- "Sometimes killing your target won’t get the job done, but severely wounding them will definitely send them the message you truly intend."
- ―Chinami Naito explaining the purpose of non-lethal combat to Colt Baudin, July 2008.
Chinami Naito (内藤ちなみ, Naito Chinami, born March 29th, 1970), also known as Cptn. Naito, is a Japanese tea farmer, mixed martial arts teacher, Naval Captain, and Master Assassin belonging to the Japanese Brotherhood of Assassins residing in Sapporo and Kitami, Japan. The last student of legendary Master Assasin and Mentor Isabelle Allard, she leads her own cell, the Hidden Tigers, after being cast out from the Osaka cell due to dealings with the Yakuza. The cell was known for actually being one of the few cells that actively resisted the Sigma Team during the Great Purge in late 2000 and early 2001. Being a commander in the Japanese Maritime Defense Force, Chinami is the Captain aboard the JS Umitaka patrol boat. She has often been referenced as Japan’s answer to French Master Assassin Isabelle Allard, despite Chinami not wishing to be directly linked to a woman she called a hero or the Dorian Family in general. She is of Japanese and Filipino descent.
She has often been called Sakura by Margaux Allard, as well as Sennonaifu no Onna (千のナイフの女, Woman of a Thousand Knives) by fellow Japanese Assassins.
Chinami is often cited as one of the greatest Assassins to never actually assassinate someone.
Early Life and Assassin Origins[]
Chinami Naito was born on March 29th, 1970 in Kagoshima City to Isoroku, a retired soldier in the Imperial Japanese Army, and Satsuke Naito, a kabuki actress, and Master Assassin of Filipino descent he married in 1965. Her father was forty-five years of age at her birth, fourteen years older than her mother. Her mother was sent to France in her youth and trained under Isabelle Allard on an excursion. The only child the couple would have, Chinami was homeschooled by her mother while her father struggled to find steady work, making money an object of difficulty for Chinami and her family. Chinami grew tea and gave whatever she could to her father. On April 9th, 1976, when Chinami was six, Isoroku was found dead in their home, revealing that he was in debt to the Yamaguchi-Gumi, the sect of the Yakuza present on the island. Fearing they were onto her and her daughter, Satsuke moved to Osaka with Chinami and presented her to Japanese Assassin Mentors Kenichi and Saeko Mochizuki, who agreed to train the young girl in the ways of combat whereas her mother would educate her in the theory of the Creed, beginning her training when she was nine.
Over the course of twelve years, the teenage Chinami was trained by the Mochizukis in various Japanese martial arts such as Jujutsu, Judo, Kendo, and Karate. Despite her incredible performances in training, the Mochizukis often called Chinami Shinitai ( 死に体, Lame Duck), and informed her that she wasn't learning well under their tutelage, and would send her out on excursions across the world. She would also go on multiple excursions with her mother to countries such as China and South Korea, where she would learn Kung Fu and Tae Kwan Do, and Thailand where she learned Muay Thai as well as learn kickboxing. She would also go on an excursion to Europe early on, stopping off in Paris to train under Isabelle Allard and her daughter, Margaux, in the ways of theory. Isabelle praised the young Chinami for knowing so much about the Creed at such a young age. Shortly after, she traveled to the United States to continue her combat training. Her excursion to the United States in August of 1985 lasted only a month and a half, with Chinami and her mother, experiencing a high amount of racism, both witnessed in the American public and directed at them during their stay in Boston, Massachusetts. Since then, she has said that she expresses no desire to return to that 'shithole of a country'.
While in Beijing during an excursion for knife training in June of 1989, Chinami took part in the protests in Tiananmen Square campaigning for democracy in China and was a first-hand witness to the military crackdown and the massacre that followed afterwards.
Upon her return from the excursions, Chinami earned the rank of Master Assassin on her 21st birthday in March of 1991.
