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lead=yes is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists in the Naruto manga and anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto. In the story, Kakashi is the teacher of Team 7, consisting of the series' primary characters, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. Kakashi's past has been extensively explored in the series, resulting in a gaiden being devoted to his past experiences. Kakashi has appeared in several pieces of Naruto media, the featured films in the series, the original video animations, and the video games.
Kakashi is depicted in Naruto as an eccentric but highly skilled shinobi for the Hidden Leaf Village. Initially cold and calculated due to the suicide of his father, Sakumo, Kakashi eventually began to warm up in his youth with the help of his teammate Obito Uchiha, while they are under the tutelage of Naruto's father Minato Namikaze. It is through Obito that Kakashi obtains the Uchiha clan's Sharingan (which originally only contained 1 tomoe), which he uses to copy the abilities of his opponents and make his own, but also drains his energy. Following the deaths of all of his squadmates, unaware of Obito's survival, Kakashi is eventually given charge of Team 7 due to his connections with Minato and the Uchiha, and through them is able to finally have the family he never had. He is initially portrayed as a detached and apathetic figure, but as the series progresses, his loyalty to his friends, students, and the village becomes increasingly apparent. He is one of the strongest characters in the series and one of the only characters who was able to use Susanoo.
He was originally created by Kishimoto to be a harsh teacher but the author decided to avoid that. Instead, he made him more generous to calm his students in difficult situations to the point of giving him feminine traits. Kakashi's design gave Kishimoto difficulties as a result of having most of his face covered and as a result it was difficult to show his emotions. For the anime series, he is voiced by Kazuhiko Inoue in Japanese and Dave Wittenberg in the English dub.
Numerous anime and manga publications have praised and criticized Kakashi's character. Although he has been noted to be an echo of similar detached shōnen manga characters, the duality of Kakashi's apathetic and serious sides have been praised. Kakashi has been highly popular with the Naruto reader base, placing high in several popularity polls. Merchandise based on Kakashi has also been released, including and .
Because he acts as a link between the other main characters of the series, Kakashi is rarely featured prominently in promotional artwork, instead appearing in the background while his students are the focus. In an interview in Shōnen Jump's, Kishimoto said that if he were to make an extra story from the manga with a different character, such character would be Kakashi. In early 2014, Kishimoto commented he wanted to reveal Kakashi's face but was not sure whether it would be in the manga or an upcoming movie. The Raikiri, one of Kakashi's most common techniques, had a different name, but the author forgot it. Nevertheless, he found the name Raikiri fitting for this lightning-based technique. Kakashi's lit. "Copy Wheel Eye", English manga: "Mirror Wheel Eye" was introduced to give the character mystery as only members from the Uchiha clan could possess it. By chapter 16 of the manga, Kishimoto had already decided how Kakashi obtained the Sharingan. He also added that Kakashi's face was difficult to draw since it is covered by a mask. In April 2015, Kishimoto revealed Kakashi's face for the first time during an exhibition.
When deciding upon Kakashi's name, Kishimoto considered a number of possibilities: Kuwa (クワ, "hoe"), Kama (カマ, "scythe"), Botan (ボタン, "peony"), Enoki (エノキ, a nettle tree), and Kakashi (カカシ, "scarecrow"). He eventually decided upon Kakashi, and remains glad that he did to this day. In keeping with the meaning of his name, scarecrows are occasionally used to represent Kakashi; Naruto, for example, uses a scarecrow that is dressed like Kakashi to help him train for a combat test between the two. Likewise, scarecrows are at times added to the background of scenes in which Kakashi appears, as is the case with the cover of the Naruto manga volume three.
In animated versions of the manga, Kakashi has been voiced by Kazuhiko Inoue in Japanese. Inoue was surprised about Kakashi's popularity within the Naruto fans and expected people to continue supporting him. In an interview, Dave Wittenberg, who does the voice acting for Kakashi in the English dub, comments that he feels he is similar to the character since he tends to have one eye open at a time and he becomes angry if he is interrupted while reading. He also added that what he likes most about Kakashi is his relation with his students, noting him to be "a very nice person".
Kakashi's background is explored in Kakashi Gaiden, a six chapter series that divides the gap between Part I and II of the manga. Kakashi is the son of Sakumo Hatake, one of the most powerful shinobi Konoha ever produced, renowned throughout the ninja world as "White Fang of the Leaf". Kakashi was himself a child prodigy and, during the ninja academy years, was hailed as the best of his generation. Following his father's suicide after a failed mission, Kakashi adopted the philosophy that the success of a mission must always come first, over the welfare of his comrades. Kakashi is assigned by his teacher, Minato Namikaze, to lead a mission that would turn the current war in Konoha's favor. When his teammate, Rin Nohara, is captured by enemy ninja, his other teammate, Obito Uchiha, convinces him to rescue her. After finding Rin, an enemy-induced cave-in crushed Obito's right half. As his dying wish, Obito has Rin implant his newly acquired Sharingan into Kakashi's freshly damaged eye socket as a parting gift. His new eye in place, Kakashi flees with Rin as the cave collapses, completing their mission. Shortly after this event, Kakashi has to rescue Rin, who is kidnapped by Kirigakure, again; however, he learns that the Kiri, under the influence of Madara Uchiha, have made Rin the host of the Three Tails, Isobu. Rin requests Kakashi kill her so she may not be used as part of a Trojan Horse scheme against Konoha, but Kakashi is reluctant. She eventually forces herself on the way of Kakashi's Lightning Blade that he originally directed at the pursuing Hidden Mist ninja, killing her. An anime exclusive flashback arc in covered Kakashi coping with what he endured during the war as he becomes an ANBU operative during Minato's time as Hokage and influences Yamato into becoming a member of the ANBU as well. Once relieved of duty in the ANBU, Kakashi becomes a Genin instructor prior to the events of Part I.
