Chen was a jōnin-level shinobi and legendary taijutsu master from Konoha, remembered as one of the village's heroes. He's best known for his incredible taijutsu skills and a secret technique that became central to his legacy.
Chen had trained a student much like Rock Lee—someone without natural talent for ninjutsu or genjutsu who threw everything into becoming a pure taijutsu specialist. Both teacher and student fought in the Third Shinobi World War, but the student didn't make it back. His inability to master ninjutsu ultimately cost him his life, and the loss devastated Chen so much that he faked his own death and walked away from being a shinobi entirely.
For years afterward, Chen lived in hiding. His granddaughter Azami was the only one who knew he was alive, regularly leaving rice balls at his gravestone. That changed when Rock Lee, Naruto, and Tenten showed up to pay respects to the "late" hero. Azami tipped them off that Chen was still around, so they stuck around to wait. When Chen finally appeared, the genin didn't believe it was really him and attacked—knocking his last rice ball out of his hand in the process. That set him off. He unleashed his secret technique on them, and once they realized they'd found the real deal, Lee was absolutely determined to learn it from him.
The resemblance to his dead student hit Chen hard. He turned on Lee furiously and insisted he give up his dream, then left. But Lee wasn't the type to quit. He camped out at the gravestone day after day until Chen finally came back. Lee made it clear he didn't even need the technique—he just wanted Chen to acknowledge him as a real ninja. Chen tested him again with the secret move, and though Lee got completely destroyed, Chen noticed something in how Lee responded to it. The old master recognized something genuine in him, but he still refused to teach him and walked away.
Chen eventually died, and his DNA sample was later collected by Kabuto Yakushi for unknown purposes.
Anime Debut: Naruto Shippuuden Episode #312
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