Master Assassin[]
Shortly after her rise to the rank of Master Assassin, it was brought to Chinami’s attention that the Osaka cell she was a part of was heavily associated with the Yakuza in the region. Chinami confronted Saeko as to if their association was true. Saeko stated that it was true and she admired the way the Yakuza hid in the shadows and that the Assassins should be more like them. Frustrated with this, Chinami lashed out at her Mentor, stating that they killed her father when she was a girl and she had no respect for them. After a tense argument, Saeko cast her out of the Osaka cell and sent her to Sapporo, where her next task was to lead the ‘Hidden Tigers’ cell, which was in complete and total disarray and among the most neglected in Japan. Agreeing to the task, she arrived in Sapporo in July of 1992 to a disheveled headquarters and three Assassins in the building. After meeting the Assassins, the twenty-two-year-old rented a high-rise apartment and began to meticulously plan out the revitalization of the cell she was assigned to. She revitalized the cell’s training and diet regimens and trained her colleagues in some of the martial arts she had learned in her excursions, along with a complete overhaul of the headquarters to better suit their needs all in the span of six years. In 1998, she received a letter from a retired Isabelle Allard, stating that she was proud of how Chinami revitalized her cell at such a young age and gifted Chinami with a knife that Isabelle had used during her days in the military, which was a Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife.
Great Purge and Battle Against Sigma Team[]
By November of 2000, Chinami’s Hidden Tigers were one of the most prominent Assassin Cells in Japan, which earned her a lot of unwanted attention from the Templars and Abstergo Industries, with them designating Chinami’s cell as one of their main targets in Japan upon the start of the Great Purge. Upon hearing the news that the Mentor had been killed and all cell locations were exposed, Chinami barricaded the cell’s headquarters and ordered her fellow Assassins to ‘fight until they had nothing left’.
On January 9th, 2001, Sigma Team assaulted Chinami’s headquarters and engaged them in tight close-quarters combat. Chinami used her vast knowledge of martial arts and pressure points to incapacitate several Sigma Team soldiers before one of them hurled Chinami through a glass case and a wall. With much of her cell incapacitated, Sigma Team believed they had killed Chinami and pummeled her cell into submission. During the fight, Chinami sustained a separated left shoulder and a broken right elbow. Shortly after getting surgery for her injuries in Tokyo and helping her cell get back on their feet alongside Gavin Banks, Chinami traveled to the Philippines, where she met up with her mother who was living with the Filipino Assassins up in the mountains of the Bulacan Province. Her mother passed away suddenly in May of 2003 from a pulmonary embolism. Her funeral would be held in the Philippines and was attended by legendary Assassins Isabelle Allard and Vivian Cadieux-Foden, where Chinami briefly reacquainted herself with them again. In 2004, Chinami returned to Sapporo to continue her operations from the shadows, slowly revitalizing her cell to its former glory, even forming an alliance with Margaux’s Eagles of Europe. In 2006, Chinami's Hidden Tigers established a cell in Kitami. In 2013, she would travel to Paris to attend the funeral of her hero Isabelle Allard. Shortly after, she would strengthen the alliance with Margaux’s Assassin Cell, the Eagles of Europe, which increased the reach of the two cells.
The Chi-Chi Incident[]
- "Say it again Allard. Say it and I won’t hesitate to rip your fucking arm from your shoulder socket. The same goes for every one of you. Call me that again and you will all see the same fate."
- ―Chinami warning the Eagles of Europe that she will not tolerate any racial slander, July 2006.
In July of 2006, Chinami was in Versailles for a visit to Margaux at the home of her mother Isabelle with some of her Hidden Tigers and fellow members of the Eagles of Europe. The meeting was rife with tension between the two Assassin Mentors, with words being exchanged in elevated voices. Annoyed and frustrated with Margaux’s stubbornness, Chinami began to leave, ordering her Assassins to follow suit. Margaux retorted with ‘Whatever you say, Chi-Chi.” along with some laughs from the Eagles of Europe present. Chinami froze and turned around upon hearing Margaux’s racist comment, with her Hidden Tigers having shocked looks on their faces. Chinami stormed towards Margaux and grabbed her by her left arm, holding it behind her back and twisting it sharply, warning Margaux and the Eagles of Europe that she will not tolerate racism towards her or her Assassins. She held onto the hold until Isabelle ordered her to stand down. As she was about to leave, Chinami shouted ‘Shēpuappu’ (シェープアップ, shape up) at Margaux, who kept stating that it wasn't her that uttered the racist comment. Chinami, however, did not believe her. After the 2011 earthquake, Margaux did send aid and supplies to Chinami's cell to assist survivors of the Fukushima nuclear accident. Chinami thanked Margaux for the supplies and aid, but viewed Margaux as a 'suck up' trying to get into her good books.
