Anko Mitarashi — Naruto Character Profile
BiographyBiography
The story, the personality, and everything in between.Read biographyClose biography
Biography
The story, the personality, and everything in between.Read biographyClose biographyAnko Mitarashiみたらしアンコ
Konohagakure special jonin and second-stage Chunin Exam proctor
Anko Mitarashi is a special jonin from Konohagakure in Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto. She oversees the perilous second stage of the Chunin Exams in the Forest of Death, meeting the young contestants with startling bravado and little patience for complacency. Her history as one of Orochimaru’s students gives her a personal connection to the threat hidden among the examinees, while her snake-based techniques make her more than an eccentric examiner.
Biography
A former pupil of Orochimaru
Before she became an examiner, Anko trained under Orochimaru, a gifted but increasingly dangerous Hidden Leaf shinobi. The lessons she learned from him included techniques associated with snakes. Their history explains both her unusual fighting style and the gravity with which she responds when evidence points to his return.
The Forest of Death examiner
During the Chunin Exams, Anko takes charge of the second test at Training Ground 44, known as the Forest of Death. She sends three-person teams into a dangerous competition to secure complementary scrolls and reach the central tower. Rather than reassure the candidates, she bluntly makes clear that the exercise can be fatal.
An intruder from the past
When reports from the examination ground suggest that Orochimaru has entered the test in disguise, Anko pursues him herself. The encounter exposes how personal the danger is for her, and even her experience as a special jonin proves insufficient to stop him. She subsequently reports the threat to the Third Hokage.
Personality and Motivations
Anko favors dramatic entrances, a mischievous edge, and blunt language. Her unruly humor is no indication that she takes danger lightly: she treats the Forest of Death as an authentic survival test and expects young ninja to understand the stakes.
When Orochimaru appears, Anko’s joking manner gives way to anger and urgency. She pursues her far more powerful former teacher despite the danger, revealing how intensely she takes his return. Her nerve is genuine, but the confrontation also exposes how badly a personal grievance can complicate her judgment.
Appearance
Anko has a short, spiky, fanned-out ponytail and light brown eyes. Her hair is inked dark with a bluish tint in the manga, while anime and game designs commonly render it violet. Her recognizable early outfit pairs a tan overcoat and a fitted mesh underlayer with an orange-brown skirt, a Hidden Leaf forehead protector, and shin guards. The coat and sharp silhouette make her easy to pick out among the exam candidates.
Quick facts
- Affiliation
- Konohagakure (Hidden Leaf Village)
- Rank in Naruto
- Special jonin (tokubetsu jonin)
- Exam assignment
- Proctor of the second Chunin Exam stage, the Forest of Death
- Former instructor
- Orochimaru
- Birthday
- October 24
- Manga debut
- Naruto chapter 44
Abilities
Hidden Shadow Snake Hands
Anko can release snakes from her sleeves or arms to surprise, strike, or restrain an opponent at close range. The technique reflects her training under Orochimaru.
Twin Snakes Mutual Death Technique
A dangerous forbidden technique intended to kill both the user and the target. Anko attempts it when facing Orochimaru, but the attempt does not reach completion.
Limitations: Its successful effect is never demonstrated in that confrontation; it would also cost Anko her life.
Shinobi fieldcraft and tracking
Anko recognizes suspicious signs during the exam and responds rapidly to evidence of infiltration. Her experience is especially relevant to pursuit, field assessment, and supervising high-risk training.
Relationships
Orochimaru
Former instructor
Orochimaru trained Anko before leaving the Hidden Leaf. Their shared history becomes openly antagonistic when she tries to stop him during the Chunin Exams.
Hiruzen Sarutobi
Third Hokage and village superior
Anko reports Orochimaru’s infiltration to the Third Hokage, who must decide how the Chunin Exams proceed.
Ibiki Morino
Fellow Chunin Exam proctor
Ibiki oversees the written opening stage; Anko takes over the more hazardous second stage, bringing a very different atmosphere to the examination.
Interesting facts
Her given name, Anko, shares its sound with the Japanese word for sweet red-bean paste; mitarashi is also associated with a style of dango.
The naming connection complements her documented fondness for traditional Japanese sweets rather than merely echoing her shinobi abilities.
The original Naruto anime sends Anko to the Land of the Sea on a mission involving Naruto, Ino, and Shino.
This anime-original assignment supplies additional Anko-focused adventures that should not be folded into the original manga chronology.
Anko once throws used dango skewers so precisely that they form the Hidden Leaf symbol, without looking at her target.
