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下級員 / Kakyuuin / Jr. Member
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The entries are now organized by theme and alphabetical order.
The Izuna, Iruka, Karin, Ino, Kurenai, Shizune&Shima, Pain, Kankurou and Zetsu transcriptions (included or not) are from Gingitsune. Sakura transcription by Tora-chan.
Includes my reworked translation of Hinata's entry.
Page 009
Hiden: SHA NO SHO (Confidential: The Book of Man/People)
Naruto
Official Characters Databook.
Page 010
Naruto
Official Characters Databook.
Hiden: SHA NO SHO
Table of Contents
Shinobi no Sho ... 013
143 of them!! The articles about the characters who've appeared in the shinobi world, all in one go!! A thorough investigation including their heights, weights, all the way to their hobbies, now public...!!
Jutsu no Sho ... 221
Ninjutsu, hijutsu, Kekkei Genkai!! Covering a total of 115 jutsu displayed since Naruto's return home!! Difficulty levels, jutsu types, the full particulars have been scanned for!!
Sou (Conception) no Sho ... 341
National, first-time publication of a rare character creation sketchbook print!! Also includes a boatload of comments from Kishimoto Masashi-sensei about the unknown episodes of their conception!! Further features a little manga play about Kakashi's real face!!
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Shinobi Well-Informed Record/The Savvy Shinobi's Record............... 191
About the advent of villages, an organization's foul activities, S-rank missions and the like...!! Following in shinobi's footsteps and taking notes about it, this record is pure gold!!
-----------------------------
The Advent of Villages/Uchiha Clan/Akatsuki/Bijuu/Hebi/ANBU/Myoubokuzan/Mission: Rescuing the Kazekage/Mission: Reconnaissance at the Tenchi Bridge/Mission: Akatsuki Punitive Expedition/Hunting Down Itachi/Nature Alteration/Shape Alteration/Special Section: Shinobi Evolution Record
-------------------------------
[NARUTO] Leaf Lexicon (tn: the Japanese spelling includes a pun)............. 335
[NARUTO] A complete explanation of the key words that spice up the Naruto world!! A hundred words out of volumes 28 to 43...!! Every single one of them is a key to understand the shinobi's reality!!
----------------------
NARUTO Best Scenes.......... 001
Some bond together, some cut down their ties... All those feelings shinobi keep at heart and fight for, published in a vividly colored picture book!! Dynamic and full of life shinobi pictures, now released!!
Page 011
Characters
A careful analysis of Naruto characters from different perspectives!! Brand new pages are available for people full of individuality!!
Maximum excitement! Profiles Arbitrary Rankings!! ............... 190
NARUTO - Official Height Coparison Chart................. 220
NARUTO - Ninja: Ninjutsu INDEX............. 314
NARUTO - Narutimate (or whatever) Relationships Chart................ 320
83 characters thoroughly investigated! Blood Type Rankings (tn: Japanese superstition. You can determine someone's personality based on their blood type.)! ......322
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Results Publication
An impartial count of votes from readers recruited by the Weekly Shounen Jump Magazine!! Publishing the results, packed with the fans' emotions and feelings!!
Sha no Sho Hiden: Posuton no jutsu (Postcard Release technique)
Ranking "The scene that moved you the most"
Ranking "The scene you found the most stunning".
Those you admire for their ninjutsu and their Way of the Ninja! Ranking "The shinobi you'd want as a teacher".
Find your own masterpiece! Ranking "The Kings of frontpage illustrations".
The bonds of a lifetime are right here! Which shinobi, male or female, do you want as a sibling?!
Publication: Character popularity super-contest.
-------------------------
Konoha Hundred Leaves Collection
Where numerous as-of-yet undisclosed secrets of the shinobi world are clarified. The truth regarding them, compiled in 20 explanatory books.
#27 Uzumaki Naruto: the origin of his name.......... 023
#28 The blood-stained fate of the Mangekyou Sharingan......... 033
#29 Oogama-sennin's wondrous and miraculous Prophecy.......051
#30 A genealogy of the Kazekage, fallen one after another under the daggers of assassins........... 64
#31 What was Yondaime Hokage's true purpose? The mystery of the Kyuubi's seal.......... 071
#32 The reality of ROOT, as recounted by a picture book............. 095
#33 The Lanf of Fire's elite Twelve Ninja Guardians!! .......... 103
#34 The bewildering Cat's oasis. Neko-baa's hiding place........... 130
#35 The revolution accomplished within the smoke of the Rain!! .......... 143
#36 The elite people who suport the village from behind the scenes! The Special Squads.......... 170
#37 Burdened by destiny, hosting the bijuu. The jinchuuriki........... 183
#38 The various ways to discover one's target!! Investigation techniques.......... 230
#39 Principles for the counterbalancing of Nature Alterations........... 236
#40 Feelings of remorse prompt the creation of a kinjutsu!! ........... 243
#41 20 teams establish a perimeter......... 255
#42 Medical ninjutsu, something made possible by extensive knowledge and skillfulness........ 256
#43 Genjutsu types and how to deal with them........ 301
#44 The melody that circulates in Myoubokuzan........ 302
#45 Coping with all kinds of situations: Mokuton Survival.......... 307
#46 Something falsely similar to Kage Bunshin.......... 309
*The Konoha Hundred Leaves Collection is continued from Hiden: Tou no Sho (Confidential: the Book of War).
Page 012
Nothing but a huge "Sha" in the background.
Characters
Main text
A Ninja Monk who resides in the Land of Fire's Ninja Temple, the Temple of Fire. Used to serve as a highly skilled member of the Twelve Ninja Guardians, and he is second to none within the temple. He was a close comrade do his fellow Ninja Guardian Asuma. Now they are linked by a strong friendship.
Caption
-The Ninja Monk dedicated to keeping his country at peace!
-Be good little boys and go home!
Picture comment
-He would keep in touch with the outside world, and as such he was well-informed about the Akatsuki and their activities.
Ninja Registration Number: ---
Date of Birth: Jul. 7 (31 y-o; Cancer)
Height: 179 cm Weight: 59, 1 kg Blood type: A
Personality: unaffected and sincere
Desired opponent: Sarutobi Asuma
Konoha Hundred Leaves Collection #33
Main text
A shinobi organization under the Daimyou of the Land of Fire's direct control, they acted as his personal guard. From within the country and beyond, he would gather excellent, resourceful shinobi and send them on missions. Today, the Twelve's society has been disbanded, but the members in it were a well-known bunch of shinobi. It used to be a major step on the way to fame and success for elite ninjas.
Caption
-The Land of Fire's Twelve Ninja Guardians!!
Picture comments
-The loincloth branded with the crest of the Fire country is proof that one has been picked as a one of the Twelve.
-They are also targeted because of their fame and the bounties placed on their heads in the black market.
-Asuma and Chiriku were born and raised differently. There was a strong friendship between.
Main text
Page 1
Chiyo, a veteran kunoichi who once left foreign shinobi awestruck, thanks to her superior skill in medical ninjutsu, taijutsu, and puppeteering jutsu. Now however, she's a Sunagakure (Hidden Sand) councilor, perfectly happy to just sit around a fishing pond with her little brother. The protracted unrest instilled feelings into Chiyo, of resentment towards foreign countries, and impatience towards her own, and with the passing of time, a sense of resignation forced itself upon her, leaving her to merely spend day after day, waiting for a quiet death.
However, some unexpected visitors shook her out of apathy. The man who stole her son's life, Konoha's White Fang. The woman who'd put her through so many hardships, Tsunade-hime. They were descendants and pupils of her sworn enemies... Shinobi of the next generation... Their presence made Chiyo aware of how time had passed, and cued her into standing tall once again!!
Page 2
[The Value of Experience]
Tsunade-hime was once a bitter enemy, whose disciple, Sakura, is now an ally she has to put her trust in. Seeing her fierce struggle set aflame Chiyo's kunoichi's fighting spirit...!!
Chiyo went through numerous battlefields. The experience and intuition that came along with the spinning hands of time* are her greatest co-actors, and she converts them into weapons unequaled!! Then, she puts up an entrancing, grand performance, to illuminate the shinobi's future!!
[Remorse]
Sasori had lost his parents, a tragedy he couldn't overcome. She initiated him into puppeteering jutsu. For the protection of the village, she sealed a bijuu into Gaara to make him a war implement...... Ironically, the past she dedicated to "the benefit of others" leaped across time, metamorphosed into a menace for those who live in the present day... Chiyo achieves redemption, at the cost of her own existence. The expression she showed in her last moments was a peaceful one. That of someone who ushered in an era's twilight, and hope for the future.
Captions
Page 1
-I've been dying to spoil my cute little grandson for quite some time...
-The shinobi flower that won't wither in spite of the flowing sands of fate!!
Page 2
-Beyond hate and reprisals**, the young shinobi show her the vision of a springtime everlasting***.
Picture comments
Page1
-She pulls the strings of her puppeteering jutsu with her fingertips!! The miraculous art, deeply ingrained into her, doesn't give away the slightest hint of weakness!!
-A woman is all about courage, charm, love and respect!! She shows a mischievous side unexpected from one so advanced in age.
Page 2
-Her elegant dance of the puppets becomes a blade that carves open the way to the future!!
-For the village's sake, Chiyo herself sealed in the darkness... A heavy crime, prompting a certain determination into her.
-A jutsu which uses one's life as a catalyst, to revive even the dead... The jutsu she violated taboos to develop for her grandson, comes in to rescue the future... *One can tell how old a tree is by counting how many rings it has from the bark to the core. The original metaphor was about that, but I couldn't make a proper sentence out of it.
**The translation is a a bit arbitrary. 恩讐の彼方 is the title of a book by the early 20th century author and IIRC playwright Hiroshi "Kan" Kikuchi, and my limited knowledge in that specific field doesn't allow me to grasp the whole concept that's no doubt being played around with, here.
***Guess which word the author chose to say "everlasting"... ‘千世’= everlasting = Chiyo!!!
Ebisu
Main text
A shinobi's talent is determined by their lineage... Or so thought Ebisu. But after his encounter with Naruto, he realized how every child had infinite potential. Now, he is no longer an elite-only household tutor, but an Academy teacher. He thinks of all his pupils, not only Konohamaru, as Hokage material.
Captions
-Guiding the young seeds left in his care by the preceding Hokages
-Achoo! (sneeze)
Picture comment
-Kind and affectionate, calm and composed, quick-tempered. His pupils, whose individualities he values, have various faces to show.
Ebizou
Main text
His older sister's actions are dictated by her impulsiveness. On the contrary, Ebizou will throw the enemy into confusion with his careful planning...!! To this day, that clearheadedness of his Suna was so feared for during the previous great war is still alive and well.
Captions
-The venerable old man of Suna, whose strong heart won't be perturbed by the unexpected.
-Come on, big sis... Don't be such a big idiot.
Picture comment
-The sight of a collaboration system between villages gives him a taste of the new era that has come along.
Main text:
The Sacred Mountain where numerous Toads are assembled. In Myoubokuzan (Mt. Myouboku), he is one of the Two Great Toad Sages, second in status to the Grand Toad Hermit. He is also a teacher to Jiraiya, from the Sannin. The one who personally pounded the power of the Toads and Senjutsu into him. Trained up in the use of chakra in symbiosis with Nature, this 800 year-old doesn't know decline. His demeanor gives out a sense of magnificence, and the Toads under his command hold him in great esteem, calling him the "Boss". Because the number of people who summon him is extremely limited, he doesn't take an active part in conflicts, but the one times when he does proceed onto the battlefield, he will let out his out-of-this-world jutsu, as so many miracles!!
Captions:
Don't overdo it, Mom.
The Great Hermit Toad, the Mountain Sage who governs the population of Myoubokuzan!!
Picture comments:
Fukasaku: Jiraiya-chan, the Grand Oldtimer-sama's had a dream about you. As you already know, it's a prophecy. Listen closely.
- Holding session at the place where the Grand Toad Hermit makes his prophecies, his wife and him fulfill their important duty!!
- He's not all about Senjutsu. He excels at handling ninja tools, such as smokescreen bombs!!
Fukasaku: Yeah... When we're done, Jiraiya-chan and I'll get back home to eat lunch.
- Shima and him have arguments, like some comical "marital strife" duo. But deep down, they're brimming with affection [towards each other].
Gamaken
Main text
A Giant Toad who boasts strong stout arms on par with Gamabunta's, and fights to the bitter end with taijutsu exclusively. More than anyone else and despite his clumsiness, "Ken-san", as he is affectionately nicknamed, gives out a sense of reliability. That of someone who will definitely be there for a timely rescue when one is in dire straits.
Captions
-I'm a clumsy guy, I am...
-The unforthcoming, oafish Toad with a two-forked staff and a sakazuki* shield.
Picture comment
-A tremendous direct attack!! This is Gamaken at his very best!!
Kamizuki Izumo
Main text
When he is not on a mission or training, Izumo spends the bulk of his time sorting out information. He is able to produce accurate data and make relevant decisions in any situation, and the reason for that is none else than his inconspicuous efforts.
Captions
-A smile brimming with self-confidence. He displays a talent for quick-wittedness.
-Got it!
Picture comment
-He wins not with power, but with intelligence (tn: as in "information")! This is another form of Nindou (Way of the Ninja).
Ninja registration number: 012049
Date of birth: Nov. 25 (28 y-o; Saggitarius)
Height: 169 cm Weight: 58 kg Blood type: A
Personality: fastidious
Desired opponent: Hagane Kotetsu *Sakazuki is a small cup used to drink sake.
Hagane Kotetsu
Main text
An intrepid man who boasts a skill for direct combat that is prominent inside his village. He bears great respect and admiration for Asuma who's established a great record in military prowess. Since he's been partnering Izumo for many years, he trust his friend to watch his back while he brandishes his giant club.
Captions
-I'll come along...
-Pushing forward: this is the temperament he wields his furious power and giant club with!!
Picture comment
-His trick with Izumo works outstandingly often!! This deed is accomplished through accumulated experience and a deep-rooted trust.
Ninja registration number: 012050
Date of birth: Jul. 21 (28 y-o; Cancer)
Height: 167,5 cm Weight: 52,3 kg Blood type: B
Personality: brimming with curiosity
Desired opponent: Kamizuki Izumo
Baki
Main text
A senior from the village, he spearheads the Sand's offensive squads. His clearheadedness and leadership have contributed greatly to the Hidden Sand's rehabilitation. He helped along Gaara's assumption of office as Kazekage, arguing down the dissenting opinions. He's been a pivotal character in the Hidden Sand village's reconstruction.
Captions
-He wishes to rehabilitate the Sand! A sturdy shinobi loyal to the core.
-I have a bad feeling about this...
Picture comment
-As one of the people in charge of the village, he always considers the worst case scenario. And thinks of a way to remedy it.
Ninja registrationn number: 38-212
Date of birth: Jul. 4 (34 y-o; Cancer)
Height: 188.2 cm Weight: 80 kg Blood type: A
Personality: faithful, easily worried
Favorite food: freeze-dried tofu
Main text
Page 1
There's a saying: "Turning hardship and grief into nourishment is what makes a sakura, a cherry tree's flower, so gorgeous". Indeed, Haruno Sakura, a kunoichi from Konoha grew up beautifully out of the sorrows she's experienced. The death of a close one (tn: Duh?!), then the parting of ways with the person she loved... But whenever she was hurt, she faced forward, and tearfully vowed to become stronger (tn: This sentence confused the hell outta me. I cannnot vouch for its accuracy). Those sorrows engraved into her heart, her predispositions as a shinobi will certainly prove even more fruitful, as she's obtained apprenticeship under Tsunade, the legendary kunoichi. The day when the entrancingly graceful, fully bloomed sakura flower dances upon the battleground is close at hand!
Page 2
[Medical Ninjutsu]
Learning medical ninjutsu is a gruesomely difficult task, for in addition to pinpoint chakra control abilities, it requires an extensive amount of knowledge and perseverance. But Sakura, blessed with such dispositions, mastered it at a speed that amazed even Tsunade. She grew into a medical ninja prominent even in the whole village.
[Super-Strength]
Insanely strong: not exactly a qualification a teenage girl would be happy about, but contrary to the larger-than-life appearances, it's actually a ninjutsu that requires extreme accuracy in chakra control. One kneads a maximal amount of chakra inside their body, and concentrates it all into their fist in an instant! When one uses super-strength, courage and the ability to grasp the situation are even more indispensable. Delicacy, attention, and bravery: you could say that jutsu is a compilation of womanly qualities.
[Evasion Skills]
"A medical ninja musn't die by any means", says Tsunade. Incidentally, the fate of surviving while being constantly surrounded by death is more painful to a shinobi than death itself: those words of her master echo loudly into her heart... And because she's aware of her heavy responsibility, Sakura starts to build up her evasion skills! Not because her master frightens her. And certainly not to run away either. To save her many friends even all by herself, to leave a great hope behind for the future at least once, Sakura avoids daggers in a dodging ballet, with definite resolve in her heart...!!
[Guts]
Medical ninjutsu smashes even stone and heals just about any wound. However, even with such great cards in hand, whether it revives or kills ultimately depends on the user. Losing the ability to use it freely in real battle eventually turns it into a dead weight. Sakura has the means to use her cards efficiently. A spirit that remains imperturbable even in critical situations... To give things a name, she has guts!
Page 3
[Fighting Spirit]
Sakura had a fighting spirit and a strong heart before, but studying under Tsunade made these traits even more obvious in her. This might have to do with both her master's influence, and her wish to rescue Naruto and Sasuke, among others. "I'll protect the two of them": as long as that vow remains, Sakura's spirit will never break!
[A Woman's Heart and a Short Temper]
"A woman's heart is a complicated thing". A saying the many people who've been in contact with Sakura must know by heart. Delicacy and boldness, shyness and anger, kindness and aggression. Predicting what her ever-changing state of mind will jump to next is distressingly difficult. "Gotta stop fooling around in front of Sakura-chan", swears Naruto. "Dang it, she's grown into a fairly good second coming of Tsunade...", sighs Jiraiya.
[Tsunade]
She'd discovered and gotten the basics of her chakra control abilities down thanks to Kakashi, and upon acquiring a master the likes of Tsunade, those abilities flourished in a heartbeat! While Tsunade is happy her successor has appeared, Sakura is mustering a sense of respect and utmost confidence towards her master.
[sai]
Sakura entertains complex feelings towards Sai, who was assigned to Team Kakashi as a replacement for Sasuke. Acknowledging Sai as a team member means acknowledging Sasuke's absence. But following Sai's evolution, Sakura learned how to bond with him as well.
[Naruto]
In her childhood, Sasuke was the object of her yearning, then loving feelings. Naruto was just the nuisance that would force itself between Sasuke and her, and ruin the day in some fashion. But looking back on the past after a few missions handled together, Sakura suddenly realized. In her painful moments, when she'd abandoned even the will to live, the one who'd protect her and encourage her was Naruto, the supposedly annoying one... What feelings does she harbor towards Naruto?... As of now, Sakura hasn't found the answer.
Page 4
[Promise]
To bring back the fleeting, ordinary life that crumbled away upon Sasuke's desertion from the village... And to keep her friends out of harm's way. The day she knocked on Tsunade's door is the day she bid farewell to the Sakura who could do nothing but cry during "that night".
[Resolve]
Sakura knows that in the shinobi world, one must pay a suitable compensation to obtain something. Despite this, if she could recover Sasuke... and the daily life that were lost, Sakura would gladly make any sacrifice. And that resolve gives Sakura the strength to open a way towards the future.
Captions
Page 1
-I'll become strong too, you won't be alone
-Having surmounted and fed off a great amount of grief, the battleground's cherry blossom now blooms profusely!