The ‘Chi Chi Incident’ as it was later called, caused a severe rift between the Hidden Tigers and the Eagles of Europe that lasted for seven years, with the two Mentors reconciling and creating a permanent alliance shortly after the funeral of Margaux’s mother Isabelle in December of 2013. Margaux would show Chinami a video of the incident, proving her innocence. Both women would later exchange apologies with each other.
Chinami has said that the incident made her lose a lot of respect for Margaux herself as well as her family in the years following the incident, up until Margaux cleared her name in early 2014.
Forging Ties with Delta Squadron and Training Colt Baudin[]
- "Learning without discipline will get you nowhere in life, Colt. Put in the time and hard work, and eventually you will master the art."
- ―Chinami reprimanding Colt, July 2008.
In mid-2007, Chinami traveled to England to meet up with Harlan Baudin about making an alliance with Delta Squadron, to which Harlan expressed great interest in working with the famed Japanese Assassin, which led to a meeting with German Mentor Alois Zeigler and an alliance formed between Japan and the German Brotherhood and Delta Squadron. Margaux expressed her annoyance with Chinami and her cell saying that Chinami shouldn’t have formed an alliance with Delta Squadron, citing that the Eagles of Europe were the better choice to ally with. Over a video call, Chinami informed Margaux that in order to strengthen the Hidden Tigers, she had to make an alliance with them as well, as well as saying that Harlan Baudin reached out to her first.
In late June of 2008, Chinami agreed to train some members of the Delta Squadron. The first of their recruits was a young German man who went by the name of Colt Baudin, son of Harlan Baudin. A day after his arrival at her house, Chinami began training the young man in martial arts such as Karate and Muay Thai, with Colt grasping it rather fast. One day during training, Chinami encouraged Colt to approach her. Colt squared up with her and cockily said he was going to take her down. However, Chinami exposed his weakness by dodging his attack and swiping out his feet from under him. Helping him up, Chinami informed him to not be cocky as it would be his downfall. From that day on, Colt would gradually improve, even giving Chinami a run for her money, which she liked. The would even spar with kendo sticks later into his days in Japan. Even though his stay lasted a month, Chinami thought Colt would have a bright future in Germany, and as a reward, she gifted him some homegrown green tea and let him choose a combat knife from her personal collection. He chose a KM2000 due to his desire to join the German air force before bidding him safe travels.
Colt considers Chinami to be an ‘excellent mentor’ and still maintains a strong working relationship with each other, often exchanging correspondence with her. Colt still carries the knife with him to this day.
2011 Japan Earthquake[]
Chinami was present in Sendai on the morning of March 11th, 2011, when a 9.1 earthquake on the Richter Scale struck the east coast of Japan along with an accompanying tsunami, which killed thousands and injured many more. Being far inland, Chinami informed the Assassins present with her that she was going to go down and look for survivors once it had subsided. Many of them called her crazy, but Chinami ignored them and went down to assist rescue workers, often swimming down into the water to reach survivors that were trapped in their flooded homes. She would stay in Sendai for a month to tend to the survivors before returning to Sapporo, taking some survivors back with her to find shelters and homes for them, with supplies given to her by the Eagles of Europe and Delta Squadron.
She would also take in refugees who were affected by the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster.
Chinami Naito, February 2018.
Tensions Between the Hidden Tigers and the Eagles of Europe[]
In 2017, Isabelle’s brain was stolen from the hospital it was stored in, and Margaux immediately wrote to Chinami for aid, stating that Meaghan, Anastasia, Irene, and Celeste Williams were lined up and ready to go, asking her for her supplies and knowledge of infiltration. Despite wishing she could, Chinami was unable to due to Abstergo regaining a foothold in Japan once again demanding her attention. In return, Margaux wrote a scathing letter back to her calling Chinami egotistical and self-centered and that they would carry out the mission without her. Chinami would not respond to Margaux’s claims, but would later call them ‘bogus’ and ‘unprofessional’. Despite the tension between the two Mentors, they both maintained a professional business relationship.
