Kenji Kayuga

Kenji Kayuga (カユガ ケンジ Kayuga Kenji) is the main protagonist of the series: Naruto: The Shadow Chronicles. He is a jōnin level shinobi from Kagegakure III. Kenji is noted for his prodigious skill in ninja arts, having mastered four elemental chakra natures, as well as being highly skilled in the Diamond Release.

Background
Kenji is the son of the head of the Kagegakure III Interrogation Force, Raiga Kayuga. When Kenji was seven years old, his father implanted in him two Byakugan which he obtained from an unnamed member of the Hyuga clan during the Kagegakure III- Konohagakure War. Kenji was trained in the Gentle Fist by Raiga, until he was proficient in it to the point where he was a match for an actual member of the Hyuga Clan. Kenji entered Kagegakure's Ninja Academy at the age of twelve, and was able to graduate in less than a year, a remarkable feat considering the stringent curriculum of Kage's Academy.

Personality
Kenji is usually good-natured, helpful and friendly towards his friends and team-mates, although he displayed arrogance when first introduced to Haruka Sakumi and Shizuna Yakuda. He can also be sadistic and ruthless, however, when faced with a superior foe, willing to sacrifice innocent bystanders in order to achieve victory or complete a mission.

Appearance
Kenji has spiky black hair, and white eyes with no pupils, due to possessing the Byakugan. He is considered quite handsome by most females, and his team-mate, Haruka, has had a long-standing crush on him. In Part I, he initially wears a hooded navy blue sweater and dark green short pants, with a blue forehead protector. During the Chunin Exams and for the remainder of Part I, Kenji wears a dark gray shirt and black pants. In Part II, he wears a white shirt with a raised collar with black pants, and discard his blue Kage forehead protector in favor of a black one.

Abilities
Kenji is a natural genius, even amongst the highly skilled shinobi of Kagegakure III. At the age of ten, he mastered the Kayuga clan's signature technique, Fire Release: Heat Wave Technique. This technique takes a high amount of chakra to perform, and all the members of the clan were astounded when they realized Kenji had performed it; the average Kayuga usually does not learn the techinque until age thirteen. By the middle of part I, Kenji had learned several A-Rank techniques such as the Chidori.

Speed
Kenji has had a high level of speed since the start of the series, but his speed drastically improved during the second stage of the Chunin Exams, when his sensei, Hiashi Nakamura, trained him to be able to match the Kurogan's speed. With it, he was able to develop a new taijutsu combo called the Demon Combo, a devastating physical attack that Kenji still uses. This impressive speed extends to Kenji's forming of hand seals, being able to form many in a blur. By the middle of Part II, Kenji is able to match Sasuke Uchiha's speed, much to the amazement of Taka.

Taijutsu
Kenji is very skilled with using the Gentle Fist style of taijutsu, having trained with it since he was seven. He is also very talented in regular taijutsu, first showcased when Kenji and Shizuna faced off against Tako and Mitone, two A-Rank missing-nin. Although only able to defeat Tako's shadow clone, it was a great accomplishment as Tako was a very dangerous ninja. Kenji's taijutsu skills greatly improved during the Chunin Exams. Under Hiashi's tutelage, he was able to create several new taijutsu moves, as well as greatly increasing his speed. With this speed, he was able to outfight Roku Nakamura, his long-time rival who possessed the Kurogan, granting him incredible speed. During the time skip under Iroku's guidance, Kenji further improved his taijutsu, being able to move great distances as if by teleportation, as well as holding his own against Hiashi Nakamura. Later in Part II, he demonstrates the ability to use Chakra Enhanced Strength.

Nature Trasformation
Kenji is very skilled in manipulating fire, lightning, earth, and water. Proving himself a true genius ninja and member of the Kayuga, Kenji has repeatedly shown great proficiency in fire-based and lightning-based techniques. By the age of ten, he had already mastered his clan's rite of passage technique, the Fire Release: Heat Wave Technique.Hiashi was not surprised, when, during their first training session, Kenji used the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique on him. Seeing as he was a member of the Kayuga Clan, Hiashi expected nothing less of him. Kenji has also shown the ability to combine his skills with Fire Release techniques with shurikenjutsu for techniques like Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique.