Page 2
-The fighting spirit her mentor passed down upon her at heart, kunoichi Sakura runs onto the frontline!!
Page 3
-Just how many faces does a woman have?! They're just as multiple as the emotional facets she hides under her chest.
-New allies, a new master. And budding new feelings...?!
Page 4
-Earnestly wishing "the old days" back, she chases after him!!
Picture comments
Page 1
-She wants to know the truth... Her ardor pushes her to investigate things such as Akatsuki and the bijuu.
-Day after day of strict training under Tsunade give Sakura confidence in herself.
-Originally, Sakura's a supporting type, but she displays growth in taijutsu, enough to endorse an offensive position.
-Warmhearted and romantic on the one hand, down-to-earth to the point of callousness on the other...
Page 2
-Using medical ninjutsu in battle requires one to be extremely skilled in the art.
-Along with her explanation about the importance of dodging skills, Tsunade puts her disciple through intensive training...!
-Handling herself with wonderful ease, she dodges attacks even from a hundred of puppets!!
-(The bottom picture that expands over p.138 & p.139)Even Hiruko, in which Sasori, the master craftsman as they call him, had great confidence, she crushed in one blow!
-"Bravery" is not the same as recklessness. It's the ability to put a rational judgment into action.
Page 3
-Because of her feelings for her friends, and her confidence in her master, Sakura smiles boldly, even in a critical situation.
-Does her heart beat unexpectedly fast before the unforeseen, rapid growth of her childhood friend...?
-The next second, her punch flies in the blink of an eye and hits him! Is Naruto a major pain in her neck......?!
-Perhaps because Tsunade put her through hell while training her, Sakura... the Sakura shows absolute obedience to her!
-Sakura is also the one who immediately found out about Sai's complex personality.
-Her various memories with Naruto float like a night fog* across her mind...
-Moved as she is by Naruto's devotion, tears are flowing down her cheeks.
Page 4
-She couldn't stop Sasuke and Naruto was harmed as a result, a past that now shapes her present.
-The Sakura who was constantly encouraged by Naruto is now the one who gives him strength. Her mental growth is apparent.
-Upon thinking about Sasuke, regret tightly grips her heart, and strength invades it at the same time! *The absence of kanji give two possible interpretations to the word よぎり (yogiri). The first one is "night fog", the second is "to float across". Kishi-sensei seems to enjoy these kinds of puns.
Main text
Page 1
Bold and audacious, calm, composed and serene, a trickster and a tactician... Even after exhausting the whole repertoire of compliments one could make to a shinobi, the feeling that it's not enough to describe Hatake Kakashi cannot be helped. Kakashi's omnipotence can be noticed in every assignment ever endorsed by him. Burning with passion on the inside, calm and composed on the outside... One could say this combination of contrasting qualities, transcending the antagonisms, exemplifies what a shinobi should be like. In addition, he has the generosity to freely impart his knowledge and experience onto his juniors, demonstrating his strong awareness of what being a shinobi is about.
Page 2
[Sharingan]
The genius Copy Ninja's has proven himself, down to the improvement of his Sharingan. He has awakened to Mangekyou Sharingan, a feat achieved by a mere handful of people even in the history of the Uchiha clan's Kekkei Genkai. But he has yet to fully master his faculty to regulate its kekkai area. However, coupled with Kakashi's unique qualities, this unequaled doujutsu's power is very likely to become absolute. The uncommon power presses him one step forward in his evolution as a shinobi...!!
[Command]
His serene figure brings about a sense of security and confidence to the allies in his entourage. Militarily speaking*, his clearheadedness is not just an individual treasure, it is also beneficial to the group. Combat potential estimation, analysis of strengths and weaknesses, and a simulation of every possible occurrence. He communicates all those things in a plain and straightforward summary. In the tension of the battlefield, Kakashi's presence will be increasingly perceptible.
[Promotion]
The strength, the experience he's acquired at the risk of his life, he communicates them to the younger ones, without hesitation. Kakashi knows just how petty personal pride is in front of a shinobi's ideal to "protect their village". Striving towards self-discipline is something, promoting others is a whole other kind of story. Even if his life was to reach an end, the great principles would carry on living, as long as history's beacon is passed along (tn: this is closer to wild guessing than an actual translation, I'm afraid. Corrections/alternate translations, or - if I'm lucky - a confirmation would be more than welcome). The shinobi's fate is a fairly hard one to deal with. But naturally, he accepts it. For "acceptance" is Kakashi's greatest strength.
[Encouragement]
Successfully completing a mission requires a serene outlook, but the most important is the state of mind of the team members. While he accepts that a shinobi is a person of flesh and blood with their feelings, he'll push them in the back. For example, even if they are forced into numerical inferiority, the time hasn't come to surrender. This is also part of a shinobi's fate, somethings he understands.
Captions
Page 1
-Generations pass by, one succeeding to another.
-The masterful hand that unites spirit and technique, Konoha's number one skillful shinobi!!
Page 2
-The ability that made his name known abroad evolves even further.
-The model shinobi who teaches the principle of fate and how to accept it.
Picture comments
Page 1
-He is proficient with his ability to comprehend ninjutsu's characteristics. And he has the flexibility to put it into practical use.
-Training someone talented is about putting one's ego aside and total devotion.
-From the sheer amount of real combat experience he survived battlefields with, he derives the very best plans.
-Even the young ones he's nurtured keep on turning into the village's fighting force. They're growing up, and he doesn't know if he feels happy or lonely about a gag he's worked so hard at failing to hit home...
Page 2
-The details of how he gained Mangekyou Sharingan are a mystery. The hidden truth dwells insides his eyes.
-A doujutsu that bends, twists and distorts space. The target falls into a wholly inescapable predicament.
-Swift decision-making and cooperation. His quick and precise instructions are essential in multiple assignments.
-He grasps his allies' characteristics and habits with his broad outlook, and provides suitable support.
-His encouragements are no lies. His insight will perceive things about someone they didn't notice themselves.
-He combines logic and flair. His flexible way of thinking points out the next road to take.
-Team 10 after Asuma's disappearance. Discerning the restlessness in his subordinates, he joined them into the action. *Written alone, the Kanji 個 (individual) is also a counter for single military units.
Main text
Page 1
Clad in Akatsuki's black clothes and sporting a three-bladed scythe, Hidan strikes those who confront him with fear. Hidan was born in the Hidden Hot Springs (Yugakure), a village purported to have forgotten battle. Although, with the disappearance of great wars, it counts among the hidden villages that saw their military power dwindle, it is endowed with a fertile nature and touristic sites, and it welcomed the changing of eras.
Having lived his life as a shinobi, Hidan was constantly starved for battle. And before long, his irritation towards the lukewarm doctrine of peace turned towards the village itself... Quite inevitably, the rising religion of Jashinism set its eyes upon him. "Thou shalt kill thy neighbor": Hidan welcomed this creed with every ounce of will he ever had...
Page 2
[Immortal]
Jashinism made use of its devotees' bodies for rituals. Which is to say, for repeated kinjutsu experiments. Their first successful case was none else but Hidan. The Curse he received in lieu of a blessing is in accordance with the perpetuation of massacre. From Jashinism, Hidan acquired an undying body, and rapture as he'd never known before. And his adoration for the doctrine grew, over and over again...
[Deathless Combo]
Hidan decided to join the Akatsuki because he saw a man there, named Kakuzu. Someone who would live for eternity, a pioneer to him, a guide. No doubt about it... Kakuzu would be most suitable as a partner. Unafraid of death, they were a greatly valuable war asset for the organization.
[Ultimate Purpose]
For Hidan, Jashinism confirmed itself as absolute, the one and only thing worth believing in. His ultimate purpose is to let the unbelievers who plague the world know about the existence of Jashinism... In other words, to build a society that acknowledges massacre. Hidan predicts it is possible if he takes part into the Akatsuki...
[Precepts of Jashinism]
Thou shalt kill thy neighbor. A principle laden with contradictions, such as the murder of fellow believers. However, those contradictions are of no significance to Hidan, who's acquired an immortal body. That's the reason why he honors the doctrine and precepts, and is able to follow them to the letter. Even if it costs him his head...
Captions
Page 1
-You under my curse already, punk...
-He worships the terrifying Evil God*! The immortal shinobi who revels in suffering!!
Page 2
-The child of flesh accursed sent by the gods!
-Repeated massacres. In the name of Jashinism!
Picture comments
Page 1
-Aiming for the blood of the sacrifice, Hidan wields his three-bladed scythe!! Truly, he has the ominous appearance of a Shinigami**.
-He finds pleasure in granting agony. That is another part of his doctrine...
-A rebuttal of him is a rebuttal of Jashinism. Hidan is exceedingly quick to lose his temper.
Page 2
-Pain is more pleasing than anything else to Hidan!! However, if he cannot "share" that pain, his anger will be made obvious...!!
-As they get along well, the two of them make a perfect unit. They boast one of the best combinations.
-He activates his Curse, to sacrifice to Jashin and let His existence be known. His body is a husk for the black power.
-While he's part of the Akatsuki, Hidan's goals lie with Jashinism, to the bitter end!
-He holds Jashin's symbol in his hand, or hangs it around his neck. That is genuine piety.
-A long, drawn-out prayer follows the kill... He hasn't skipped that [duty] even once. *Written in kanji, "jashin" reads "evil god" or "wicked divinity".
**Shinigami = Grim Reaper. Think Death Note. Not Bleach.
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Ambition, revenge, religion. There are various motives behind the actions of those assembled in the Akatsuki, but the one whose true intentions are the most unclear would be Kisame. He has yet to express his own beliefs, or to voice any objection to Akatsuki's ideas. Aside from his brutal nature, visible at times in battle or during conversations, one hardly gets any more than mere glimpses of his temperament. What reason, in truth, did Kisame join the Akatsuki for? His eyes, devoid of light, lock even that question away into complete darkness.
Captions
I can work your target half to death as well, if you please.
The ferocious mystery of a man whose true motives are drowned within the void of his eyes!!
Picture comments
- The large sword in Kisame's hand, Samehada, recognizes no one but him as its master.
- As a native from the Hidden village of the Mist, he has a knack for Suiton jutsu.
- Kisame has a huge chakra pool, in the same proportions as Naruto! The scale of his jutsu is nothing normal either!
- Kisame's usual tone is courteous to the point of friendliness. Especially towards Itachi, before whom he even shows obedience and solicitude.
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Descendant of the Main Branch of Konoha's renowned Hyuuga family. Even the introverted young girl - to whom that solemn title felt like a burden, and who restricted her own ability as a result - even that girl grew up with little trouble, courtesy of interacting with her friends and her master. She's set the object of her longing admiration - the person who'd been constantly growing in strength, and has left far from home to zealously pursue his training - as the mark she has to reach for. As far as Hinata is concerned, Naruto embodies "potential" and "self confidence". Naruto has returned home after some three years, give or take. Hinata as well should display an even further increased potential.
Caption
-Wha... What should I do?... I don't feel ready yet...
-The white, first flower of the year* conquers its feeble self and blossoms delicately
Picture comments
-She benefits from the Byakugan's power just like Neji does. There is no room for doubt about her latent potential!
-She's become more of a shinobi but nonetheless, she feels concern for her comrades. That usual kindness of hers is still there.
-Ironically, before the one who changed her, Naruto, her shyness climbs to a peak. *As I said in my original translation, I believe the flower to be a primrose. Another possible meaning for 初花 , which I translated as "first flower of the year" is "a plant that flowers for the first time". Can also be applied to when a woman... well, er... *ahem* technically becomes nubile.
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"Master of the Fourth Hokage", "Legendary Sannin", "Toad Hermit"... For his overwhelming skill as a shinobi and in related areas, Jiraiya is a great hero, continuously lauded as a "Living Legend" by the shinobi of Konoha. However, the man himself raises an objection to such praise. According to him, he has no such qualifications. Deep down, Jiraiya is compiling his personal, intimate story.
Page 2
[Homecoming]
With Naruto's traveling studies completed, Jiraiya came back to the Hidden Village of Konoha after two years and a half. With his disciple entrusted to Kakashi, Jiraiya faded into the shadows, and resumed his intelligence-gathering activities. Which meant, chasing after the bonds between Naruto and Sasuke, as well as his own bonds with Orochimaru.
[The Sannin]
Orochimaru used to be a comrade, with whom the Sannin made it into legend. Stopping his madness was Jiraiya's self-inflicted punishment, an ever-present concern he harbored like a shadow. For that very reason, he even turned down the position of Hokage, and proceeded to support the village from the shadows.
But Orochimaru died suddenly. This informed Jiraiya that an era had come to an end. Jiraiya slipped into the shadows once again. To fight off the new threat, and protect the woman and the village he loved...
[Fortuitous Encounter]
Pain. He who controls the Akatsuki, that dark cloud covering the shinobi world in darkness. When the confrontation Jiraiya has been seeking out takes place, Jiraiya sees traces of his former disciple, Nagato, in the ripples within Pain's eyes... "I want to protect my friends, even if I go through a hell of pain for it". That was the young boy's wish, his oath.
Once he surmounted his pain, he'd be the one to show the way to the world. The disciple who once believed so had completely changed. Setting his eyes upon him, Jiraiya fully realizes the depth of his own destiny, and how heavy the "Chains of Fate" are, to give things a name!!
[Prophecy]
In the middle of a battle to the death, Jiraiya recalls the prophecy he's been delivered by the Grand Toad Hermit. "His disciple would bring about a significant change to the world." No good, no prosperity could possibly come out of the revolution Pain is ushering!! So once again, he makes a choice. The grown man who used to be his favorite student, whom he believed to be the Child of Prophecy, he shall cast down into oblivion, with his very own hands...
Page 3
[Him who Withstands and Endures]
The fact he couldn't save Minato and his own master overcomes his mind. He regrets he couldn't stop Orochimaru... To this point, he hasn't accomplished anything in his entire life. Before he'd realized it, a feeling of resignation had started to sprout within Jiraiya... However, while he is covered in wounds, two of his disciples have him remember what he really is about. The most important thing to a shinobi. That is, "a heart that withstands and endures."
[Entrusted Hope]
His heart has stopped, every cell in his body has renounced to life. Even then, Jiraiya does not give up. The facts he's grasped... and his will, he writes onto Fukasaku's back, with trembling fingertips!! So he can entrust them to his last disciple, the Child of Prophecy!!
The "Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya" finally comes to an end... However, the new story Jiraiya has to compose is yet to start, that is for sure!!
Captions
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That's what the cool older people do, innit?
The Toad Hermit agitates his lion's mane is a cheerful and happy Kabuki dance!!
Page 2
Leaving the front stage to the next generation, he choses himself to act from within the shadows.
In his reunion with with his disciple, remembering is an important mission.
Page 3
He taught the way of the shinobi to his favorite students, he enforces it upon himself!!
Picture comments
Page 1
- Jiraiya has been pursuing his intelligence activities for long years. The technique he uses to unseal people's lips while avoiding needless killing is truly brilliant!!
- A top-notch strategy, cultivated from experience, rich in shrewdness!! It shall cut the Gordian knot!!
- Even in the middle of a battle to the death, the comical pauses are guaranteed!! A joyful way to encourage himself!!
Page 2
- From his master's hands to those of his superior officer. Naruto is recognized as a grown man by Jiraiya.
- Inside of Naruto, a calamity slumbers. Even though he's recognized Naruto's talent, he hasn't forgotten to be cautious...
- The Trio* that walked through bloody battlefields together. Their bonds are yet to fade away.
- Tsunade never stopped rejecting him. Even with the accumulation of years his feelings have remained unshaken, but as a man, he has the elegance not to express them.
- Are those markings tears of blood shed before his disciple's transfiguration?
- No doubt about it, the choice he was told about takes place now!! For the shinobi world must be protected, Jiraiya comes to a decision.
- Jiraiya's strike, where sympathy meets determination!! This attack destroyed Pain's eyes...!!
Page 3
- With his left arm gone, he is no longer in a condition to fight. Despite this, Jiraiya keeps up the challenge!!
- The Pains swooped down all at once. With their daggers, they pierced through Jiraiya's flesh, then his heart!!
- As he was fading away, Jiraiya came** to his true decision. His smile expresses his trust in the one he entrusted with everything!! *"Trio" is the best I could come up with to translate "Sansukumi". The word refers to a "rock-paper-scissors" relationship.
**The Japanese text refers in one word to concepts that need a slightly lengthier explanation in Western languages. Jiraiya "came to a decision". But the word I translated as "came" can also refer to Buddhist Enlightenment, understanding of the true meaning of existence, that kind of stuff... This is in perfect accordance with Pain's theme as a "God" and a Boddhisatva.
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What cued Kakuzu into achieving a way to prowl across time itself (ndt: this is a metaphor, obviously!) goes back to the dawning era of shinobi villages, when nations were still in the process of building them... As one of Takigakure's (Hidden Waterfall) finest, Kakuzu is given the challenging mission to assassinate the Hokage. However, he runs away in defeat before the Mokuton Hijutsu. Although he'd been sent out to meet his near-death, the first things expecting him upon his return were dishonor and severe punishment for a failed mission. Harboring a seething hatred, because of the harsh and unfair treatment applied to a shinobi who's put his life on the line for the sake of his village, Kakuzu breaks out of jail. Stripping the village of its most prized kinjutsu (Forbidden Technique), and all the Village Elders of their hearts along the way...
Page 2
[Masks and Hearts]
Kakuzu's body is covered in countless marks of sewing. They are accurate indications of God knows how many times he's stepped back from death's threshold... He steals the hearts of others, converts them into masks, carving scars into himself as a compensation*. An eternal circle of conflicts and deaths... One might say that is what the history of the shinobi world is all about.
[Capacity of analysis]
Kakuzu's walked a long path as a shinobi. His lengthy journey, he owes to the observation skills he uses to see through people's strengths. And thanks to his staunch will to live, he perfected the capacity of analysis he uses to estimate whether robbing an opponent's heart is feasible or not... The cooperation strategies based upon Kakuzu's abilities, abilities backed up by his extensive knowledge and experience, are put to most efficient use in the Akatsuki's standard "Two-Men Units"-based missions.
[Coldblooded Murderous Intent]
Up until he could obtain his Undying sidekick, Kakuzu butchered every single partner he ever had, gouging out their hearts... That fact demonstrates Kakuzu's boiling anger, concealed behind a mask of composure...
[Akatsuki's Treasurer]
Ever since his desertion from Takigakure, Kakuzu never took part in any organization, making a living out of bounty hunting. Undoubtedly, the reason why he monopolized Akatsuki's financial management upon joining is directly tied to this.
Kakuzu's work to accomplish the Akatsuki's goals involves obtaining increasingly high bounties, which amounts to increased opportunities to meet strong people, and even more logically, getting ahold of their hearts...
Captions
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-I'll take your heart from you.
-The immortal soldier who races across battlefields; robbing and stitching hearts to obtain life.
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-The overwhelming battle experience of one who crossed swords even with Shodai Hokage.
-Sound planning, befitting a veteran!!
Picture comments
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-The dark Jiongu (Infernal Grudge Horrifying**) squirms, as a form of life smeared in Kakuzu's blood.
-The immortal who stocks up other people's lives as provisions. He's already well past the boundaries of mankind.
-In regards with his goals, Kakuzu will display a tenacious commitment. Vestiges of the dedicated samurai he once was surface, even in the inhuman, amoral shell the passing of times reduced him to.
Page 2
-Butchering, excavating, he fabricates his masks...!! The powers of the strong become portions of Kakuzu.
-The masks have multiple purposes, to fully and properly use the opponent's abilities.
