Naruto The Narutoversity

[Knyght]

Samurai v1 (Version 2)

The samurai originated from a group of fighters who worshiped the Sage of Six Paths as a warrior rather than a monk after ninshu was turned into the weapon known as ninjutsu. They honed their chakra purely for the sake of combat, devoting themselves to martial might.

Instead they strengthened their bodies and developed sword styles that took advantage of the possibilities that chakra provided. They only used it to enhance their bodies beyond normal limitation and didn't use ninjutsu themselves. Instead they devoted themselves to training their body and mastering the way of the sword and other weapons. This wasn't out of discrimination towards ninjutsu but because of their desire for melee combat and the belief that this was the path to true strength.

The samurai created a code of honour to follow, taking on a higher purpose as they became the protectors of the people and served the feudal lords of each nation. As such, they were the largest fighting force in the lands.

While ninjas were mercenaries who performed special missions for whichever lord was willing to pay, the samurai worked only for their lord as their personal army. Samurai were far stronger in battle as shinobi had not developed elemental affinities, bloodlines or many of the powerful jutsu that exist today. This was the status quo of the world for many generations. But where ninjutsu advanced and evolved, the skills of the samurai underwent little change. They were complacent and their techniques stagnates while the ninja pushed the boundaries of chakra. Eventually a power shift occurred as the combination of power, versatility and adaptability of shinobi became more desirable. They became the main fighting force on the continent whilst the samurai were little more than their lord's bodyguards.

The creation of the hidden villages finally rendered the samurai obsolete as ninjas became the military of each country. Many samurai gave up their profession and became ninja and samurai schools became ninja schools instead; most ninja swordsmen in the present day have styles that originated from the samurai. As the Shinobi World Wars changed the scale of war altogether, it became clear that the samurai were a dying breed. But instead of allowing themselves to become nothing more than a footnote in history, they chose to carve their own niche into the continent.

They chose to create the Land of Iron.

It was a military nation with a harsh climate where their leaders and army would all be samurai. The samurai left in every nation flocked to this cause to create one of the most racially diverse countries for all its small size. They removed themselves from the affairs of shinobi and resisted any attempt of invasion, eventually became a neutral ground.

This was also beginning of their advancement in the art of warfare. Whilst they didn't use many of the jutsu belonging to shinobi, they learned to recognize, understand and counter them so that they could never be caught off guard. With their single-minded focus on kenjutsu and taijutsu, the average samurai is physically superior to the average shinobi.

They once wore the same armour and used the same weapons as shinobi but now the two fighting class went in significantly different directions. Their metal armour that covers them from head to toe with heavy protection, specially forged to have resistance against ninjutsu and genjutsu. Their helmets contained gas masks, light sensitive lenses, sound dampeners to circumvent ninja tricks such as poisons, flash bangs and explosives. They also captain inbuilt radio to communicate and coordinate with one another and telescopes to see through tough conditions.

Katana became outdated and were instead used as training tools for a recruit to familiarise themselves with before their real training began. Now the samurai armed themselves with four, chakra-conductive short swords. Shorter swords were more convenient, practical and versatile as these samurai fought by extending chakra from their swords and shaping them into different weapons. They drew together the sword styles of all different clans and schools that had gathered to create a superior, unified style. They learned to master chakra flow, shape transformation and nature transformation and then combined them with techniques for using one, two swords, short swords, long swords or even other melee weapons. This sword art became known as the Iron Sword Style.

Ultimately, the Samurai Legion became the greatest example of brute force military might on the continent and no other nation dared to cross them.

 

[Knyght]

A History of Certain Clans and Shinobi

Yuki Clan - The Yuki were feared as one of the strongest ninja clans of the Land of Water. Their instinctual control over wind, water and ice whilst living in an island nation naturally granted them superiority over most other shinobi in the region.

Assured of that superiority, they rejected the idea of an alliance with other ninja clans to form Kirigakure and remained independent. Unfortunately, they were one of the clans that was turned into a scapegoat as the cause of the civil war that had plagued the Land of Water, used to unite the islands against a common enemy. As the fiercest and strongest, the Yuki were struck hard as the entire land and its people turned against them. They were brought to near-extinction and they scattered, going into hiding to avoid revealing their kekkei genkai. The downfall of such a powerful ninja has remembered them as the cursed Yuki Clan.

Kaguya Clan - The Kaguya were a ninja clan of the Land of Water who possessed the most perfect and powerful bodies of all as a result of their kekkei genkai, the Shikotsumyaku. They were warmongers whose only joy was through battle and death, and they can only find inner peace on the battlefield.

