Introduction
Naruto is a popular manga and anime series that began in 1999, and it has only recently started to show signs of ending. It is aimed primarily at young males, and its continued popularity puts it among the “Big Three” shonen (male-oriented) anime series, along with Bleach and One Piece. If you’re not familiar with Naruto, it’s about an ancient world of ninja civilizations (appropriately titled Ninja World), ninja political conspiracies, and tons of big ninja battles. Also the occasional samurai, but those guys can’t use magic so fuck ‘em, we’re pro-ninja here.
The series is split into two parts: Naruto, the original series, and Naruto Shippuden, which takes place after a two-and-a-half year timeskip at the end of the original Naruto.
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 is an open-world fighting game by CyberConnect2 (Asura’s Wrath, .hack// series) and is the first game in the Naruto franchise to take a plot-heavy approach and try to present the games as an extension to the series. Instead of making the story mode a loosely connected series of fights and assuming the player can recognize the context, Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 includes cutscenes and open-world segments that allow the player to interact with the world of Naruto and get the full story out of it, sort of like an interactive anime.
This game covers 3 years of the anime starting from the beginning of the Naruto Shippuden series, which totals out to 175 episodes and 70 total hours of television. Most of the filler from the anime is removed, so it’s a much more streamlined story within the game, with the occasional sidequest or extra mission to break up the action.
The fighting game part of this series has full 3D movement rather than sticking characters to a single plane, and is technically simpler than many other games in the genre. Built for consoles, it recognizes the limitations of the button setup and uses it to create a surprisingly fluid and easy-to-learn fighting system and has a decent item and support system that allows players to pretty significantly define their own unique playstyle.
Given my poor choices in media, I’m something of a Naruto apologist; as simple and derivative as the plot can be, I think that there are legitimately some cool and hilarious things that happen throughout the series. Similarly, while the characters can get annoying when they fall into their one-note patterns, the characters tend to all find their chance to shine. I can’t say that it’s a good series, but there are good things in it and I’d like to make some of that more apparent. Also I feel like I've put too much time into this series at this point to stop now.
As such, I, ChorpSaway, will be heading this LP, and good anime buddies TheJayOfSpade and JordanKai will be joining me as co-commentators. Jordan has only seen the first part of Naruto and Jay hasn’t seen any of it, and so we have a fully divergent cast to laugh and cry at the series that opened so many impressionable young children to the world of anime. (Later on, FutureFriend joins the cast and completes our four-man ninja team.)
This is a video LP, with cut and uncut options for commentary over cutscenes. Since this game is an interactive anime, there will be a lot of cutscenes, meaning that the cut option will remove about half of the commentary over the entire course of the LP. So you can make your choice between artistic integrity or the three knuckleheads ruining it.
Given this game’s propensity for cutscenes, my episode separation may force me to upload an episode that is all cutscenes (or at least very little content) in order to keep updates at a reasonable, approximately half hour size, while still moving the story forward in a significant way. We’ll see as we go, but if you don’t particularly care for the intricacies of Naruto, the dialogue is all in text boxes so you can still keep up with the story even if you’re listening to the uncut options.
I will be completing the story mode and (most of the) post-game content, and showing off as much as I can with the game. With each update, I will be posting a small glossary of Naruto universe terms that appear in the episode, along with a quick definition. I will also be posting short character bios for each new character we see, with enough background information to understand their place in the plot, why they’re important, and if they’ve done anything cool in canon up to that point.
If you have something constructive to say, please say it! Whatever your opinion on Naruto, feel free to post it and discuss with others. However, if you’re just gonna come in to say “lol anime” or some other sort of ironic shitpost or something else like that, please don’t! I want to give a different perspective to the series, so come in here with an open mind. I’m not saying you have to go all ADTRW in this thread, and I’m not saying there aren’t things to criticize about the series, because I recognize it’s not a great series. But please don’t come in the thread just to shitpost. I recognize that Naruto in and of itself is often a punchline without a joke, but let’s try to cut that kind of thing down here.
