Character · Naruto
Asuma Sarutobi
The Leaf's most relaxed team leader fights with wind-sharpened knuckle knives and treats a lit cigarette as standard equipment.
In Otakana the clue reads: Chain-smoking team leader with trench knives
- Type
- Character
- Series
- Naruto
- Letters
- 5 · Normal
Asuma Sarutobi leads Team 10, which means Shikamaru, Ino and Choji, three of the more difficult teenagers in the village. He is the son of the Third Hokage, spent years away from Konoha as one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja protecting the Fire Daimyo, and came back with no interest in explaining why. He teaches by playing shogi against Shikamaru and losing.
His weapons are trench knives held between the fingers, and he pushes wind chakra into the blades so they cut a good deal further than their length suggests. Next to fireballs and lightning it is an unglamorous technique, and it is one of the most practical in the series. He also smokes constantly, which the anime keeps in frame more than most shonen shows would.
The relationship the fandom cares about is his with Kurenai Yuhi, handled almost entirely in glances and other people's remarks. His other lasting contribution is a conversation with Shikamaru about the King, the piece a shogi player protects at any cost. Shikamaru works out what he meant later, and it reshapes how he fights for the rest of the story.
Spelling ASUMA
Five letters, ASUMA, and the game wants the given name rather than SARUTOBI. The trap is a near neighbour from another franchise: Sword Art Online's Asuna sits one letter away, and typing N for M is easy when both look right. Check the fourth tile. Three beats, a-su-ma, with A, U and A landing on the odd-numbered squares.