Like the Yuki Clan, they refused to become a part of Kirigakure. They then became the main evidence for the discrimination against kekkei genkai since they had a bloodthirsty attitude to match their terrifying abilities. They fought back against the Land of Water with all their might and avoided their extermination which only served to reinforce the fear the populace had for them. As Kirigakure's influence in the Land of Water grew, the Kaguya's weakened as they received fewer willing to hire them.

In their desperation and desire for war, they chose to launch an all-out offensive against Kirigakure. Without any allies, the assault failed completely and the Kaguya Clan was wiped out. The only known survivor was the youngest and most talented of the clan, Kimimaro, who was saved by Orochimaru for his own purposes.

Fuuma Clan - This clan is a group of shurikenjutsu specialists who are well-known for their aggression and gained infamy when they invented the fuuma shuriken, a large shuriken with four, collapsible blade. Unfortunately, a conflict with the Uchiha Clan prior to the formation of the hidden village had their techniques copied and even improved upon by the Sharingan. The secrets behind the fuuma shuriken's design were spread and the Fuuma Clan lost its fearsome reputation.

They were also among the clans who never joined a hidden village and remained independent even up until the present day as nomadic mercenaries. This backfired when many of the clansmen were captured by Orochimaru and Otogakure for his experiments, not having the allies and protection of a hidden village themselves. But the sacrifice of Fuuma Gen'yuumaru, the latest clan head, when he became Orochimaru's vessel was able to win their freedom.

Akado Clan - The Akado are an extinct clan that were wiped out before the formation of the hidden villages. They possessed a kekkei genkai that allowed them to absorb chakra by sucking out an opponent's physical and spiritual energy through physical contact. They were feared and desired for this power that made them deadly effective ninja, able to wear down any enemy that drew too close. But as is often the fate of clans which particularly powerful abilities, they were destroyed for it. The clan was broken and scattered. In the present day there are people all over the continent, seemingly unrelated, who are actually descendants of this clan and possess that power. Akado Yoroi, who chose to adopt their clan name as his own, and Jiroubou of the Sound Five are examples of this.

Tsuchigumo Clan - The Tsuchigumo are the clan that Kidoumaru of the Sound Five herald from. They are a mercenary clan from the mountainous regions of the Land of Stones. They developed their hijutsu to mimic the properties of the large spiders that lived within that land and whom they allied themselves with, learning to use their bodily fluids to produce webbing and other sticky materials. They even went so far as to alter their bodies with kinjutsu so that they had six arms and a third eye, a physical mutation that was passed down to their children. Kidoumaru chose to leave the clan to find his own fortunes and was discovered by Orochimaru.

Futagoza Clan - The Futagoza are the clan that Sakon and Ukon of the Sound Five herald from. They are affiliated with Kusagakure, specialize in assassination and are recognized as the village's best fighters. They have a corporeal kekkei genkai that grants them control over their cells and causes every clan member to be born with an identical twin who shares their body. Sakon and Ukon are bastards who were abandoned by their victimised civilian mother who could no longer stand the freakishness of their abilities.

Shiin Clan - The Shiin are the clan that Tayuya of the Sound Five herald from. They are an unusual example of shinobi as they are also a nomadic caravan of musicians. They travel between villages, towns and cities and perform at each location for money, even participating in festivals or taking requests for local lords. This is often where they meet clients for shinobi missions or they use the musical performances as a front for their mission. Their musical ability forms the base of their fighting style which is the use of musical instruments to use sound-based genjutsu and ninjutsu. Tayuya was a prodigy of their clan, holding the most music talent and capable of using their spirit worm hijutsu, and was given the rights to their Doki summons. She left in search of power and found it in Orochimaru at the cost of her free will.


The Akado Clan is based on the name of Akado Yoroi, the Shiin Clan is based on an anime-only clan from the Menma Arc and the Futagoze and Tsuchigumo Clans are entirely of my own creation. The Yuki, Kaguya and Fuuma Clans are canon, though the Fuuma Clan have been fused with the anime-only version from the Land of Rice Fields Arc.

 

[Knyght]

Land of Water v2 (Version 3)

The Land of Water is an archipelago nation floating on the ocean with a very unique culture. It's completely surrounded by water, with most of the land occupied by steep mountains. The smaller islands around the main island each have their own traditions, and many citizens stubbornly insist on preserving these.

When the hidden villages were created, Kirigakure was built on the main island and fostered the same relationship with the feudal lord as the other villages. The First Mizukage defeated the seven strongest samurai of the land who each wielded unique blades and made them swear loyalty to him. They became the Seven Mist Swordsmen, the strongest fighting force of the village and answer only to the Mizukage. They sharpen their teeth to promote the unity of their group and pass down their swords to the next generation to keep the group alive.