-The accumulated memories of life-threatening struggles incite Kakuzu into exerting wisdom of judgment.
-Upon estimating the adversary's skill, he immediately plans the next move...!!
-The hearts of the partners he's butchered until now were turned into masks as well.
-Kakuzu's agreement with Akatsuki denotes how the organization's interests and his own coincide. *A side-effect of the jutsu, of course. Kakuzu's not an emo!!
**This translation is totally arbitrary, so a little explanation might be in order: I know from Shounensuki's work Kakuzu's jutsu were named after robots (or whatever) found in the manga Gundam. Jiongu=Zeong, etc... Just as in Killer Bee's "Lariat" {Ra(i)-Ri-At(su)-To(u); = Plowing, Scorching Lightning Blade}, the author messed around with a few kanji and shaped them into a fashion that would suit him. So "Jiongu", or "Earth-Grudge-Fear" wasn't supposed to have any particular significance besides sounding cool. I took the endeavor to its logical conclusion, and attempted to force an actual meaning into the word.
-Infernal: "Ji"="earth", or "ground". Etymologically, "infernal" means "from below", or "from underground". The root is the same as in the word "inferior". This stems from the belief that Hell was actually located underground. Think "underworld".
-Rancor: "On"="grudge".
-Horrifying: "Gu"="fear". I first thought about "horror", with the double meaning of "fear" and "horrible thing". A horrible thing born from hatred: that's a pretty accurate summary of Kakuzu's life, when you think about it. Then I settled for "horrifying", to stick closer to the kanji's original definition, while keeping the concept in there, somewhat. I kept the adjective at the end to maintain the original Japanese order, and for the added ominousness: Art Supreme, Hate Eternal, Rancor Horrifying, etc... you get the picture.
See Gingitsune's thread for a transcription of this.
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In the short span of a mere three years since he first took the Chuunin exams, Kankurou developed, making it to Jounin thanks to his ghastly Puppeteering jutsu...!! He has confidence, and the skill to back it up. He has the great pride of a puppeteer. And he has a marked sense of aesthetics, almost to a fault. And so far, Kankurou's point in battle has been to make a fascinating display of those to the opponents he's confronted with. But the passing of time has also brought a great change to the reasons he fights for. Gaara had reformed his way of life, while still hosting Shukaku inside himself. This evolution from his little brother, who so far was little else than an object of apprehension, urged Kankurou to become more conscious of his role as an older brother. He has a new puppet in his care, the iron wall Sanshouuo (Salamander)... It was the first time he had a protective jutsu, and the reason he's obtained it is none else than his desire to protect the Kazekage his brother had become.
Captions
-I'm getting Gaara back!
-Behold the fascinating display of puppet mastery. The representation supreme, the dance of terror!!
Picture comments
-The Karakuri Engeki (Play of the Automaton) Trinity, acknowledged even by Sasori of the Red Sands.
-As hot-blooded as ever. But his anger is directed at those who disparage his little brother.
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Once in a village* wiped out by war, there was a young girl, all alone and totally unscathed. "She could tell lots of people were coming". Which prompted Orochimaru into inviting Karin to the Hidden Sound village... She's served Oto (the Sound) ever since, thanks to her honed perception ability, and her clear head. But even as Orochimaru's underling, Karin feels no obligation towards him. Karin still fulfills her duties out of affection for Uchiha Sasuke. Then Orochimaru dies, and Sasuke stands before her. She sees something in Sasuke... Just what would that be...?
Captions
-Here's a let-down!! You sure you the same guy who nailed Orochimaru?
-Her cold-hearted gaze watching across thousands of miles, her heart is together with Hawk!!
Picture comments
-She puts not only her sensing powers, but her extensive knowledge to good use. She works out a brilliant plan, contributing to the mission!!
-Chakra type, numbers. She was gifted at birth with sensing powers that'd put a doujutsu to shame.
-Self-confident down to her fists!! A steady spirit that yields to none, she has a strong mind indeed!!
-Behind her aloof and irritable** everyday attitude, she hides a dangerous affection for Sasuke...
Ninja registration number: -
Birthday date: 20th June (16 years old, Gemini)
Height: 162cm Weight: 45.8kg Blood type: AB
Personality: persistent, obstinate
Favorite food: okonomi-yaki
Least favorite food: boiled gyouza
Desired opponent: Hoozuki Suigetsu
Favorite quote: A woman's determination can overcome mountains.
Hobby: perfume collection *A normal village ("mura"), not a shinobi housing facilty ("sato").
**Aloof and irritable is rendered as "tsun" in Japanese. The same as in "tsundere".
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Like a shadow, always standing beside Pain, the leader of Akatsuki and head of the Hidden Rain, a beautiful woman works for him. People in the village refer to her in reverence, as the "Angel". That said, she won't shy away from murdering people on orders from Pain, the self-proclaimed "God". As a child, she used to be Jiraiya's trainee. To the talent she had as a shinobi, she joined the kindness of her heart. How did she stoop low enough to take part into that shady organization? The answer is concealed in a hailstorm of paper, hidden from anyone's sight.
Captions:
God commands it: I shall kill you.
Will the eerie, fascinating Apostle sing the Word of God, or a song of ruin and destruction?
Picture comments:
Konan: Sensei, you don't know what happened to us afterwards.
- What happened in the past that gave her a motive to reform the world even through extreme methods?
Jiraiya: Uhhhhhhhhhhhh.
- Konan utilizes a peculiar jutsu that turns her body into paper. There is like a sense of transience in her splendid fighting style.
Konan: Thank you... Here. A charm, [for you].
- As a child, Konan liked Origami, and she was something of a sociable girl.
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Ibiki plays an important part in the extracting of information, as he interrogates suspects and prisoners of war. From the psychological pressure of threats to the physical pain of torture, he is adept in a large array of methods. Methods he knows how to apply judiciously. He's a man whose intellectual honesty one would never guess behind his heavily scarred appearance.
Captions
-I'll use my own methods and make you squeal*!
-Konoha's enforcer. He knows hardship better than most!
Picture comment
-He's the best in Konoha, and a great many shinobi rely on his experience and technique, starting with Jiraiya.
Ninja Registration Number: 010913
Date of birth: Mar 20 (31 y-o; Pisces)
Height: 193.5 cm Height: 88 kg Blood type A
Personality: persevering, sadistic
Favorite word: "Truth".
Konoha Hundred Leaves Collection #36
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Other than the shinobi who carry out missions outside, there are numerous professionals who operate within the Hidden Leaf village's walls. Healing, interrogation, cryptography and so forth, each one of those divisions has its specialists, whose great techniques and skills provide assistance for the missions.
Captions
-The elite people who support the village from behind the scenes!
-The Special Squads
Picture comments
-The decryption teams swiftly decipher coded secret messages.
-The communication teams are charged with sending, receiving and managing communications from other villages, shinobi on assignments and so on.
-Public safety in the village was left between the Uchiha clan's hands. *I deliberately chose an ambiguous word. For those interested, the intended meaning in the Japanese text is simply "to spill the beans".
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The Second Shinobi World War... The great war involved a great many villages, and distorted Nagato's conception about human life. The fainthearted boy who hated to hurt people had lost both his parents, and when he was about to know further loss, that of his friends, he was gifted with a pair of wondrous eyes. One of the three great doujutsu, rinnegan. Just how much will that power change him?...
Captions
I just want to protect the two of them.
A young boy, frightened by the infinite depths of power his eyes have opened to.
Picture comments
- Out of desire to protect his friends, he awakens to rinnegan.
- Cued by Jiraiya's words, he seeks to discover his own path in life.
- At the age of ten, he'd developed enough to properly use all five chakra natures and handle any jutsu at all.
Ninja registration number: ---
Birthday date: September 19 Virgo
Height: ? Weight: ? Blood type: A
Personality: pure, timid
Favorite food: grilled fish, stew
Least favorite food: nothing in particular
Desired opponent: to protect his friends, anyone at all
Favorite quote: "Growing up."
Hobby: Training in ninjutsu
Namiashi Raidou (Special Jounin)
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A veteran ninja who supports the village with his wealth of experience and great skill. He is known in Konoha as a prominent master assassin, and his weapon of choice is a Black Sword the blade of which is coated with a potent poison. Practically no one has ever escaped his strike, especially when he works in coordination with Aoba.
Captions
-You okay?
-He comes out of utter darkness and unleashes his strike in a flash!
Picture comment
-Whenever he teams up with Aoba he dons a black cloak, for an original combination move!
Ninja Registration Number: 009717
Date of Birth: Aug. 28 (35 y-o; Virgo)
Height: 183 cm Weight: 75 kg Blood type: AB
Nara Shikaku
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He's the patriarch of House Nara, a house that has been well-versed in pharmaceutics for generations. Shikaku is the man Shikamaru inherited his judgment and great prudence from. He doesn't talk a lot, but whenever he does, he offers some non-negligible advice, and he can be trusted to closely watch over his son's progress.
Captions
-The sagacious, noble man who silently points in the right direction!!
-So who gets to be the King?
Picture comment
-He even plays shougi (tn: Japanses chess) with his son Shikamaru. While aware of his son's progress, he displays an ingenuity that surpasses Shikamaru's.
Ninja Registration Number: 005491
Date of Birth: Jul. 15 (41 y-o; Cancer)
Height: 175,2 cm Weight: 59,8 kg Blood type: B
Personality: intelligent, dominated husband
Desired opponent: Nara Shikamaru (at shougi)
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Minato learned from Jiraiya and taught to Kakashi. Uncommonly talented, he was instated Hokage at a young age. A faculty to come up with original jutsu one after another, a strong-willed heart brimming with kindness; one could almost gaze upon the village's bright future through Minato. Until Kyuubi attacked it. Minato divided Kyuubi's power and entrusted a part of it to Naruto, the son he'd had in the meantime with Uzumaki Kushina. What is it his eyes have spotted in his very own child?
Captions
As a father and as a leader, he entrusts the shinobi's future to his own child.
Is it okay... if I borrow the name of this novel's main character?
Picture comments
By naming his son, Naruto, after the main character from a novel, he does a great honor to his master Jiraiya.
What was Minato's true purpose when he sealed Kyuubi's Yang chakra into his son...?
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Page 1
They'll tell you he's a genius with an IQ superior to 200. Or an entire species of layabouts all by himself...... The outlooks voiced by Shikamaru's entourage boil down to these opinions. However, even inside that relaxed stare of his, the strong ideals inherited from Konoha's ancestors burn brightly. Never fail his friends, and safely complete his missions. Something Shikamaru strongly keeps in mind, as the first time he was put in command of a squad, he failed his assignment. That's the very reason why, should his allies get in a tight spot, he'll use his sharp wits with maximum clearheadedness. Shikamaru's tactics, which enable him to toy even with Akatsuki come from his will to protect his friends and his village, a Will of Fire stronger than anything else.
Page 2
[Asuma]
It happened suddenly: Asuma, the person Shikamaru admired the most died before his eyes. Since shinobi risk their lives on their missions, it would probably have happened some day. In spite of this, the most prominent thought in Shikamaru's mind was about regret at how things would have gone "if only he'd had a better plan"... Laden with grief, the words Asuma said in his last moments echo in Shikamaru's ears: "I'm leaving the King between your hands". Shikamaru took those words at heart, and stood up once again...
[The Line]
"Our mission ain't over yet": Shikamaru leaves the village together with Ino and Chouji. To hunt down and eliminate Hidan and Kakuzu. This is the line they must follow, for they are disciples of Asuma, who fell in the line of duty...
[Sharp Insight]
Despite being in the middle of a tense battle, Shikamaru was analysing Hidan's ability. Using his brains to drag the jutsu's mysteries into broad daylight, Shikamaru pieced slight clues together like in a puzzle, from which he devised a counter-strategy!!
[Trump Card]
A master to avenge, and a mission to complete. In order to settle things, Shikamaru challenged Hidan to a fight, all by himself. He hadn't considered the risk, he'd discarded numerical superiority, and let his guard down... Then, the second Hidan was convinced of his victory, the plan took place!! The trap laid by Shikamaru literally crushed down Hidan's body: finally, the mission was accomplished.
[The Knight*]
Asuma told him he was the Knight. He had no idea what those words meant at first, now he can remember them with pride. Shikamaru's new resolution is to strive to become the strongest Knight, opening a path for the King* to follow.
[The King]
The King: the lives of the young children, who bear Konoha's future on their shoulders. Just as the current adults have sheltered him up to this point, it's his turn now to become a protector and a guide. For that is the Will of Fire, upon which the village of Konoha has flourished for so long, as Asuma taught him just before he died. Before Asuma's yet unseen posthumous child inside of Kurenai's womb, Shikamaru realized the time had come for him to become an adult. The time to become a master the King, which is to say the children can be proud of, and to convey the Will of Fire to them... That time is close by.
Captions
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-The Will of Fire, that's what I believe in.
-His heart burns with the Will of Fire. His Ninja Way is that of a rare strategist. (tn: that one might not be so accurate)
Page 2
-Parting ways with his master: the fate of a shinobi struck before his eyes. (tn: ditto here)
-The Knight's run defeats the Evil Technique**, demonstrating the Will of Fire!!
Page 3
-He inherits the fire that illuminates the way forward.
-I've entrusted my Will of Fire to you...
Picture comments
Page 1
-He is trained in binding tactics, House Nara's secret Art of Shadows!! (tn: and here)
-Shikamaru is an intellectual, but he's not above engaging the enemy himself if taunted. He is confident his planning will help him find his way out of trouble. (tn: and here as well)
-He's still the same old layabout, but the sense of responsibility of a Chuunin did sprout into him.
Page 2
-Dying on a mission is also part of a shinobi's fate. A reality he thought he'd understood. Despite this, the flow of Shikamaru's tears won't stop...
-The cigarette between his lips is proof of Asuma's presence among them. There may be only three of them, but in their hearts they're a Four-Men Team.
-With his own hands, he causes the Curse's effects to backfire. This is Shikamaru's idea of justice***.
-Shikamaru is able to observe things calmly. A major weapon to support his quick mindedness with.
-He feigns to put his life at risk, deceiving Hidan. A plan to read through the adversary's justu, and entice them to lower their guard.
-Gathering that Hidan's jutsu uses the enemy's blood as a medium, he makes use of Kakuzu's blood.
-He leads Hidan into his trap with a surprise attack launched after faking his own death. The coup de grace is given with a cigarette, as a tribute to Asuma...
Page 3
-Even a conspicuous move can surprise the enemy and confuse them... That is Asuma's piece of advice to Shikamaru.
-Don't call him a child any more. He's growing into a stylish adult, the likes of Asuma...!!
-Carrying on his deceased master's dying wish, Shikamaru becomes a shougi piece that protects the children. A synonym of protecting the village. *Shougi is the Japanese equivalent of chess. The pieces are named accordingly.
**The kanji for these words read "jajutsu", as a clear reference to "Jashin/evil god".
***The word actually means "a sense of right and wrong".
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The elderly woman in control of a clan of black marketeers who retail shinobi-specialized weaponry. The black cat's ears ornament is a mark of her leadership. Since the trust she has in her merchandise and the quality thereof is absolute, she gets to handpick her clients, and carries out her business with no concession for her competitors.
Captions
-A lineage of adept black marketeers who have an old history with the Uchiha!!
-I knew it. You really goin' after Itachi, aren't you?
Picture comment
-Having done business with a great many people of importance doesn't get to her head when she deals with novices.
Konoha Hundred Leaves collection #34
Main text
Neko-baa's clan dwells in a dilapidated house far from any village. Numerous people of importance come in and out of there, courtesy of the accumulation of hard-to-find scrolls, not to mention the ninja tools. Uchihas are among their good customers.
Caption
-The bewildering cats' oasis. Neko-baa's hiding place.
Picture comments
-At first glance, this building is no more than a ruined castle. Inside is a ninja tools store prominent in the Five Great Countries.
-Complicated corridors inside.The proper route is known to the Ninja Cats only...!
-He's brought a bottle of catmint* as a present, a "ticket" to buy his passage to Neko-baa. *An aromatic plant that is very attractive to cats. This is probably a bottled extract.
Senju Tobirama
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Raising Konoha, the seed planted by his brother into a thriving, large green tree: that was Tobirama's mission when he took over the name of Hokage. Among other things, Tobirama successively instigated a miltary police to protect order, an Academy (tn: kanji=Ninja School) to train and promote the young, and organized the Chuunin exams. He had the village's, Konoha's peace and stability at heart. In Konoha, the Senju brothers' sense of care for the village has become the Will of Fire, passed along even to this day.
Caption
-A bold leader; he'll grow the village's future into a luxuriant tree.
Picture comment
-Thanks to Tobirama's efforts, the Senju clan's voice in the village grew louder.
Sarutobi Hiruzen
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There is no Hokage in Konoha's history who was as popular with his people as Hiruzen. In addition to the ninjutsu expertise and skill for which he was nicknamed "The Professor", he bore in his heart a fatherly affection for the whole village of Konoha. Even for the rebellion-plotting Uchiha clan, he made no exception.
Captions (Top to bottom)
-The gentle warmth of a father who took Konoha in his soft embrace.
-So they can meet you again one day... When you're older.
Picture comment
-He thought of every villager as a child of his own. Including even Orochimaru.
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Those collaborators of Konoha understand human language and possess great intelligence! During emergencies, they are invoked by Kakashi, and they make use of their uncommon sense of smell as an investigative capacity they assist shinobi with. There are eight of them, with eight distinct personalities. But they obey their contractor with canine faithfulness. Sometimes they also resort to battle strategies and accomplish brilliant feats of arms! The funny writings visible at leisure on their backs when one has the chance to perform with such aces are not a product of the imagination...
Captions
-Fall behind me.
-Their investigative ability is unparalleled! They're the eight Jack of all trades Ninja Dogs!!
Picture comment
-Investigating dangerous people you may also leave to the Ninja dogs...!! They're a trustworthy lot, and adorable to boot.
Pakkun
Leader of the eight Ninja Dogs. He gets summoned an awful lot for investigations, and enumerating his achievements would take far too much time.
Shiba
Bisuke
Akino
Guruko
Uuhei/Wu-hei(?)
Urushi
Bull *Ninken=Ninja Dogs
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A ruined castle with neither country nor village affiliation in the Sky district. They live together in that territory devoid of human life, under contract with Neko-baa (Grandmother Cat). They can speak in human language, and their demeanor is very much that of cats, their great haughtiness observable during the one times they opened their mouths, addressing Sasuke as a "little boy". Their usual function is to communicate with Neko-baa, shuttling between corridors and interrogating visitors.There are only options: earn their trust and gain audience with Neko-baa, or run away back home, all tattered and torn.
Captions
-The willful, self-serving and venal feline guides of the Sky district's ruined castle!!
-I knew it. You're the little Sasuke boy, aren't you...?
-What's your business here - funii - ?
Picture comment
-Angering them is out of the question. Only them Ninja Cats know where to find Neko-baa.
Denka
Its pointy ears and frontal marking are impressive. Implying that it has anything to do with a tanuki (racoon dog) is verboten.
Hina
The greedy Ninja Cat who ends its sentences with a - funii - language quirk. Will make you sorry should you ever come empty-handed. *Ninja Cats
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Since ancient times, Myoubokuzan, the headquarters of the Toads, has exerted a great influence over the shinobi world. Sitting at its peak, stands the Toad Ancient whose age, as rumor has it, numbers in millenia. He is a constantly smiling figure... However, the enormous chakra pool he has at his disposal, he employs to see the future. The Mountain of Confusion has known a neverending succession of challenges from statesmen seeking out this power.
Captions
-... Who are you again?
-In his somnolence, the high priest of Myoubokuzan sees the future.
