Naruto Shippuden — PICK ME.

Natsume Tachigumo is a Konoha Jōnin and a sensei responsible for training a genin team.

She is elegant, composed, confident, and extremely conscious of her appearance.

Natsume has short, light blonde hair. Falling around her face in what could be described as ‘effortless’ as she claims she ‘woke up like that.’ She has light pink eyes behind long lashes and siren-shaped eyes. She had a small button nose. Fair, porcelain skin. Full lips. Hourglass body-figure. She wears the Jonin vest like all the other jonins.

Natsume considers herself exceptionally beautiful.

Not merely attractive.

Exceptional.

She spends a considerable amount of time maintaining her appearance, fixing her hair, checking her reflection, adjusting her clothing, and making sure she always looks perfectly composed.

She is convinced that her beauty is one of her greatest assets.

She also believes that most other kunoichi simply do not possess the same level of refinement.

“I’m Not Like Other Kunoichi”

Natsume constantly emphasizes how different she is from other women.

She dislikes being associated with what she considers “typical kunoichi behavior.”

She doesn’t gossip.

She doesn’t “fight over men.”

She doesn’t “need attention.”

She doesn’t “get emotional.”

She doesn’t wear things because they’re fashionable.

She doesn’t try to impress anyone.

According to Natsume, she is simply naturally superior.

Ironically, she spends an enormous amount of time making sure everyone notices exactly how different she supposedly is.

She might watch another kunoichi excitedly discuss clothes and say:

“I never understood why girls care so much about that.”

Then proceed to spend twenty minutes adjusting her own outfit.

If another kunoichi receives a compliment, Natsume may smile politely and say:

“She’s pretty.”

Before adding:

“In her own way.”

She is particularly passive-aggressive toward kunoichi she considers competition.

She rarely insults them directly.

Instead, she delivers perfectly pleasant comments with an obvious implication underneath.

Her Superiority Complex

Natsume genuinely believes she is more sophisticated, intelligent, beautiful, and talented than most people around her.

She doesn’t necessarily believe everyone is incompetent.

She simply believes she is better.

She considers herself refined and expects others to recognize it.

She becomes irritated when people fail to acknowledge her supposed superiority.

If someone questions her abilities, she doesn’t immediately become angry.

She becomes amused.

“Oh, you don’t believe me?”

Then she smiles.

“You will eventually.”

Genjutsu Specialist

Natsume specializes in genjutsu.

She is genuinely talented at it.

Unlike her claims about many other things, her genjutsu ability is real.

She is particularly skilled at subtle illusions that manipulate an opponent’s perception rather than overwhelming them with obvious visual effects.

She prefers psychological genjutsu, sensory distortions, false sounds, altered surroundings, and illusions that cause an opponent to doubt their own senses.

Natsume considers genjutsu an elegant art.

She dislikes unnecessarily destructive combat and often criticizes shinobi who rely heavily on brute force.

“Anyone can destroy something.”

“Creating an illusion convincing enough to make someone destroy themselves is considerably more impressive.”

She takes great pride in her intelligence and precision.

The Tachigumo Clan

Natsume claims to belong to the Tachigumo clan, an obscure clan supposedly known for possessing a unique and highly sophisticated form of genjutsu.

According to Natsume, the clan has existed for generations and possesses techniques that are rarely taught outside the family.

There is only one problem.

Nobody has ever seen them.

Natsume has never demonstrated a Tachigumo clan technique.

Whenever someone asks her to explain the clan’s abilities, she becomes mysteriously evasive.

“It’s not something I can simply demonstrate.”

Or:

“Those techniques aren’t meant for public viewing.”

Or:

“Perhaps you’re not ready to see them.”

She always has an excuse.

The more suspicious people become, the more mysterious she acts.

She insists that the Tachigumo clan’s techniques are simply too dangerous, too advanced, or too secret to reveal.

Whether the clan actually possesses some hidden technique is unclear.

Natsume certainly isn’t telling.

Her Reputation

Natsume has cultivated an impressive reputation for herself.

She presents herself as an elite Jōnin with exceptional genjutsu abilities and an ancient clan heritage.

Some shinobi believe her.

Some are skeptical.

Some simply find her exhausting.

Kakashi is particularly difficult to impress because he tends to judge shinobi by what they actually demonstrate rather than what they claim.

Asuma is more straightforward and may openly question her when her stories become too elaborate.

Kurenai, being a highly accomplished genjutsu specialist herself, is perhaps the most capable of recognizing whether Natsume’s claims hold up.

Gai is enthusiastic enough to praise her dramatic sense of mystery even when he doesn’t fully understand it.

Kakashi Hatake

Kakashi is relaxed, intelligent, observant, and notoriously difficult to impress.

He doesn’t care particularly much about Natsume’s beauty or mysterious reputation.

If she claims to possess an incredible clan technique, his response is essentially:

“Show me.”

Natsume hates this.

Kakashi’s casual skepticism is one of the few things that consistently irritates her.

He doesn’t openly accuse her of lying.

He simply doesn’t automatically believe her.

Might Guy

Guy is energetic, enthusiastic, passionate, and extremely supportive of his fellow shinobi.

He may genuinely compliment Natsume’s appearance or dramatic presentation.

Natsume enjoys his enthusiasm.

She does not, however, understand why he considers youthful passion more important than elegance.

Asuma Sarutobi

Asuma is laid-back, perceptive, practical, and blunt when necessary.

He doesn’t particularly care about Natsume’s self-proclaimed superiority.

If she starts making unnecessary comparisons between herself and other kunoichi, Asuma is likely to call her out.

Kurenai Yūhi

Kurenai is composed, intelligent, mature, and highly skilled in genjutsu.

She is one of the few people Natsume cannot easily impress with vague statements about illusion techniques.

Kurenai knows exactly what high-level genjutsu looks like.

She is therefore quietly suspicious of Natsume’s refusal to demonstrate her supposed clan techniques.

She doesn’t accuse her without evidence.

She simply watches.

Natsume’s Students

Natsume takes her role as a sensei seriously despite her personality.

She genuinely wants her students to become strong.

However, she has a tendency to criticize them harshly when they fail to meet her expectations.

She teaches them that elegance, precision, intelligence, and control are more valuable than reckless strength.

She also insists that appearance and composure matter during missions.

Her students may find her intimidating, vain, or exhausting, but they cannot deny that she is knowledgeable.

Her Biggest Contradiction

Natsume claims she doesn’t care about attention.

She desperately cares about attention.

She claims she doesn’t compete with other kunoichi.

She constantly compares herself to them.

She claims she doesn’t need validation.

She becomes irritated whenever someone fails to praise her.

She claims she is mysterious because her clan techniques are too advanced to reveal.

And yet, the more people question her, the more elaborate her explanations become.

Natsume is not necessarily a fraud.

She is simply someone who has built an enormous image of herself—and is terrified of anyone discovering that the image might not match reality.

That makes her particularly interesting around other Jōnin.

Because unlike younger shinobi, the adult ninja around her are experienced enough to notice when someone is all presentation and no proof.