Hayate Gekko

Hayate Gekko was a special jonin, also known as Tokubetsu Jonin, of the Village Hidden by the Leaves. He was promoted to the rank of a jonin purely based on his mastery of Kenjutsu (Sword Techniques). After graduating from the Hidden Leaf Ninja Academy at the age of 12, he was assigned to a genin squad with Tokara, which operated under the captainship of Ibiki Morino. At the young age of just thirteen years, Hayate was promoted to the rank of a Chunin based on his advanced abilities.

At some point while serving as a Kenjustu specialist, Hayate was assigned as the Sword Technique Instructor to Yugao Uzuki. As he spent time with her during their long training sessions, they both fell in love with each other.

Hayate Gekko made his debut in episode 37 of the original Naruto series. He appeared in the series as a proctor in the Chunin Exams Arc. At first glance, Hayate seemed to be ill as he had bags under his eyes and was suffering from a cough that he couldn’t get rid of. The reason for his ill appearance is unexplained to this day. It is believed that it was a result of his excessive workload or a chronic illness.

Hayate was introduced as the proctor of the final round of the Chunin Exams. Due to an unprecedented high number of young genin clearing the second round of the exam, a preliminary exam was held to thin out the herd which would decide the finalists for the final round of the exam. Hayate served as a proctor for the preliminary exam as well. The battle between Neji Hyuga and Hinata Hyuga got heated when Neji was out of control and prepared to launch an attack that could have been fatal for Hinata. At that instance, Hayate along with Kurenai, Might Guy, and Kakashi Hatake intervened and stopped Neji in his tracks.

Hayate heard about the attack on the Anbu unit assigned to guard Sasuke Uchiha, which resulted in the death of several Anbu members. Uzuki was a part of that unit. Worried about Uzuki’s well-being, Hayate rushed to the hospital and had a word with her. After a brief conversation, both lovers promised each other that they would protect each other to the ends of the earth.

Later in the series, Hayate is assigned to spy on Kabuto Yakushi by the Third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Kabuto was revealed to be a subordinate of the rogue ninja, Orochimaru, one of the Three Legendary Sannin of the Hidden Leaf Village, after his confrontation with Kakashi Hatake.

After tailing Kabuto, Hayate listened to Kabuto’s conversation with Baki, a jonin of the Village Hidden by the Sand. After listening to their conversation, Hayate concluded that the Hidden Sand Village and the Hidden Sound Village were planning to launch a combined attack to invade the Hidden Leaf Village. After understanding the dire situation, Hayate rushed to inform the Third Hokage of the situation. To his misfortune, Hayate’s cover was blown as the two enemies sensed his presence. Baki chased and confronted him. He found himself engaged in a death battle with Baki.

After a short battle, Hayate used his signature move and attacked Baki with his Dance of the Crescent Moon technique. Unfortunately, Hayate’s attack was too shallow and his sword got stuck in Baki’s flak jacket which gave Baki the opening he needed. Baki praised Hayate’s skills and then killed him with his Blade of Wind technique, and left his corpse lying there. Kabuto then removes his corpse’s odor so that it does not get detected right away. Hayate’s corpse is found the next day by an Anbu unit including Yugao Uzuki.

In the Five Kage Summit, Obito Uchiha, impersonating Madara Uchiha at the moment, declares the Fourth Great Ninja War against the shinobi world. In preparation, Kabuto created an army of reincarnated notable shinobi to fight against the Allied Shinobi Force. Kabuto reincarnated Hayate using the Summing: Impure World Reincarnation, to help him in acquiring the corpses of elite shinobi throughout the history of the shinobi world, to reincarnate them to fight in the Fourth Great Ninja War.

Upon revival, Hayate recognizes Kabuto and asks him about the events that took place after his unfortunate death. Kabuto informs him about the failed invasion and catches him up on the situation at hand. Then, against his will, Hayate, along with two other reincarnated shinobi, are dispatched to attack and retrieve the KIA scroll from the Logistical Support and Medical Division of the Allied Shinobi Force.