Wanting Kenji to be able to defeat Roku, Hiashi taught him the Chidori. Hiashi himself had learned the technique after witnessing Kakashi Hatake use it during the Third Shinobi World War. Hiashi copied it with his Kurogan, and passed on the jutsu to his student. In Part I, Kenji can use the technique three times in one day, but by Part II, his chakra levels have increased to the point where he can use it five times in one day.

Over the time-skip, Kenji learns many new elemental techniques, as well as creating his own original jutsu; the Raijū. This technique uses real lightning as opposed to chakra. To perform it, Kenji first releases a large amount of lightning chakra into the atmosphere, in order to ionize air particles, thus giving them an electric current. Kenji then guides and shapes the static electricity in the atmosphere and brings it down on his opponent, creating a massive thunderbolt with a blast radius of up to half a kilometer. The power of this technique is comparable to Sasuke's Kirin.

Chakra Control
As a member of the Kayuga Clan, Kenji possesses both large chakra reserves and excellent chakra control. As noted by Kakashi Hatake, Kenji's normal chakra level is about three-quarters of Naruto Uzumaki's, and his chakra control is better than Sakura Haruno's. Using his skill controlling chakra, Kenji can use several chakra-consuming techniques in a relatively short time, without wasting any chakra. In Part II, during his fight with Sakura Haruno, he demonstrates the ability to use Chakra Enhanced Strength, by building up his chakra and releasing it all at once. This astounded Sakura as Kenji had no training in medical ninjutsu.

Shadow Clone Technique
The Shadow Clone Technique was one of the techniques that Hiashi taught Kenji in preparation for the first stage of the Chunin exams. The Shadow Clone Technique takes advantage of the massive chakra and stamina reserves Kenji possesses due to being a member of the Kayuga Clan. Kenji can create upwards of five hundred shadow clones, each with a decent amount of chakra. He usually uses these clones in his fighting style, either using them to distract his opponents or to directly attack them. When Kenji trained to learn the Water Release: Hydra Bullet Technique, he created fifty shadow clones to aid in his training.

Byakugan
Kenji obtained the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan when his father transplanted them into him, his father having taken them from a Hyuga he defeated. Kenji uses his Byakugan in Squad 9's first training session with Hiashi, using the Gentle fist to attack his sensei. He uses it in every one of his later fights, using it to determine an enemy shinobi's location and chakra level, as well as becoming a skilled sensor ninja.

Diamond Release
Kenji has earned reputation as a truly powerful ninja from his use of the Diamond Release. With it, Kenji can create solid structures which are made from pure diamond, turning any conceivable object into a weapon. Kenji has also shown the ability to emit his Chidori from diamonds he creates, in effect turning the Chidori into a very concentrated beam of lightning that is capable of piercing almost any substance. His Diamond Release: Imprisonment is greatly feared throughout the shinobi world.

Intoduction Arc
Upon passing the graduation exam and being placed in Team 9 with Haruka Sakumi and Shizuna Yakuda, Kenji immediately protested being on the same team as the other two. The Academy instructors told him that the three of them had been placed on the same team because of their unique skills. Later, Hiashi gave them the 'real' graduation test. Kenji, Haruka, and Shizuna were forced to work together in order to pass. The three of them devised a plan to have Kenji use his Gentle Fist and Fire Release techniques to distract their sensei, while Shizuna would immobilize Hiashi with his Shadow Imitation Technique, and Kenji would finish him off. The plan worked to near-perfection, with Hiashi grabbing Kenji's wrists and tossing him in a bush before passing the team.

Tako and Mitone Arc
When Kenji and Shizuna were walking along the outskirts of Kagegakure III, they overheard Tako and Mitone, two A-Rank missing-nin, conversing about their plans to steal a scroll containing the sealed spirit of the One-Tailed Demon Dragon, in order to destroy Kage. Panicked, the two genin used the Transformation Technique to conceal themselves, as well as eavesdrop on the two missing-nin. Tako and Mitone eventually forced the Kage shinobi to reveal themselves. The criminals left behind one shadow clone each to deal with them, confident that Kenji and Shizuna would have been easy to kill. Using a combination of Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, and Fire Release techniques, Kenji defeated Tako's Shadow Clone. When Tako and Mitone realized their shadow clones had been defeated, they used to Body Flicker Technique to appear behind Kenji and Shizuna and knock them out. When the two Kage genin eventually regained consciousness, they ran to their sensei, Hiashi, to inform him about the threat to Kagegakure.