Background[]
Iwamaru was born into a family that branched from the Second Tsuchikage's bloodline. Named after his village in hopes of becoming a shinobi of great status, his parents both died before he was enrolled into his village's academy. However, Iwamaru was already stated to be a shinobi of both renown strength and intelligence for his age. This power would lead to the council of his village proposing to making him the new jinchūriki of Kokuō before the idea was dismissed by the Fourth Tsuchikage.
During his time in the academy, Iwamaru posted the highest scores in the Academy's history. This would lead to him graduating a year earlier than intended and being placed onto Team Chūsū. While on this team, they would be recommended to partake in the Chūnin Exams, where they would make it to the preliminaries of the final round and only Iwamaru would advance. Following the first, unofficial, meeting of the Shinobi Eleven, Iwamaru made it clear that he was unwilling to participate in an 11-man battle with his reasoning being that he'd escape an actual fight of that proportion on a mission.
Iwamaru would go on to join Iwagakure's Anbu division unit and become a captain by the age of 15. During his time in the Anbu, Iwamaru would earn the moniker of Wolf (狼, Ōkami) due to his connection with his summons and how well he tracked down his targets. He'd keep this position for approximately half a decade before re-entering the shinobi corps as a jōnin. Following his return, his peers immediately began recommending he be included within the group of shinobi believed capable of succeeding the Tsuchikage. Following this, Iwamaru would be chosen by Kurotsuchi to succeed her.