Ibiki Morino (森乃イビキ, Morino Ibiki) is a tokubetsu jōnin of Konohagakure and replacement leader of Team 40. He is also the Head of Konoha's Intelligence Division and the Commanding Officer of its Torture and Interrogation Force unit.[1][2]
Background[]
Early Life[]
During his youth, Ibiki was noted to have graduated the Ninja Academy at age 10. During his Chūnin Exams, his team, formed by Hayate Gekkō and Tokara, fought Team Orochimaru in the Forest of Death.
At 15 years of age, he was promoted to chūnin, and some time later, he was promoted to one of ANBU's tokubetsu jōnin.
As adult, Ibiki's talents as an interrogator hailed him as ANBU's top interrogator. He led a team of Konoha ANBU in order to retrieve secret codes property of Kirigakure's Cypher Unit. One of its members, Kisame Hoshigaki, identified him and murdered the whole unit before Ibiki and his team could restrain and interrogate them, stating that the situation required for such extreme measures. This disturbed Konoha's plans to obtain the information and displeased Ibiki, who was surprised by Kisame's actions.
Several years later, with a known reputation for extracting information known around the world, Ibiki became the Head of Konoha's Intelligence Division and Commander Officer of its Torture and Interrogation Force unit. During Pain's Assault, he interrogated some of Akatsuki's accomplices in order to obtain information about their intentions.
Moreover, his strong and imposing figure also earned him the role of becoming the proctor of the first examination of the Chūnin Exams.
Personality[]
According to Kakashi Hatake, Ibiki could be described as a sadist. Following his belief that pain is the way of communication, Ibiki is viewed as a strict person, firm in his believes and true to himself, attitudes he carries when he fulfills his duties as Konoha's top interrogator. His ability to remain serious and conduct interrogations without fear of causing injury to his target makes him a feared person among the shinobi of Konoha.
Despite his stoic personality, Ibiki is not afraid to show his emotions and weaknesses, as seen when he confessed to his subordinates that he was scared of Orochimaru when he was younger, describing him as a "inhuman, but in human" personality when he learned that the Sannin had attacked Konoha. He was also notably surprised when Kisame murdered his comrades to protect information vital to his village.
He also shows a more reasonable and relaxed side when he is off duty. He laughed when he discovered he had passed a genin who did not answer any of the exam's questions, as well as showing a smile to the classroom when he revealed the purpose of the examination; shocking Temari. He was also noted to be fond of Naruto Uzumaki's antics and humor.
Appearance[]
Ibiki's duty outfit.
Ibiki is a very tall and imposing man with a bald head and a serious face marked with scars and wound. He covers his scars with his forehead protector around his head to conceal the numerous burn marks, slashes and multiple lacerations. These marks are indicative of the tortures he endured in the past and illustrates the shinobi's capacity to withstand pain without giving up in order to stop the enemy from obtaining vital information about him or Konoha. As a child, he had short silver hair.[3]
During the Chūnin Exams, he wore a simple black outfit with chainmail armor underneath, over which he wore a beige flak jacket with several pouches and calf-length sandals. He wore his forehead protector in his usual bandana style.
As an active member of ANBU, he wore Konoha's old standard grey flak jacket with a sleeveless black coat on top and dark gloves.
Like the other members of the Intelligence Division, Ibiki wears their standard uniform, a matching dark grey coat and pants with a belt around his hips, and a large black trench coat on top. After the Fourth Shinobi World War, his trench cat is a lighter color and he wears a tripped shirt underneath.
Abilities[]
Ibiki is a master of interrogation and plays a vital role in extracting information from enemies and war prisoners[4]. Such infallible methods have earned himself great acclaim and fear in the Five Great Shinobi Countries.[5] As a tokubetsu jōnin, he specializes in extracting information from his targets using torture, both physically and psychologically.
Ninjutsu and Physical Prowess[]
Although Ibiki usually stays away from direct battle, some of his techniques include Shrimp Tie Technique (海老責の術, Ebizeme no Jutsu) and Summoning: Execution Chamber (口寄せ・仕置部屋, Kuchiyose: Shioki Heya).[6] He also showed great raw strength, being able to make Boruto Uzumaki cringe in pain as both shook hands upon their first encounter; however revealing that he was only using 1/10 of his real strength. He can also drag large boulders and use them to attack enemies.[7]
Intelligence[]
Ibiki has complete knowledge of human psychology and has the ability to subject people to great suffering without ever using physical torture. His great knowledge grants him the ability to delve and attack a person's mind and gain control over their spirit[8]. He is also a sharp individual, able to easily tell if someone is lying, quickly seeing through Karin's elaborate story.
New Era[]
During the era of the Seventh Hokage, Ibiki continues as Konoha's top interrogator.
