greeted by a swarm of released inmates, including the Legendary Stupid Brothers, Fujin and Raijin. Outnumbered, the two were beaten unconscious and later found by Naruto Uzumaki who rushed them to the hospital for medical treatment.

Two years after Naruto left the village to train with Jiraiya, Konoha decided to host an early Chūnin Exams alongside Sunagakure. Later, as Team Asuma began discussing their joining the exams, it became noted that with Shikamaru already a chunin and therefore ineligible to join, it left the rest of the team short. Ino came up with the idea of having Sakura fill in for him in the exams. After the first exam was finished being held in Konoha, Asuma and Kurenai acted as proctors, informing the genin participants that weren't part of the first 30 to arrive at the checkpoint, that they already lost and couldn't participate in the second round. The duo was later present to oversee the second exam begin.

Later, Asuma and the other Konoha proctors received word from Tsunade to be on guard for potential assassins towards Gaara as many still rejected Gaara as Kazekage. Later Asuma, Kurenai and Guy are seen observing the sandstorm, noting that postponing the Chunin Exams was a wise decision. As the three approach the desert, they are stopped by Sunagakure shinobi. The jonin try to deceive their way through, only for Suna shinobi to respond that the second rounds of the Chūnin Exam is under their village's jurisdiction. Despite their efforts, a large cloud of sand provides the jonin easy coverage and they quickly run through into the desert. Once he and the others reach the Kazekage residence, they try to enter the building to give a scroll to Gaara from Tsunade personally in person, but the Suna shinobi won't let them only for Guy to angrily complain about this. Before he can say anything else Kurenai and Asuma quickly cover his mouth. He and others find out from some Suna shinobi running away inside the building, that Gaara is no where inside the building, only for the three of them to quickly realize that something isn't right.

After learning that Gaara was missing, Kurenai confirmed that their fear of Gaara setting himself as bait to lure out the enemy was fulfilled. The three then notice Yukata and Mikoshi, struggling in the desert. Off screen, the two genin told them that Gaara was in danger, and begged the three to save him. After this, they headed to Gaara's location, once they got there Kurenai noted that their help is no longer needed.

Naruto Shippuuden (Part ll)
Asuma made his Part II début standing at the Third Hokage's grave, where he commented on how he was finally beginning to understand what the Third had taught him. Asuma confessed that he'd always been detached from Konoha, but after seeing how his father sacrificed himself for the village, he was now proud to be a member of the Sarutobi clan.

Later, when Naruto began training to master wind chakra, he came to Asuma, who was also a wind-type user, for help. Asuma agreed to give him pointers, if he agreed to pay for his team's next meal (which, Naruto forgot, included Chōji).

Twelve Guardians arc
In the anime, when Team Kakashi returned to Konoha from their failed mission, he recognised a young monk named Sora from the Fire Temple who accompained them back. He invited Sora and the boys of the Konoha 11 to join him at a restraunt to have a guys day. Some time after, he revealed to Sora that he knew his father and that he killed him for trying to kill the Hokage. An enraged Sora tried to attack him, only failing as a few Anbu members got in his way and Sora stormed off.

Later, the Konoha was attacked by members of Furido's 4-Man Team, reviving many shinobi. Asuma recognised some of the revived shinoibi from the Twelve Guardian Ninja, who planned on using a powerful technique to destroy Konoha. He fought Kitane and ultimately overpowers him. With the three members of Furido's 4-Man Team killed, the leader, Furido, remained. Asuma finds out that Fūrido was Kazuma, Sora's father, then man Asuma thought he killed. Kazuma then releases the seal on Sora he embedded on him over 15 years ago revealing Sora to be a Pseudo-Jinchūriki of the nine tails. Asuma engages Kazuma in battle, and later with Sai's help, Asuma finished Kazuma off. Ultimately, Naruto is able to stop Sora by releasing the nine tails' chakra sealed inside him.

When the invaders didn't succeed, Sora having came to his senses, departed from Konoha. Afterwards, Asuma was seen playing shogi with Shikamaru.

Hidan & Kakuzu arc
Asuma was teamed up with Shikamaru, Kotetsu Hagane, and Izumo Kamizuki as members of the Nijū Shōtai. His team, along with the entire group, was ordered to search for and, if possible, capture a pair of Akatsuki members who had entered the Land of Fire. Asuma and his team eventually tracked down the Akatsuki members, Hidan and Kakuzu, at a Bounty Station, where they quickly discovered that Hidan was immortal after their first attack.