But the divided nature of the nation meant that it wasn't able to draw together all of the ninja clans like the other Great Hidden Villages. The most prominent of these clans were those blessed with bloodline limits. The bone-wielding Kaguya, the acid-breathing Ashido and the ice-manipulating Yuki; clans who were easily capable of standing alone even in the new era.

The lords and nobles of the islands remained in conflict with one another and caused the nation to be subjected to endless civil wars. They would hire ninja from independent clans, shinobi organisations and Kirigakure to wage war against each other with the civilians caught in-between. Naturally these civil wars made it difficult for them to remain as strong as their competitors, causing them to become more brutal and ruthless than the other hidden villages. Only during the Shinobi Wars did these separate groups band together against outsiders with the sea acting as their protection against enemy nations.

Naturally, the bloodline limit carriers gained the most terrible reputation as their inherent, disturbing abilities garnered fear and envy from the rest of the populace. The blame for the civil wars was pinned on them and they were treated as the bringers of misfortune, scapegoats to help unify the nation by turning them against a common enemy. Whilst hijutsu-using clans like the Hoozuki possessed unusual abilities it was offset by the knowledge that anyone could learn the same skills and that they had allied with Kirigakure from the start, keeping them free from the same prejudice.

When the civil wars came to a close, the Yuki and Ashido were destroyed as everyone turned against them and those who remained were forced to hide their bloodline to escape death. Even their offspring were not safe, regardless of whether they became ninja. The Kaguya's strength and bloodlust earned their survival to begin with but they later destroyed themselves in an attempt to destroy Kirigakure and prove themselves superior.

Only those who were willing to join Kirigakure gained any sort of reprieve. In the rest of the land they were hated and hunted unanimously, but the hidden village was willing to use them as assets if they worked for them. They were safe from extreme persecution but their lives were not ideal as even ninja held a mixture of contempt and fear for their ability, earning them a position similar to second-class citizens as they were treated as dangerous weapons.

The reign of the Fourth Mizukage was the darkest period of Kirigakure's history where they became known as the Village of the Bloody Mist. Yagura was one of the youngest Kages in history and, curiously, maintained a child-like appearance even into adulthood. This contrasted his reputation as the most powerful and ruthless Mizukage ever who, after the failed attempt to use the Sanbi against Kiri, sealed the Bijuu inside himself and tamed its power to become a perfect jinchuuriki.

During his term the village saw witness to death battles as their graduating exam, the highest defection rate that led to the creation of the Hunter Division of ANBU, the cutting off of all diplomatic relations with other nations, the complete slaughter of the Kaguya Clan and endless infighting. The graduation exam was perhaps the most infamous example and whenever people think of the Bloody Mist Village, they think of the exam along with the nine-year old Momochi Zabuza who put an end to the practice when he wiped out an entire class.

The downfall of the village fuelled suspicions that Yagura might have been under someone's control to deliberately keep their nation destabilised, suspicions that were eventually validated by Ao.

This created the seeds of a revolution with Terumi Mei at its head, with a desire to better their internal policies, improve the lives of bloodline limit holders and re-establish diplomatic relations. In the end, Yagura was dethroned and Mei became the Fifth Mizukage. Tired of the infighting and ruthlessness of the Bloody Mist, many ninja were happy with the change. However they were some who preferred the old regime. Kisame assassinated the feudal lord and took subversive machinations against the state, Zabuza led a rebellion against her to become Mizukage and the rest of the Seven Mist Swordsmen defected, bringing the organisation to an end. Hoozuki Mangetsu, one of Kiri's greatest prodigies, hunted down several of the traitorous swordsmen and killed them to retrieve their swords until he too died in battle.

Mei's attempts to change Kirigakure was hampered by the traditionalists, the country wide prejudice against bloodline limit carriers and the distrust between ninjas and civilians of the Land of Water. But by the present day she has come a long way and, in contrast to her predecessor, she is the most loved and respected Mizukage to date.

Land of Whirlpools and Waves (Official Version)

The Land of Whirlpools was a small island to the east of the Land of Fire. It was home to the Uzumaki Clan, a clan descended from the Sage of Six Paths and the foremost experts of fuuinjutsu. After the hidden villages were formed, the Uzumaki Clan created Uzushiogakure by taking small clans and clanless shinobi under their wing to increase their power base. They had a good alliance with their distant relatives, the Senju, but chose to keep the island nation as their home rather than move to become a part of Konoha. The Uzumaki were essentially the rulers of the Land of Whirlpools.