A brief moment during the Chunin Exams makes her favorite snack part of a display of real throwing accuracy.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Anko Mitarashi in Naruto?
She is a Hidden Leaf special jonin who runs the second stage of the Chunin Exams in the Forest of Death and previously trained under Orochimaru.
What does Anko do in the Chunin Exams?
She explains and oversees the Forest of Death stage, where teams must obtain both kinds of scroll and reach the central tower while avoiding dangerous opponents.
Why does Anko know Orochimaru?
He was her teacher when she was a younger ninja. Their history makes his reappearance during the exam particularly serious for her.
What kind of ninjutsu does Anko use?
Her distinctive techniques involve snakes, including Hidden Shadow Snake Hands. She also knows a forbidden two-person technique that is extremely dangerous to its user.
Is Anko a jonin?
She holds the special jonin, or tokubetsu jonin, rank rather than being identified simply as a regular jonin in the original Chunin Exam storyline.
Is the Land of the Sea story part of the Naruto manga?
No. Anko’s Land of the Sea material comes from an anime-original arc, which expands on her history but is separate from the primary manga storyline.
Major story spoilers below.
Orochimaru’s cursed seal
Anko was among the subjects exposed to Orochimaru’s Cursed Seal of Heaven and survived the procedure. The mark remains on her neck and ties her physically to his experimentation. During the Chunin Exams he triggers it, leaving her in severe pain when she attempts to confront him. Details about her rejection and lost memories differ in anime-original flashbacks, so those scenes should not be silently merged into the manga account.
The confrontation that cannot succeed
After recognizing Orochimaru’s infiltration, Anko attempts the Twin Snakes Mutual Death Technique, which would sacrifice her along with its target. She discovers that she has caught only a shadow clone; the technique fails, and she cannot prevent his escape. She later argues for greater precautions around Sasuke Uchiha, whose own cursed seal makes him a target.
Hunting Kabuto before the war
As the Fourth Shinobi World War approaches, Anko leads a reconnaissance unit following Kabuto Yakushi. The team tracks suspicious signs to the Mountains’ Graveyard; she passes on news of the suspected enemy position and later orders her teammates to warn the Allied Shinobi Forces when they detect an imminent mobilization. Anko goes after Kabuto herself and is defeated. He keeps her unconscious, drawing on the power associated with her cursed seal to bolster his Impure World Reincarnation technique.
How her cursed seal is removed
After Kabuto is defeated, Sasuke reaches the unconscious Anko. Jugo takes a piece of Kabuto’s altered flesh and places it on her Cursed Seal of Heaven; Sasuke then uses the Evil Releasing Method to revive Orochimaru from the remnant of his consciousness inside the mark. The seal disappears, but Anko remains unconscious throughout the procedure. It is Sasuke—not Anko—who chooses to bring her former teacher back in Naruto chapter 593.
A quieter role in the next generation
The Boruto: Naruto Next Generations anime later shows Anko working in the Hidden Leaf Academy’s orbit rather than supervising the dangerous Forest of Death exam. In one episode, she joins Cho-Cho Akimichi to catch thieves stealing azuki beans meant for a sweets shop. These are sequel-anime appearances, distinct from the events of Kishimoto’s original Naruto manga.
Additional story facts
Orochimaru’s revival from Anko’s curse mark occurs while she is unconscious, not through a decision or spell of her own.
This distinction matters because some summaries make the former pupil sound responsible for resurrecting the teacher she once tried to stop.
Spoiler questions
Does Anko defeat Orochimaru in the Forest of Death?
No. Her attempt at a lethal mutual-sacrifice technique catches a shadow clone, and Orochimaru incapacitates her through the cursed seal before leaving.
What happens to Anko during the Fourth Shinobi World War?
Kabuto defeats and holds her unconscious, using her seal-related chakra to assist his forbidden techniques. Later Sasuke uses the seal as the means of reviving Orochimaru.
Does Anko die when Orochimaru returns?
No. She is unconscious while Sasuke uses the cursed seal to restore Orochimaru; the revival does not kill her. The later Boruto anime also depicts Anko alive.
Does Anko keep the Cursed Seal of Heaven forever?
No. The seal disappears as part of the process that restores Orochimaru during the Fourth Shinobi World War.
What does Anko do in Boruto?
The Boruto anime portrays her in the next-generation Hidden Leaf setting, including Academy-related appearances and an episode in which she works with Cho-Cho to stop thefts from azuki-bean deliveries.
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Anko Mitarashi Images and Artwork
Artwork featuring Anko Mitarashi, the outspoken Hidden Leaf shinobi who oversees Naruto’s Forest of Death examination.
