Sakumo Hatake
Contributors to Narutopedia
Sakumo Hatake (はたけサクモ, Hatake Sakumo), renowned across the shinobi world as Konoha's White Fang (木ノ葉の白い牙, Konoha no Shiroi Kiba, English TV: White Fang of the Leaf, literally meaning: Tree Leaf's White Fang), was a jōnin of Konohagakure's Hatake clan. Sakumo was a famous and powerful ninja of...
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/naruto/images/4/4a/Site-favicon.ico/revision/latest?cb=20210704012526
Narutopedia
Sakumo Hatake [1] はたけサクモ Hatake Sakumo

Konoha's White Fang (木ノ葉の白い牙, Konoha no Shiroi Kiba, English TV: White Fang of the Leaf)[2]

Debut Manga Naruto Chapter #425 Anime Naruto Shippūden Episode #159 Novel Kakashi Retsuden: The Sixth Hokage and the Failure Boy (Mentioned) Game Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Blazing Appears in Anime, Manga, Novel, Game Voice Actors Japanese

Daichi Endō

English

John DeMita

Personal Birthdate September 3 Sex Male Status Deceased Height

Part II: 181 cm1.81 m <br />5.938 ft <br />71.26 in <br />

Weight

Part II: 65.7 kg144.844 lb <br />

Blood type O Affiliation

Konohagakure

Clan

Hatake Clan

Rank Ninja Rank

Part II: Jōnin

Family

Kakashi Hatake (Son)

Tools

White Light Chakra Sabre

Sakumo Hatake (はたけサクモ, Hatake Sakumo), renowned across the shinobi world as Konoha's White Fang (木ノ葉の白い牙, Konoha no Shiroi Kiba, English TV: White Fang of the Leaf, literally meaning: Tree Leaf's White Fang), was a jōnin of Konohagakure's Hatake clan.

Background[]

Sakumo was a famous and powerful ninja of Konohagakure. His son, Kakashi, proved himself a genius like Sakumo and idolised him, desiring to become just as great a ninja as his father. His wife died when Kakashi was very young.[3] Sakumo witnessed his son successfully passing the entrance exam to enter the Academy. Afterwards, he and Kakashi met Might Duy and his son Guy. Sakumo asked Guy to be friends with Kakashi in the Academy, Duy corrected Sakumo informing him that his son had failed the exam. As Kakashi began to openly question Guy's worth as a ninja with his weak aptitude for ninjutsu, Sakumo warned Kakashi to not underestimate Guy as he may someday grow stronger than Kakashi — noticing how arduously Guy trained to improve.[4]

At some point in time during his career as a shinobi, Sakumo confronted and killed Sasori's parents, earning Chiyo's hatred.[5]

While his son was still in the academy, Sakumo and his team were sent on a mission of great importance to Konoha. When his team-mates' lives were endangered, Sakumo chose to abandon the mission in order to save them. The impact of the mission's failure caused Sakumo to be vilified by the Land of Fire, the villagers of Konoha, and even those he had saved. Dishonoured, Sakumo fell into a deep depression, which caused his abilities to suffer as a result. Eventually, he committed suicide, and later was buried in the Konoha Cemetery.[6] For many years, Sakumo stayed in limbo, waiting for the day he could seek forgiveness from his son.

Personality[]

Sakumo was a very kind and loyal man. He loved his only son dearly, often picking him up at the end of the day after Kakashi was done playing with his friends. Despite his tremendous fame and power as a ninja, he was a very humble man, which made Kakashi truly look up to and idolise him. He had a deep devotion to Konoha and an even greater commitment to his allies and loved ones to the point he would put their well-being before anything else; his commitment was so great that he would sacrifice the completion of a mission in order to save his team-mates, which led to him becoming a public figure of hate and ridicule. The resultant depression of being looked down by the village that he was so loyal to led him to suicide. He was also shown to be a perceptive man, noticing Guy's worn-out condition and from that discerned Guy's character, correctly predicting Guy to be a late-bloomer and his future growth as a ninja.