But their prowess with fuuinjutsu caused them to become greatly feared during the Shinobi World Wars. This was only worsened by their unusually long lives since the nature of fuuinjutsu meant that their elders can use it just as effectively as those in their prime, but armed with a greater well of knowledge and experience.

By the conclusion of Second Shinobi War, Uzushio and the Uzumaki were destroyed. The survivors were scattered as they fled their homeland, fearing that the rest of them would be hunted for their knowledge. The Land of Whirlpools was left ravaged and bereft of all leadership and shinobi presence.

Eventually, the island nation began to recuperate as victims of war sought out a land that would keep them out of the way of conflict. Without Uzushio, the Land of Whirlpools held little value and was isolated enough that there was no reason for shinobi to go there. As the settlers came and built atop the ruins of the hidden village, the island was renamed the Land of Waves to signify its new beginnings.

It actually managed to become a prosperous, little country through shipping. But this changed when the wealthy shipping magnate, Gatou, seized control of their shipping industry through money and violence. He gained a monopoly on all business traffic and the entire country entered poverty, including the feudal lord.

But a year later, Gatou was killed and a bridge was built from the Land of Waves to the Land of Fire which served as a major boost to the economy. The country managed to become more prosperous than ever before.

 

[Altered Nova]

RE: The Naruversity

You are pretty darn good at all this worldbuilding. Are you planning to write a fanfic?

I find it interesting that you chose to have the Mizukage Zabuza rebelled against be Mei, and his loyalty to have been with Yagura. Most people seem to prefer to believe he rebelled against Yagura and that Mei had not yet gained power before the timeskip. But then most people seem to play down just how nasty of a person Zabuza was just because he cried about the death of his servant before he died. A guy like him probably would prefer the "Bloody Mist" of Yagura to the "Kinder, more Progressive Mist" of Mei.

I like the idea that the samurai are strong but inflexible, while ninja started off weaker but were more adaptable and innovative. At the start of the ninja-samurai rivalry the ninja had likely not yet developed elemental affinities, bloodlines (aside from the descendants of the Sage), or many of the more powerful jutsu such as Shadow Clones (which was invented by Tobirama). They were more like stereotypical fantasy ninja, sneaking around and being tricky with henges and bunshins and other basic jutsu and no match in direct battle with a samurai and his chakra enhanced sword.

But the samurai were complacent and their techniques stagnated, while the ninja kept pushing the boundaries of chakra theory and inventing new jutsu. They invented incredible new jutsu that completely bypassed a samurai's sword and armor such as genjutsu and mind-body switch, they developed elemental affinities that let them use bigger and more deadly elemental jutsu, they even sneakily stole many of the samurai's own kenjutsu techniques (Sasuke, Omoi and Hayate would be more than equal to any average samurai in swordsmanship). Eventually the ninja eclipsed the samurai in power and the samurai became obsolete.

 

[Knyght]

RE: The Naruversity

You are pretty darn good at all this worldbuilding. Are you planning to write a fanfic?

That's the dream. But I rather like the world building in itself.

I find it interesting that you chose to have the Mizukage Zabuza rebelled against be Mei, and his loyalty to have been with Yagura. Most people seem to prefer to believe he rebelled against Yagura and that Mei had not yet gained power before the timeskip. But then most people seem to play down just how nasty of a person Zabuza was just because he cried about the death of his servant before he died. A guy like him probably would prefer the "Bloody Mist" of Yagura to the "Kinder, more Progressive Mist" of Mei.

That's exactly it. When more information about Kirigakure came to light, everyone started to believe that Zabuza had rebelled against Yagura like a hero. They seem to forget that he killed a graduating class before he was even a student and laughs at the memory. Personally, I like the idea that Zabuza was a complete bastard who you end up liking anyway.

 

[daosys]

RE: The Naruversity

What about Salamander Hanzou, are you planning to write about him?

 

[Knyght]

RE: The Naruversity

I'm tempted to do some other countries like the Land of Sound and Waterfalls so I might get around to it.

 

[Altered Nova]

RE: The Naruversity

Oh, a plothole in your Land of Water backstory. Kirigakure was already known as the "Bloody Mist" before Yagura became Mizukage, as one of the ANBU Obito slaughtered in the flashback of Rin's death used the title to brag about his village.

Unless Yagura became Mizukage before becoming a Jinchuuriki and he's a *lot* older than he looks.

 

[Knyght]

RE: The Naruversity

That's the assumption I was running with.

