Kabuto Yakushi

Kabuto Yakushi (薬師カブト, Yakushi Kabuto) is a major antagonist of the series who was first introduced as a Konohagakure genin. He was orphaned by war as a child, and was found by Nonō Yakushi and raised in the Konoha Orphanage. After joining Root, he served as a deep cover agent in different countries for several years before defecting and joining Orochimaru, where he acted as his personal medic, research assistant, and general right-hand-man. During the Fourth Shinobi World War after Orochimaru's sealing, Kabuto joined forces with Tobi and Akatsuki. 

Source: http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Kabuto_Yakushi

Background

Kabuto as a child with Nonō.

Kabuto's earliest childhood memory is being found by Nonō on the outskirts of a destroyed village. Suffering from a head wound and amnesia, he had no recollection of his parents or his own identity. The nun treated his wounds with medical ninjutsu and brought him to the orphanage. Shy and reserved, Kabuto did not speak to anyone or thank the nun for her kindness, which led a fellow orphan, Urushi, to question whether or not he had any manners, before slamming a helmet on Kabuto's head to protect his healing wound. When Urushi declared that his lack of a name was annoying, the nun decided to name him "Kabuto", after the helmet. Later that night, Kabuto felt guilty about not thanking the nun and got out of bed to find her, only to get in trouble with the other wards for being up past his curfew. When they took him to a clock to teach him the curfew time, it at first seemed that he was too young to tell time, but the nun recognised that he was squinting and lent him her glasses, allowing him to impress the other caretakers by correctly determining the time of the curfew despite his young age. Because the orphanage could not afford glasses for him, the woman let him keep hers, and Kabuto broke down in tears, repeatedly thanking her as she comforted him.
Over the years, Kabuto would be taught various medical skills by Nonō, such that he was eventually able to assist her in healing shinobi and thus, earn money for the orphanage. It was here that he first met Orochimaru who asked him if he wanted to become a shinobi, stating that the role would suit him, but Kabuto declined. However, after eavesdropping on a conversation Nonō had with Danzō Shimura and hearing the latter's demand for an orphan in exchange for funding, Kabuto instead accepted the offer.

Kabuto re-encounters Orochimaru.

From this point onwards, he was tasked with infiltrating various hidden villages, including those of the Five Great Shinobi Countries. During one such assignment in Iwagakure, he was forced to flee after his cover was blown and unwittingly attacked his "mother", Nonō, in the process. With her unable to recognise him even as he healed her injuries, Kabuto came to question his identity and purpose, when he was once again approached by Orochimaru.
Orochimaru explained to him that his unfortunate encounter with Nonō was engineered by Danzō himself: having become an accomplished spy, Kabuto has become an asset too dangerous to handle for Root (and thus to be eliminated). Orochimaru also pointed out that as a spy for Konoha, (and after travelling to many countries), Kabuto already is losing track of his own true self due to not knowing where he came from and the constant changing of his identity to fulfil his role. Nonō, in turn, was double-crossed by Danzō into believing that they released Kabuto from holding and was living a civilian life, in exchange for assassinating another person (who is no other than the real Kabuto himself). Distraught by this information, Kabuto attacked Orochimaru but was stayed by the latter's offer of a new identity, as well as becoming his right-hand man in the the village he was about to found. In returning to Konohagakure, Orochimaru gives him a new cover: that he was found amongst the dead enemies after the Battle of Kikyō Pass by a captain of the Konoha Medic Corps, and that captain brought him to Konoha and raised him as a son.
He was later sent to serve as Orochimaru's spy to Sasori of Akatsuki, who in turn set him to spy on Orochimaru by using Memory-Concealing Manipulative Sand Technique to transform him into his own sleeper agent. Orochimaru discovered this and released Sasori's control over Kabuto. Kabuto has since used his expertise in spying for Orochimaru, playing the role of Sasori's servant to gain knowledge of Akatsuki's plans. Through his affiliation with Konoha, Kabuto was also able to acquire the rank of genin and enter the biannual Chūnin Exams, using the first two parts of the exam to gather information on his fellow participants for Orochimaru's use. Additionally, with the medical expertise taught to him by his adoptive parent and his high intelligence, Kabuto is able to carry out human experiments alongside Orochimaru, while at the same time increasing his own knowledge of the human body. Among other things, Kabuto also helped Orochimaru, in the anime, refine the Impure World Reincarnation and gather the necessary DNA from various famous deceased people.

Personality

• Kabuto as a Kumogakure shinobi.