Also, please don’t post spoilers for anything we haven’t seen in the game or any events that take place after the game. There’s plenty of backstory to talk about, and I’m sure our group won’t hit all of the important points, so feel free to help clarify things for people if you have the knowledge to.
Prologue to the Prologue
Bonus: The Ins and Outs of Ultimate Ninja Storm (How to Play) by ChorpSaway
Prologue: Homecoming of Naruto
Bonus Video #1: Rules of Narute by JordanKai
Chapter 1: Rescue the Kazekage
Fanart: Waruto by Ometeotl
Chapter 2: Their Reunion
Chapter 3: The Immortal Akatsuki
Chapter 4: Hebi Formation (with special guest FutureFriend)
Chapter 5: Brothers (with special guest FutureFriend)
Chapter 6: The Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant (with special guest FutureFriend)
Final Chapter: The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki (with special guest FutureFriend)
Bonus Chapter: Post-Game Parade
HEROES
Naruto Uzumaki
A member of the Hidden Leaf Village’s Ninja Team 7 and the titular character. Having been generally ostracized by the village inhabitants for being the vessel for a great demon who almost destroyed the Hidden Leaf Village, Naruto desires to prove himself as a strong and capable ninja in order to gain the trust and respect of others, and eventually gain the title of Hokage, or the Hidden Leaf Village’s leader. The demon inside of him allows him a large chakra resource, as well as the ability to channel the demon’s power through his own body. He has spent the last two and a half years training under Jiraiya.
Jiraiya
A high-ranking ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village, known as one of the Legendary Three Ninja for his incredible skill. He is also known as the Toad Sage due to his affinity for the animal, to the point where a number of his most powerful techniques revolve around summoning a variety of magical toads. His hair is also commonly used in his ninja techniques, both in offensive and defensive situations. He has spent the last two and a half years training Naruto.
He’s referred to as Pervy Sage by Naruto, since Jiraiya’s side job is writing dirty books.
Sakura Haruno
A member of the Hidden Leaf Village’s Ninja Team 7. While not as good at offensive techniques as her peers, she is incredibly intelligent and has a natural affinity for medical ninja techniques. She also has incredible natural strength and once broke off the whole main mast of a ship to use as a weapon. She has spent the last two and a half years training under Tsunade.
Tsunade
A high-ranking ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village, known as one of the Legendary Three Ninja for her incredible skill. She is currently the Fifth Hokage and is considered the greatest medical ninja in the world. She is also referred to as the Slug Princess, due to her summoning techniques revolving around slugs. She can use these to transfer her chakra to faraway places and do remote healing, but can also be used to spit poison at enemies. She has spent the last two and a half years training Sakura.
Shizune
Tsunade’s attendant and apprentice. Mainly works as a medical ninja in assistance to Tsunade, but can also hold her own in battle by spewing deadly poison gas from her mouth.
Kakashi Hatake
The leader of the Hidden Leaf Village’s Ninja Team 7 and former Anbu (ninja black ops) member. He is powerful ninja, accentuated by the single Sharingan eye that he possesses, which has allowed him to copy and learn over one thousand techniques from his opponents. He also has the ability to summon a bunch of different types of dogs, which he uses both for combat and for recon. Equally skilled in physical combat and ninja techniques, he is feared in many countries and considered one of the Hidden Leaf Village’s strongest ninja.
Tonton
A pig. She is a pet and aide to Tsunade. She can carry many times her own weight and has an incredible sense of smell.
Shikamaru Nara
A member of the Hidden Leaf Village's Team Asuma. He is a talented and intelligent ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village, though he is also lazy. His catchphrase is "What a drag", mostly used in reference to going on missions. While he constantly finds his work bothersome, he is a very tactical ninja and he completes them with the utmost competence, if only to get back to doing nothing faster. His family's ninja techniques are based around manipulating shadows. He can manipulate his shadow to extend to great lengths, which, if touching another person, can allow him to control their movements and attack them from a great distance. His weakness is that he is unable to move while using this technique, meaning it best works when in groups.