Konoha Hundred Leaves Collection #29
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The dreams Oogama-sennin communicates are prophecies. Which is to say where other kinds of fortune-telling will draw a line, during his hours of fast sleeping, his eyes literally transcend space and time, reflecting fragmentary images of someone else's future. Because of this, his prophecies boast a fulfillment ratio of 100%.
Once, only once, Oogama-sennin saw his own future. One that would affect the fate of the shinobi world. Several centuries later, a young boy would appear, and he would grant him the power of the Toads. In order for him to gaze upon what was to come with his own eyes.
Caption
-Oogama-sennin's wondrous, miraculous Prophecies.
Picture comments
-His visions are fragmentary dreams... For that reason, he can't go into detail when he foretells something.
-An absolute prophecy. Oogama-sennin himself has had his own future confided in him by those dreams.
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As one of the Sannin, Orochimaru made a name for himself, and used to be the pride of Konoha. The Professor, Sandaime Hokage even said of him: even with my intelligence, I can't possibly compete with such talent." But time passed by, and the former hero had walked away from the path of glory long ago... His fame was twisted into an synonym of evil, his brilliant mind embraced the way of immorality and corruption. A madman hellbent on worldwide chaos and everlasting life, he kept producing a great many victims and devoted followers, so even if his physical form was to decay, he would still be able to walk the surface of the earth...
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[The Day a Child Strongly Craved for "Rebirth"]
Orochimaru's interest in rebirth has been greatly influenced by experiences from his early childhood. On his parents' gravestone, he'd found the discarded skin of a white snake... Could it be the starting point of his ambitions came from a pure-hearted wish...?
[A Container for his Dreams]
Ever since the one day he suffered complete defeat against Itachi's powerful eyes, the body from one of the Uchiha clan became, to Orochimaru, the container of his dreams. And now Sasuke, survivor of that clan, stood within his grasp. Whenever he thought about the day he'd be uncovering the mysteries behind countless jutsu, his soul embedded within Sasuke's body, which he'd polished with his own hands, Orochimaru would tremble with joy.
[The Ritual of Transmigration*]
Orochimaru's fanatical dedication to his own appetites was too much. His confidence in his own wisdom was too much. Orochimaru's vision was clouded by his restless desires... The moment of his transfer into Sasuke should have been that of the fulfillment of his dreams. But in Orochimaru's special dimension, where even countless people at once wouldn't be able to oppose him, Sasuke, who was supposed to be but a mere container, took control...!!
[Crumbled Ambition]
Even deprived of an envelope, Orochimaru was plotting his revival. But even that tenacity crumbled before Itachi's Totsuka no Tsurugi (Sword of Totsuka). As of now, the only remainders of his ambition are but faint traces inside of Kabuto's body...
Captions
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- It will take much more than jutsu from the likes of you to be able to kill me.
- The fascinating serpent who dedicated himself to ambition and greed to make his way into a world of unrest.
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- In a quest for eternal life, the corrupted Circle of Reincarnation** is allowed to repeat itself.
- Predator and prey. Here stand those stricken by the power of the Orochi.
Picture comments
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- Should circumstances put something Orochimaru desires, or a target of his before his eyes, he will show the persistence of a snake, and the ferocity of a beast...!!
- Orochimaru has reincarnated again and again. He barters with existences, people's lives and deaths, but it's just an amusement to him...
- His violent emotions he expresses scarcely enough, but one can sense great pride and self-confidence in every last word he speaks.
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-The white snake's skin molting is a symbol of rebirth carved deeply into the young boy's heart...
-The smiling figure who held a skin molting in his hand is indistinguishable nowadays through the wickedness.
-Orochimaru in his true form, striking at his container-to-be Sasuke in an irrepressible urge.
-Even with his praiseworthy genius, Bloodline Limits had a power Orochimaru failed to comprehend. That's precisely why he endeavored to obtain sharingan through Reincarnation.
-Fascinated, enchanted by Orochimaru's power, Kabuto himself integrated Orochimaru's cells in his own body. What will remain afterwards? Kabuto? Or else... *Transmigration=Tensei
**Circle of Reincarnation, as is Samsara or Rinne, the same as in "Rinnegan".
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Akatsuki operates secretly, to hunt jinchuuriki and collect bijuu...!! And Pain is its leader. A detail of his enigmatic figure begs consideration: his Rinnegan eyes. The God who declares that "suffering has made him grow up" will bestow a gift upon the world. Is it peace? Or destruction?
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[Akatsuki]
The shinobi in the Akatsuki have been gathered, each one with their expectations... There's a reason why people with the skill to battle thousands still abide by Pain's, the leader's instructions, and endeavor to collect bijuu, as members of the organization. That is, his intense charisma, and a power just no one can deny... Pain can boast invincibility, and his revolutionary purpose for the ninja world is always fully apparent in his words and actions. In addition, those who hear him talk will find it hard to fight the sense of exaltation he seeds and cultivates into their hearts.
[Desire]
To start conflicts at will with a kinjutsu weapon created out of the bijuu. A huge organization to take care of war contracts, unifying the shinobi business beforehand. Opposing the international balance of power to conquer the world. Is that vision of Pain's the kind of peace he wishes for?!
[God]
Several years ago, civil war broke out in Amegakure, the Hidden Rain village... A reformist faction gained victory, drawing the curtain upon it, something unknown to most. The leader of that faction is none else but Pain. The village leader - Hanzou - was proud of his defensive network, an impregnable fortress. Rumor has it that Pain essentially tore it apart, singlehandedly... People were shocked even more by the terrifying "Judgment" he passed upon Hanzou, killing him and sending his entire clan and all of his followers back into nothingness. Then, the reformist faction's shinobi referred to this being draped in a veil of mystery, with reverence and fear... as God.
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[Rinnegan]
Rinnegan, the doujutsu purported to be the source of ninjutsu's creation. The powers revealed by that supreme doujutsu Pain carries may be but a mere portion, but that is not definite. But there is no doubt that Rinnegan is an important clue to find Pain's true identity. As a young boy, Nagato was once raised by Jiraiya as his disciple. Because he, too possessed Rinnegan. Today, one can't decide for sure whether he is Pain. But once can affirm from Konan's presence and his conversation with Jiraiya that there is a connection between Pain and Nagato.
[Pain Rikudou*]
Pain summoned five Rinnegan-bearing shinobi, the Six Paths of Pain or Pain Rikudou. On top of their peculiar, as well as frightening abilities such as jutsu cancellation and body-remodeling, they possessed a shared field of vision. Whether that astonishing power comes from Rinnegan is uncertain.
[Unkillable]
No matter the kind of jutsu employed, a God cannot be killed. Unkillable, thus invincible... The one Path who made it into the kekkai space suspended all activity, but it is unclear if he died or not.
[Former Lives]
Jiraiya found out one answer... The fact that starting from one of his disciples, Yahiko, the six of them all looked like shinobi he'd met before. Just how were they turned into the Six Paths?... And how did they come to have Rinnegan?
[Weapons]
The black, belt-shaped (tn: say what?!) blades the Six Paths have in common. Even among the multitude of ninja tools in existence, there is no equivalent to a weapon that disturbs the chakra of the people is pierces.
Captions
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-People will know pain. Nations will know pain. The world will know pain!!
-The shinobi who bears the eyes of the Six Paths. The God born of conflict.
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-His Divine Will is like a sword, for grand is His desire...
-The deeds of God will taint even the darkest of nights in a bloody red.
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-Invincibility, as befits a God. And a mountain of mysteries behind it.
Picture comments
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-Pain's facial expression is always stone-cold. Thus the impossibility to interpret his emotions, whatever they are.
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-The leader's instructions are absolute. There is no single soul to dispute the categorical imperativeness of the words he utters with dignity...
-Peers are to be treated with honor and respect. A law to keep the organization as solid as a rock.
-As a sign of their loyalty to Pain, shinobi of the reformist faction scratch the mark on their forehead protectors.
-The endless, unstoppable Cycle** of deaths and conflicts gave birth to Him... So declares the God.
-In a society of war, Hanzou governed the Hidden Rain. The greatly honorable, proudly unparalleled shinobi's clan was exterminated through the Judgment pronounced by God...
-The security network Pain spread over the village keeps rebellious intruders at bay...
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-Nagato could manipulate all of the basic chakra natures. Is that the power of Rinnegan...?
-Pain's summoned animals. If one pays attention to their eyes, a certain common trait will stand out. Their eyeballs all feature ripple-like patterns.
-Jiraiya tries a guess at the former lives of the Six Paths. Among them, is a shinobi rumored to come from Amegakure's Fuuma clan.
-Certainly he's put an end to their lives... But the Six Paths are revived, and they close in behind him.
-Pain draws his weapon from the wristband in his costume. Jiraiya is pierced by it!! Feeling the chilling glance of Rinne** into his mind is terrifying. *Named after the Six Realms of Reincarnation, the Buddhist conception of afterlife. They're states of being, organized in a hierarchy from closest to farthest from Enlightenment.
**The Rinne, Samsara, or Endless Cycle of Rebirth. Basically, Rinne is the fate that forces everyone who dies back into one of the Rikudou. Enlightenment is the only way to escape this. Pain essentially defines himself as a Boddhisatva: an Enlightened One who returns into the Cycle to guide lesser beings on the way out. I recommend Wikipedia or Onmark Productions for a more accurate and detailed explanation.
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Letting go of one's feelings and just carrying out the given assignment, faithfully. For Sai, whose family war had torn apart, Sai who'd been brought up by ROOT, this took priority over anything else. Naruto is the one who smashed those values to pieces. Though he was perplexed by his roused feelings, he was gradually attracted by them for no reason other than the fact that in truth, he'd never rid himself of his heart at all. Sai had lost the one and only friend he ever had in his older brother Shin, and there is no doubt that in his eyes, the new camaraderie he'd built up during his time with Naruto and his group was radiating with a blinding light.
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[Choujuu Giga*]
Should he draw a bird, he'll be able to fly. If he draws mice, he can increase the number of helping hands in an investigation: ANBU missions require adaptability, the kind that can cope with any situation. Sai provides for this need with only one jutsu.
[The Greatest Priorities]
For Sai, who'd grown up in ROOT, any word outside of "completing one's mission" were devoid of meaning. Even when he worked in a team, his allies were hardly more than people there to carry out the assignment smoothly, and other forms of interaction with them was unnecessary. At least, until his encounter with Naruto...
[Top Secret Mission]
As Sai was incorporated into Team Kakashi, Danzou spoke to him, giving him another mission. To carry it out, he deceives enemies and allies alike and silently makes his move. He would track down Sasuke's footsteps for a reason: not to rescue him, but to assassinate him...
[Bonds]
The older brother Sai speaks of is a young boy who like him, grew up in ROOT. The friendship they shared was the last thing reminding him what it was to be involved with others. Upon Shin's death, Sai discarded his own heart and every bond he ever shared with other people. But when he came in contact with Naruto, who bore a likeness with his faint memories of Shin, his craving for friendship intensified and surfaced once again... And Sai set out in a quest for it as an end to the agitation.
[Picture Book]
Sai has drawn a picture book he always carries with him, as a testament to his friendship with Shin. But with his heart gone, Sai was unable to draw the last scene. The moment he filled in the last page was significant: it meant he'd found himself bonded by friendship once again.
[Friends]
He'd held Naruto in higher regard than the mission he'd been given. Which also meant that his bonds with Team Kakashi's members were genuinely engraved into him. And this is proof that he'd understood the signification of the word "friend".
Captions
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-People can change... So can I.
-The final touch: his silent heart endows the product of his brush and ink with life!!
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-The clever and callous stare of one who carries out a dismal, clandestine mission.
-Bonds: the enduring etchings of the heart.
Picture comments
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-Sai followed his assignments, discarding everything that people would hold dear.
-Sai manipulates his painted ink animals as he pleases. His artistic inclination is the why of this jutsu.
-Sai has made friends, and now he learns about human relations. But the results end up upsetting Sakura, and things get ugly...
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-Though he does know the word, its meaning is foreign to him...
-He parts from Team Kakashi and approaches Orochimaru by himself. But even these negotiations are a ploy for the sake of his true mission.
-He renounces the mission he's betrayed his allies to carry out.
-Disregarding the fact that he's in the middle of an infiltration, Sai revolts against Kabuto.
-The illustration that fills in the blank page is probably an expression of a wish Sai had entertained.
-The two of them have just been clouted by Sakura. Her expression differed from the last time, so they're somewhat on friendly terms, now...? Oh, well**. *鳥獣戯画 (Choujuu Giga) or "Wildlife Sketches". This technique was named after a real-life Japanese artistic style. Wiki is your friend if you want to know more.
**The げ (ge) suffix expresses "surprised disappointment" according to my dictionary.
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A Jounin of Konoha, he possesses the rare Wind basic Nature Alteration, and boasts the foremost skill in close combat. Very few are those who know about his past, however. Asuma's relationship with his father Hiruzen has always been marked by his antagonism and feelings of admiration... "The most important thing to the village is not its Hokage". Seeking to understand what his father really meant, Asuma would lead his daily life holding little concern for the village. Ironically, his father's death and the coming forth of a new life would put an end to this. And light the fire of an unshakable will in Asuma.
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[Bougin*]
Operation "Destroy Konoha" took place three years ago. Given his position as Hokage, his father Hiruzen stood in the frontmost line of battle, and laid down his life. Contemplating what Hiruzen's stance pertaining to existence had been like, Asuma discovered a small beam of light within himself. The truly important thing is neither Hokage, nor country... When he became a father himself, the "beam of light" he'd discovered three years ago became the clear and bright Will that gave him the answer.
[Team 10]
Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, Yamanaka Ino. Konoha's Team 10 is the first pupils he was given when he came back from his wanderings. The shinobi who would shoulder the next generation. The moment he met them was also the second when, for the first time, he'd found people to "entrust with his will".
[The Will of Fire]
As a Konoha shinobi and as a master... Asuma chose death of his own accord, a fact deeply etched into the eyes of his disciple... Even though his body was struck down, his will would become a fire that would keep on illuminating the village. And his soul would be inherited by the King, the ones who had the future in their charge. This is what he believed.
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-Right about now, I've just realized how important the King was.
-The powerful master holding his glowing blades of Wind. The smoke from his cigarettes stands as a manifest of his Will!!
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-As time pursued its ineffable course, a man uncovered his own purpose in life.
Picture comments
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-Asuma's chakra swords are quite like synonyms of the man himself. His glowing blades scintillate during close combat.
-Even though he boasts great skill, he is not in the least bit overconfident. As a squad leader, he communicates the very best of plans in all dignity.
-He offers a bunch flowers to the one whom he loves. His pupil points it out, much to the awkward man's discomfort...
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-To this day, the proof that he was among the Twelve Shinobi Guardians has never left him. Together with Chiriku and others, he was one of the Daimyou's protectors.
-The vanguard is to charge the enemy's position. Trusting its allies in the rear, they boldly throw themselves on the frontmost lines.
-The master's aura is warm with reliable promise and kindness. Asuma's Will is unfailibly passed along to the next generation, and those to come...!!
Ninja Registration Number: 010829
Date of Birth: Oct. 18 (31 y-o; Libra)
Height: 190.8 cm Weight: 81.6 kg Blood type: O
Personality: blunt
Favorite food: sausages, yam noodles
Least favorite food: asparagus
Desired opponent: Nara Shikamaru (at shougi)
Favorite quote: "Forget I said anything!"
Hobby: shougi
Graduated from the Academy at: 9 Promoted to Chuunin at: 12
Mission experience: D rank: 111; C rank: 193; B rank: 217; A rank: 178; S rank: 20 *An offensive strategy in shougi, the Japanese version of chess.
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Sasori had lost his parents, and the ones standing by his side were puppets... Also, the master craftsman and puppeteer was, more than anyone else, brimming with genius. Therefore Sasori, realizing the limits of puppeteering, gradually pushed those away. Seeking to create stronger and stronger puppets, Sasori eventually came down to fabricating puppets out of the deceased. Then, he proceeded to convert himself, too, into a puppet. Just what sent Sasori down the path that made him lose sight of the reason behind existence...?
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[Hiruko]
Using Hiruko as an armor to protect himself, as well as a weapon, Sasori always puts himself in a safe location from where he battles. Fighting while keeping oneself unharmed, too, may be a strategy based upon [his concept of] everlasting aesthetics.
[Sandaime Kazekage]
Sasori sought excellency in his puppets, it's only natural the Kazekage hailed as the strongest would catch his eye. Upon manufacturing a puppet out of his painstakingly defeated opponent, Sasori could feel the happiness enveloping his heart. Exactly like a child getting ahold of the best toy ever...
[Mother and Father]
The first puppets ever built by Sasori; were made after his own parents. He wanted his mother and father to embrace him once again. Sasori's motive was little more than the mere wish of a child. However, the puppets wouldn't talk, their hands lacked warmth, so the child's heart was never contented. Those were merely puppets assuming the form of his parents. Sasori cast them aside, and left his village behind.
[Myself]
This is the puppet Sasori, King of Kings among puppeteers, trusts the most... His very own self. The path Sasori walked while chasing after the strongest puppet ended with him choosing to become one himself. He's made countless preparations to endow his entire body with the means never, ever to decay, and to mend itself into prime condition no matter how many times it is destroyed. One might say the power he's bestowed upon himself is ultimate indeed. For those who confronted him, the only choice was to despair at the uselessness of their attacks.
[The Living Nucleus]
Sasori's person embodies the idea of everlastingness and indestructibility. But to generate chakra, a live bodily portion is indispensable. That very part of Sasori is now his Nucleus, and his one and only weakness. In the middle of his fight against Chiyo, he hesitated, for a split second, to attack her. His parents. They pierced through his Nucleus, in something resembling an embrace. Heart and body alike, Sasori had been unable to turn completely into a puppet.
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-It's been quite a while......... since I last used myself.
-The genius craftsmaster who gave up his human heart and body and endeavored to become a puppet.
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-Puppeteering: the art supreme to convert oneself into an embodiment of desire and power.
-A stranger to pain, the marionette's body gets a grasp on inhumanity.
Picture comments
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-In front of Sasori, Kankurou's Karakuri Engeki (Play of the Automaton/Mechanical Representation) is barely the same as a childish game.
-Sasori converted his own body into a puppet, and upgraded it from head to toe. The result of this can no longer be regarded as human.
-According to Sasori, the supreme form of art is in everlastingly unfading beauty: Deidara's diverging outlook on the matter is a cause of clash between them...
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-The lack of skill in close combat is a puppeteer's weakness. Sasori conquered it thanks to Hiruko.
-Using Satetsu (Iron Sand) was his specialty while he lived. Although he's a puppet now, the jutsu's alive and well.
-Sasori's abandoned his heart, and will attack even the puppets representing his parents.
-What did young child Sasori think while under the puppets' embrace...?
-Even torn to pieces, the indestructible body will rise back. This may be the strength Sasori was seeking.
-The envelope, controlled by the Core, becomes a simple doll upon losing it.
Character stats addendum (small text under the stats diagram)
-The use of human puppets induces fluctuations based upon the puppets' abilities.
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Once, there was an age of war, when shinobi would engage in violent conflicts... There was a clan of largely unrivaled power, whose fame roared like thunder among the nations. They were the Senju clan of the Forest. Their leader was none else but Senju Hashirama, the man who put an end to a world of fierce battles and carnage. He could use his very unique Mokuton ninjutsu at will, and on top of boasting outstanding power as a shinobi, he was no doubt a rare hero, whose great benevolence helped settle the disputes among multiple nations.
