Ao

- Ao's appearance in Part II. - Ao's appearance in the new era. 1/2 He was a middle aged man with blue hair which was styled in a moused-up manner. His left eye was blue and his right eye was covered with an eye-patch, under which he concealed the Byakugan that he obtained from a Hyūga clan member he defeated. He wore a talisman in each ear with the kanji for a humble form of "to hear" (承, shō) written on them twice on each side. These talismans reacted when his Byakugan was under threat and would protect it from anyone, even himself. He also wore the standard striped, grey suit, with a green haori that had white trimmings that stop halfway down, over them, and a forehead protector. With the outbreak of the Fourth Shinobi World War, he donned the standard outfit of the shinobi alliance with a Kirigakure flak jacket over it. Sixteen years after the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Ao had aged noticeably, with wrinkles lining his face. He wore a dark suit jacket over a pinstripe turtleneck shirt and matching pinstripe pants. The attack from the Ten-Tails cost him his Byakugan. Also, his left arm and leg had been replaced with experimental cybernetic prosthetics. The right side of his face was heavily scarred, and a craniofacial prosthetic covered his right eye, cheek, and ear. The back of his right hand and right wrist were also heavily scarred. He no longer wore a forehead protector nor his talisman earrings.

Ao fought on the battlefields ever since he was a young boy. During the Third Shinobi World War, he defeated a Hyūga clan member and took one of their Byakugan, which he implanted into his right eye socket. With it, he saw through the genjutsu placed on the Fourth Mizukage, who would lose his life to it after its dispel. Years after the war, he encountered Shisui Uchiha, which left enough of an impact on Ao for him to clearly remember Shisui's abilities and his chakra colour. In the anime, shortly after Yagura's passing and Mei Terumī was made the Fifth Mizukage, Ao was present when the village received an invitation from Konohagakure and Sunagakure to join an impromptu Chūnin Exams they would be hosting collaboratively. Ao noted that as the village was still recovering from the Fourth's passing and thus shouldn't waste time on an event seemingly designed to showcase Gaara as the new Kazekage. After Mei threatened Ao's life after misinterpreting his words as an insult to her marital status, it was ultimately decided the Kiri-nin would not take part in this event.