Chen

Chen (チェン, Chen) was a jōnin-level shinobi of Konohagakure and a legendary taijutsu master.

Chen was known as a hero in Konoha. He once had a student much like Rock Lee who was unable to perform ninjutsu or genjutsu and dedicated himself to become a taijutsu master. Both Chen and his student participated in the Third Shinobi World War, with the latter killed in the war due to his inability to learn ninjutsu. The death of his student greatly affected Chen and the shinobi faked his death and gave up being a shinobi. Years passed, his granddaughter Azami would occasionally leave rice balls for her grandfather, the only person to be aware that he was still alive.

One day when his granddaughter was bringing his gravestone rice balls, Rock Lee, Naruto Uzumaki and Tenten came to pay their respects to the “late” hero. When Azami told them that Chen was still alive and to wait for him, they decided to do so. Later, Chen did appear. When the genin believed him to be an impostor, they attacked him, resulting in him dropping his last rice ball. Greatly angered by that, he unleashed his secret technique on them. Realizing that he was the true hero and amazed at his technique, Lee begged Chen to teach it to him so he could further his dream as a great taijutsu-specialising ninja. Shocked at how much alike Lee was to his late student, he furiously attacked Lee. Afterwards, he insisted that Lee give up on his dream and left. Lee however stayed at the gravestone, waiting each day for Chen to acknowledge him. Finally, Lee told Chen that he doesn’t care if Chen refuses to teach him his technique, but insists to make the old master acknowledge him as a ninja. Begging Chen to use his technique on him, Chen agreed. Despite Lee being completely overwhelmed by it, Chen was amazed that Lee could see the true nature behind it. However, Chen still insisted that Lee give up on his dream and left.

Some time afterwards, Chen died. Later, Kabuto Yakushi acquired a DNA sample from Chen for later use.