Temari
A ninja from the Hidden Sand Village and sister to Gaara. While originally an enemy to the Hidden Leaf Village, Naruto's empathy for Gaara's situation during the first series made her an ally to Naruto and friends. She is blunt, stoic, and often cruel in battle. Her main ninja techniques revolve around manipulating the wind with her large iron fan. From stopping oncoming projectiles to slicing whirlwinds, her abilities are vast. However, the unwieldiness of her fan and her dependency on it can cause trouble during fights.
Iruka Umino
A ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village and mentor to Naruto before he graduated school. He teaches the ninja school and does not come from a special family with magnificent techniques, though he has been shown to have the power of echolocation. His parents died during the Nine Tails' attack on the village from the very beginning of Naruto, after which he began to act out for attention to quell his loneliness. Seeing the same sort of reaction in Naruto, he became a mentor to Naruto and helped him become a better person who could rely on friends to help him out.
Gaara
The current leader of the Hidden Sand Village and vessel for the One-Tailed Shukaku. After having gained Naruto’s empathy over their shared experiences, Gaara has made it his mission to gain other’s respect. He does his best to be understanding and accommodating to all. His abilities are focus around sand manipulation, particularly the sand located in the gourd on his back. Since his sand manipulation takes a lot of power, he moves very slowly.
Konohamaru
Grandchild of the Third Hokage. He wants to grow up to become the Hokage, originally to escape the shadow of his grandfather and the expectations put on him. However, Naruto teaches him that there are no shortcuts to becoming Hokage, and so he sees Naruto as an unofficial mentor and constantly tests him to see if he can surpass Naruto. He learned most of his techniques from Naruto, including the Shadow Clone Technique and the Sexy no Jutsu.
Baki
One of the lead council members for the Hidden Sand Village. Originally the leader of Gaara and Temari's ninja group (along with their brother, Kankuro), he now acts as a council leader in order to help keep the peace in the village and watch over Gaara.
Might Guy
The leader of the Hidden Leaf Village’s Team Guy. While he has no talent for ninjutsu, he is a master of taijutsu and recognized as one of the most physically powerful ninja in the Hidden Leaf Village. Might Guy is corny and old-fashioned, always going on about the “Power of Youth” and making a signature thumbs-up pose. He is an emphatic leader who, while a little optimistic and forgetful, always looks out for his students and friends. He has a friendly rivalry with Kakashi, though Kakashi does not participate or acknowledge anything of the sort.
Rock Lee
A member of the Hidden Leaf Village’s Team Guy. Just like his teacher, he has no talent for ninjutsu, but is a powerful taijutsu user. Due to their similar circumstances and the subsequent bonding, Rock Lee changed his appearance to be more like that of Might Guy. His personality also became very similar, as he is also passionate, energetic, and tends to be a bit air-headed. He wears heavy weights around his legs to restrict his movement, meaning he could very well be the most agile and physically powerful ninja of his generation.
Tenten
A member of the Hidden Leaf Village’s Team Guy. Her main focus is in armed combat, and she keeps all of her weapons sealed in a giant scroll on her back. From kunai to a gigantic spiked ball, and even an entire warship, Tenten can keep any weapon sealed in her scroll. She is intelligent and tends to be more easy-going than the other members of Team Guy, but she is very serious when it comes to missions. She tends to act as support for the team due to her analytical abilities, but she can hold her own in a fight.
Neji Hyuga
A member of the Hidden Leaf Village’s Team Guy. Although he surpassed his teammates and became a jonin, he still tries to participate in missions with his team. He is a very serious person with a stern demeanor. As a wielder of the Byakugan, his attacks focus on restricting chakra flow rather than dealing physical damage. His family heritage allows him a number of techniques unique to his clan, most of which augment the abilities his Byakugan gives him.