Appearance[]

Sakumo had a kind face with dark eyes which had deep lines running underneath them. He had spiky, silver-coloured hair that reached into the middle of his back tied in a ponytail and bangs that hung over his forehead protector. He wore a standard Konoha-nin uniform with a pair of gloves, flak jacket, bandages on his right arm, and the addition of distinctive short white sleeve which had red edges and the standard crest of Uzushiogakure on it. He also carried a holster worn diagonally over his right shoulder which held his White Light Chakra Sabre.[7] Overall, Kakashi bears such a great resemblance to him that he has even been mistaken for his father on several occasions.[8][9]

Abilities[]

Sakumo was hailed as a genius shinobi,[2] and was praised for his talents in the ninja arts even by the likes of Minato Namikaze, the future Fourth Hokage. In his prime, Sakumo was a truly powerful shinobi whose skill and fame were said to overshadow even that of the Sannin.[2] The mere idea of facing Sakumo brought fear to his enemies, as shown from the reaction of an Iwagakure shinobi who mistook Kakashi for him, despite Kakashi being a child at the time.[9]

He was also very proficient in kenjutsu, his reputation as "Konoha's White Fang" stemming from his extensive use of the White Light Chakra Sabre, which emitted a streak of white chakra when swung.[9]

Part II[]

Pain's Assault[]

Main article: Pain's Assault

After Kakashi died, having used up his remaining chakra to save Chōji Akimichi from the Asura Path's missile during Pain's assault on Konoha, he found himself in an area of darkness with a single campfire, where Sakumo greeted his son and invited him to share his life's story with him.[10] Sakumo lamented that they both died young; though not as young as his wife. Kakashi said that he understood the sacrifice that Sakumo had made for the sake of all the villagers which shocked him. He also finally forgave Sakumo and told him that he was proud of him and what he had done which prompted Sakumo to thank Kakashi. When a ray of light beamed down upon Kakashi, Sakumo told Kakashi that it seemed that he still had a lot of things to do in the world of the living, he was glad that he was able to speak with him and was thankful that his son had forgiven him. After Kakashi disappeared, Sakumo stated that he could finally move on and see his wife again.[11]

Legacy[]

His suicide drove Kakashi to live strictly according to the Shinobi Rules.[12]

Despite being disgraced for his actions during his last mission, Sakumo's name still has good standing throughout the shinobi world, as displayed when the Fire Daimyō seemed pleased when Kakashi was recommended to become the Sixth Hokage, having recognised him as Sakumo's son.[13]

The Third Tsuchikage also identified Kakashi as Sakumo's son when the Kage were deciding on whom they wanted to represent Konoha in the Alliance.[14] Obito Uchiha, Kakashi's team-mate, also greatly respected Sakumo for his beliefs that his comrades lives were to be placed before the outcome of a mission or the rules of the shinobi.[15]

Although Kakashi initially tried to live his life in the exact opposite way that Sakumo did, his friendship with Obito changed his perspective, leading him to believe that while those who broke the rules were scum, those who abandoned their comrades were worse than scum. Kakashi would later teach these ideals to his students, especially to Naruto Uzumaki, who would cherish and use them as the basis for most of his life, ideals and relationships.

Chiyo remained bitter of Sakumo for killing Sasori's parents, despite knowing about his death, and even attempted to attack his son Kakashi twenty-one years later, mistaking Kakashi for his father due to their resemblance. She halted the attack once her brother Ebizō reminded her that Sakumo died, but was shocked to hear that Kakashi is the White Fang's son.

In Other Media[]

Video Games[]

Sakumo Hatake is a playable character in the following video games:

Game nameJapanese releaseEnglish releaseNaruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Blazing14 July 201624 August 2016

Trivia[]

The Springtime of Youth wiki has an article about this topic:

The name "Sakumo" is possibly derived from the word "sakumotsu" (作物), meaning "agricultural produce" or "crops". This would tie into the name of his son, Kakashi (案山子), which means "scarecrow", and their family name, Hatake (畑), which means "farmland".

Quotes[]

(To Kakashi) "Thank you for forgiving me… Now I can move on in peace. And finally see your mother…"[16]