Many Assassins have called in-person meetings between Margaux and Chinami very tense and heated, despite both individuals not acting like they hated each other.
Shortly after the success of Operation Boomstick in 2023, Chinami and Margaux ended the alliance between the Hidden Tigers and the Eagles of Europe on peaceful terms. Chinami would later state that the alliance made back in 2004 was made out of respect to Margaux’s mother Isabelle.
Leading Operation Boomstick[]
Once Margaux had stepped down from the Assassin Order and her post within the Eagles of Europe, Irene suggested that Chinami lead the operation to infiltrate the Alcor facility and destroy Martina’s body alongside her and Meaghan Allard, with assistance from Colt Baudin. Initially not wanting to work with the Dorians, Colt went because he wished to work with Chinami, his former teacher. In September of 2023, the four Assassins, disguised as a plumbing contract company, traveled to Scottsdale in Arizona and managed to infiltrate the building, where Martina’s body was stored. It was lower down in the basement of the building. After exploring the lower levels of the facility for a few minutes stumbling across it, they discovered that it was behind a coded door. Colt threatened to smash the door until Chinami held him back where Meaghan cracked the code with her Eagle Vision, much to Colt’s chagrin. Upon arriving, they pried open the barrel, revealing the youthful-looking body of Martina Laurent. Chinami and Meaghan carefully pulled out the body and laid it on the ground, snapping a few photos of Martina’s body as evidence. Colt pulled out a lighter and lit it by Martina’s hair, lighting her body on fire, and quickly fled the building and back to Europe on the first flight back to Paris from Phoenix.
Meeting David[]
In November of 2023, Chinami was invited out to Berkshire at the request of Harlan for an oddly specific reason. Upon her arrival, Chinami reconciled with Colt, who led her out onto the deck where she reacquainted herself with Harlan, Margaux and Meaghan. While she was talking, she caught wind of Colt with a young boy who looked a lot like renowned Templar Xavier Baudin. As everyone approached, Chinami was informed by Harlan that his name was David and that he was created in a lab in Rome and was made with Xavier's DNA. Chinami offered to train the boy, which was agreed upon. While teaching him, Chinami was shocked to see that David had such a vast knowledge of martial arts, besting her in several sparring contests. She informed Colt and Harlan that David was a phenomenal child and that he had a bright future ahead of him.
Career in the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force[]
Two years after her return to Japan from the Philippines in 2005, Chinami enlisted in the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force Officer School in Etajima, where she undertook basic training which was followed by training on patrols, gunnery, minesweeping, convoy transportation, and maritime transportation. Chinami graduated among the top of her class, and over the course of ten years became the commander of the patrol boat JS Umitaka, a post she still holds to this day.
There are times when Chinami uses her vessel to conduct reconnaissance missions for the Assassins.
Personal Life[]
Growing up, Chinami was and still is to this day a rather quiet and introverted person, and can often be found growing various teas in the garden of her home in Sapporo. Due to her being introverted, Chinami prefers to do her long-distance correspondences via video. Chinami also rarely makes public appearances, only doing so while conducting her duties to the Japanese Maritime Defense Force.
Chinami was born with equal-length legs, but as she grew, her right leg was around two inches shorter than her left and underwent the Ilizarov Procedure to correct it when she was twenty-one, shortly after earning her Master Assassin rank and her move to Sapporo. Chinami's leg was broken and she had to wear a steel brace which required her to stretch her leg four times daily to correct it. Chinami has said it was some of the worst pain she had experienced in her life.
Despite her shy and introverted personality, Chinami always had a smile on her face regardless of the circumstances and could be very outgoing and cheerful. Even after recovering from surgery to repair her shoulder and a broken arm, she was still all smiles, with Colt Baudin calling her constant happiness ‘almost toxic’ while he trained under her tutelage for a month in the summer of 2008.
As both Chinami and her mother were both students of Isabelle Allard, Chinami had a great admiration for Isabelle and all that she had accomplished over her life, which led to some Assassins in Asia to call her ‘Japan’s Answer to Isabelle’, a title Chinami allegedly despises, saying that it is a ‘mockery to compare her to a woman she calls a hero.’
Chinami has a Bachelor’s degree in business from Sapporo University and has a small business that sells a variety of tea in Sapporo.
