Yukimaru is a young boy who appears in the second Naruto Shippuden filler arc—whether he's actually a trained shinobi is never confirmed. He's best known for his ability to control the Three-Tailed Giant Turtle, which is why Orochimaru kept him as a test subject.
The kid is quiet and withdrawn, probably from his rough past. He's constantly asking if things will be fun, and he's obsessed with finding a home. When Naruto tells him that home is really just a place where people care about you, it genuinely gets to him. Still, Yukimaru keeps insisting he has nowhere to go.
The experiments and his bond with Guren
Kabuto eventually takes Yukimaru on a journey that ends in a dark swamp. There, Kabuto forcibly triggers Yukimaru's chakra, which causes the Three-Tails to partially emerge before sinking back down. Later, Yukimaru gets paired with Guren for a mission, but he falls ill and she ends up nursing him back to health. The two grow close—fans often note the emotional weight when Guren has to leave and Yukimaru gives her his necklace with a special charm, mirroring how his mother abandoned him.
When Naruto bumps into him again and invites him to join Team 7 in Konoha, Yukimaru politely refuses. He feels his place is with Guren now. Not long after, Kabuto returns and forces Yukimaru to take medical pills, which finally triggers a full emergence of the Three-Tails. Eventually, Yukimaru learns to summon the beast without needing the pills.
He also has some kind of genjutsu ability involving white camellias that surround him—when he uses it with Naruto, the flowers and Yukimaru vanish together.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