Chiyo
An old woman, grandmother to Sasori, and ex-counselor for the Hidden Sand Village. She is wise, but very grumpy. She is a famed puppeteer and medical ninja, her main focus being in poisons. She has a long-standing rivalry with Tsunade in medical ninjutsu.
Hinata Hyuga
A member of the Hidden Leaf Village’s Team Kurenai. Like her cousin Neji, she can use the Byakugan and focuses on close-range unarmed combat for battle. She comes from the main house of the Hyuga family, but was deemed unworthy to take the place as the clan head due to her meek demeanor. She is quiet, calm, and polite, and lacks self-confidence. Ever since she was a child, she admired Naruto for his unwavering confidence, and hoped that one day she would be able to better herself as he did. Hinata also has a mad crush on Naruto but he’s a shonen manga hero meaning he’s an idiot who can’t pick up on this.
Kiba Inuzuka
A member of the Hidden Leaf Village’s Team Kurenai. Short-tempered and impulsive, he loves to fight and enjoys friendly competition. His fighting style is based on synchronization with his ninja dog companion. He has heightened senses overall and often fights on all fours.
Akamaru
Canine companion to Kiba, based on a Great Pyrenees. Along with various attacking techniques that he shares with Kiba, he can also use the Dynamic Marking technique to ninja pee on enemies to allow for easier tracking. Unlike other ninja dogs, Akamaru has not been shown to have the gift of speech.
Shino Aburame
A member of the Hidden Leaf Village’s Team Kurenai. Stoic and mysterious, he almost never shows any emotion and tends to keep to himself. He literally has bugs living inside his bodily chakra streams that exist in a form of symbiosis. Most of his techniques are based around using these bugs to confuse and trap opponents, after which the bugs will consume the opponent’s chakra.
Choji Akimichi
A member of the Hidden Leaf Village’s Team Asuma. He is fat and all of his techniques are about using that to his advantage, as his family is able to convert raw calories into chakra. He is a docile person who is sensitive about his weight, leading to a general lack of self-confidence. However, nothing will stop him from helping his friends. He is widely considered to be the most physically strong ninja of his generation, and can change size at will in order to increase his physical strength.
Ino Yamanaka
A member of the Hidden Leaf Village’s Team Asuma. She is confident in herself and spends a lot of time making sure she always looks her best. She’s outspoken and kind, though she can be bossy when her teammates aren’t working hard. She has always been Sakura’s rival for Sasuke’s affections, though they are also good friends and allies. Her main techniques are based around possessing others and gaining control of their bodies for short periods of time, though she has also shown some proficiency for medical techniques and close-range combat.
Sai
Also known as the Okami Ninja. Emotionless and distant, his social awkwardness and lack of grace tends to give off a poor first impression. However, his lack of emotions gives him increased awareness and observation in battle. His main skill lies in his drawing ability; by using his ninja magic scroll and drawing on it, he can make any of his drawings come to life. He can use this for battle, sealing, or even general utility.
Yamato
Ninja black ops member and temporary leader for Team 7. A calm and stoic character, he is cautious in his work and does all he can to prepare for any possibilities in a mission. His main ability is his wood-element ninjutsu, which he can use by combining earth element in one hand and water in another. He can both force plant growth with this ability as well as transform his cells into a source of plant life. He can also produce wooden tendrils from his body in order to create durable clones. These wood-element techniques are otherwise unique to the First Hokage.
Asuma Sarutobi
The leader of the Hidden Leaf Village’s Team Asuma and son to the Third Hokage. Despite being a jonin and team leader, he takes a laidback approach to the position, only taking an active role when he deems it absolutely necessary. He is shown to be rather clever, using trickery and bribery to encourage his students to find their own potential. Asuma is considered to be the greatest close-range fighter in the village. He has bonded extraordinarily well with Shikamaru, often playing shoji and go with him during their off-time. It is heavily implied that he is in a romantic relationship with Kurenai, a fellow jonin. Also he smokes a lot because he’s way cool.