Hashirama joined hands with the old antagonist that was the Uchiha clan, climbed his way to the top of the shinobi [world], and established the Hidden village of Konoha in the Fire country. That system of an unprecedented kind, that of the hidden villages, became the cornerstone the modern Five Great Shinobi Countries are built upon.
Caption
The pinnacle of the shinobi rises magnificently, and lights a beacon of worldwide peace.
Picture comments
He boasted Mokuton ninjutsu, as well as bijuu-manipulating skills that made him truly unparalleled in the shinobi world.
A good understanding of human nature and intense charisma. Hashirama, who built the large village that would become Konoha, deemed those necessary to do so.
The Hokage Rock in Konoha is a genealogic tree for those who were marked by Hashirama's will. A testament to the everlastingly unshakable Will of Fire is carved into the solid stone.
Addendum: Profile statistics
Ninja registration number: ---
Birthday date: October 23 Libra
Height: 185 cm Weight: 74kg Blood type: ?
Personality: gentle, prudent
Favorite food: mushroom mixed soup
Least favorite food: nothing in particular
Desired opponent: Uchiha Madara
Favorite quote: Luxuriant landscapes: perfection in its naked beauty.
Hobby: bonsai, sculpture
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One of the war orphans that are gathered in ROOT. He grew up with his fellow ROOT orphan Sai in a sibling relationship of sorts, creating a strong bond with him. Perhaps because he wore his heart on his sleeve and was absent-minded - a personality unfit for the ANBU - he lost his life at an early age...
Caption
-Impulsive and straightforward, the ROOT's black sheep is the tree that "ties" are stemming from.
Picture comment
-The records about Shin are but scant remainders in Sai's picture books. Such is the fate of the ANBU...
Ninja registration number: ?
Date of birth: Sep. 6 (Age of death unknown; Virgo)
Height: 174 cm Weight: 55,4 kg Blood type: B
Personality: persistent hard worker, scatterbrained
Hobby: Looking at Sai's drawn pictures.
Konoha Hundred Leaves Collection #32
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According to Sai's story, Shin died of illness, but the truth of the matter is surrounded with mystery. Judging from the contents of Sai's picture book, one can't put aside the possibility that he was killed by a fellow child during a training session in emotion-smothering. Such a training used to be practiced in the Hidden Mist, but assuming it also existed in Konoha... what exactly were ROOT and Danzou trying to achieve...?
Caption
-The reality of ROOT, as recounted in the picture book.
Picture comment
-Could that drawing in Sai's picture book be a training scene out from his early childhood?
-The two of them win their way through, while stealing away their opponents' weapons. Then, in the end...
Shizune
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She is Godaime Hokage's right hand woman, and a contender for the title of number one or two medical ninja in the Leaf village*. She has a thorough understanding of Tsunade's personality, and provides her with her amiable and considerate assistance. Since even the village's top brass trusts her cordially, she is allowed to participate in meetings between the Hokage and the Councilors.
Captions
-Tsunade-sama...!
-Persistently solid and reliable*, she sustains the large tree that is the village.
Picture comment
-No matter who she's speaking to, she will assert her own opinion. Tsunade's confidence in her stems from that very attitude.
Shima
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Along with being Fukasaku's wife, she is one of the proud Two Great Hermit Toads, a position transmitted to them by Oogama-sennin (Grand Toad Sage). Honest by principle, she has a blunt character that goes straight to the point and states the truth of things, making her beloved by all Toads as the Mother of Toadhood.
Captions
-The plucky Great Hermit with superior tongue-fighting skills**
-Ya shut yer claptrap, Pops!!
Picture comments
-During battle, she analyses the situation in one instant. Like a control tower, she will deliver the best of plans...!!
-On the battlefield, she makes a proficient use of her excellent detection ability to capture the enemy. *That page was a real hassle to translate, so I can't guarantee I got it all right.
**See Databook 3: Zessenzan translation by Shounensuki
Main text:
The only female among the Three Sand Siblings. With one sweep from her large fan, she creates a swirling sandstorm that mows down anything and everything. Temari, whose conduct and speech used to be immature, who kept putting up an aggressive front, is now a Jounin. Considering her great competence, added to her position as the previous Kazekage's daughter, her opportunities to join important missions have drastically increased. As a result, Temari is developing a sense of responsibility and the attitude of someone who looks out for those around her.
Along with Kankurou, she provides support to Gaara, who became Kazekage. But not only that, she works in coordination with the allied village of Konoha, supervising the training of the younger recruits, among other things. Temari is currently growing into a necessary, indispensable presence for her village.
Captions, in Japanese reading order:
Don't get mouthy, you pack of lowly grunts!
The budding spirit of a troop commander, the princess of the Wind grows even more in vehemence!!
Pictures and comments, in Japanese reading order:
- Temari: I'll go!
- She leaves for Konoha, to act as the village's emissary during the Chuunin exams. In order to adopt Konoha's educational policies, she enthusiastically follows the formation of the newer recruits.
- Her reaction to Kankurou's being defeated has changed. In the past, she would have blamed him for his poor judgment.
Temari: Naruto... You're really a strange fellow. You have the power to change people.
- She openly acknowledges Naruto's aura, the one that influences people around him, and has caused a real revolution in Sunagakure. Temari herself has been changed as well.
Temari: Gaara... How do you feel?
- Temari's grown both in mind and body, becoming a good and influential sister towards her little brothers. However, isn't she a bit too much of a mother hen when it comes to Gaara?
Main text
Ramen Ichiraku has been running for 34 years straight, and is quite famous in Konoha. The number of customers is not receding despite the absence of the shop's promotional girl, the owner's pretty daughter* (tn: Reckless fool! What kind of responsible father exposes their daughter when Jiraiya is part of the clientele?!!!). Because its true publicity comes from its dishes, which are taken to near-artistic levels of tastiness. Even though he yells angrily at his two silly apprentices, Teuchi still offers "the greatest of tastes" to this very day.
Captions
-You idiot! You've dipped your finger into it, haven't you?!
-The porcelain bowls fly about in the hand of this stubborn pursuer of taste as he shouts angrily.
-Greetings. I am Nishi!
-I'm Matsu!
Picture comments
-So the angry yells coming from inside the store are now an Ichiraku specialty, or what...?
-They pile up the catastrophic blunders!! Basically, they're a pair of dedicated newbies.
Nishi
Matsu *看板娘, or "kanbanmusume". A (usually) cute girl, often the shop owners' own daughter, whose role is mostly to attract potential customers. If there's a specific, better way to describe this in English, please let me know.
Main text
Page 1
Ever since he became Sasori's replacement in the Akatsuki, Tobi has hasn't done anything remarkable, but has pointlessly shown himself in all kinds of situations. Few are those who know the scope of his powers, or the face that lies behind his mask... Uchiha Madara: that is Tobi's true name. Madara is supposed to have met his demise in the Valley of the End, so why does he live, and what does he want to accomplish? That will become clear when Tobi takes off his mask, and Madara sets his ambitions in motion.
Page 2
[Mangekyou Sharingan]
Needless to say, Mangekyou Sharingan is the greatest weapon at Madara's disposal. The eternal power he got ahold of by sacrificing his little brother's eyesight, the one that subdues even the Nine-Tailed Fox. But wherever an Akatsuki member is present, Tobi doesn't use Mangekyou Sharingan. Is it to keep his true identity concealed, or is there some other reason?
[Enigmatic Powers]
No one has a clue as to what Tobi-Madara's powers are. Even before Akatsuki members, he never exerted them. In his rare battle happenstances, jutsu hardly leave any traces upon him. His ability lets attacks fail to connect without exception, keeps his body unscathed after Itachi's Amaterasu, and apparently transcends space so he can vanish into thin air. And here is the biggest question of all: why is Madara alive? Contemporary to Konoha's creation, the man supposed to have died at the Valley of the End lives to this day, his appearance unchanged. The jutsu that kept Madara alive, deceiving even Hashirama, the First Hokage, is known to Madara and him alone...
[Infiltration]
Was it to speed up the bijuu-gathering? Or possibly to keep an eye on Sasuke, the Uchiha survivor? The reason why Madara entered the Akatsuki as Tobi is a great mystery... What is his true motive for using a fake identity?!
[The Face of Deceit]
Under his Tobi guise, Madara is unreliable and behaves foolishly, completely at odds with his normal self. The extreme difference in personalities is perhaps a cover, so no one discovers his true identity.
[Hidden Agenda]
Along with his continued activities as Tobi, Madara is paving the way to his own ambitions. Always nestled close by, stands Zetsu, an Akatsuki member draped in mystery. The connection between the two, as well as their goals, still lie in the darkness...
Page 3
§ All that Madara ever wanted was prosperity for his clan, and nothing else. His continued battles against the Senju clan, his joining of hands with them, all of it was for the clan. But Madara didn't realize his clan was already tired of fighting.
Madara's ideology was deemed hazardous, and the Uchiha were kept away from Konoha's leadership. And eventually, he was estranged by his own clan. The flames of anger Madara harbored upon leaving Konoha are blazing, even today.
Before long Madara assaulted Konoha, with the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox at his command. However, this led to the worst possible consequences for the Uchiha. Years afterwards, when the Nine-Tails attacked Konoha, the village's higher-ups later reasoned that the Uchiha clan was [behind it]. The Uchiha clan was cast aside, and forced into confinement. §
[Interest]
Sasuke's always been reflected in Madara's eyes. Are his feelings affection towards a rare, fellow remainder of his clan, or interest in a useful pawn? In any case, Madara has been waiting for Sasuke's growth, and has pressed it along. For what kind of reason does it have to be Sasuke, rather than Itachi?
[Contact]
The web has been spun*. Sasuke grew up to his liking, and Itachi is dead. Only a few bijuu remain [to be captured]. There is nothing left to hinder his ambitions, everything has been carried out according to plan. Now, Madara removes Tobi's mask, and bares his fangs towards his enemies. Is his target the village of Konoha, or else...?
Captions
Page 1
Before long, our goals will be fulfilled.
His evil eye is glowing from under his mask. The Uchiha's heroic figure lurks from within eternity.
Page 2
The whole picture remains unseen. The true power is hidden behind the mask.
A period of obscurity-dwelling, spent deceiving everyone.
Page 3
Chagrin and hatred amplified over a long time.
§ Isolation caused by great pride; Uchiha's downfall, beckoned by Madara's violence. §
The opportunity has come up. A great, despicable ambition is on the move.
Picture comments
Page 1
-The Mangekyou Sharingan in his eyes is eternal. From Konoha's creation to this day, what have they been reflecting?
-Whenever no one is around, the face of the all-seeing Madara stands out.
-When he sports Tobi's mask, he's a lowly Akatsuki member. One word out of term, and he gets bullied back in line** by Deidara.
Page 2
-The original Mangekyou Sharingan: those who carelessly look into Tobi's eyes will be speared through by the pupils lying inside them.
-Tobi's body vanishes into nothingness. Is this, too, part of Madara's power?
-All attacks slip through Tobi's body. And yet it doesn't look like Shunshin no jutsu...
-Tobi approaches Sasuke, in the middle of a mission. To check on his progress?
-Even in a pinch, a bijuu chasing after him, he persists in concealing his abilities... A display of how at ease he feels?
-Confronted with Zetsu, it seems he quickly took his act to the next level, revealing his true self.
Page 3
§ -Shunned by a clan that rejected battle, Madara walks the path of loneliness.
-Madara spent day and night in battle, for the dignity of his clan.
-Madara and Hashirama's last battle. Vanquished, Madara disappears.
-16 years ago, an attack by Kyuubi occurred. The village's higher-ups suspected the Uchiha were involved. §
-Even the leader, Pain, abides by Madara's instructions.
-Perched atop his own statue, Madara observes Sasuke. He's been closely watching over his progress.
-Finally, Madara exposed the whole truth to Sasuke. It appears the time has come for him to get his ambitions going...
-Using Sasuke's emotions towards Itachi, Madara steers his mind with a clever speech. *I find this sentence to sound more natural in English than the original "The machine is ripened".
**The original term refers to political purge.
The parts between 『』 in the Japanese text, and §§ in the English one refer to the text with the black background on the third page (p.118).
Main text:
The first female Hokage since the foundation of the Leaf village. Strong and talented, she was once hailed as one of the Sannin, along with Orochimaru and Jiraiya. With her inauguration as Godaime, came a great number of expectations, and she immediately displayed her wit and skill as a village leader. Her assistance in the formation of medical ninjas resulted in a steady increase in excellency. Aware of Akatsuki's endeavors, she took swift action in order to protect the village but to no avail. Ninjas, such as Asuma and Jiraiya, who had long years of service behind them were lost. Tsunade will carry them on. All the hopes and feelings of those who were lost, that is. And the blazing Will of Fire shall keep on burning.
Captions
- As the Fifth Hokage, I will protect it.
- She's inherited the Will of Fire, and she will protect Konoha with her boiling, unshakable spirit.
Picture comments
- Her threatening attitude is the same even in front of the two councilors!! Once she trusts someone, it lasts until the very end.
- Tsunade's most ardent wish... She doesn't want to lose any more of those who are precious to her.
- Becoming Hokage didn't alter her lively personality. It... reinforced it instead?!
Top section
Main text
His older brother, leader of the Uchiha losing his eyesight: a literal synonym of "ruin" for the clan. Izuna chose himself to present his own eyes, without hesitation, without a word. An act tantamount to suicide for an Uchiha, as they owe their fame to their doujutsu...
Caption
-The shinobi at the Uchiha founder's side. He sacrifices his light for the sake of his clan.
Picture comment
-His eyes passed over to Madara, it doesn't take long before Izuna loses his life in battle...
Madara: My (little) brother acknowledged it all. Offering his eyes was his own initiative.
Bottom section
Title (right side): Konoha Information Panels Collection (tn: Arbitrary translation. Alternatives are welcome)... Number Twenty-Eight
Main text
The Mangekyou Sharingan, a rarity even throughout the Uchiha's history. The power it hides is frightening, thus so are the side-effects. As the caster keeps on using it, it takes away their eyesight. For those who master this powerful doujutsu, the apprehension of suddenly going blind is unfathomable. There is only one way to avoid the blindness, which is to steal a new Mangekyou Sharingan from a member of the clan... The vile method employed by Madara. The Mangekyou Sharingan; an accursed doujutsu that cannot go without victims.
Caption
The Mangekyou Sharingan, a blood-stained destiny
Picture comments
-Both awakened to Mangekyou Sharingan, the siblings were prodigiously talented.
-Using his (little) brother's eyes, Madara obtained an eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.
Main text
The man who stole his little brother's sharingan and would spend all his time in battle. That is the judgment the world passed upon Madara. Not one soul would understand everything he did was out of concern for his clan's future. In the middle of his anger and despair, Madara bared his fangs towards Konoha. What did Madara do after his defeat at Hashirama's hand?... That is unknown to all.
Caption
In his eyes is hosted the genuine sharingan. They shall become the disaster that brings enmity and ruin to Konoha.
Picture comments
- Madara extended his power, in order to pursue his conflicts with the shinobi he admired, Senju Hashirama.
- With his Mangekyou Sharingan, he reigned at the top, and directed his efforts towards the protection of his clan.
- His name erased from history, Madara dons a mask and starts to move as Tobi.
Main text
As a teacher at the ninjas' school, Iruka holds his classes daily. Before anything else, he teaches the value of friendship, and the history of Konoha's great ancestors. What must one protect in this ruthless shinobi world?... For Iruka, the answer is: the pupils left in his care. Even the Naruto who learns advanced jutsu and becomes steadily stronger, he feels entitled to protect.
Captions
-He is proud of all his pupils. He carries along the Will of Fire, lit and burning.
-You've become pretty strong, am I right?
Picture comment
-Sometimes strict, sometimes gentle. He looks at his students with seriousness.
Iruka: No... Because... he is no longer the weak shinobi I used to worry about... And the same goes for Sakura...
Yahiko
Main text
A young boy who lost his parents to the Second Shinobi World War. Together with his fellow orphans Konan and Yahiko, he met with the Sannin, and requested that Jiraiya taught them the basics of ninjutsu. His cheerful, proactive disposition made him a leader-like figure to the orphans, the one who would bring courage to his friends. He trained zealously in order to protect himself and those who were precious to him.
Captions
-Please give us some ninjutsu training!
-This sunlight of a child has no family. He seeks out the strength to protect his friends.
Picture comment
-A hatred of war and a deep love for his friends. Those pure-hearted feelings went straight to Jiraya's heart.
Yamashiro Aoba
Main text
The Special Jounin who rushed to Asuma and his group's rescue. He always has sunglasses on, never departing from his classy appearance. His ability to freely manipulate flocks of crows has a large array of applications, from scouting to diversion, and offense, even. He isn't one for showing his emotions, but he'll leap into danger in order to protect his friends.
Captions
-Hiding the blazing fire that dwells inside his eyes, he fulfills his duty.
-We gonna hold them in place.
Picture comment
-A countless number of black wings to cover Hidan's field of vision! Depending on a squad's composition and strategy, he will derive a whole spectrum of uses.
Main text
Page 1
Kabuto spent his childhood as a spy, knowing neither country nor parents... Even the notions of good and evil do not make the least bit of sense to him. Serving the power, or opposing it... Only when confronted with overwhelming power does Kabuto find his true self; and on the journey he undertakes, darkness and the smell of death follow.
Page 2
[Double Agent]
Kabuto is known as Orochimaru's faithful subordinate, but he used to be a spy, sent in by Sasori of the Akatsuki in an endeavor to find out about Orochimaru's activities. However, the Kabuto who should have been making his way in the world by erasing his own self found a twisted form of light in Orochimaru, the seeker of eternal life......!! Then, once a thusly illuminated Kabuto discovered his own shade, he also found out about his own existence. This is the instant when for the first time, Kabuto became self-aware.
[Orochimaru]
Orochimaru's defeat meant his own sense of self would vanish. That's the reason why Kabuto took him, the Symbol of Rebirth, inside his own body. Along with the corporeal stimulation, the wicked urges pushing from within granted a real, genuine feeling of being alive to Kabuto...!!
Captions
Page 1
-The shadow that schemes under the gaze of the Snake, on behalf of evil!!
-I will find out a new and stronger self.
Page 2
-His drifting at an end, he finds a direction: the path of the Snake, which goes against all that is human.
Picture comments
Page 1
-Kabuto's meticulousity and cleanliness are really important qualities when working for someone. Could this be one of the reasons why Orochimaru wanted him by his side?
Page 2
-Spies deceive others, and to them, the attachments that come with the sense of self are useless luggage.
-The moment he willingly chose to serve Orochimaru, something changed about him.
-He's taken in Orochimaru's cells, and they're out to absorb him in turn! Will we get to see the day Kabuto controls the power of the Orochi...?
-Orochimaru's cells have already conquered 30% of Kabuto's body.
Main text
During her time at the Academy, Ino's results put her in the top tier among kunoichi. She entertained a fine rivalry with her fellow classmate, Sakura. But once she'd placed herself under Tsunade's tutelage, Sakura underwent a rapid evolution. This became a great source of motivation for Ino. However, she feels no need to hurry. She never skips her daily training, and she spends day after day working hard. Ino knows even the largest, most glorious flower needs to earnestly reach towards the sun to expand, and grows little by little every day... The industrious flower will patiently withstand the winter until the end, and without fail, it will soon yield some magnificent results...!!
Captions
-Asuma-sensei's a bit grouchy. He said to "move it and come along"!
-The maiden who cultivates herself into a sublime, magnificent full blossom
Picture comments
-She will carry out her mission successfully, even if it puts her at personal risk...!! She has enough courage and bravery not to shy away from danger!!
