Yamato

1. 1
   Orochimaru's experiment

   One of sixty

   Abducted as an infant, Yamato becomes one of sixty children Orochimaru injects with the First Hokage's DNA. He is the only one of the sixty to survive — and the only one to gain the Wood Release.

2. 2
   ANBU / Tenzō

   Rescued, and given a code

   Freed from Orochimaru's facility, Yamato is raised by the village and taken into the ANBU under the codename Tenzō. His real name is lost to the years before his rescue.

3. 3
   Under Kakashi

   The Third Hokage's finest operative

   Tenzō serves in the ANBU under Kakashi, and learns from him. By the end of his ANBU career he holds the best performance record of any operative serving the Third Hokage.

4. 4
   Captain YamatoDebut Arc · Kazekage Rescue

   The safeguard on the Nine-Tails

   Because his Wood Release can restrain a rampaging Tailed Beast, Yamato is reassigned to Team Kakashi as its temporary captain — the safety net for Naruto's Nine-Tails.

5. 5
   The war

   Taken for his cells

   In the Fourth Shinobi World War, Yamato is captured by the enemy and exploited — his body, carrying Hashirama's cells, used to feed an army of White Zetsu.

6. 6
   Freed

   Out of the dark, twice

   Yamato is freed by the war's end. The Wood Release that was forced into him as a weapon becomes, in his hands, a tool for rebuilding what the war broke.

Yamato's defining power is Wood Release, the First Hokage's kekkei genkai, forced into him by Orochimaru's experiment. He alone among the sixty test subjects can use it. Underneath that is the discipline of the Third Hokage's most decorated ANBU operative — and a steady, careful command style all his own.

Play today's Narutodle or browse past answers.

• Who is Yamato?+

  Yamato is a shinobi of Konohagakure and a former ANBU operative. He is the only survivor of an Orochimaru experiment that gave him the First Hokage's Wood Release, and he served as the temporary captain of Team Kakashi.
• What is Yamato's real name?+

  Yamato's real name is unknown. "Yamato" is a codename Tsunade gave him to join Team Kakashi. His earlier ANBU codename was Tenzō — which Kakashi still sometimes uses — and before that, Kinoe.
• How does Yamato have Wood Release?+

  As an infant, Yamato was abducted by Orochimaru and made one of sixty children injected with the First Hokage Hashirama Senju's DNA, in an attempt to replicate his Wood Release. Yamato was the only one of the sixty to survive and gain the kekkei genkai.
• Why did Yamato join Team Kakashi?+

  Yamato's Wood Release can suppress and calm a rampaging Tailed Beast. He was reassigned from the ANBU to Team Kakashi specifically as the safeguard on Naruto's Nine-Tails, and as the team's temporary captain while Kakashi recovered.
• What is the difference between Yamato and Tenzō?+

  They are the same person — both are codenames. Tenzō was his ANBU codename; Yamato is the field codename Tsunade assigned for Team Kakashi. Kakashi, who knew him in the ANBU, still calls him Tenzō at times.
• Has Yamato been a Narutodle answer?+

  Yamato is in the daily answer pool of 210 characters. The Previous Narutodle Appearances list on this page shows every date he was the Classic answer, each linking to a replayable archive puzzle.
• How do you guess Yamato in Narutodle?+

  Yamato's Wood Release in the Kekkei Genkai column is the giveaway — only a handful of characters have it, and he is the one who holds it without being of the Senju line. His Jōnin rank and Konoha village do little on their own.