Two-and-a-half years later in Part II, Kakashi reforms Team 7, with new arrival Sai in Sasuke's place. During the gap in time, Kakashi hones the lit. "Kaleidoscope Copy Wheel Eye" gained from Rin's death to master the Kamui ability that allows him to send any targeted object to another dimension. Because his students are now capable of taking care of themselves, Kakashi takes a more active role in battles, particularly those with the criminal organization Akatsuki. When the Akatsuki leader, Pain, invades Konoha, Kakashi engages him in battle, and dies from exhausting all his energy. However, after his confrontation with Naruto, Pain decides to use all of his remaining power to revive all those killed in the battle at Konoha, including Kakashi. Following a brief encounter with Tobi, the Akatsuki's true leader, Kakashi becomes one of the generals to participate in the war against Tobi's army. As Naruto and Killer Bee continue to battle against Tobi and his forces, Kakashi and Guy arrive to join the fight. During the encounter, Kakashi learns that Tobi is Obito, who in fact had survived his apparent death and had committed to destroying the world order that allowed their friend's demise; Kakashi is left greatly stunned and horrified at Obito's actions. Despite the guilt for what Obito has become, Kakashi is encouraged by Naruto to continue fighting and the battle ends with Kakashi impaling Obito. When Naruto is nearly killed by Madara, Kakashi and a redeemed Obito join forces to protect Naruto by spiriting him off into the latter's dimension to be healed. After Kakashi loses his Sharingan, Naruto uses his new-found abilities to restore his original eye. Kakashi finds himself temporarily infused by the chakra-based spirit of Obito as he gains his friend's full Sharingan abilities and a Susanoo to help his team defeat Kaguya. Kakashi Hatake is the commander of the third battle unit in the fourth great ninja war. Following the conclusion of the war, Kakashi is named by Tsunade as her successor, the Sixth Hokage, with his first act being to pardon Sasuke for his crimes. He holds this title for many years before finally passing it to Naruto, as revealed in the epilogue.
Kakashi is also present in all four of the original video animations produced for the series, helping Naruto and Konohamaru Sarutobi to find a four leaf clover in the first original video animation, joining his team in escorting a ninja named Shibuki to his village in the second, participating in a tournament in the third, and working with Team 7 in the fourth one. A light novel titled Kakashi Hiden: Lightning in the Icy Sky, written by Akira Higashiyama and illustrated by Kishimoto, focuses on the early days of Kakashi's appointment as the Sixth Hokage, in which he has to stop a terrorism plan conducted by a pair of Kirigakure ninja, who plan to take control of a newly unveiled airborne ship to stage a Prison escape of a notorious criminal, in the process learning about the pair's tragic reason for doing so. In the anime sequel of Naruto Shippuden, , Kakashi makes minor appearances until testing the young main characters during a test to see if they can become ninjas.
Kakashi is a playable character in all Naruto video games, including the and the . In some games, he is able to use his Sharingan in combat, often as a different character with the ability activated, and in other games, he is available in his ANBU attire. An upcoming light novel titled Kakashi Hiden will focus on the character.
Several publications for manga, anime, video games, and other related media have provided praise and criticism on Kakashi's character. Christopher A. Born regards Kakashi's teaching of Team 7 to work as a team, even if they have to break the rules, to be reinforcing the Confucian values of the "importance of benevolence and reciprocity". IGN noted the duality of Kakashi's serious persona in combat and his laid back, apathetic countenance when dealing with his students, but accepted that he is one of the most popular characters in the series. They also commented that Kakashi is one of the more popular characters they have seen at anime conventions. Active Anime celebrated Kakashi's abilities, noting that he fell into the overall theme of characters hiding detailed personalities and secrets. T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews derided Kakashi as a stereotypical "Man of Mystery" seen in other shōnen manga, but praised him as being "much more interesting" than the three main characters, and felt that for all intents and purposes, the show could be renamed simply "Kakashi". Mania Entertainment's Dani Moure likes how Kakashi fits into Team 7 because he is a "hilarious character in that sometimes he doesn't seem all that bothered about things and yet is so masterful of his craft." Chris Beveridge from the site stated that Kakashi is his favorite character from the series because of his personality and praised his fight against Pain, and that after its ending, the character gets "a very humanizing moment", making the episode from the battle stand out. Manga author Yoshihiro Togashi found Kakashi's first battle against his students as one of the first series' moments that impressed him due to how the difference in strength between them was shown by just making Kakashi read a book during the fight. IGN ranked him as the 15th greatest anime character of all time, saying that "He's a complex character, with an iconic character design and a laid back attitude that just exudes cool." Amy McNulty from Anime News Network highly praised Kakashi's fight against Obito Uchiha due to its animation and the references to the two fighters' childhoods. In 2014, IGN listed him as the best Naruto character when the series ended.
Kakashi's portrayal in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations attracted negative responses by Anime News Network. His rude demeanor during the ninja graduation exams was criticized as the reviewer noted Boruto did not deserve such poor treatment. In a latter review, ANN criticized the poor advice he gives to Sasuke when his former student is trying to bond with his daughter, Sarada Uchiha, making it unsuitable comic relief.
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