Post by Uzumaki Naruto on Dec 24, 2011 20:07:01 GMT -5
Background
A newborn Naruto with his mother Kushina.
Naruto was born as the son of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and the Nine-Tails' second jinchūriki, Kushina Uzumaki. Naruto's parents named him after the main character of Jiraiya's first book, thus making the Sannin his godfather.[4]
Prior to Naruto's birth, his parents and the Third Hokage knew that the seal that kept the Nine-Tails within Kushina would be in danger of breaking during childbirth.[5] To prevent that threat Kushina was taken a short distance outside of the village to give birth in a secure, secret location with Biwako Sarutobi and Taji as her midwives, a few ANBU as security, and Minato to keep the seal in place. However, immediately after Kushina gave birth, Tobi appeared and took Naruto hostage, demanding that Minato step away from Kushina or he would kill the newborn child. He then used a clever diversion that forced Minato to transport the baby to a safer location, allowing him to escape with Kushina. By the time Minato could intervene, Tobi had already succeeded in releasing the Nine-Tails.
Fortunately, Kushina (who survived the extraction thanks to her strong vitality) was saved by Minato and brought to Naruto, leaving the weakened mother to care for the sleeping Naruto while Minato went to combat Tobi. To save the village, Minato sacrificed his life to seal the Nine-Tails within Naruto, believing that his son would someday have need of the beast's power to defeat Tobi.[6] Suddenly orphaned, Naruto was left to grow up knowing nothing of his parents, receiving only his mother's last name because the Third Hokage thought that it was best that nobody knew that he was related to the Fourth Hokage.
Naruto as a child.
Before Minato died, he asked that the villagers of Konoha view Naruto as a hero who had helped defeat the Nine-Tails. However, only a few of the villagers honoured his request, while most instead resented him for containing the monster that had destroyed their home. In light of this, the Third Hokage decreed that nobody should ever speak of the truth about Naruto, hoping that by doing this, their children would not resent him as they did. The children, however, followed their parents' lead, despite not knowing why. Apart from the Third Hokage, Iruka Umino was the only one who acted as a surrogate family to the young Naruto along with the owner of Ramen Ichiraku: Teuchi and his daughter Ayame to some extent.
Naruto and Sasuke's rivalry in the Ninja Academy.
When Naruto first met Sasuke Uchiha in the Ninja Academy, they were matched to spar against each other. Naruto was excited at the opportunity to defeat Sasuke and become so popular like him, however he was easily beaten. By looking at Sasuke's eyes, Naruto realised that they were filled with hatred. When Iruka told them to make the reconciliation seal, they both refused.[7] Then, Naruto became determined to beat Sasuke, making him his rival. When Naruto found out that Sasuke was also an orphan, he was secretly happy for not being the only one alone and wanted to talk to him, but couldn't because of his jealousy. Still, Naruto wished that, someday, Sasuke would acknowledge him as an equal.
Personality
[/b]Naruto's room.
Due to the prejudice and loneliness he suffered in his childhood, Naruto developed a craving for acknowledgement. In order to achieve this, Naruto would pull pranks all around the village and even going far as strive for the title of Hokage. Even after graduating from the academy, Naruto was still determined to be recognised, but as he made more and more connections with others, his reasons for wanting to become Hokage underwent a change, having less to do with the desire for recognition, and more to do with wanting the strength to protect his home and the people close to him. As noted by Tobi, Naruto is a fervent believer in the Will of Fire, likening him to Hashirama Senju in this respect.[8] Naruto's unstoppable determination and drive strongly impacts the lives around him, even his enemies had been affected by his empathy. Both Kakashi and Temari had referred to Naruto's amazing charisma as a "unique power" that allows him to change the worldly views of others.
Naruto is most prominently characterised by his hyperactivity, being exuberant, impatient, impulsive, and inattentive. According to Kakashi, Naruto learns through his body. He is relatively naive and simple, being slow to understand a principle or situation, and often requiring an oversimplified analogy in order to grasp what is being explained to him.[9] Overall, Naruto responds best to competition and possesses a great degree of confidence in himself, loudly proclaiming that he will master whatever technique he is learning in a fraction of the usual time,[10] though he will not hesitate to ask for help if he needs it.[11]
Naruto has a number of other distinct traits as well. He inherited his catch-phrase "Dattebayo!" (だってばよ!) from his mother, Kushina Uzumaki, who would say "(da)ttebane" ((だ)ってばね) when excited or frustrated.[12] He also has a childish quirk of keeping his money in a chubby, green-frog wallet he affectionately calls "Gama-chan".[13] He is also very brash and rarely pays heed to formality or social standings. He almost exclusively eats ramen, and is a frequent customer at the Ramen Ichiraku. He is also something of a pervert, something he tends to be reprimanded for by Sakura as well as Iruka, and has only become more so after meeting Jiraiya. He smiles near-constantly which during his childhood, was to mask the sadness of his lonely life. Those who are closest to him are able to recognise when his smile isn't genuine.
Naruto making a promise in the "nice guy" pose.