-Thanks to her natural inclination towards self-improvement, she's learned medical ninjutsu. Judging someone's condition in an instant, she uses her technique with great precision.
-Once a mission is over, her maiden's heart comes back in full force!! With a spoken message that reflects her thorough understanding of the opposite sex, she increases her own appeal.
Main text
Page 1
In order to deal with Hatake Kakashi's absences from duty, Godaime Hokage, Tsunade, considered the formation of a New Team Kakashi. Yamato was picked among the best of the best the Hokage had under her immediate control. At that, sole wielder since Shodai Hokage, of the unique vegetation-creating hijutsu, Yamato was an outstandingly skilled member of the ANBU. He'd made a name for himself, as Tenzou of the Mokuton. His grave destiny is written in his genes. While bearing this burden, Yamato makes use of his power, as he needs to fight alongside his new subordinates.
Page 2
[The School of Prudence]
Ever since Sandaime Hokage was in office, Yamato was commended for his mastery*; his efficiency apparent even in his data. D-rank, S-rank. In all the missions he was involved in, the survival rate of the team members under his command would be well off the scales. He is excessively cautious**. His overly careful disposition serves as a way to help out his precious subordinates, a walking stick preventing them from falling over.
[Captaincy]
All due respect notwithstanding, Captain Yamato does not share Kakashi's conception of leadership. Even the inexperienced among his people he will exhort, unhesitatingly and honestly. Disregarding higher, middle, or lower ranks, he acknowledges each subordinate of his as a shinobi. The success of the mission is tied to this as well as to the way the squad is led, and he knows it.
[Shodai's Genome]
Yamato's Mokuton Hijutsu originates from Shodai Hokage's genes implanted into him. His person is the outcome of Orochimaru's laboratory experiments. Even though normally, one should loathe such a traumatic past, Yamato copes with it.
Because now, Mokuton Ninjutsu is Yamato's pride, and the greatest weapon he has to protect his fellows.
[The Training's Cornerstone]
Thanks to his faculty, he becomes Uzumaki Naruto's power. That is the foremost purpose of his selection as a team captain. For his hijutsu is the one and only means to keep the Kyuubi inside of Naruto under control. Before long, the man born as a lab experiment found himself fueling Naruto's drive to bring forward his new power...!!
Captions
Page 1
-It's not about how much or how little you can do...
-Perfectly calm and reserved underneath his mask, he hosts the peerless Mokuton Hijutsu!!
Page 2
-His stern outlook urges younger shinobi into self-reliance.
-As time passes, his sorrowful past becomes the key to the future!!
Picture comments
Page 1
-The Mokuton Hijutsu, now available to Yamato alone!! An jutsu just as efficient in attack, defense and support.
-His honed, keen intuition senses someone dangerous...!! He bravely steps in to rescue his subordinates!!
-One word is all Kakashi needs to have him at his beck and call. It has to do with the sense of admiration-turned-into-"worship" Yamato has for him.
Page 2
-Before a mission, Yamato won't fail to run a drill to secure the team's coordination.
-To Yamato, bashing a door open is pure nonsense...!!
-In order to lead his party, he won't shy away from occasionally ruling though fear.
-Yamato's style is not about standing at the top, but to withdraw there.
-Orochimaru's foul human experiments... Among sixty people, Yamato is the sole survivor.
- A deed only one who wields Mokuton can carry out!! Silencing even a bijuu!!
-Kyuubi's chakra suppressed, his subordinate's training accomplished, he is quite confident in the future he sees in him!! *The kanji I translated as "mastery" can also be read as "dexterity", "discretion", or even "deceit". Most appropriate for a shinobi.
**The Japanese phrase literally means "To knock on a stone bridge before crossing it", and expresses extreme caution bordering on paranoia.
See Gingitsune's thread for the transcription 
Main text
The graceful genjutsu user whose crimson eyes instantly uncover the truth, and lures the enemy into a mirage. Because of her many achievements and the excellency of her accomplishments, she was given command over [a group of] Genin, as their captain. Along with the daily pressure of work, she grew close to Asuma, who despite his aloof demeanor, would keep a close, watchful and protective eye over his pupils. In its cruelty, destiny would bring an end to an everyday life of mutual respect and reciprocated love between the two of them. Asuma fell, for the protection of his village and those whom he loved... Kurenai, aware of his feelings, shook off her grief and moved on. She did so, also to make Konoha's bright future - which she'd painted hand in hand with Asuma - more than an illusion.
Captions
-I heard Asuma would be around.
-In her heart, she keeps the light of hope and feelings everlasting, and that of the future.
Picture comments
-She has a bad premonition, lingering into her mind... She feels ill at ease, for she knows how harsh missions can be.
-Asuma left two "hopes" behind: his own child and his beloved student. Before the two of them, his face would brim with affection and kindness.
-Watering flowers is an act of nurturing life. An act that is becoming an important part of Kurenai's daily routine.
Yuura
Main text
His accumulated, numerous feats of arms had had him promoted to the highest ranks. With his fair, yet rigorous disposition, Yuura had earned the top management's trust. Upon awakening to his true duty as Sasori's spy, however, he pointed his sharp blade towards the Sand......
Captions
-The clever, stealthy envoy* of the Red Sands participates in the Akatsuki's schemes.
-Got it... So that was the plan...
Picture comment
-His memories as Sasori's underling return, and he obliterates several masters of the Sand in a moment... Here's a frightfully skilled one.
Ninja registration number: 44-005
Birthday date: Oct. 31 (28 y-o; Scorpion)
Height: 173 cm Weight: 53.4 kg Blood type: AB
Personality: diligent, faithful
Favorite food: hoshi-awabi (dried abalone)
Rikudou Sennin**
Main text
Rikudou Sennin: the shinobi forefather who gave birth to all ninjutsu. He was said to carry Rinnegan, and to have been sent by Heaven during times of turmoil. Who he really was: a god of creation or destruction... or whether he even existed at all is uncertain, and his name remains in folklore tales only.
Caption
-The shinobi founder who uncovered the principles of chakra and hand seals.
Picture comment
-Rinnegan towers supreme among doujutsu. Those very same pupils dwell in Nagato's eyes... *密偵 (mittei) translates as "spy" or "emissary".
**The Sage of the Six Paths.
Main text
A shell like that of an insectivorous plant. Two conversing individuals with their characteristic personalities. Even amidst the odd abilities boasted by Akatsuki in general, Zetsu comes off as particularly unsettling (tn: no one is creepier than Orochimaru! Know your place, Aloe-Vera!!). He's watched the important battles of the ninja world, and burnt them into his memory. After encountering Madara, the Akatsuki's chessmaster, Zetsu endorses the responsibility to record battles. While closely inquiring about Madara's true motives, he still proceeds onto battlefields: merely a way to satisfy his curiosity? Or something else...?
Captions
-Ah-hah... Things have become pretty interesting, right? Yeah...
-Mandibles are covering his odd features. Concealed into the ground, he records everything!!
Picture comments
-He has the power to extend his vigilance over vast areas. Whether it's ninjutsu or an inherent ability of Zetsu's is unknown.
-Perfectly concealing the signs of his presence, he observes battles carefully. That technique lets him practically pop out of nowhere!!
-Zetsu is always in charge of disposing of the dead*. That shell of his gets rid of all evidence.
-He surely is enthusiastic about his curiosity. Minutely analyzing battles is nothing but fun to him. *The word used there actually means "sacrifice". Go figure.
Information files
Shinobi Well-Informed Records/The Savvy Shinobi's Records
With those 14 records, open the door to the magnificent yet unforgiving ninja world, where joys and sorrows succeed to one another.
Headline: Akatsuki, people with unusual powers, clad in black clothes with red clouds. A clarification about their secret powers and hidden ambitions...!!
Hoshigaki Kisame (South); Zetsu (Boar); Konan (White); Uchiha Itachi (Red); Sasori (Sphere/King); Deidara (Blue); Hidan (Three); Kakuzu (North)
Pain (Nihil*)
The invincible and undefeated Akatsuki leader. Even the members wearing the notorious uniform answer to him.
Tobi (Sphere/King)
On the outside, he's a newcomer. However, his true face belongs to the one who gives Pain instructions, the leader behind the leader.
{Members}
Caption: The notorious masters who surpass even jinchuuriki
Text: Akatsuki's ranks are filled by deserters from every country. And not just any deserters. These ones are pretty much all wanted internationally, for crimes such as Daimyou* murder, terrorist bombing, and slaughtering an entire clan.
They invariably go by pairs, with instructions to hunt a quota of one bijuu per individual. For they are powerhouses with unique abilities like Human Puppeteering or Exploding Clay, and the leader is confident that if they organize by pairs, they will lose neither to jinchuuriki nor to bijuu. On their fingers, they bear rings with engraved seals as proof of their membership. New members must be approved by their seniors and receive a ring before they can start calling themselves Akatsuki. Orochimaru used to count among them, wearing a ring with a Void seal.
{Ambitions}
Caption: They intend to take control of the shinobi world, then to reform it
Text: Akatsuki's ultimate goal is to take over the world. But that speech is just an official stance to manage the congregation of ruffians who compose the group, and the true objective lies further. Akatsuki's one true desire is "to put an end to a meaningless world full of conflict". As a means to that end, they aim to raise funds, start an organization to take care of war contracts, followed by the collapse of shinobi villages worldwide, and a monopolistic control of wars.
Picture comments
-The current bijuu-gathering is but a mere part of the whole plan.
-They conspire to stir conflicts with a kinjutsu weapon, so they can take control of the world. *The original meaning is "zero" or "null". "Nihil" (IIRC, Latin for "nothingness", found in "anihilate") sounds cooler.
**Feudal lord.
Headline: Akatsuki invades the Land of Fire, aiming for the bijuu!! Confronted to this, Konoha starts the Akatsuki hunt!
{Crisis}
Caption: The Akatsuki's shadow is in the Land of Fire
Text: The Sealed Iron Wall*, pride of the Temple of Fire undergoes a sudden assault. Starting with Chiriku, former member of the Twelve Ninja Guardians, the Ninja Monks have their resistance tested to the bitter end by the Akatsuki invaders, a couple of men clad in black clothes!!
Comments
-The two Akatsuki have been attacking important places without discrimination.
-Even the Ninja Monks' Gift of the Hermit Group* is useless against the Akatsuki.
{Convocation}
Caption: Twenty Squad out to hunt the Akatsuki
Text: Akatsuki's invasion of the Land of Fire has started: confronted with an unprecedented case, the destruction of the Temple of Fire, the Hokage dispatches the twenty elite squads she'd previously formed and prepared to attack the Akatsuki, all over the country's territory. They are to cooperate in forming an assault perimeter... The honor of the strongest hidden village in the Five Great Shinobi countries is at stake, the Akatsuki punitive expedition has begun!!
Comment
-As the leader in charge of the Land of Fire's hidden village, Tsunade establishes a large-scale vigilance perimeter over the whole region.
{Unknown}
Caption: The men with undying bodies
Text: As a Ninja Guardian, Chiriku was his companion on the battlefield. His death is what led the squad commanded by Sarutobi Asuma towards the Akatsuki. The hostilities take place before a bounty exchange point in the Temple of Fire's vicinity. They put up a good fight, thanks to Nara Shikamaru's proficient use of intelligent strategies.
But the Akatsuki possessed some dreadful abilities. Immortality: by then, transcending human understanding, their physical powers and the Curse were steadily hammering the squad into a corner.
Comment
-The immortal who transfers his own wounds to his enemies with a Curse, and survives even a beheading. Hidan's special ability is a chilling one.
{Conclusion}
Caption: Konoha's youth extracts revenge
Text: "Asuma has fallen!" In the shadows of a Konoha depressed by the sad news, Asuma's students, Shikamaru and the rest of Team 10 head out. With a stratagem built upon the intelligence their master left behind in the previous struggle and a resolve to fight to the death as their weapons, they turn the Akatsuki into a laughing stock. A splendid way to successfully extract revenge!!
Meanwhile, mobilized as part of a reinforcement squad, Uzumaki Naruto introduces the new jutsu he's worked out of his fervent training. One hit with the new jutsu, Fuuton: Rasenshuriken obliterates the five-hearted Kakuzu, and leaves even Naruto's allies in shock and awe.
Comments
-Naruto's ultimate new jutsu's made an explosive entry!!
-He overwhelms Hidan with his superiorly intelligent tactics. *Fuuin: Teppeki and Senzoku no Sai. I used Shounensuki's translations for consistency.
Headline: They support the large tree called Konoha... A closer look at the ANBU, those shinobi who prowl in even deeper shadows.
{Hokage-controlled ANBU}
Caption: The elite squad answering exclusively to the Hokage's command!!
Picture of Yamato
Insert: Tracking
Comment: By tracking someone essential, one may discover their habits, and sometimes the location of their hideout.
Text: If regular shinobi live for their Nindou (Way of the Ninja): their missions and themselves, the ANBU no doubt live for the village exclusively. Their true faces hidden behind masks, they answer to none but the head of the village, the Hokage. Masters of secrecy, constantly enlisted for rigorous assignments, their members are handpicked among the elite... They, ANBU, live on Konoha's dark side, lurking in the shadows, and thriving in the darkness; one could claim them to be "shinobi among shinobi".
Picture of the Hooded ANBU
Insert: Surveillance
Comment: Their surveillance of dangerous elements extends over many years.
Picture of Sasuke
Insert: Assassination
Comment: The ANBU own Bingo Books (tn: kanji="search instructions"), with personal information about their assassination targets.
Insert Paragraph
Title: A legend born in the ANBU
Text: Kakashi, rumored to have cut a lightning bolt. Because of the extremely difficult mission they engage in, the ANBU give birth to many legends, passed down in quiet reverence.
{ROOT}
Caption: Dwelling in the darkness and even more foreign, the Danzou-controlled ANBU!!
Text: Danzou conflicted with Sarutobi Hiruzen himself for the seat of Hokage. ROOT is the independent, branching squad of ANBU he put together as a training division. ROOT was officially dismantled upon Hiruzen's inauguration as Hokage, however its underground activities definitely continue, in secrecy.
Picture comments
-ROOT's headquarters established in the deepest parts of Konoha, they carry on their activities.
-Negligence is one's greatest enemy at all times. Rest is a luxury ROOT shinobi can't afford.
-Their loyalty to Danzou regarded as pivotal, ROOT shinobi are "secret tools" who gave up their names, feelings, and even their futures.
-Considered dangerous even by its fellow ANBU, ROOT is constantly kept under surveillance.
Headline: Hebi is the squad Sasuke has put together. A report of their voyage down the path of battle.
{Formation}
Caption: The handpicked elite straight out of the Serpent's den!!
Text: In order to "locate Itachi and fight him one-on-one to settle the scores", Sasuke picks out three people. Hoozuki Suigetsu, the prodigy from the Hidden Mist. Karin, the brilliant, lone female of the group, who boasts an outstanding Gift of Perception. Juugo of the Scales, originator of the Cursed Seal. Sasuke dubs this squad composed of four people involved with Orochimaru with the name Hebi: the Snake.
Comment
-Akatsuki is also on the lookout for Hebi's moves.
{Goal}
Caption: Their supreme goal is Itachi's elimination!!
Text: "Killing Itachi" is Hebi's sole and ultimate assignment, as well as the reason it exists at all.
{Turning Point}
Caption: From Hebi to Taka (Falcon/Hawk/Chicken/pick your favorite). A new objective.
Text: With Itachi's death, Hebi's mission is complete. However, in reaction to the news of Itachi's true motives, Sasuke points his anger at Konoha and its dark side - the ones responsible for his brother and clan's accursed destinies - and rechristens his squad Taka. Taka's stated goal is unique and ultimate. That is, the destruction of Konoha.
Comments
-The nightmare has lasted since his childhood days. As he wakes up, Sasuke acquires a new power.
-Is that all a scenario set up by Uchiha Madara...?
Pinpointing Orochimaru's various hideouts.
While he's the head of the Hidden Sound village, Orochimaru has established hideouts everywhere in every country, starting with a small island in a lake north of Tenchikyou*. Only Orochimaru's trusted underlings are aware of the location of those facilities he uses for experimentation, confinement, and so forth.
Eastern Hideout
The eastern hideout is filled with a tremendous number of experimental machines. This is where Houzuki Suigetsu was imprisoned...
Southern Hideout
A solitary island surrounded by the sea. A collection of prisoners used for experiments, and under the management of a jailer: Karin.
Northern Hideout
An installation for human experiments, built in a vertical cliff. There, are confined the subjects implanted with Juugo's Cursed Seal. *The bridge of Heaven and Earth. The one Team Yamato went to during the Penis arc.
Headline: A drama, a chase started simultaneously by Konoha and Hebi*!! Capture or elimination?... An inquisitive look into the details!!
{Target}
Caption: Only one aim: Itachi!!
Text: On the occasion of Orochimaru's "death", the Hebi squad is created. Sasuke's on the move, heading out for vengeance. Accurately guessing what his actions would be, Konoha puts special teams together in order to capture Sasuke's target, the Akatsuki Uchiha Itachi. Thus starts the pursuing mission!!
Comment
-At the same moment on the same day. Despite them being in different places, fate (tn: i.e Plot no jutsu!) secretly joins Naruto and Sasuke together.
Konoha Squads
Mission: Arresting Itachi
Text: The two Konoha squads enact their battle plans. Even though they get a chance to successfully make contact with both Itachi and Sasuke, they are hindered by the Akatsuki Tobi, and they miss the opportunity. Sasuke's disappearance, and the enigmatic Tobi: the foreshadowing of a new threat against Konoha!!
Comment
-During their journey, Yakushi Kabuto, who's lost his master, reveals himself to them. And seeking a conclusion to Itachi and Sasuke's fates, the Akatsuki Tobi stands in their way...!!
{Searching Method}
Caption: Searching for his whereabouts with special techniques!!
Text: Team Kurenai proved most efficient in its perception duty with the half-old half-new Team Kakashi. And with the addition of the Nija Hounds, Konoha launches a large-scale operation to track down Sasuke's scent. In the meantime, Hebi makes use of Karin and Juugo's ablities to investigate Akatsuki's hideouts and Itachi, while constantly making sure to circumvent the Konoha party's exploration techniques. With its stratagems, Hebi won the battle of the investigators...!!
Comments
-Konoha makes use of the Ninja Dogs' keen sense of smell to track down Sasuke. And...!
-With the intelligence acquired from birds by Juugo, Hebi produces a map pointing to an Akatsuki hideout. Based upon the written information, Karin tracks Itachi with her perception ability.
-Karin is well-versed in every village's searching methods. She completely throws off the Konoha squads with her knowledge and her quick-mindedness.
Hebi
Planning Itachi's elimination
Text: In order to contact Itachi, Hebi, the team led by Sasuke, investigates the Akatsuki's hideout. Despite the interferences from Konoha and Akatsuki on the way, they do manage to encounter Itachi. In the Uchiha hideout, the grudge between the two siblings will finally be settled!!
Comments
-Together with his junior Tobi, the Sharingan-loathing Akatsuki Deidara stands in Sasuke's way.
-Awaiting him in the Akatsuki hideout, was Itachi himself. With an offer to fight Sasuke one-on-one...!! *Snake. Translated purely for professionalism's sake. At this point, if you don't know what "hebi" means already, there's something seriously wrong with you.
Headline: The Mountain of Toads where Jiraiya trained zealously.The secrets of Myoubokuzan* are recorded right here!!
{A Secluded Place}
Caption: The Holy Mountain where Toads with uncommon powers are gathered.