The situation worsened, when Hidan's counter-attack resulted in him becoming 'linked' to Asuma through a ritual. Hidan assumed a Grim Reaper-like form, causing any bodily damage to Hidan to be shared with Asuma, while at the same time not hindering Hidan at all. Some quick thinking by Shikamaru managed to break Hidan's ritual, allowing Asuma to decapitate him with his chakra-extended trench knives. Surprisingly, Hidan's severed head started to talk, uttering expletives at Asuma and then Kakuzu for not helping him.

Kakuzu finally stepped in as he admonished his partner for letting his guard down, and sewed Hidan's head back onto his body. With his body restored, Hidan resumed the ritual, and impaled himself in the heart. Though the blow did not instantly kill Asuma, it was still quite fatal. The rest of Team 10 arrived as back-up, which, combined with a telepathic call from Pain, forced the Akatsuki duo to leave. Before dying, Asuma left some parting words with his students, and smoked one last cigarette.

Later, while Shikamaru exacted revenge upon Hidan for killing Asuma, Asuma appeared before Shikamaru, and congratulated him for finally defeating the immortal. After entrusting the Will of Fire to Shikamaru, Asuma disappeared in a puff of cigarette smoke just before his student finished off Hidan with a huge explosion. Also, in his memory from the flashback, Shikamaru was finally able to understand who the "King" of Shōgi was in the real world. It is the next generation of shinobi, like Asuma's and Kurenai's unborn child, and how they would learn to care and live peacefully by the great shinobi in the present day. That was why Asuma entrusted his baby to Shikamaru, as apprentice and future sensei.

Konoha History arc
Team 10 tries to round up some hogs for the villagers to eat. Noticing their teamwork, Shikamaru remembers a time where the team also worked closely together in order to complete a mission. After a Village Headman's granddaughter was kidnapped by Baji, he hired Konohagakure's Team 7 and Team 10 for assistance. When the teams accepted the mission to stop Baji and rescue the girl, an ex-bandit named Tōfu acted as their guide. Shikamaru then instructed Asuma and Kakashi Hatake to find an alternate route to the Baji's fortress. Tofu later gets captured and is revealed to be a double agent working for the gang leader. When the six genin infiltrated the fortress, Shikamaru agreed to a hostage exchange between him and Tofu in order to find out the location of the Headman's granddaughter. Ino and Chōji managed to find the tower where the hostages were held, and later, helped defeat Baji. The mission ended with a success, the bandit group were captured, and the Headman's granddaughter was rescued. The scene then shifts back to present time, where Ino and Shikamaru leave Chōji the arduous task of carrying all the hogs back to the village.

Chikara arc
In the anime, Asuma was summoned by Kabuto Yakushi to battle Team Kakashi, who were investigating the massacre that he brought about in the Tonika Village to gain access to The Hole. Quickly after being summoned, Asuma's coffin vanished, leading Kabuto to question whether the Impure World Reincarnation was still incomplete.

Fourth Shinobi War arc
In preparation for the Fourth Shinobi War, Asuma was reincarnated by Kabuto Yakushi to fight against the Allied Shinobi Forces. He was later mobilised alongside Hizashi Hyūga and Dan Kato. Informed by Dan of their current situation, he stated that he had an ominous feeling of what was to come. Relocating to the Land of Lightning's coast, Asuma emerged from the sea amongst the White Zetsu Army and a few other reincarnated shinobi, before engaging the opposing First Division. Confronting Chōza Akimichi with Dan initially, he soon separated from them and began fighting other shinobi, engulfing several in an enormous explosion.

Asuma is later confronted by his former students where he praised them on their growth before he engaged them in combat. Moving involuntarily, Asuma attempted to provide what assistance he could by advising them on the best methods to counteract his attacks. Although hesitant, Shikamaru and Ino are able to fight regardless of their reluctance to harm their teacher, but Chōji could not bring himself to attack his beloved teacher. This created an opportunity for Asuma to use his Wind Release: Dust Cloud Technique, however, Ino managed to push Chōji out of the path of the attack. Asuma tried in vain to provoke Chōji, and even went as far as to call him fat, yet ultimately forced his comrades to come to his aid once again.

Ino took control of Choji's body in order to fight Asuma in his place, but when she attempts to press the importance of their actions to Choji, Asuma exploited her distraction by attacking with his Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning technique. Chōza, however, dived in front of the attack, protecting them from harm and finally providing Chōji with the necessary motivation after remembering the oath he swore as the next head of the Akimichi. Observing Chōji's new found confidence and metamorphosis, Asuma happily encouraged them to defeat him. Overcome by Ino and Shikamaru's combined efforts, Asuma was unable to avoid Chōji's attack and was sent flying into a nearby cliff, where he is ironically immobilised with his previous weapons. After complimenting his students' on their perfect formation he thanked them, before being completely bound and sealed by the Sealing Team. Later, with the release of the Impure World Reincarnation technique, a light of sorts encased Asuma's sealed body as the technique was dispelled and his soul returned to the afterlife.

