Naruto: The Five Great Shinobi Villages, Explained
From the beautiful Konohagakure to the chilling Kumogakure, this is all you need to know about the five great shinobi villagesThe Puppet Technique: The Sand’s Secret Weapon
The Puppet Technique originates from the Hidden Sand Village and has its roots in the creative endeavors of Monzaemon Chikamatsu, a playwright who initially used puppets for entertainment. Chikamatsu's puppeteering techniques laid the foundation for a distinct line of ninja arts within the Sand, evolving into a formidable tool in modern shinobi warfare due to its lethal nature and element of surprise. The technique employs delicate chakra threads to manipulate puppets from a distance, and mastery over time reduces the need for an extensive number of chakra threads.
Chakra threads emanate from the puppeteer's fingers, with the movement of these fingers dictating the actions of the puppets. Beginners typically use all ten fingers to control a single puppet, while the pinnacle of mastery involves dedicating each finger to a separate puppet. Remarkably, accomplished puppeteers like Sasori have demonstrated surpassing this limit, orchestrating the control of up to one hundred puppets simultaneously.
While puppets in themselves may seem harmless, their lethal potential lies in the concealed weaponry integrated within. Blades and knives are commonplace offensive implements embedded in these puppets, though more advanced versions may feature mechanisms to ensnare targets or store poisons for a more debilitating effect. The versatility and ingenuity in this realm of ninja arts are unparalleled, as puppets can be crafted in myriad ways with distinctive modifications and enhancements. This establishes Puppet Techniques as one of the Hidden Sand's most potent weapons, relying on the element of surprise to effectively neutralize entire enemy forces.
The Puppet Technique’s Weaknesses
The Puppet Technique has proven to be an exceptional weapon for the Hidden Sand, though it isn’t without its weaknesses and drawbacks. One of the primary issues with the technique lies in the user’s reliance on puppets as the sole offensive weapon. Moreover, the long-range nature of this technique deems close-range combat quite arduous for puppeteers, leaving them exposed and vulnerable if enemies close the gap.
Naruto: The 28 Strongest Jutsu In The Series, Ranked
Jutsu is a huge part of the Naruto series. These are the absolute strongest in the series, ranked.If enemies are successful in destroying or debilitating these puppets, the puppeteer is left entirely vulnerable. One workaround to this is keeping spare puppets, a trick that Kankuro has been witnessed using multiple times. Another method of maintaining a gap is to hide inside the puppets, using their bodies as a shield against any sort of direct offensive. Sasori and Kankuro initially hid inside their puppets, tricking enemies into believing the puppets to be their real bodies.
Users of the Puppet Technique
The Puppet Technique is relatively common within the Hidden Sand Village, yet known users are rather limited. The most prominent users of this technique include Sasori, Granny Chiyo, and Kankuro, with Shinki later being added to this lineup in Boruto. Other additions to this roster were made in anime-only content and video games, yet the filler nature of these characters excludes them from being significant to the show’s premise.
Granny Chiyo is one of the pioneers of this technique, naturally making her a skilled user of the Puppet Jutsu. However, Sasori surpassed his grandmother at an extremely young age, especially with his advancements in human puppeteering. He was also able to control more than ten puppets at a time, though this could largely be attributed to his non-human body. Sasori entirely nullified the need for chakra threads by turning himself into a puppet, as his core could control puppets directly due to chakra infusion.
Kankuro’s strength in terms of being a puppeteer is undeniable, yet his actual place as a puppeteering expert is rather vague. He acquired all of Sasori’s puppets and presented reasonable mastery over them during the Fourth Great Ninja War. However, he failed to present any reasonable feats in battle, mostly being relegated to a supporting character in most fights.
Naruto is available to stream on Prime Video.