In his attack on the Medical Camp, Hayate comes face to face with his lover, Yugao Uzuki. The other two shinobi get sealed in the battle by the pursuit team. On the other hand, Hayate overpowers Io and Yokaze, two shinobi of the Hidden Leaf, with ease. Being on opposing sides, Hayate and Uzuki end up battling each other. During their battle, Hayate manages to reject Kabuto’s will and asks Uzuki to use this opportunity to attack and seal him, as he did not wish to harm his comrades. Overwhelmed by her love for him, Uzuki finds herself unable to attack him and misses the opportunity. Kabuto regains control and then Hayate flees with the scroll.

On his way to Kabuto to deliver the scroll, Hayate is tracked down by Sakura Haruno. Hayate recognizes Sakura and realizes that she was a genin who participated in the Chunin Exams. Hayate states that she has become a fine kunoichi. After a brief struggle against Sakura, Hayate manages to subdue her.

Sakura is then rescued by Uzuki. Uzuki remembers the promise she made to Hayate and is now prepared to confront Hayate. Hayate and Yugao engage in a battle once again. They attack each other with their Dance of the Crescent Moon techniques. After their clash, Hayate praises Yugao’s improved skills. Hayate then senses Kabuto taking full control of him to launch a fatal attack. Before Kabuto is successful in his attempt, Hayate rushes toward Yugao, allowing her to subdue him.

Hayate succeeds in his effort, gets subdued, and loses his battle against Yugao. He then praises her and bids her farewell as he gets sealed away. Later, when Itachi Uchiha successfully released the Edo Tensei No Jutsu, his soul was freed and he returned to the afterlife.

Hayate also appears in a filler arc of Naruto Shippuden, titled Power Arc. After the Five Kage Summit, Hayate is resurrected by Kabuto after he defiles his grave. Kabuto revives him to launch an attack and massacre the Tonika Village. Kabuto massacres the Tonika Village to gain control over The Hole.

Hayate is later revived again to fight against Team 7, who came to investigate the incident. Hayate confronts Sakura and gets punched with monstrous force while Sakura apologizes for attacking a fellow Hidden Leaf shinobi. The damage caused by Sakura later turns out to be futile as Hayate starts reconstructing. Hayate then returns to his coffin as Kabuto retreats.

Hayate attacks Team 7 the following day and succeeds in subduing Naruto Uzumaki, who was in a weakened state. He is later summoned again by Kabuto when Ama no Hoko, also known as Spear of Heaven, is activated. He, along with other reincarnated shinobi, are used as suicide bombers by Deidara after he infuses them with his chakra-infused explosive clay. To everyone’s surprise, Hayate and other reincarnated shinobi did not reconstruct and instead turned to dust.

Hayate Gekko had a very unique personality. He always came up with his own way of doing things rather than imitating others. He was independent and was never seen relying on someone else. It can be said that he was a maverick who believed in self-reliance and believed in his own abilities.

Hayate was a gentle and kind soul. Hayate had a great sense of duty and loyalty for the Hidden Leaf Village and his comrades. When he suspected that Kabuto and Baki were planning something that endangered the Hidden Leaf, he spied on them to expose their scheme, putting his own life at risk without a second thought.

Hayate was a well-renowned shinobi of the Hidden Leaf and respected by his fellow Hidden Leaf shinobi. After his death, fellow jonin were shocked to know of his death and saddened hearing the news.

Hayate cared deeply for his love interest, Yugao. He was concerned about her well-being and asked her to be careful when she got promoted to become a part of the Anbu Black Ops. Even after he died and came back as a resurrected shinobi in the Fourth Great Ninja War, he showed concern for Yugao’s well-being and resisted Kabuto’s will as well as he could. After the jutsu was done and his soul was released, he praised Yugao and wished for her well-being.

As a genin, Hayate fashioned a red color Haori with long sleeves and pants of three-fourths of length. He also wore bangles on his hands and legs. He also carries a sword around his hips attached to two strings. We can also see that he had lines under his eyes even as a kid, which raises the question of whether it was due to an illness he had since being a child, or an indicator of his stress level, a symbol of his hard work.

Hayate had black dark lines under his eyes, short brown hair, and dark eyes. He was a young man, but he had prominent lines under his eyes and a persistent cough that bothered him. Although it is not definite, it is believed the dark circles and the cough were a result of his stress and indicated that he had a significantly great workload.