Text: From Konoha, it takes one month on foot to cover the distance to The Sacred Land of the Toads. Nicknamed the "Mountain of Confusion", a secret route or, for those who are bound by contract with the Toads, a Reverse Summoning are the only means to make one's way to the Toads' habitat. But sometimes, a traveler will get lost amidst the mountains, and fortuitously reach the end of the route...
Comment
-Some people like Jiraiya are guided by fate inside the mountains.
{Senjutsu}
Caption: The power of the Toads to turn nature into their own chakra!!
Text: Inside living beings, exist spiritual and bodily energy. The techniques triggered from chakra kneaded by adding in natural energy from the outside are called Senjutsu [or Sage Arts]. Ninjutsu, genjutsu, all the way to taijutsu are empowered the Sage Arts, and it is possible for humans as well to master them. But acquiring the technique to become one with nature, on par with that of the Myoubokuzan Toads, demands a rigorous training.
Comment
-The eminent Toads can use the tremendously powerful Senjutsu as they please.
{A Familial System}
Caption: A society organized around the valued fact that they are a family.
Text: The Toads that dwell within Myoubokuzan, starting from the Grand Elder Oogama-Sennin, have transcended blood ties to form a society akin to a large family. Of course, the Toads all have their own families, and are affiliated to the Myoubokuzan society as members of a great household.
Therefore upon signing a pact, the contractor is bound to all the Toads in Myoubokuzan. But the Toads available for summoning depend on the contractor's ability.
Comments
-Fukasaku and Shima administer the Toads as Pa and Ma.
-Those who have their own families and those who don't are all members of the great Myoubokuzan household.
{Species}
Caption: The abilities of an infinite variety of Toads!!
Text: From ordinary toads to humanity-transcending Toad Hermits, there is an abundant number of toad families in Myoubokuzan. Living in symbiosis with Nature, they ended up developing original abilities in the course of their evolutions...
Comments
-The Gourd-Toad has very large kekkai** space inside its body.
-Scroll Toads like Gerotora are a rare breed even in Myoubokuzan. *Weird Wood Mountain.
**Magical/mystical barrier.
Headline: Nature Alteration is the basis of ninjutsu, and a vital point in the development of a new jutsu. All the information about it is noted here...!!
{The Five Great Natures}
Caption: The five varieties of chakra nature all ninjutsu are based upon.
Text: When one uses ninjutsu, the act of including things such as Fire or Wind nature to chakra for added efficiency is called Nature Alteration. Comprehending Nature Alteration requires some individual qualities, but usually, one person can master one Nature Alteration with ease, and people who master more than two are commonplace among Jounin.
Comment
-Earth is weak against Lightning. The five Nature Alterations are interrelated in such terms of superiority and inferiority...!!
Chart: [Clockwise, starting from the top]Inf.(Fire)Sup.→Inf.(Wind)Sup.→Inf.(Lightning)Sup.→Inf.(Earth)Sup.→Inf.(Water)Sup.→
[In the middle]The five great Chakra Nature Alterations
Specificities of the five great Nature Alterations
(Fire) Flame-like high-temperature chakra that burns everything it touches to a crisp. It has the additional effect of setting the target aflame, and stands besides Wind as an offense-specialized style.
(Wind) Blade-like chakra to behead, split and sever anything and anyone. Used with special ninja tools or in jutsu, it has the best offensive ability in close to medium range.
(Lightning) Easy to diffuse, it has good compatibility with medium to long range jutsu. Infused into a metallic weapon, it adds harming and killing efficiency, as well as electrocution...!!
(Earth) The Nature that alters everything in solidity and composition. If one masters it, it is possible to give jutsu or objects the resistance of steel and the flexibility of clay.
(Water) A good compatibility with various Shape Alterations. Creating a mist to hide oneself, or a tidal wave for confinement, it is greatly beneficial for supporting purposes.
{Decision}
Caption: Determining one's type with chakra-responsive paper!!
Text: Before the straining can start, it is necessary to know which Nature one is matched with. The best way is to pour chakra into some chakra-responsive paper, and see how it alters it. With Wind, the paper will be cut, and with Lightning, crumples will appear. The Alteration will be made clear by such changes.
Comment
-Chakra-responsive paper is made out of special trees fed and grown with chakra.
{Training Method}
Caption: To each Nature its distinct, specific training
[In white]Training in Wind Nature Alteration
Picture of the grinning Naruto
First Step
Reinforcing his Nature Alteration!!
Comment
-He keeps on pouring Wind chakra into the leaf until it's cut in half.
Picture of the waterfall
Second Step
Instant Alteration volume increase!!
Comment
-To increase the amount of chakra he can release in an instant, he takes the crash course: cutting a waterfall...!!
Picture of Fuuton: Rasengan
Third Step
Including Nature Alteration into the jutsu!!
Comment
-The final step, with the highest degree in difficulty: inclusion into the jutsu...!!
Text: To learn Nature Alteration, one must undergo a training specific to each Nature. In the case of Wind Nature Alteration, the steps to take are first: strengthening one's chakra Nature, second: Alteration volume increase, and third: addition into the jutsu. Completing this training normally takes several years.
Headline: Keeping track of the first assignment performed by the New Team Kakashi, shortly after the Kazekage retrieval mission.
{Confidential Information}
Caption: The words bequeathed by Sasori
Text: The information brought forth by Team Kakashi is a shock to Konoha. There is intelligence to be gained about Orochimaru and Sasuke if the spy Akatsuki has infiltrated in the Hidden Sound is successfully captured, but it's also very likely to be a trap. There is precious little time until the rendezvous, which forces the Hokage into a quick decision...
Comments
-The words Sasori said upon his death paved the way to the next mission.
-Haruno Sakura volunteers for the reconnaissance mission.
{Reorganization}
Caption: New Team Kakashi: First Mission
Text: Konoha's Team 7 is mounted anew in order to undertake the Tenchi bridge reconnaissance mission. But Tsunade has high hopes this will allow them to rescue their comrade, and the advisors dread the jinchuuriki's involvement in the mission. These expectations and those of the village elder Danzou from ROOT intertwine in a triple Gordian knot.
Comments
-The advisors have misgivings about the jinchuuriki's involvement in the mission, but...
-The new captain is dispatched from the ANBU.
-As per the top brass' decision, Sai of ROOT is to join the team.
{Contact}
Caption: Go for the capture, or abort and retreat: the choice is difficult between the two options
Text: Yamato, the captain masquerades as Sasori thanks to the information he's obtained from Sakura. He establishes contact with the Akatsuki's spy, Yakushi Kabuto. But Orochimaru appears suddenly.Capture him or starting the hostilities? In the middle of the confusion, Yamato makes up his mind...
Picture
Tenchi bridge (Hidden Grass village)
Land of Fire: Hidden Leaf village
Comment
-The confusion was settled by Naruto's rampage. Was the disaster an inevitable step to achieve this...?
{Infiltration}
Caption: Orochimaru's hideout has been located
Text: In their pursuit of Orochimaru, who has fled with Kabuto, as well as Sai who defected to the Sound, the team penetrates inside the hideout. In the deepest confines of the labyrinthine passages, they confront Uchiha Sasuke. With a glacial stare, Sasuke draws his sword towards his former friends without the faintest of hesitations. The squad teams up against him, but Orochimaru and Kabuto interrupt the fight. Whatever really motivated them to vanish into the dark even though they had the high ground (tn: How about... Plot no jutsu)?!
Comment
-The Mokuton Hijutsu Captain Yamato masters quickly leads Naruto and Sakura into the hideout...!! *The Bridge of Heaven and Earth.
Headline: Keeping track of the A-rank mission that was performed right after Naruto'd returned home, in order to preserve the relations with an allied country.
{Mission}
Caption: Reclaim the Kazekage captured by the Akatsuki!!
Text: The Hidden Sand's Kazekage has been abducted by the Akatsuki, whose goal is to collect the bijuu...!! Upon receiving an emergency notice, the allied country of the Hidden Leaf immediately mounts a retrieval squad.
Comment
-Deidara single-handedly invades the Hidden Sand. He defeats the Kazekage in a daring aerial battle...!!
{Pursuit}
Caption: Two teams go forth from the Leaf and from the Sand
Text: Konohagakure's Team 7 proceeds to Sunagakure as Team A. Once they are done treating the wounded Sand ninja and gathering information, they are joined by the Suna councilor Chiyo, and the four-units team moves towards the River country. The next day, Team Guy departs from Konoha as Team B. Both teams meet up in the Akatsuki's hideout in the River country.
Picture
Wind country: Hidden Sand village
Fire country: Hidden Leaf village
Team Kakashi
Team Guy
Akatsuki's hideout (River country)
Comment
-Team A makes a detour through the Hidden Sand. Team B receives information en route, and proceeds directly to the Akatsuki's hideout.
{Stalling}
Caption: Assassins and traps are obstructing the way!!
Text: Plotting to seal the Ichibi possessed by the Kazekage, Akatsuki deploys an effort to thwart each one of the retrieval teams. By the time both of the teams anihilates their obstacles and meet up, it's already too late... Ichibi is sealed. The Kazekage dead. The teams split up again, so they can breach the Five-Seals based Kekkai (kekkai=spiritual barrier). Then, team A successfully infiltrates the hideout and confronts the Akatsuki.
Comments
-By virtue of an artifice, the teams do battle with two Akatsuki!!
-Team B is stalled again, compelled by a trap to remain on the spot...
{On the Verge of Death}
Caption: Whereabouts of a fight that teeters in the interval between life and death.
Text: Akatsuki allows Team A's infiltration and splits up the four-units team. Sakura and Chiyo rush into battle against Sasori. Though the battle between veteran puppeteers is extremely gruesome, cooperation and trust prevail against Sasori.
Comment
-Deidara escapes the hideout, with the Kazekage in tow.
-The Akatsuki hideout, where the battle to the death between fellow puppeteers played out...!!
{Link}
Caption: An alliance between true friends, forged by the bonds between them
Text: The truth of the Kazekage's death laid bare before the victors of the fight against the Akatsuki... He is resurrected thanks to Chiyo's Reincarnation ninjutsu, however. A life Chiyo has entrusted with her hopes for the future.
Comment
-The young Kazekage and the Konoha shinobi who have rescued him are linked by a strong friendship.
Headline: Konohagakure is the strongest of the Five Great Countries hidden villages. We will navigate our way up the current of time and have a closer look at the history of its creation...!!
{Sengoku Jidai*}
Caption: A world of turmoil where blood is washed in more blood
Text: Over 80 years ago, nations would fight repeatedly for the expansion of their interests and territories. In the middle, were the armed folk those nations would use as weapons. These people were called "shinobi". In those times when hidden villages didn't exist, shinobi assembled into clans and made their ways in life in that fashion.
(Behind Shodai and Madara are written their respective names)
Senju symbol
Caption: The Senju clan of the Forest
Text: Dreaded as "the thousand-handed clan", they gathered prodigies in all kinds of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu techniques. The first among them was Senju Hashirama of the Mokuton. In a world of belligerent countries, he's a legendary shinobi who pushed the way to the zenith to extreme heights.
Uchiha symbol
Caption: The Uchiha clan of the Sharingan
Text: Sole opposition to the proudly unrivaled Senju clan, they possessed Sharingan and massive chakra pools. The Mangekyou Sharingan of their chief - Uchiha Madara - would leave shinobi on the battlefield in tremor.
{The Two Great Influences}
Caption: The two clans feared as the strongest
Text: Among the shinobi crowd, there were two clans all nations would unanimously employ. The Senju clan and the Uchiha clan. Should a country hire Senju, the opposing country would hire the Uchiha: before anyone knew, it became a recognizable pattern, as both sides were endowed with outstanding power. Undoubtedly, the latter periods of the war era had become a conflict between the two of them.
{Cessation of Hostilities}
Caption: Reaching towards the conclusion of a lengthy conflict
Text: The era of war came to an end when Senju and Uchiha made peace. The two powers formed a shinobi alliance, made a pact with the Land of Fire and established the Hidden Leaf village. The creation of the strongest organization which, acting as a war deterrent force, would quiet down conflicts everywhere.
Picture comment
-As a great number of shinobi were exhausted by the protracted wars, few were those who raised an objection to the end of the hostilities. *"The times of (civil) war". The phrase is a reference to a similarly named historical period in Japan.
Headline: Shape Alteration, the other ninjutsu-strengthening method beside Nature Alteration. What of its mechanics or its efficiency?!
{Alteration}
Caption: The ninjutsu is reshaped following the caster's ideas and manipulations
Text: Shape Alteration gives shape to a ninjutsu, and controls its power and its range of effectiveness. It is, more than Nature Alteration, what sculpts a jutsu's particularities, such as its mechanics and its training method, and it relies in great proportions on individual research and conceptualization. The multitude of jutsu in existence is also a crystallization of the efforts made by the previous generations.
Comments
-One could say Rasengan is the pinnacle of Shape Alteration.
-Merging with Nature Alteration causes an even greater increase in power.
-Sasuke Alters Chidori into a spear-like shape! The jutsu expands, according to his conception.
To the utmost depths: into the variegated world of ninjutsu!!
<Kekkei Genkai*>
Caption: Two Natures give birth to a new one!!
Text: Using two Nature Alterations at once is difficult, even for a Jounin-class. What is even harder is to merge two Nature Alterations to give birth to a new one. That requires the specific power know as a Kekkei Genkai.
Comments
-Mokuton conjures Earth and Water Nature Alterations simultaneously.
-Haku possessed the Hyouton Kekkei Genkai, and was a shinobi of a rare kind.
<Creativity>
Caption: Even basic ninjutsu can be empowered depending on the way they are used!!
Text: Nature Alteration and Shape Alteration are not the only means to empower ninjutsu. Depending on the caster's ideas and methods of use, ninjutsu will increase in efficiency.
The realm of ninjutsu is a vast one. However, possibilities exist for that very reason. Successions of shinobi keep on practicing: the new jutsu they create will open the way towards the future!!
Comments
-Leaving a post-evasion "skin molting" behind, the Orochimaru-style Substitution jutsu retards detection.
-Following Kakashi's idea, he makes use of Shadow Clones for training. Kakashi's greatly contributed to Naruto's development...!! *Bloodline Limit, obviously. I suggest Blood Bound Inheritance as an alternate translation.
Shinobi Evolution Record
With their respective desires a heart, they've trained diligently for about three years. Please take a look at their astonishing progress!!
Banner of text on the top: Three years since the data from the Tou no Sho!
Right beneath: What of Naruto and the gang's progress?
Caption: Tou no Sho and Sha no Sho... An exhaustive (tn: That?! Exhaustive?! ...Okay...Less work for me, I guess...) comparison of the new and old ability parameters, focusing on the shinobi of Konoha!! We'll use the data to show you their growth doesn't simply mean they just got taller, fer cryin' out loud!!*
In every chart: Tou → Sha
Uzumaki Naruto
A special mention must go to taijutsu aaand, and... what intelligence!! In both of those, his scores went up by 1.5!! Could that mean the master novelist Jiraiya didn't simply pound a new jutsu into him...?!
Haruno Sakura
Over 2 points up in three entries! With her evolution in taijutsu and strength, is it appropriate to name her the "second coming of Tsunade"......?!
Uchiha Sasuke
Sasuke, who's made the label of "genius" his wish, demonstrates his true worth even here!! Now that he's obtained Mangekyou Sharingan, his scores should increase even further!!
Nara Shikamaru
His overwhelming intelligence is alive and well!! Thanks to his increased stamina, he plans on leaping even higher.
Hyuuga Neji
An unavoidable necessity because of the tiresome use of Byakugan, his evolution in stamina is remarkable!!
Rock Lee
The "genius of effort" has improved even further. Is there an end at all to Lee's corporal evolution?!
Gaara
Being instated as a Kazekage would be the fruit of his accumulated practice. His intelligence, genjutsu and the like have climbed up!! *This is my take on "dattebayo", believe it!
OFFICIAL HEIGHT COMPARISON CHART
Naruto and the gang in a great assembly after three years!
Confirm the height variations you're wondering about in one glance!!
(1)Akimichi Chouji (2)Nara Shikamaru (3)Yamanaka Ino (4)Hyuuga Neji (5)Tenten (6)Rock Lee (7)Haruno Sakura (8)Uzumaki Naruto (9)Uchiha Sasuke (10)Sai (11)Akamaru (12)Yamato (13)Inuzuka Kiba (14)Hatake Kakashi (15)Hyuuga Hinata (16)Aburame Shino
Headline: As to illustrate the saying: "All that goes up will go down", the Uchiha disappeared into the dark corners of history. We'll be tracking them on their way to downfall.
{Glory}
Caption: Thanks to sharingan, they made a name for themselves in battle.
Text: An all-seeing sharingan, and Katon to dye the battlefields in crimson red. The Uchiha clan earned their fame as a warrior clan, well-versed in battle. They united with their old enemy, the Senju clan, establishing the Hidden village of Konoha, thanks to which their glory should have reached its peak. But it raised the curtain starting the spectacle of their decline.
Comment
-With their overwhelming doujutsu, they subdued the other clans one by one.
{Rebellion}
Caption: Those who lost the battle for supremacy.
Text: Hashirama or Madara? In the debate to decide who would lead the village, the Land of Fire as well as the villagers opted for Hashirama. The fate of the Uchiha clan started to go downhill from that day on. Upon losing the battle for supremacy, Madara deserted, and because of his "revenge" the village's higher echelons grew wary of the Uchiha. And with the Kyuubi's attack incident, their suspicion and fear of the clan became definite.
Comment
-Madara admirers organized in factions, and opposed the higher-ups.
{Destruction}
Caption: The fateful full moon night
Text: The leaders got wind of the Uchiha clan's coup d'etat planning thanks to reports from Itachi, the betrayer*. "An eye for an eye, a sharingan for a sharingan". Eventually, Konoha's top brass issued the order to obliterate the clan.
Comment
-By a magnificent full moon night, the clan was destroyed, down to a mere three people.
{Eye Powers}
Caption: The power of the supreme pupils, the Mangekyou Sharingan.
Text: Mangekyou Sharingan. These eyes are awakened by killing one's closest friend. But along with the awakening comes the darkness, and to make the Mangekyou complete, stealing the eyes of a fellow clansman is necessary. The tighter the blood ties are [between "donor" and] receiver, the better it is for compatibility. Siblings, for example. Obtained though the loss of one's precious people, Mangekyou is an ability smeared in blood!!
Comments
-Because of an eye power that subdues even the Kyuubi, suspicions cropped up on the occasion of Kyuubi's attack.
-For each person who activates it, Mangekyou sharingan comes in different shapes. *The Kanji spell the word "betrayer", but the kana impose "Itachi" as a pronunciation.
Profile (on the sticker: Arbitrary) Rankings!!
Balloon: Woohoohoohooooo. I'm all worked up!
Caption: A comprehensive comparison! Four great rankings in a big expo! Who are the shinobi reigning at the top...?!
Sakura: I can't wait!
Ranking the tallest!
1st Juugo (202.1 cm)
2nd Hoshigaki Kisame (195 cm)
3rd Morino Ibiki (193.5 cm)
4th Jiraiya (191.2 cm)
5th Sarutobi Asuma (190.8 cm)
He's the only one over 2 meters tall! With the second being over a hefty 7 centimeters shorter, Juugo has always been the designed Number 1!! Because of his outstanding height, his clothing is entirely custom-made!!
This curtain will suit me just fine.
Ranking the heaviest!
Sai: In other words, the fatt...
Chouji: *startle*
1st Morino Ibiki (88 kg)
2nd Akimichi Chouji (87.5 kg)
3rd Jiraiya (87.5 kg)
4th Hoshigaki Kisame (83.1 kg)
5th Sarutobi Asuma (81.6 kg)
The first spot goes to Ibiki with a mere 500g difference! But it's only natural for someone that tall to weigh so much! Come to think of it, that definitely makes Chouji the number one fata...