Kurenai Yuhi
The leader of the Hidden Leaf Village’s Team Kurenai. She is a caring motherly figure, particularly towards her team, taking a vested interest in everyone’s growth and always concerning herself with their personal lives. She does not do much fighting on her own, but she is mostly known for her powerful genjutsu abilities. It is heavily implied that she is in a romantic relationship with Asuma, a fellow jonin.
VILLAINS
Deidara
A member of the Akatsuki. His abilities mainly focus on his ability to channel his chakra into clay, in order to create moving clay creatures that attack for him. Also his chakra is explosive, and so his clay animals are equally explosive. He sees his creations as works of art and is rather vain about beauty and his abilities. Due to his focus on long-range techniques, he is weak in close combat. He wears a scope on his left eye for long-range observation.
Kisame Hoshigaki
A member of the Akatsuki and one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. He wields a scale-covered sword from the Hidden Mist Village that is meant to shave and mutilate opponents. Kisame is sadistic and aggressive, and is quick to fight in situation. He has many shark-like features and also literal gills on his body. This goes well with many of his water-element jutsus, his most powerful of which creates large bodies of water which can engulf his battlefield. He is also said to have more chakra than any other Akatsuki member, and possibly any other ninja.
Itachi Uchiha
A member of the Akatsuki and the brother of Sasuke Uchiha. After betraying his clan by killing everyone in the clan except for Sasuke, he left to join the Akatsuki in order to destroy the Hidden Leaf Village. He is a calm individual who very rarely shows signs of emotions, and he prefers not to fight unless it is necessary. His fighting style is based around his Sharingan power that allows him to create illusions for anyone who makes eye contact with him, and taking advantage of the confusion.
Sasori
A member of the Akatsuki. His parents died when he was young; due to the resulting lonely childhood, Sasori grew to be aloof and nihilistic, seeing no beauty or purpose in human life. Rather, he only sees beauty in everlasting things, such as his puppets. As a wielder of puppets, he is not particularly powerful on his own, and must rely on the strength of his puppets in order to hold his own in battle. He makes most of his puppets out of the bodies of his deceased enemies, which retain the powers they had when they were alive. He is also able to create powerful poisons, which he laces each of his weapons and puppets with. Also he turned himself into a puppet so that he could be immortal.
Kabuto Yakushi
Former member of the Hidden Leaf Village, former spy for Sasori, and current underling to Orochimaru. Since he was a child, he has been used as a spy, and so he has developed a cold and uncaring personality, as well as strong espionage abilities. His specialty is in medical techniques, to the point where he has developed the unique ability to “reactivate” dead cells in order to create new ones. He also is well-versed in poison and drug creation.
Orochimaru
A high-ranking rogue ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village, known as one of the Legendary Three Ninja for his incredible skill. Orochimaru is a major villain who has affected much of the development of the story since the third arc of the first series. He is a sadistic and reckless character with a god complex, due to his sheer skill and his ability to “steal” other people’s bodies to give him a form of immortality. He has an incredible arsenal of ninja techniques and an affinity for snakes, which allows him to summon snakes from his body. He has also done various body modifications to himself, which has allowed him to contort and extend his body freely; it also gives him other snake-like abilities such as being able to shed his skin to heal injuries.
Sasuke Uchiha
A former member of the Hidden Leaf Village’s Ninja Team 7 and current student of Orochimaru. He stands as Naruto’s rival right from the start and that position hasn’t changed. After his brother Itachi killed off the rest of his clan, Sasuke swore revenge on Itachi and began to train for the day the two would meet. He is cold and distant, focused only on doing whatever it takes to become stronger. After seeing Naruto quickly reach Sasuke’s level of ability and strength, Sasuke abandoned his team to join Orochimaru, who promised him the power to defeat Itachi. Since then, he has been in hiding, training for the day he meets his brother again. He also got a sword at some point to augment his lightning jutsus.