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As a child, due to the amnesia he suffered, Kabuto was a rather shy, quiet and a polite individual who didn't know who he was or where he belonged in the world. Due to the nun who took him in and gave him her glasses to see with, he was very grateful for it, shedding tears of thanks for it, showing he was rather sensitive as a child. As a result of his upbringing by Danzō, serving as a deep cover agent in the other countries before being betrayed, Kabuto's loyalties are difficult to discern.
Though generally obeying Orochimaru's orders to the point of saving his life, Kabuto occasionally acts against him by helping his master's enemies. Even in those instances, admitting not truly knowing what he is thinking and commenting him to have a nasty personality, Orochimaru expressed great confidence in Kabuto's loyalty and often laughed at the prospect that Kabuto would betray him. Despite his unclear goals, Kabuto seemed to be content in following Orochimaru, using this allegiance to make requests for specific bodies with which to further his knowledge. However, Kabuto's true loyalties are more to himself and well hidden due to his many conflicting comments and actions.
Despite this, Kabuto shows a clear view of respect to those he sees with great status such as Tsunade and expresses excitement in testing his abilities. This makes him perceive that shinobi who have not gained a high and famous reputation as weaklings ridiculing Naruto Uzumaki before gaining a peculiar fixation towards since his defeat by the boy. Kabuto also detests rudeness, indicated by his frequent admonishments of Sasuke Uchiha for not treating Orochimaru with respect. In a battle, Kabuto would use his opponent's weaknesses and phobias against them. This is reflected in the Fourth Shinobi World War as Kabuto freely reincarnated people for both combat and psychological warfare.

Kabuto transfusing blood with Orochimaru's DNA into himself.

Despite his rather cool personality, sadistic and manipulative yet polite with a dry sense of humour, Kabuto was inwardly conflicted with major insecurities about his identity for most of his life. Kabuto had defined himself at best to be an shy as well as an introvert and preferring secluded places. But the moment he merged Orochimaru's cells into his body, inspired by Naruto's resolve, Kabuto now felt he can do whatever he wants now as he felt no loyalty to even the people or village that raised him, detesting the fact that he had been brought up by their enemies.
Kabuto has also shown interest in accomplishing Orochimaru's agenda in order to further his dream to establish his own identity. This act makes him very arrogant of his own power as he believes himself to be nearly an equal to the Sage of the Six Paths, perfect and unbeatable. However, like Orochimaru, Kabuto needed Sasuke's Sharingan to accomplish that goal. He is seemingly willing to go to great lengths to acquire him, blackmailing Obito Uchiha into an alliance while leaving a trail of corpses to allow Anko Mitarashi and her brigade to follow into Mountains' Graveyard. This action not only served to have the two opposing factions cripple each other during the war as Obito suspects, but also for Kabuto to increase his power by siphoning Anko's chakra. Kabuto also admitted an interest in Zetsu, being promised one of his clone brothers as compensation for his services.
Overall, Kabuto compares himself with Itachi Uchiha, both of whom served Konoha in the shadows but were ostracised by the village in return, and claims that because of this, he understands Sasuke more than anyone. However, after realising that he is imprisoned within his own mind in an endless loop and his machinations have fallen apart, he attempts to justify his actions by asserting that he wanted someone to affirm and recognise his existence.

Appearance

Kabuto's trademark is a pair of black rimmed circular glasses, a gift from Nonō, and he is rarely seen without them. He has onyx eyes and ash-grey hair, which is normally kept in a ponytail that extends to his upper back, with his bangs framing either side of his forehead. In the majority of his earlier appearances, he wore a dark purple shirt with a high collar, a white under-shirt, dark purple fingerless gloves with armoured plates on the back of the hand, a white cloth waistband worn at an angle, dark purple pants, blue sandals, and a shuriken holster on his right leg. He typically wore a blue Otogakure forehead protector, but was first seen wearing a blue Konohagakure forehead protector as a part of his genin disguise. In Part II, he no longer wears his forehead protector or his gloves. He also occasionally wears a purple hooded mantle, particularily when trying to disguise his identity.

Kabuto before his complete transformation in the anime.

Shortly after Sasuke counter-absorbed Orochimaru, Kabuto took cells and tissue from the remains of Orochimaru's true form and implanted them in his body. Though he was resisting their influence, the cells and tissue slowly began to take over his body, first speading over the left half of his face and much of his left side, causing the affected areas to turn a pale white colour and become scaly, with his left eye developing Orochimaru's purple marking and serpentine pupil. During the anime-exclusive Chikara Arc, he wore a black robe with red lining and no longer kept his hair in a ponytail, instead leaving it long and unkempt, with the bangs parted to cover the left side of his face and his right cheek, partially obscuring the physical effects of absorbing Orochimaru's cells. During this time, both of his eyes possessed yellow irides with serpentine pupils, although only his left eye was surrounded with Orochimaru's distinctive purple marking.