But I might have made a mistake in thinking that they became known as the "Bloody Mist" because of their graduation exam. And that the exam must have been started by Yagura since Mei makes it sounds like his nightmare reign is synonymous with the Bloody Mist Village. They were definitely known as the Bloody Mist Village since the latter half of the Third Shinobi War. Zabuza's graduation age is 9 and he probably became a ninja once he killed that class, so the graduated exam came to an end 17 years before Part 1 which should actually be during the war.

Hence why I thought he must be a lot older than he looks, and that he became a jinchuuriki after he was Mizukage since Rin must have become the Sanbi jinchuuriki before him.

 

[ankokudaishogun]

RE: The Naruversity

I do remember that sentence being referring to the THIRD Mizukage, though... I suspect the exam was started before Yagura, and Yagura "simply" worsened everything.

Also, let's remember Yagura couldn't possibly be a Jinchuriki before Obito... so, either he was remote-controlled by Madara or, more likely, he became Jinchuriki and Mizukage after Obito became Tobi

 

[Knyght]

RE: The Naruversity

I do remember that sentence being referring to the THIRD Mizukage.

Any idea where?

 

[ankokudaishogun]

RE: The Naruversity

No idea. I think it was on mangafox, but it has been years(literally) since then.

 

[Knyght]

Made some minor edits to the Land of Water and Samurai (now Land of Iron) profiles.

Ninja Monks (Official Version)

The Ninsou are shinobi who live as monks and are a branch of chakra wielders that originate from Ninshuu and share similar ideals to the Sage of Six Paths. They believe in promoting peace and the peaceful study and practice of chakra, so they travel the land to teach and aid others. Instead of using ninjutsu to harm, they use it to help and protect others only such as elemental ninjutsu to avert disasters or medical ninjutsu to heal the sick.

But they are not complete pacifists. They are willing to take up arms against any foe that threatens to disturb the peace of their homeland, and their pilgrimages often involve protecting villagers and travellers from bandits, beasts and shinobi. Once upon a time, it was even considered the duty of ninsou to combat the threat of the Bijuu when they brought calamity upon the world. In several cases, the first jinchuuriki after the hidden villages were monks such as Bunpuku of the Hidden Sand who willingly made the sacrifice, and the Hidden Cloud's Turtle Island even holds a temple for the Nibi and Hachibi.

In combat, they use taijutsu and fuuinjutsu. Mastery of taijutsu hones the body and mastery of fuuinjutsu hones the mind is their belief. Using taijutsu means that they are not defenceless against their enemies without betraying their principles of using ninjutsu for violence. It was even a ninsou who first discovered and named the Eight Celestial Gates. And whilst fuuinjutsu is a branch of ninjutsu, many of its jutsu are ideal for creating protective barriers or incapacitating an opponent without causing undue harm.

The ninsou are the only chakra wielders who still practice Ninshuu from the time of the Sage of Six Paths himself. As was the original purpose of chakra, they can connect their spiritual energy with other so they can understand another person's heart without speech; a part of history that is known by few outside of shinobi monasteries. They mastered this ability and communicate with each other with this method, creating a remarkably peaceful society amongst themselves. Some monasteries have made speech a taboo and only ever communicate through this method.

The Fire Temple is the most famous monastery of ninja monks and there are several reasons for this. One is the Senju and Uchiha Clans' veneration of their ancestors which tied into the tale of the Sage of Six Paths, another is Senju Hashirama's support during his tenure as the First Hokage due to his great respect for their ideals, and the last is the former custom of at least one of the Twelve Shinobi Guardians being a monk from the Fire Temple.

But the greatest reason is the ability known as the Gift of the Sages and can be considered the next stage of Ninshuu. Only a few possess this talent and persistent training to use but it is quite formidable. Through enlightened understanding of spiritual energy and the connected knowledge and spiritual power of a group of people working together, they create a special kind of chakra through which they can understand the shape and nature of chakra within a ninjutsu and then break it down into its component energies. It is essentially an anti-ninjutsu jutsu that promotes co-operation and friendship like the Sage spoke of, used to protect the user against most technique and shield the temples from harm.

It isn't necessary for the Gifted to work in a group but the more people who work alongside them, then the more powerful the Gift becomes. These monks often receive the highest positions within the monastery such as Chiriku of the Fire Temple, the strongest of their ninsou, who became the head monk.

The true mechanics of it is their greatest secret. But even if they knew, ninja who typically use their spiritual energy by connecting it with their own physical energies to produce chakra would find this to be one of the most difficult arts they could ever master.

Despite what most would think, ninsou have a cordial relationship with ninja. They are not blind to the reality of the world and recognize the need for warriors to defend their lands. And they do believe that one day ninja will finally disarm themselves and find peace. This opinion is not unanimous, of course, but ninja monks rarely involves themselves in politics and wars so there is no real problem beyond differing personal opinions.