Hidan
One of the "Immortal Akatsuki" along with Kakuzu. He is part of a religious cult called Jashinism that calls for nothing less than complete and utter destruction of everything. Due to his experimentation with techniques and rituals of Jashinism, Hidan has been rendered effectively immortal. He can survive and recover from all battle damage, and even reattach lost limbs. He is incredibly skilled with wielding his Triple-Bladed Scythe, but his main technique is to use the power of Jashin to turn him into a living voodoo doll. By consuming someone’s blood, any damage inflicted to Hidan is then passed on to the person whose blood he has consumed. His immortality has left him cocky and disrespectful, causing him to act recklessly both in everyday life and in battle, including to his superiors.
Kakuzu
One of the “Immortal Akatsuki” along with Hidan. His body is made up of thick gray tendrils that hold his body together similarly to stitches. He can separate his body parts at will and also heal from damages very quickly, as well as heal the injuries of others (it is said that he has put Hidan’s body back together many times after the two teammates feuded). He can also penetrate other people’s bodies with his tendrils, take their organs, and integrate them into his body, which could technically allow him to extend his life indefinitely. He has four masks on his back, each with another ninja’s heart contained inside of them, which he can separate from his body as monsters made entirely out of his gray tendrils. Kakuzu is a greedy man, only doing things for the eventual goal of money, and he has a nasty temper, though he is much more cautious than his partner.
Suigetsu Hozuki
An ex-prisoner of Orochimaru and the first member of Sasuke’s new team. After the death of his brother, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Suigetsu decided he would collect all seven of these blades in order to start the organization anew as its leader. However, his plans were cut short after Orochimaru imprisoned him in order to learn Suigetsu’s secret ability to liquefy himself. After Sasuke let all of Orochimaru’s prisoners free following his death, he joined Sasuke’s new team. He is hasty and cocky, often leading Karin to attack him. Due to his secret technique, Suigetsu must stay hydrated at all times, which is why he keeps a water bottle with him. He currently wields Zabuza’s sword, the Kubikiriocho.
Karin
An ex-jailer for Orochimaru and the second member of Sasuke’s new team. Karin has a very strong fluctuating personality, rapidly switching between violent and critical, and highly flirtatious, particularly when she’s alone with Sasuke. She’s a non-combantant, with most of her powers focused on healing and recon. She can sense the presence of people by their chakra signature, which is useful both for tracking and for figuring out if they’re lying or hiding something. She can also conceal her own chakra signature in order to hide. She also has an incredible healing ability that will naturally heal her wounds and extend her life. By having other people bite her, they can heal themselves with her healing as well. She’s also really smart. Shame about the personality.
Jugo
An ex-prisoner of Orochimaru and the final member of Sasuke’s new team. Unlike all of Orochimaru’s other prisoners, Jugo became a prisoner of his own will to protect others from himself. He has a split personality: his normal personality is gentle and kind, while his other personality is violent and murderous. He switches personalities at random and Jugo cannot repress these changes, making him a dangerous person to work with. He has an ability called Sage Transformation that comes out when he changes though, that allows him to absorb natural energy in order to transform his body at will. Orochimaru was able to use Jugo’s blood to create his curse marks, which releases a murderous intent in others and transforms their body. He can also talk to animals and transfer his chakra to others.
Konan
One of the co-founders of the Akatsuki. Silent and tactical in nature, Konan never speaks up during the Akatsuki meetings, which is why you may not have noticed her so far. Her demeanor is always serious and distant, but she is very protective of her allies. Her affinity for origami eventually mainfested in her jutsus, which involve her infusing paper with chakra in order to use it as a weapon. This eventually culminated in a unique transformation technique that allows her to turn her body into and paper and manipulate it to increase her own physical abilities. It's pretty cool and can lead to some nice visual effects.