Kabuto's appearance during the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Upon reappearing shortly before the outbreak of the Fourth Shinobi World War, it's revealed that he's learned to fully control Orochimaru's genetic material, causing him to take on many of the physical traits of his former master. These included purple eye markings along with scaly patterns on his face and much of his body. He wears his hair in an unkempt bowl cut, allowing it to grow out. He wears a maroon-coloured cloak with a hood designed to resemble a serpent's head, with white, red, and yellow markings that resemble eyes; the hood can be closed like a snake's mouth to help protect his senses from the effects of genjutsu. A long, white snake was also fused with his abdomen, which he kept wrapped around his waist and was often seen slithering out from under his robes like a tail. He was also able to shed his human body, taking on the appearance of a monstrous snake with sharply distorted facial features and arms.
After Sasuke revived Orochimaru, the latter reabsorbed his chakra from Kabuto, which caused Kabuto's reptilian features to recede as he reverts to his original human form.

Abilities

Despite officially being a genin, Kabuto has proven himself to be a skilled and cunning ninja far beyond that level, particularly because of his medical abilities. Even Jiraiya and Orochimaru remarked at one point that his skills were comparable to those of Kakashi Hatake. He has been shown to be able to kill ANBU members with relative ease, and even mockingly stated he could handle at least ten ANBU members. Through keen observation, Kabuto can quickly determine the situation at hand. Even when up against a stronger opponent, he can gain an advantage by quickly exploiting their weakness. Kabuto is also very adaptable, as when Tsunade flipped his nervous system signals, he managed to regain control of his body quickly, a feat that impressed Tsunade. Even as a child, he already demonstrated great potential, to the point that Orochimaru took great interest in him and kept track of him prior to recruiting him.
Upon adapting to his bodily modifications and mastering the art of Sage Mode, his fighting prowess was greatly enhanced to the point that he was able to overwhelm the combined efforts of both Sasuke Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha despite their considerable combat prowess, skills and mastery of the Mangekyō Sharingan, eventually forcing Itachi to use the forbidden Izanami in an attempt to subdue Kabuto and force him to end Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation.

Taijutsu

While claiming to have lesser skill in taijutsu, Kabuto has shown himself to be proficient enough to hold his own against Tsunade, a skilled taijutsu fighter known for her devastating strikes, after tiring her out and consuming a Military Rations Pill. His main style of taijutsu is to use the chakra scalpel, which allows him to form his chakra into a blade and hit his target's muscles, pressure points, and other key points of their body. During his battle with Tsunade, she remarks that Kabuto's senses and sharpness may have surpassed hers in her prime. In battle, he first quickly assesses his opponent's strength and battle style to comprehend their movements, thereby allowing him to easily predict and dodge their attacks. He then uses his medical ninjutsu to systematically take down his opponent in order to disable and subdue them.
While in Sage Mode, Kabuto's physical abilities, such as his speed and reflexes, were enhanced to the point were he could both evade and repel multiple high-speed and powered attacks from both Sasuke and Itachi with relative ease, despite having his vision impaired. Not only that, but he was also able to attack Itachi before he could react or defend himself. His physical strength is also increased, enough to tear one of Itachi's arms off using nothing more than his bare teeth.

Ninjutsu

Medical Ninjutsu

Kabuto using chakra scalpel.

Despite his young age, Kabuto has demonstrated tremendous skill and ingenuity in medical ninjutsu. With his extensive knowledge of medical ninjutsu and of the human body, Kabuto can quickly adjust to any damage done to his body and severely injure a person with a single chakra-infused strike to the chest. He has also developed the unique ability to be able to reactivate dead cells and grow new ones; the usage of this technique effectively during battle requires him to read his opponent's moves accurately in order to prepare the area of which he would apply the cell reconstruction, a feat that he is very capable of. Through his experiments on Karin's abilities and powerful life-force, Kabuto was able to gain her considerable regeneration abilities himself.
He also often uses scalpels as throwing weapons instead of kunai. In Part II, Kabuto has apparently advanced his medical ninjutsu even further. He is capable of using the chakra scalpel without any hand seals, and still powerful enough to cut through wood and flesh with ease, and can use the Mystical Palm Technique at a distance.
Kabuto's prowess in medical ninjutsu has allowed him to develop a series of drugs with various effects. This was demonstrated several times. One instance would be the drugs given to Sasuke which aided in his training process. As shown with Manda II, he is also capable of genetically altering organisms making them bigger and stronger than the original. Kabuto also invented a special drug capable of suppressing the power of a Wood Release user and a truth serum that allows him to interrogate enemies with ease. In the anime, Kabuto developed a drug capable of knocking Anko Mitarashi out, despite her having received treatment to be immune to poison while with Orochimaru.
Kabuto has demonstrated a unique affinity for corpses, and has demonstrated an interest in being able to reanimate them. This is primarily convenient when he is experimenting with test subjects, though they have been used briefly in escape situations, and may be used in combat. Kabuto's expertise in medical ninjutsu is far-reaching enough for him to be able to create an almost perfect look-alike of a person from a corpse in very little time and under high pressure, and keeps a sealing scroll to summon corpses for usage; he mentioned to Orochimaru that he would like to keep his stock refilled after using one. Kabuto can even use the remains of a corpse to create a physically enhanced clone as he did with Manda by using the dead snake's cells and various drugs.