Romantic Life[]
Chinami has never married and has no children, stating that she has no intention of having children. She never desired to have a relationship due to her strict adherence to the Creed.
Due to her close relationship with Gavin Banks, assassins have speculated the two of them having a relationship behind the scenes, to which both parties have denied.
Weaponry and Talents[]
Being well-versed in various Asian Martial Arts such as karate, Tae Kwon-Do, kendo, and Muay Thai, Chinami used quick strikes and fast dodging to her advantage, landing strikes at various weak points on an opponent, often followed with multiple strikes with a kendo stick or combat knife. Despite being outweighed by several of her opponents, she often employed the use of judo takedowns, kickboxing, and jiu-jitsu submission holds to incapacitate her opponents.
Despite owning a hidden blade, Chinami preferred not to use it, often using a combat knife in close proximity combat. She has a vast collection of combat knives at her disposal, with her favorite being the Gerber Mark II Fixed Blade Knife, which she carries in a sheath on her right hip. She could pull the blade out quickly and shift between holding it regularly and in icepick grip effortlessly. Chinami also employs the use of two boot knives from time to time, and is one of few modern Assassins to still use throwing knives.
Chinami also used a Minebea P9 pistol, most notably during the Defense of her cell headquarters against Sigma Team in January 2001. Since then she has rarely used it.
Chinami was also adept in the art of parkour, gracefully running across rooftops and climbing up walls and facings with ease. Sometimes Chinami performs flips while doing so. Margaux saw her perform a flip mid-freerun and instantly called her a ‘showoff’.
Views of the Dorian Family[]
Chinami has rather interesting views on the Dorian Family. She has stated that the Modern Assassins wouldn’t be where they are today if it weren’t for the actions of such figures as Isabelle Allard, but at the same time, she held a certain view that the Dorian Family were in a way imperialist, comparing them to the Empire of Japan during World War II. Chinami described the family wanting their presence on every continent as a colonialist in behavior, and only help out when it benefits them. She also believed the likes of Alana, Juliette, and Isabelle (despite being an admirer of Isabelle’s) all had a personality cult surrounding them. This belief was most prevalent with Alana.
She was more sympathetic to the likes of the House of Williams and Vivian Cadieux-Foden in Europe because they never reveled in their times of glory as opposed to those within the House of Dorian.
Legal Issue[]
In April of 2004, Chinami was arrested by Sapporo City police upon seeing her out in public with her knife on her and charged with possession of an illegal weapon under Japan's Swords and Firearms Control Law. After a court case, Chinami was fined 300,000 yen ($2260.08 USD). Afterward, Chinami better concealed her knives while out in public or only wore her knife on her while at her home.
Quotes[]
- "I guess I was never cut out to be a kabuki actress after all."
- ―Chinami on her life so far, May 2023
Trivia[]
- Chinami is a name of Japanese origin, meaning ‘A thousand Waves’, whereas Naito is Japanese for Knight. Her name in traditional Japanese means Knight of A Thousand Waves
- Chinami is an avid drinker of green tea, even growing some at her home in a garden.
- Her favorite tea is sencha green tea.
- Chinami does not drink or do drugs.
- Chinami’s looks and appearance are based on Japanese curler Mari Motohashi
- Chinami is fluent in Japanese, English, Tagalog, and Chinese, in that order.
- Despite living in Japan, Chinami tends to embrace her Filipino heritage more than her Japanese heritage.
- Politically, Chinami is a democratic socialist and supports the Social Democratic Party of Japan.
- Although she is based out of Sapporo, she does have a home in Malolos, the capital of the Bulacan province in the Philippines that she frequents in the summer months.
- She is a fan of the Japanese professional baseball team Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Major League Baseball team the Toronto Blue Jays.
- Colt Baudin, who trained under her briefly, said Chinami could ‘kick your ass by just looking at you.’
- Chinami stands around 5’6” tall.
- Chinami would always sign her name in Japanese after finishing a letter, even if it was written in English.
- Her character theme song is ‘Something In The Way' by Nirvana.
- Artworks on this page were painted by Timaeus (@timayonnaise on Instagram) and Melanie (@i_am_the_vigilante_) on instagram.