Pain
The leader and co-founder of the Akatsuki. He is one of the few wielders of the Rinnegan, considered to be the most powerful eye technique. Little else is known about him.
He is actually one of six reanimated bodies being controlled by an outer source known as Pain. They are controlled through the chakra receivers implanted in their bodies. Each of them has a specific type of technique that they use based on one of the six techniques of the Rinnegan, except for the one in Yahiko's body.
Hokage
The leader of the Hidden Leaf Village. There have been five Hokages in the history of the Hidden Leaf Village, with Tsunade acting as the fifth and current Hokage.
Ninjutsu/Jutsu
A catch-all term for any sort of ninja technique, or anything that a ninja couldn’t do naturally. This extends to the use of weapons, as they can be augmented with ninja magic.
Chakra
Both the physical and spiritual energy inherent in every living being. Can be controlled and manipulated in order to perform jutsus, but is also necessary for basic movement. They also have elemental properties, which give the user certain advantages when using jutsus of that elements.
As far as the game is concerned, it’s just a chargeable special meter.
Dojutsu
Genetic ninja abilities that utilize the user’s eyes. Only three are currently known: the Byakugan, the Rinnegan, and the Sharingan. These powers are attached to the physical eyes of the user, so implanting the eye into another person will allow them to use the same powers.
Sharingan
Considered one of the Three Great Eye Techniques and a technique unique to the Uchiha clan. Able to be called on command, it allows the user to see another person’s chakra flow. It also allows the user to copy any technique that they see with the Sharingan and perform it with nigh-perfect accuracy, as long as they have the prerequisite skill or ability to perform them.
Kakashi also has one that he keeps hidden by his headband, except in situations where he thinks it’s necessary, since he is unable to turn it off.
Genin
The lowest level of ninja, given as a title to all ninja school graduates. They are put into 4 man squads with 3 genin and a teacher, and can only take on low-ranking missions until they have proven significant development during the Chunin exams.
Chunin
The middle level of ninja, given as a title to all who pass the Chunin exams. They no longer require a teacher, and can take higher-ranking missions. They also all get a cool jacket to wear and can either continue ninja training or become teachers for the younger ninja.
Jonin
The highest level of ninja, given as a title to all who the village leaders deem worthy. These ninjas all show high proficiency for multiple types of ninja techniques and are no longer required to work in a group. They also must become teachers to a group of Genin, to act as mentors and help the young ninja find their potential.
Kazekage
The leader of the Hidden Sand Village. There have been five Kazekages in the history of the Hidden Sand Village, with Gaara acting as the fifth and current Hokage. Gaara’s father was the fourth Hokage.
One-Tailed Shukaku
The Tailed Beast sealed inside of Gaara, taking the form of a tanuki. As an entity, Shukaku is wild and short-tempered, with a constant desire to kill. Its personality and power caused young Gaara to frequently lose control and release Shukaku, causing much destruction and death within the Hidden Sand Village.
Akatsuki
A criminal organization of high-ranking rouge ninja. Their main mission is to capture the Tailed Beasts in order to harness their power and start and all-out war with Ninja World. Members of the Akatsuki almost always work in groups of two, in order to have complementary powers.
Taijutsu
A catch-all term for any technique based around martial arts or the optimization of natural human abilities. These techniques do not require chakra use or hand seals, and are entirely based on the user’s physical and mental abilities. Every member of Team Guy uses taijutsu almost exclusively.
Bukijutsu
A catch-all term for any technique based around the use of weapons. Like taijutsu, these techniques do not require chakra use or hand seals, but every weapon requires its own level of mastery. Tenten is the series’ main user of bukijutsu, having mastered the use of every type of weapon.
Chakra Gates
A series of eight “gates” within a person’s body that limits chakra flow. By removing these gates, a person can gain increased strength and physical ability, at the cost of serious internal bodily damage. If all eight gates are released, the user will reach their maximum physical limit, but will absolutely die. The only three characters known to have opened chakra gates are Kakashi, Rock Lee, and Might Guy.