When Madara's Infinite Tsukuyomi was activated, Asuma is seen in Shikamaru's dream alongside Kurenai and their child, Mirai. Shikamaru tells Temari that he won't get marry to which Temari agrees.

Naruto movie 1
Asuma was seen in a flashback by Naruto.

Naruto Shippuuden movie 3
Asuma appeared as a phantom serving as Shikamaru's conscience while leading a platoon consisting of the Konoha 11, tasked to pursue Naruto and Sakura (who were then chasing a brainwashed Kakashi). After Shikamaru confronted Naruto about the ramifications of his seeming recklessness, Asuma's ghost told him to stay put as Naruto was simply following his Will of Fire, following Naruto and convincing Shikamaru to help him.

Naruto Shippuuden movie 4
A young Asuma, along with Shizune, Might Guy, and Kakashi Hatake, is seen waiting in a long line at the grand opening of Ramen Ichiraku.

Legacy
Though somewhat understated, the legacy Asuma left behind was one of great value. Within Konoha, and the wider shinobi world he left a sterling record of military prowess which many young Konoha shinobi look up to, wanting to emulate. He is also forever recognised for this prowess having been selected as one of the twelve people deemed strong enough to protect the leader of their country. Though initially also confused about the role of the Hokage and the Will of Fire which his father told him of, Asuma came to understand all of these in time and also came to appreciate his father, and the role the Hokage played in protecting the villagers. Along with this, Asuma was also responsible for training the current generation of the famed Ino–Shika–Cho trio who are the future leaders of their respective clans as well as completing the all-important ceremony concerning the three clans and the Sarutobi. He was also integral in assisting Naruto with his nature transformation training with Wind Release. Asuma left behind lover Kurenai who he fathered a child with. This child he views as his "king" who he asked his student Shikamaru to protect with his dying breath and years later his daughter would follow the footsteps of him and Asuma's father.

Video Games
Sarutobi Asuma is a playable character in the following video games:
 * Naruto Clash of Ninja Revolution 2
 * Naruto Shinobi Collection
 * Naruto Shinobi Collection Shippu Ranbu
 * Naruto Shippuuden Clash of Ninja Revolution 3
 * Naruto Shippuuden Gekito Ninja Taisen! EX 2
 * Naruto Shippuuden Gekito Ninja Taisen! EX 3
 * Naruto Shippuuden Gekito Ninja Taisen! Special
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ninja Destiny 2
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ninja Destiny 3
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja 4
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja 5
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Blazing
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution
 * Naruto to Boruto Ninja Voltage
 * Naruto Ultimate Ninja 2
 * Naruto Ultimate Ninja 3

Knownable Relatives

 * Sarutobi Sasuke (Grandfather)
 * Sarutobi Biwako (Mother/dead)
 * Sarutobi Hiruzen (Father/dead)
 * Sarutobi Konohamaru (Grandnephew)
 * Yuhi Kurenai (Wife)
 * Sarutobi Mirai (Daughter)

Trivia
According to the databook(s):
 * His birthday was October 18, & his bloodtype was O.
 * Asuma's hobby was to play shogi.
 * Asuma wished to duel Shikamaru in a game of shōgi.
 * Asuma's favorite foods were sausage & soba with tororo. His least favorite food was asparagus.
 * Asuma had completed 719 official missions in total: 111 D-rank, 193 C-rank, 217 B-rank, 178 A-rank, 20 S-rank.
 * Asuma's favorite phrase was "Not right now!" (今のナシ!).
 * He and his father die in episode 79, of their respective episode.
 * He is like Boruto in his youth. As both have a father that is the Hokage. However both didn't get along with them being the Hokage. Including that both as ninja were over shadowed by their fathers.
 * Studio Pierrot's Settei sheets of Asuma show that he was 150 cm around the time of the Kannabi Bridge incident.
 * During a question and answer session held at Tokyo's Jump Fest '09, Masashi Kishimoto stated that he was thinking of making Kurenai and Asuma's child a girl, which he follows through with.
 * Studio Pierrot has consistently given him the height of 190 cm, instead of 190.8cm as his Databook profiles gives him.

Voice Actresses & Actors

 * Japanese  : Jurota Kosugi (adult and teenager)


 * Japanese voice actress : Fujiko Takimoto (child in Naruto Shippuuden movie 4)


 * English  : Doug Erholtz 

all information on Sarutobi Asuma is from http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Asuma_Sarutobi