But not all ninsou are peaceful.

There are the Jashinists worship the evil god Jashin, meaning Wicked Heart, who expects all of his followers to bring nothing less than utter destruction and death. They are a cult of evil, hedonistic ninsou discovered how to use Ninshuu to share all sensations of pain and pleasure between them. This caused them to all become sadists and masochists, to practice self-mutilation, torture and genocide as acts of worship and spurred them to invent immortality jutsu so they could abuse that power to its utmost without dying and revel in ecstasy even on the battlefield.

And there are the Shinjuuists who worship the Bijuu - whom they called Shinjuu, meaning Sacred Beasts - and believe that their purpose is to bring destruction down upon the unworthy and unjust. They vilify Hashirama and Madara for taming the beasts, and have been known to try and kill the jinchuuriki to release their captives back into the world.

These are nevertheless the minority and can rarely be considered a true threat.

 

[Altered Nova]

RE: The Naruversity

Jashinists being an off branch of the ninja monks, and shinjuuists... clever! I like that ninja monk profile a lot.

I wonder if the monks can still use some form of ninshuu as it was originally envisioned by the Sage of Six Paths, connecting their spiritual energies with each other so they can understand one another without communication. It would be kind of neat if the ninja monks had some kind of primitive hive-mind/telepathy setup with each other. Perhaps the Gift of the Hermit Group can tie into that - only ninja monks can use it because it requires an enlightened understanding of spiritual energy and the connected knowledge and spiritual power of a whole group of people working together to pull off, while regular ninja typically only use their spiritual energy by connecting it with their own physical energies to produce chakra.

 

[Knyght]

RE: The Naruversity

That sounds pretty damn good. The heart-to-heart communication was meant to be implied but I made that more explicit and expanded on it. And I suddenly remembered Shukaku's first jinchuuriki and that temple on Turtle Island so I threw in some of that. And there's now a small mention of the Eight Gates.

 

[nixofcyzerra]

RE: The Naruversity

But then how do the Yamanaka techniques fit into that scenario? Was the jutsu inspired by ninja-monks? Was the first Yamanaka Jutsu user a former ninja monk?

 

[Knyght]

RE: The Naruversity

I suppose their jutsu are similar to ninshuu. I'd never thought of that.

Maybe the first Yamanaka stole the knowledge from the ninja monks and recreated it. Maybe they learned that the roots of ninjutsu stemmed from ninshuu and decided to create a weaponized, non-pacifistic version of it. Maybe some ninja decided they wanted to learn those type of skills so they created a bunch of mind jutsu, not having any idea that it linked back to origin of shinobi.

In any case, they learned to use the spiritual chakra of Yin Release to recreate the ability which allows them to instantly communicate between clan member in a way that their enemies couldn't match and forcefully extract information from a person's mind, whether or not they were willing. Then they got really crazy by making jutsu which could possess someone to carry out assassination or seize control of someone's body to make them kill their allies or themselves. Basically, they completely bastardize the original concept to create a dangerous set of skills.

The ninja monks probably don't like them very much.

 

[Altered Nova]

RE: The Naruversity

It's pretty similar but the Yamanaka aren't capable of replicating the hive-mind knowledge sharing part of Ninshuu which the ninja monks specialize in. Get a dozen monks together who all are masters of different branches of ninjutsu and chakra theory and they basically become Hiruzen Sarutobi as long as their spiritual energies are connected. Ninja are too aggressive and individualistic to ever copy that feat.

So I got to thinking, how the heck did Kakuzu and Hidan manage to take out a whole temple of these guys when the monks special power makes them each more powerful the more of them that are fighting together? And then that comment you made about the Jashinists being evil ninja monks hit me. Hidan used his spiritual energy to sabotage their ninshuu!

Basically, I think the Jashinists were a cult of evil, hedonistic ninja monks who discovered how to use Ninshuu to share all sensations of pain and pleasure between them. This caused them to all become sadists and masochists, to practice self-mutilation, torture and genocide as acts of worship and spurred them to invent immortality jutsu so they could abuse that power to it's utmost without dying and revel in ecstasy even on the battlefield.

The damage mirroring curse of Hidan's used blood magic to forcefully initiate a twisted kind of Ninshuu between him and his victim that caused them to share all sensations of pain and pleasure, and the spiritual connection is so strong it even causes physical injuries to be shared (the same principle for why the Yamanaka's possession jutsu has that weakness, except it's not a flaw to a Jashinist!). Against a normal ninja it's nasty enough since it lets him torment and kill them at his leisure and they likely won't be spiritually enlightened enough to break free, but it's basically kryptonite to other monks. When Hidan invaded the ninja temple he managed to draw some blood from one of the monks and their ninshuu let him capture not just that one monk, but *all* of the monks who were spiritually connected to him as well. They probably recognized what he'd done and broke the ninshuu before he could kill them all in one go, but without the Gift of the Hermit group the monks were simply no match for two S-rank missing-nin.