Byakugan
Considered one of the Three Great Eye Techniques and a technique unique to the Hyuga clan. Unlike the other dojutsu, everyone in the Hyuga family can use this technique from birth, and does not require any sort of awakening. When activated, the Byakugan gives the user a near-360 degree field of vision, as well as increasing their field of vision greatly, with the most powerful user increasing it to 10km. It also allows the user to see through walls, smokescreens, and illusions. Finally, the user can see chakra flows, whether it be in seals, in nature, or even in people.
Nine Tails
The Tailed Beast inside of Naruto, taking the form of a kitsune. As an entity, the Nine Tails is cynical and intelligent. Due to all of the effort spent to capture it and seal it, the Nine Tails has become dismissive of humans, and desires to kill all of humanity. It can sense negative emotions, and so every time Naruto begins to feel hat, the Nine Tails takes advantage of his compromised emotional state in order to try and take over his body.
Jinchuriki
The term used to refer to the vessels of the Tailed Beasts. They tend to be ostracized from their community, due to many people seeing them as just new forms for the much-hated Tailed Beasts. Each Jinchuriki shows incredible power due to the chakra of the Tailed Beasts following through them, and with enough control they can manifest their Tailed Beast either as extensions of themselves, or as a separate entity.
Tailed Beasts
A group of nine living forms of chakra. They each manifest as large monsters with a number of tails, ranging from one to nine. They have an incredible amount of power and more chakra than any person could possibly possess on their own, which they can transfer to any other entity that they wish. While each of them used to run free, they have all been sealed into humans at this point.
Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist
An organization made up of the seven strongest sword wielders in the Hidden Mist Village. Each generation, the strongest fighters for that particular generation are brought together in a battle royale to the death. The seven most powerful members that emerge victorious are given a special blade to weild, though many of the swordsmen master the use of multiple blades. Currently, only three of the current generation’s members are still alive.
Hebi
Literally meaning “snake”, the new team headed by Sasuke. Sasuke created this team with the goal of killing his brother Itachi. It ultimately is less of a team and more a group of convenience, as it was made up of ninja previously held in Orochimaru’s hideouts before his death.
Genjutsu
Ninja abilities that focus on creating illusions. Genjutsu techniques manipulate the flow of chakra in a person’s brain, causing them to feel pain, hallucinate, or otherwise disrupt the person’s senses.
Susanoo
A guardian spirit granted to those who have mastered the Sharingan. Due to its tie to the Sharingan, it is only available to those of Uchiha blood. By unleashing their Susanoo, users are able to create a large humanoid being that can fight alongside the user and protect them. However, it causes incredible strain on their body and uses up a significant amount of life energy. Each Susanoo is unique to its user and has various forms as the user learns to better control it.
Taka
Literally meaning “hawk”, the newer team headed by Sasuke. Sasuke created this team with the goal of destroying the Hidden Leaf Village. It is made up of the members of his previous team, the Hebi, and has Madara Uchiha as the background leader.
Rinnegan
Considered one of the Three Great Eye Techniques. It is unaffiliated with any clan, but is most known for being the technique of The Sage of Six Paths, one of the founding ninja. It has a lot of powers attached to it, primarily those of the Six Paths. The Deva Path allows the user to repel and attract objects, the Asura Path grants the user armor and the use of mechanized weapons, the Human Path can read minds, the Animal Path allows the user to summon support creatures, the Preta Path can absorb chakra, and the Naraka path allows the user to summon the King of Hell to help in interrogations. There's also the secret Outer Path which gives the user limited control over life and death. There are some other smaller powers attached to it, but these are the important ones and this is already going on pretty long.
Senjutsu
Also known as Sage Jutsu. A type of ninjutsu based around absorbing energy from the surrounding atmosphere and terrain, and then combining it with one's own chakra. Currently, senjutsu can only be learned from magical frogs from Mount Myoboku or magical snakes from Ryuchi Cave.