Ranking the shinobi with the most passionate hobbies!
1st Might Guy (See Pazuzu's translation, I don't know how to deal with this)
2nd Rock Lee (effort)
3rd Hokage (Nidaime; Senju Tobirama) (perfecting himself)
Furious and passionate! Wildly eyebrow-ish! Vividly colored! The youthful master and student rush at full speed for the first and second spot!! These model shinobi never slack off on their training!!
Good going, Lee!!
Yes, Gai-sensei!!
Ranking the shinobi people want to fight!
1st Uzumaki Naruto (8 occurrences)
2nd Haruno Sakura (3 occurrences)
3rd Hatake Kakashi (3 occurrences)
Naruto was always the designated number one, what with him aiming for Hokage and following his Nindou (Way of the Ninja)!! As his accumulated training strengthens him, Naruto has focused several shinobi's spirit of competition upon himself!!
Naruto: Knew it! {In the balloon: I'm the closest to the Hokage's spot, fer cryin' out loud!}
Sakura: Nope. You're a Genin! *drop* (tn: Sakura in all her "parade raining" glory...)
Techniques Database
NINJUTSU; HIDEN: KAGE MANE SHURIKEN NO JUTSU (Ninjutsu: Shadow Imitation Shuriken technique)
User: Nara Shikamaru
Supplementary; Close; Medium ranges; Rank: none
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A combination of a ninjutsu specific to the Nara clan with a ninja tool, this ninja technique is one only Shikamaru's genius could have produced. He lets the chakra knives absorb his own chakra beforehand, granting more effectiveness to the shadow jutsu. By throwing those weapons, pinning them into the opponent's shadow, the caster can activate Kage Mane no jutsu and compel said opponent to mimic their movements. This ninjutsu also makes up for the added difficulty of efficiency loss should the enemy notice it.
Captions
-With blades endowed with his own power, he pins down their shadows, stopping their movements!
-An ingenuous ninjutsu using chakra knives and wits.
Picture comments
-To stab someone's shadow, one has to use a sheet of paper for distraction. A conundrum Shikamaru solved by adding explosive tags.
-Combining Shikamaru's wits with chakra knives, the jutsu shows maximum potentiality increase!
NINJUTSU; HIDEN: KAGE NUI NO JUTSU (Ninjutsu; Arcane: Shadow Weaving technique)
User: Nara Shikamaru
Offensive; Supplementary; Close, Medium ranges; Rank: none
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A secret technique of the Nara clan, as well as another one among their shadow-employing ninjutsu with a secondary, offensive purpose that makes use of how the shadows are turned into physical substance. Changing one's shadow into a multitude of razor-sharp spikes, and managing each one of them individually...!! In addition to attacking multiple targets simultaneously, the shadow threads are embroidered into them (tn: ouch!), robbing them of their mobility. Since it's a physical attack, just like Kage Mane no jutsu (Shadow Imitation technique), one cannot manage to apprehend someone without harming them. But conversely, its fast activation and sustaining period make it excellent for emergency capture.
Caption
The shadows turned into razor-sharp spikes pierce through multiple enemies!!
Picture comment
-Initially, the jutsu's made to pin down its target, but depending on the opponent, it is also possible to kill them off in one blow. A particularity that proves most useful for logistical support.
Addendum: small diagram on the top left
[Clockwise, starting from the top](Offensive) (Defensive) (Supplementary) (Close Range) (Mid-range) (Long Range)
NINJUTSU HIDEN: KAGEYOSE NO JUTSU (Arcane: Shadow Convocation Checkmate* technique)
User: Nara Shikamaru
Supplementary; Close, Medium ranges; Rank: none
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In comparison to Kage Nui, a jutsu in the same vein of utilization of materialized shadows, the emphasis is put on subtlety in the shadows' movements. Basically, one turns their shadow into countless, slender tendrils and extends them, so they can be pulled, converging towards the hand. Additionally, it is also possible to use the hand's dexterity to pick up and throw a weapon such as a kunai with the tendril-like shadows. The different ways it can be used would fill a book.
Captions
-The squirming, elaborate shadow tendrils move at the caster's demand!!
-They congregate in one place, following one's directions
Picture comments
-From numbers and length to orientation, the extending tendrils are at one's beck and call!
-Used in synergy with ninja tools, the jutsu displays maximal efficiency! Its management is minute enough to allow accurate insertion into a small aperture. *In shougi, "yose" (寄せ) means "last moves", or "endgame". This is not the actual way to say "checkmate", but I translated it as such to maintain the reference, as it'd be lost otherwise. The verb "yoseru", which it comes from, means "to gather". I used convocation instead of "invocation" or "summon", as it has little to do with actual summoning.
NINJUTSU; Hiden; Kagura Shingan (Arcane; Propitiatory Inner Eye*)
User: Karin
Supplementary; Close, Medium, Long ranges; Rank: none
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Possible because of the very existence of Karin's superior perception ability, this enemy-searching jutsu extends over an ultra-large scale. Closing her eyes and opening her inner eye, she perceives any strange chakra activity within a 10 kilometer (tn: that's roughly 6 miles) radius. In addition, should there be a particular chakra setup, she can sense its location and movements with even greater accuracy.
Caption
-Her inner eye lets her know what happens far away, and look over great distances.
Picture comment
-She accurately grasps her targets' numbers, specificities, all the way down to their traveling speed.
Konoha Thousand Leaves Collection #38
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Borrowing help from animals and their excellent sense of sight or smell, there are many methods for a shinobi to track down and search for a subject. In addition, there are some means of finding a target based on their emissions of chakra, but those can only be attempted by shinobi types with superior perception abilities.
Captions
-Various methods to discover one's target!!
Investigation techniques
Picture comments
-Kiba tracks his targets with his sense of smell, which has surpassed that of a ninja hound.
-Once the adversary's position is confirmed, one can even hinder them with some underhanded tactic.
-One can also extend the scale of their investigation by shifting points of view with a animal, such as a bird. *Too many possible puns to count if you go by phonetics alone. Those involve the sense of smell, a compass... "Kagura" is a Shinto ceremony involving music and dancing. Etymologically translates as "something to please the Gods". If you disregard the Kanji, "shingan" can also be interpreted as "prayer".
Kaiwan no Hiya
NINJUTSU; KAIWAN NO HIYA (Amazing Fire-Arm*)
User: Pain
Offensive; Close, Medium, Long ranges; Rank: none
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A jutsu that performs modifications onto one's own body, launching the detached portion of arm as a projectile. Gaining its kinetic force from a small-scale explosion triggered by chakra collected into the truncation, the arm section flies in a straight line, with astounding might!! It has the destructive power to make even a massive stone boulder crumble easily, but protected with chakra the arm section remains unscathed, and it will be reattached again, attracted by the truncation's chakra as if it was a magnet.
Caption
-The heavy punch propelled like a missile, crushing to certain death!!
Picture comment
-The propulsive power is gained by causing the chakra in the truncated wrist to explode.
KAERU-Kaeru no jutsu
NINJUTSU; KAERU-KAERU NO JUTSU (U Gunna Croak fer Real** technique)
User: Jiraiya
Suppelmentary; Close range; Rank: C
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A jutsu where the caster places their hand onto the subject's forehead, and according to a mental image, changes them into a frog in an instant. Used to threaten prisoners of war during questionings. Upon seeing their friends becoming frogs before their eyes, they end up forming what could be called a loud information-singing frog chorus. This jutsu will undoubtedly spread fear into his "sources of information".
Caption
-Once silence is broken, it's a real festival. The frogs' cries echo in vain
Picture comment
-A frog inside a Toad... Terrorized, those who see their comrades under that form will spill the beans on the fly, lest they start feeding off flies***!! *Yet another multi-storied pun by Kishi. He's in love with those, definitely. "Kaiwan" means "amazing ability". Taken separately, the kanji mean "wonder/mystery" and "arm". "Hiya" means "fire arrow". So I wrote "firearm" in a way to convey the double-meaning of "gun" and "projectile limb".
**The first "kaeru" means "frog", the second one means "change/transform". I replaced that pun with an even sillier one: to "croak" obviously means to "sound like a frog" and is also slang for to "die".
***In Japanese, "gero" is what a frog sounds like. And is slang for "spew" as well. So I used the different meanings of the word "fly" to keep the joke in. Lame? I know. Blame Kishi, not me.
NINJUTSU; Oodama Rasengan (King-Sized* Spiraling Orb)
User: Uzumaki Naruto
Offensive; Close range; Rank: A
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Rasengan: A first-rate ninjutsu that yields destructive power by having chakra rotating wildly in the palm of the hand, while compressing it into a high density. Following a similar pattern, the amount of chakra employed is augmented rapidly, resulting in the Oodama Rasengan. Compacted into an even higher density than usual, the chakra is released all at once, producing an outrageously destructive force, regardless of whether the target is hit or not...!! That said, the chakra consumption is also incredible, proportionately to its might. One could say this is a jutsu for no one except Naruto, who possesses Kyuubi's nigh-inexhaustible supply of chakra.
Captions
-A masterpiece of destructive power!!
-The chakra coils itself into a vortex** and becomes a large projectile that fells the enemy!!
Picture comment
-A terrifying offensive power that pierces though the target, and even excavates the surrounding grounds!! The impact born from a condensation of Kyuubi's chakra rivals that of a collision with a small meteorite!! *This time, the pun comes from me. I ignored the "dama" (ball) reading of the Kanji 玉 as it was kinda redundant, and read it as "gyoku" (the King in Japanese chess) instead.
**In Japanese, "uzu wo maku". Yes, you've read right. Put two and two together, and you get "uzumaki", as in Naruto's name and the word "whirlpool".
TAIJUTSU; Oukashou (Cherry Blossom Collision)
User: Haruno Sakura
Offensive; Close range; Rank: C
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People in general are liable to acknowledge it as super-strength, but this is an application of medical ninjutsu that demands concentration and minute chakra control. Maximal chakra is instantly kneaded inside the body, and all of it is enclosed into the right fist at a moment's notice!!
That chakra is dispersed into the target with the impact of the punch, propagating the damage into its every nook and corner! Any kind of strength is meaningless before this technique (tn: go tell that to Senjutsu users! LOL). Since the damage dealt is dependent on the amount of chakra, it's also possible for an expert shinobi to collect it into their fingertips.
Caption
-Chakra and determination included into a punch! The hit pulverizes even stone effortlessly!!
-The emanating fragments become blossoming flower petals and dance about !!
Picture comments
-With an ear-splitting battlecry, Sakura fervently commits her heart and soul into the attack!
-Showered in punches, the ground is smashed into tiny bits by the impacts. Those are raised into the air like petals, hence the brand name of Cherry Blossom Collision.
NINJUTSU; KEKKEI GENKAI: RINNEGAN
User: Nagato
Supplementary; Rank: none
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The doujutsu hosted by the founder of shinobi: Rikudou Sennin. Rinnegan's ripple pattern, expanding all over the eyes is the greatest particularity of all, as these pupils are sovereign, even amidst Sharingan and Byakugan, with which it forms the Three Great Doujutsu. The one who possesses these eyes, purported to have given birth to all ninjutsu, can grasp all five great nature alterations, upon which all ninjutsu are founded. Rumor has it they are sent by Heaven, when the world knows troubled times, to put those to an end, and be either a God of Creation, or a Destroyer who returns everything on the face of the Earth to nothingness.
Captions
-The supreme pupils that appear in turbulent times. Do they bring about creation or destruction?
-The secret behind ninjutsu's genesis expands like ripples!!
Picture comments
- The Six Paths of Pain share their field of vision, and boast a cooperation that leaves absolutely no openings!!
- Awakened to Rinnegan, the Pains have a shared field of vision to begin with, and they also have things such as chakra-disrupting weapons and undying bodies in common. However, whether these are part of the Rinnegan's power is still quite the riddle.
NINJUTSU; KEKKEI GENKAI: Susanoo (Mysterious, All-Encompassing Assistance Ability*)
User: Uchiha Itachi
Offensive; Defensive; Close, Medium, Long ranges; Rank: none
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There are two doujutsu the use of which is allowed exclusively to those who have awakened to the clairvoyant eyes of Heaven, the Mangekyou Sharingan: Amaterasu, which speaks of Light and the material world, and Tsukuyomi, symbolizing the spiritual world and Darkness**. Only in them who hold both of those, dwells the power of the wild, rampaging god... Susanoo. The materialized chakra shapes itself after the wargod's commanding face and powerful physique, and the fierce spirit won't subside until the destruction of all the enemies in its line of sight...!!
There's a reason why Susanoo can boast perfect flawlessness in its offense and defense: the spiritual weapons it holds in both hands. The Sword of Totsuka* in its right hand, which will mow down any kind of enemy, and the Mirror of Yata*, upon which all attacks will bounce back. Substantial or spiritual, and then ninjutsu or physical attacks lose all kinds of significance before the god's efficacy.
Captions
-In the pupils that grasp the principles behind Heaven and Earth, dwells the valorous sword-wielding, shield-bearing Aragami***!!
-Protecting its caster, it destroys the enemy!
-In its left and right hands are held the unparalleled, wondrous Sacred Treasures* of virtues miraculous.
Picture comments
-Only those who have carried mastery of Mangekyou Sharingan - the doujutsu feared by those around it as the strongest - to its extremes will come onto the god's territory. A guardian deity to its caster, it eats away their life at the same time.
-The sake flowing out of the gourd assumes the shape of a sword, becoming the Totsuka! In addition, the souls absorbed by it are sealed there.
-The Sword of Totsuka
One swing of the Sword of Kusanagi* has the power to throw the people it stabs into an genjutsu world of intoxicating dreams, and seal them away for eternity. The sword itself carries a fuuinjutsu.
-The Mirror of Yata
The substance-less spiritual shield. Endowed will all Nature Alterations, it changes its own attributes in response to the attacks it receives, making the jutsu ineffective. *Susanoo, God of storms. Mess around with the spelling and you get your extra meaning. Totsuka has been altered too, but I have no idea what "Ten Fists" could possibly mean. To make a long story short, the weapons mentioned in there are named after the Japanese imperial regalia, which according to myth, were used to defeat Yamata no Orochi, the giant eight-headed snake. The sake and intoxication bit is reminescent of the way Susanoo tricked the serpent into drinking itself under the table to make it easier to kill. And IIRC, Kusanagi is just an alternate name for a sword that was originally named Totsuka.
**Probably some Yin and Yang shtick or something going on, there...
***Aragami=Fierce God.
Your story is quite a good abridgement of Shinto legend [if somebody would like to read whole story CLIK HERE or HERE (start with line 6)], but there are few things about the swords that I can’t agree.
As far as my knowledge is concerned (according to the official version of mythology):
- Totsuka-no-tsurugi means “ten-grasp saber” or “ten fist long sword” and it is a generic name for the weapons randomly used by heroes in Shinto mythology (for example it was used by Susanoo to kill Yamata no Orochi and by Izanagi to kill the Spirit/God of Fire). In my opinion Totsuka can be an alternative name for Kusanagi only when we consider Kusanagi-no-tsurugi as a sword with a “ten fists” long blade.
- Kusanagi-no-tsurugi (or Kusanagi-no-tachi) – means “Herb-Quelling-Saber” (translation by B. H. Chamberlain) or “Grass-mower” (translation by D. L. Phipippi) it is part of the Imperial Regalia – the symbol of his power. In Shinto mythology, Susanoo found it when he slew Yamata no Orochi, in one of the monster’s tails. This sword was so sharp that Susanoo’s “ten hands long sword“ broke/chipped on it. Susanoo considered this sword very valuable so he sent it to his sister Amaterasu (Goodness of the Sun). The name “Kusanagi” came from the legend about Yamato-Takeru ( CLIK) so it’s much later. According to Nihiongi (one of Shinto sacred books) by the time it was found by Susanoo it had been called Amenomurakumo-no-Tsurugi (which could mean “Heavenly Sword of Assembled Clouds” - translation by Genchi Katō and Hikoshirō Hoshino; or “Sword Humble towards Heaven and Stubbing Hearth” – translation by W. Kotański).
Nally Nauman (German specialist in Japanese studies) claims that the version above was forged by emperors Temmu and Gemmie, to stress the significance of Amaterasu (the ancestor of all Japanese emperors). According to her version the Kusanagi Sword was never given to Amaterasu and the sword which was later used by Susanoo and his offspring – the “Sword of Life” (alternative name “Sword of Power” – see these myth) is in fact the Kusanagi Sword. So it should be the symbol of reign of Susanoo’s descendents. So it is possible that calling Susanoo’s sword “Kusanagi” has a deeper meaning, but I seriously doubt Kishimoto had that in mind.
FUUINJUTSU; TENSHA FUUIN: AMATERASU (Sealing technique. Transcription Seal: Amaterasu)
User: Uchiha Itachi
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Amaterasu is a Katon-type ninjutsu of the highest rank, exclusively accessible to those who have awakened to Mangekyou Sharingan. The act of sealing that effect into someone else's sharingan is called Tensha Fuuin: Amaterasu. When the image of the specified target is reflected into the pupil the jutsu was sealed in, the seal will unbind, and "the Black Flames that devour fire itself" will swoop down on their prey!!
Captions
The raging Black Flames, delivered by means of the sharingan!!
The pitch-black, world-destroying conflagration, now blazing!!
Picture comments
The sharingan Amaterasu was sealed in will catch the target determined by the caster...
The pitch-black, raging fire bursts from the eye, and charges at its mark! No jutsu can allow one to escape from its fury!
NINJUTSU; Yamata no jutsu (Eight-Branched Hydra technique*)
User: Orochimaru
Offensive; Defensive; Supplementary; Rank: S
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Shortly before his demise**, Orochimaru spent his last** forces releasing this hijutsu (Arcane/Secret technique), seizing his opportunity when Sasuke, who had absorbed him, exhausted the chakra he was using to keep him suppressed.
Out of Sasuke's Cursed Seal came forth Orochimaru, shapeshifted into an eight-headed, eight-tailed white snake, via the White Snake's power of regeneration.
This is Orochimaru's greatest, most powerful jutsu, the embodiment of a long-lived, implacable tenacity, that trampled the Uchiha hideout by merely crawling onto its scaly abdomen...!!
Captions
-A python with eight heads, [a body] expanding into eight edges. Its wicked excellence is the incarnation of an longstanding resentment!!
-This is the manifestation of the Orochi's* staunch determination...!!
Picture comment
-Boasting a gigantic frame, even more so than that of Manda, who is dreaded as the strongest of pythons. Ferociously baring its fangs, it is ominous in appearance. Transcending an Orochi*, it is more akin to a King Dragon...!!
Insert
Main text
-Orochimaru has achieved a Rebirth that lets him come back no matter how far he is pushed past death's threshold. The source of his tenacity is the power of the White Snake, which governs good fortune and rebirth. Orochimaru put his hands on the White Snake's regeneration abilities after long years of study and research.
Caption
-His ambition has yet to crumble!!
Picture comment
-The day young Orochimaru got ahold of the symbol of rebirth, he grew deranged and hellbent on immortality, a dark purpose that swallowed him whole. *Yamata no Orochi, the legendary eight-headed, eight-tailed snake. "Hydra" is something of an approximation.
**A recurrent play on words when someone dies. In Kishi-sensei's works anyway. "Saigo" can be written either 最後 or 最期 , translating respectively as "last" and "final breath/last moments". Another such instance came up when Pain Shinra Tensei'd a nail at Kakashi.
Last edited by Gottheim : October 21, 2009 at 07:10 AM.
Reason: Completed the Databook's translation.
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