Time Slip Arc[]
In the anime, Ibiki was assigned to take over as Team 40's leader when Enko Onikuma's secret clan technique injured her team's jōnin leader. However, upon learning about her technique, he decided to disband Team 40 due to Dōshu Goetsu and Tsuru Itoi's growing fear of Enko's power, which would only pose as a threat to the team's performance. He instead decided to make her his apprentice and train her as an interrogator.
Later, when Ibiki told Enko that her teammates would be reassigned to a new team, her loneliness triggered her technique and made her go on a frenzy once again. Ibiki struggled to restrain her and even considered cutting her arms off, but Dōshu and Tsuru quickly appeared and the two were able to reach her, insisting that despite being reassigned, they won't leave their friend alone. Their worlds and feelings of genuine friendship ultimately calmed her down. Seeing this, Ibiki rectified and reinstated the three genin together in Team 40.
Mujina Bandits Arc[]
Ibiki interrogates Shojoji.
After the Ōtsutsuki attack on the Chūnin Exams, Ibiki and Sai Yamanaka conducted an investigation on Katasuke Tōno and discovered that he had been under mind control, evidencing that he was leaking information about their technology to his controller. After the report, Naruto has them continue their investigation.
Later, Ibiki and Sai are tasked to interrogate newly apprehended leader of the Mujina Bandits, Shojoji. When the latter refuses to speak because of the lack of benefit for him, Ibiki promises he would regret it. He decided to call Sasuke Uchiha in the interrogation process in order to have him read his mind using his Sharingan, but, Shojoji quickly changes his mind. Ibiki listens to him along with Sasuke and Sai as he talks about the mysterious organization called Kara.
Kara Actuation Arc[]
In the anime, Kakashi approached Ibiki to ask him for a favor to have Boruto and the imprisoned Shojoji meet, so Boruto could test the progress he made on his Rasengan training with him. Ibiki was concerned by the idea, but Kakashi promised to take full responsibility.
Ibiki and Kakashi were both impressed by the power of Boruto's Compression Rasengan, which ultimately defeated Shojoji's own Wind Release techniques.
Ao Arc[]
In the anime, Ibiki attended the memorial service for the fallen people of the Fourth Shinobi World War.
Kawaki Arc[]
In the anime, Ibiki participated in the coordination plans led by Shikamaru ahead of Isshiki's invasion.
Code's Assault Arc[]
After Isshiki's defeat, Amado revealed to Konoha that Code, the last remaining member of Kara Inner would pursue revenge for the death of his beloved master. The Five Great Shinobi Countries coordinated a search party in order to retrieve him. Ibiki shared that while there were no sightings of Code, the other villages did find multiple Claw Marks.
Omnipotence Arc[]
After a confrontation with Code outside Konoha, Ibiki participated on a discussion on how to deal with Kawaki, who was marked with a new Kāma with access to Isshiki's powers. He questioned why Kawaki remained free but Shikamaru Nara discussed how none of their available options would hold Kawaki. He told Ibiki that so their best option was not to antagonize him in the hopes he would remain on their side due to his loyalty to Naruto.
Much later, Ibiki's memories of Boruto and Kawaki were swapped by Eida's accidental activation of Omnipotence.
New Era: Part II[]
Boruto's Return Arc[]
After aiding Konoha against the Claw Grimes, Boruto was captured in order to be interrogated by Ibiki for killing the Seventh Hokage. He listened to Boruto's confession about the Claw Grimes are and revealed that the Seventh Hokage and his wife were still alive, but refused to reveal details about his sources. Upon this, Ibiki began his aggressive interrogation methods seeking for answers. As Boruto remained defiant, Ibiki proclaimed that the cuffs holding him hostage were subpar and he would not be able to break free.
In order to accelerate the process, Shikamaru sent in Mitsuki to help interrogations with his venom, but Ibiki witnessed as an enraged Mitsuki tackled Boruto and broke free from Amado's handcuffs.
Trivia[]
- The name "Ibiki" literally means "snoring" (鼾), while his family name "Morino" means "of the forest" (森乃). In Japanese, his full name can be interpreted as "snoring in the forest" (鼾森乃, Mori no Ibiki).
- According to character trivia from Boruto: Naruto Next Generations:
- His attributes are: 100 in strength, 120 in intelligence, 130 in perception, 98 in dexterity, 100 in chakra, and 120 in negotiation.
- He was also given a skill rating in these particular areas:
- Torture & Interrogation: ★★★★★
- Medical Science: ★★★☆☆
- Psychology: ★★★☆☆
- According to the databooks:
- His favourite food is sautéed enokitake or any dish with meat while his least favourite is maize.
- He wishes to fight Orochimaru.
- Ibiki's favourite word is "Truth" (真実, shinjitsu).
- His hobby is suggestive interrogation.
- Ibiki has completed 861 official missions in total: 181 D-rank, 297 C-rank, 301 B-rank, 79 A-rank, 3 S-rank.