He was dressed in the traditional Hidden Leaf shinobi attire. He fashioned a blue shirt and blue pants with bandages on his right thigh and ankles. He wore a flak jacket which was an indicator of his Jonin status, combined with black sandals, ordinary shinobi footwear, and a Hidden Leaf forehead protector that he fashioned as a bandanna. In addition, he wore a katana with a strapped-on rectangular hand guard.

When he was resurrected by Kabuto with the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, there was close to no difference in his appearance. The only difference in Hayate's appearance upon reincarnation, aside from face cracks, is the gray sclerae typical of all the other shinobi Kabuto brought back. The gray sclera is a typical indicator of a shinobi reincarnated using the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu.

Hayate's promotion to Tokubetsu Jonin status was solely based on his expertise and prodigious Kenjutsu skills. His unique move, known as Dance of the Crescent Moon, uses the extremely difficult Ninjutsu, Shadow Clone. With this move, he simultaneously attacks the opponent with his shadow clones and himself at such a high speed that it leaves behind afterimages and is nearly hard to dodge.

He has demonstrated another of his signature attacks in the anime, known as Secret Sword: Moonlight. He was able to dodge opponent assaults in midair and execute the Dance of the Crescent Moon with a kunai. In his fight against Baki, Hayate showcased his keen reflexes as he was able to block an attack while being inches away from Baki by drawing his kunai in mid-air. On multiple occasions, he was able to draw his sword and deflect kunai attacks in mid-air, which is a comparatively difficult task.

Hayate was very agile. He was capable of dodging attacks mid-air, blocking a great number of projectiles with ease, and maneuvering through them to land an attack. This says a lot about his skills as a shinobi. He also possessed a keen sense of smell as in one instance, he was capable of smelling spilled blood on the battlefield even though he was at a significantly far location from the battlefield.

Hayate was suitable for stealth missions as he was proficient in the popular Transparent Escape Technique. He had such mastery in this technique that he was assigned to spy on Orochimaru’s right-hand man, Kabuto. Although it was not displayed in the anime, it is mentioned that Hayate also possessed great skills in Genjutsu and various other high-ranking Ninjutsu.

Aside from Kenjutsu, Hayate also possessed great physical strength. During one of his battles, he was able to slice through a series of boulders with a single strike with great precision.

In the anime, Hayate showcased proficiency in Taijutsu as well. In his battle against Naruto Uzumaki, he stood his ground and kicked Naruto with such great force that it caused cracks in the wall Naruto smashed against.

Gekko also possessed a knack for tactics. In his battle against Baki of the Hidden Sand Village, he used Baki’s attacks against him, catching him off guard and landing a hit. Hayate had a strong will and personality. In the Fourth Great Ninja War, he was capable of negating Kabuto’s will in a few instances, a feat of strength that few of the reincarnated shinobi in the war were capable of.

To Yugao - Then let's make a promise! With the moon as our witness… I swear to you and you swear to me… That we will love each other above all else, and protect each other.

To Yugao - I won’t let you surpass me that easily. Since I’m going to protect you.

Other than the manga and anime adaption of the Naruto series, Hayate also appears in movies and games related to the series. Hayate Gekko is a playable character in the following games related to the series:

Q. Why did Hayate Gekko cough?

A. It is presumed that Hayate was battling an illness although no definite data is available confirming the same. It is also believed that his tired look and the bags under his eyes were indicative of him being overworked and probably not getting any sleep. If that’s the case, he might have just had a cold or a fever that caused his coughing.

Q. Who killed Hayate?

A. Baki, a Jonin of the Hidden Sand Village, killed Hayate. Hayate was spying on Kabuto Yakushi and Baki when he suspected that they were planning something against the Hidden Leaf Village. Later, he got into a battle against Baki when he was found, and he was killed by Baki.

Q. Who is Hayate’s lover?

A. Gekko Hayate and Yugao Uzuki were lovers. Hayate and Uzuki met when he was assigned to be her trainer in the art of Kenjutsu. They spent a lot of time together training and eventually fell in love with each other.