 

[Knyght]

RE: The Naruversity

To be fair, the ninja monks become more powerful in a fairly limited sense. They don't use ninjutsu for combat after all, so they're limited by the fact that they choose not to use them and that they don't train themselves for it. Against Hidan and Kakuzu, they take away any standard ninjutsu but that still leaves Kakuzu's Jiongu and Hidan's immortality and curses. And that's more than enough to make them dangerous as all hell.

But that's a pretty badass scenario and still fits in.

I've now gone and looked back through the manga and databook which I neglected before and caught some things I hadn't noticed.

"Gift of the Sages: A special power that the priests of the Fire Temple have. Persistent training is needed to develop this talent that only a few people have." - The manga backs it up that it's exclusive to the Fire Temple. So it's a more limited than I thought.

Edit: So perhaps the ninshu communication is something practiced by all but only a few are able to use the Gift, who are probably the top dogs of the temple such as Chiriku who "no-one in the temple comes close to in strength". The ones who can can use it by themselves but working as a group makes it stronger, and we see Chiriku face Akatsuki alone with the monks as his support so that can tie in with it.


Back to an earlier discussion, Suigutsu's bio states that Kiri's ritual is what earned them the name the Village of Bloody Mists so I wasn't imagining that. :sisi:

 

[daosys]

RE: The Naruversity

This is probably the right place to ask...
Why Sage techniques are so different? Snake, Toad and Slugs Senjutsu? Why Rikudou's Senjutsu - he gave it to Naruto - is so powerful?

 

[Knyght]

RE: The Naruversity

My theory - and I think it's the most accepted theory - is that because the would-be sage signed the summoning contract with blood, the connection forged between them means that they take on the physical qualities of those summon animals. Naruto and Jiraiya signed the toad summoning contract so they take on toad-like qualities and Kabuto signed the snake summoning contract so he grows 'dragon' horns. What happens with slug senjutsu is currently unknown, unless Hashirama is meant to be a Slug Sage.

I wrote an extended explanation on Senjutsu here, though I've got nothing on what's the deal with Hagoromo's senjutsu. Other than "he's the Sage of Six Paths and that's how he rolls" anyway. :snigger:

 

[Altered Nova]

RE: The Naruversity

I agree that if you use an animal clan's specific training methods to acquire senjutsu then as a side effect you'll take on their specific animalistic properties when using senjutsu until you master it. It probably has something to do with the items used for the training - the toad oil was probably the trigger for Naruto and Jiraiya. The snake clan probably has some kind of nonlethal venom that had the same effect for Kabuto and Orochimaru, and the Slug clan's secret ingredient would obviously be some kind of slime. Or it could just be the blood contract thing as Knight speculated.

Pure untainted-by-summon-animal chakra "human style" senjutsu on the other hand seems to give one a slightly demonic, oni-like appearance. Which would explain Hagoromo and Kaguya's pale skin and horns (and Madara's current form). Juugo's fully transformed state and the Cursed seal level 2 transformation state are almost certainly corrupted versions of the same "human-style" senjutsu used by the Sage and his mother, as we know that Juugo's transformations are powered by nature energy and that Orochimaru trained in senjutsu before developing the cursed seal but did not have a strong enough body to handle a proper Sage Mode power-up transformation.

Hashirama is the only mystery to me. Maybe his facial markings are unique to slug style senjutsu or maybe it's something unique to Mokuton, which seems to be related to nature energy in some way judging by it's special effectiveness against bijuu and the fact that only an incarnation of Asura could naturally acquire the bloodline.

 

[daosys]

RE: The Naruversity

Thanks for your answers.

I want just add that Senjutsu could be different in a way of molding/mixing spiritual, physical and natural energies. I mean, Toad Senjutsu must be 1/3+1/3+1/3. And Snake Senjutsu could be different.

 

[Knyght]

Now for that ass-backwards clan that got pushed to the wayside. The mechanics of the Caged Bird Seal actually come from something Lord Raine wrote a long while back.

What's up with Hinata not being branded with the seal anyway? It's like they're just giving the Byakugan away.

Hyuuga Clan (Official Version)

The Hyuuga are one of the four clans said to have descended from the Sage of Six Paths and are distant relatives of the Uchiha Clan. They are most famous for their Byakugan, one of the Three Great Doujutsu, and their Gentle Fist taijutsu style.

Their visual bloodline limit enables them to see chakra on an intricate level, through solid obstacles, across great distances and in a 360 degree direction. In a time where shinobi fought in the shadows, this made the Hyuuga invaluable as scouts and bodyguards since few can escape their sight.

But as ninjutsu advanced, the inherent advantage they held over the other clans was lessened slowly but surely. They sought a new way to grow stronger and that resulted in the Gentle Fist. While everyone else has to rely on feeling and intuition when controlling their chakra, the Hyuuga can see exactly what they are doing for themselves. Through this they could attain perfect chakra control and they soon combined it with the ability to see a person’s chakra pathways.

The basis of the style is for the Hyuuga to gather chakra into their hands and then release it in a single, controlled burst directly into the opponent’s chakra pathways the moment they touch their body. The foreign chakra spike damages the pathways and through that, the surrounding flesh and organs. The next stage involves perceiving and jabbing the chakra points of the pathways to disrupt an opponent's chakra flow to remove their jutsu or incapacitate them. By aiming for the chakra point of the heart, they can even kill with a single blow.

The Gentle Fist was soon recognized as one of the deadliest taijutsu styles in existence and has lost none of its notoriety by the present day.

Unfortunately, the reputation of the Hyuuga meant that their secrets were highly sought after. Since the Byakugan was so easily awakened in their clan and could be used easily even by someone not of their bloodline, the Hyuuga suffered from theft and grave-robbing more than any other clan. They were beset by enemies on all sides who wished the tear them down.

To protect themselves, they created the Caged Bird Seal. The Caged Bird Seal works by causing a cascade feedback loop upon the death of the wearer, destroying their entire chakra coil system, and disintegrating their chakra points. This renders the corpse completely worthless in stealing the Byakugan or any of its secrets from their body.

The clan was split into the Main House and Branch House. The Main House became the rulers who governed the clan and did not participate in mission or warfare except in most dire circumstances. Because of this, it was their duty to devote their time to training, mastering every aspect of and pushing the boundaries of their unique style, creating new martial art techniques and inventing new jutsu.

The Branch House was branded with the Caged Bird Seal and they devoted themselves to fighting in war, performing missions, bringing in revenue and protecting the Main House. They were raised to believe that the death of the Main House was the death of the clan and that it was their duty to give their lives to protect the Main House. If necessary, they would kill themselves by activating the Caged Bird Seal or one of the Main House would do it for them.

To begin with, the Main House ruled fairly and the Branch House served them with honour. But after a few generations, the Main House questioned why they should share the elite jutsu that they had painstakingly developed with the ones who were meant to serve them. They believed it was unfair that the Branch House gained recognition for these skills and were seen as the strongest of the clan.

What also came to light at this time was that because the Caged Bird Seal was hooked into the entirety of the wearer's chakra system, it could be partially activated, causing intense pain as a miniature feedback loop is created in their system. Since the chakra coils are connected to one's muscles, organs, bones, and tissue, exploiting the system via the seal allowed them to inflict full-body pain on the subject, attacking every part of them simultaneously and equally. The intensity of this can vary from annoying to excruciating to crippling, depending on how far the seal is activated.

New rules and traditions were set in place so that only the Main House were allowed to learn the advanced jutsu of the Gentle Fist whilst the Branch House were left with the scraps. Should a Branch House speak out or defy the Main House in any way then they would be punished with crippling pain or even death.

It was a time of great friction and discord within the clan but it was followed by resignation. There’s an undercurrent of resentment and jealousy in the Branch House that persists to the current day, but there are very few that genuinely hate the Main House or have tried to change the clan. The Main House ruled and the Branch House served; that is the way of their clan.

A little known fact about the Hyuuga Clan is that there were originally from the area that would become the Land of Lightning and were first invited to join the newly formed Kumogakure. But they chose not to ally themselves with those who had killed and stolen from them for generations, instead venturing south to join their cousins in the Konohagakure. This slight was never forgotten or forgiven.

The clan changed little upon joining the village as, like before, the Main House ruled the clan and the Branch House performed their missions. But they were highly respected by their Konoha comrades for their skills. Some, both inside the clan and out, believe that the separation of houses and the cursed seal were an unnecessary existence now that the Warring Clans Era had ended, but nothing has come from such whispers.

Not yet.

 

[nixofcyzerra]

RE: The Naruversity

A great bonus of this theory is that, according to it, Hinata would have proven to be the superior choice for Clan Head under the original criteria, what with her Twin Lion Fist and the anime-only Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.