However, when the situation calls for it or when someone dear to him is in trouble, Naruto can be very serious, and will instantly try to come to their aid. This is most commonly seen in the series through his interactions with his team-mates, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. With Sasuke, Naruto views him as a brother, and throughout Part II strives to bring him back to Konoha, despite his willing defection from the village. With Sakura, Naruto has a long-standing crush on her, and Naruto would do all in his power to make her happy, even if it is at the expense of his own happiness. Sai has indicated that this dedication has progressed to the point of love, and though Sakura has been shown to care for Naruto, she doesn't reciprocate these feelings for him. In the anime, Naruto tells Shizuka that though he fell for Sakura, Naruto knows that his affections are one-sided on his part and says that even though she may never reciprocate the affections he held for her, he was happy so long as Sakura was happy. However, despite this claim, Sai notes that the strain of making Sakura happy, and bringing Sasuke home are the source of Naruto's internal pain. Like Guy and Rock Lee, when Naruto makes a promise he assumes the "nice guy pose".
After the loss of his mentor Jiraiya, talking with his own father, and to Jiraiya's killer and former pupil, Nagato, Naruto came to understand the downside of revenge, and desired to save Sasuke from it even more. Naruto also tried to stop the Kumo-nin from exacting their revenge against Sasuke, since this would only create a cycle of hatred. It appeared that Naruto was becoming increasingly desperate in his quest to save Sasuke, as he was willing to take physical abuse from the Kumo-nin over selling Sasuke out as well as getting down on his knees before the Raikage and beg for Sasuke to be forgiven for his crimes. Furthermore, after learning from Madara the reason of Sasuke's hatred, Naruto decided and proclaimed to Sakura, who was trying to get him to leave his quest, that he truly understood Sasuke now. He wanted to save Sasuke, not just because of the promise he made to Sakura, but also for himself. However, after learning from Sai that the rest of his comrades were aiming to kill Sasuke, and that nobody in the village would ever accept him again, Naruto suffered from hyperventilation due to the extreme conflict that he has been presented with.
Upon finally reuniting with Sasuke, Naruto sympathised with the criminal for his actions, and refused to back down or kill him, instead finding a third solution. Naruto came to the conclusion that the two of them were indeed destined to fight, as Tobi predicted, and that when that happens, since both he and Sasuke were top-ranked ninja, they would most likely die. Naruto is fully prepared to shoulder Sasuke's hatred as a friend, and is, in a way, the sole person to not have given up hope on him. However, like the rest of Konoha, Naruto has finally given up in bringing Sasuke back as a citizen of the village, believing that words would no longer have any effect to allowing them to understand each other, and has resigned himself to fighting (and potentially killing) Sasuke to protect Konoha. To prevent himself from dying when he fights Sasuke, Naruto started training to master the Nine-Tails, saying he was through running from being a jinchūriki and prepared to complete "that technique".
Naruto also has shown to deeply love both his parents. When he met his father, and despite being angry at Minato for sealing the Nine-Tails inside of him, Naruto quickly got over his anger and was overjoyed and proud to be the Fourth Hokage's son. He also tearfully embraced his mother Kushina when he met her. After learning how his parents met and what happened during the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha, Naruto told his mother that he could finally understand how a parent's love felt like and that he didn't blame her or Minato, instead he felt glad to be their son. When the Fourth Raikage criticised on how Minato was supposedly the "Child of the Prophecy" and claiming that he failed when he died against the Nine-Tails, Naruto, remembering what his mother had told him about Minato's love and faith in his son, angrily reproached the Raikage for insulting his father because he didn't know him, and that the Fourth Hokage hadn't failed at all. Naruto also explained to the Fourth Raikage that despite his parents dying shortly after he was born, they both made him strong.
Since the start of the Fourth Shinobi World War, and by extension, the invasion of Pain, Naruto had frequently thought that it was his 'duty' and 'burden' to stop the pain and hatred, and that he must shoulder it alone. However, Itachi pointed out to Naruto that this line of thought, coupled with his increasing power, would only make him arrogant. He even went as far as to suggest that Naruto could one day become like Madara should he forget about his friends.
Dark Naruto
[/b]Dark Naruto.
After Killer B refused to train Naruto, Motoi guided Naruto and Yamato to the Falls of Truth, the place where B trained to control the Eight-Tails. He instructed Naruto to sit on a platform and close his eyes. Soon after, Dark Naruto (闇ナルト, Yami Naruto), the manifestation of hatred that existed within Naruto's heart, appeared, berating Naruto for how quickly the people from Konoha changed their ideals about him. Dark Naruto exclaimed that the Nine-Tails liked him better and he was the real Naruto while Naruto was an imposter.[18] They started to fight, but after a while, Naruto realised that they both had the same techniques, skills, and tactics. As a result, their fight was a draw and Naruto mentioned that if they continued like this, it would take a very long time to settle it.
He appeared once again after Naruto returned to the Falls of Truth. Instead of fighting, Naruto projected an image from his mind of his autograph signature that he was unable to give to the Konoha shinobi. This angered Dark Naruto, pointing out to Naruto that those people were part of the same villagers who made him suffer as an outcast, telling him that he shouldn't trust them. However, Naruto stated that he trusted the villagers because they were important to him, but what was also important was that he needed to have faith in himself, so he would have the strength to live up to the villagers' trust in him. Naruto's statement started to weaken Dark Naruto, then forcing him to ask what was the reason for his existence. Naruto stated that Dark Naruto was really him and thanked Dark Naruto for pushing him to be the person he was now. He hugged Dark Naruto when the latter tried to attack him, telling Dark Naruto that it was all going to be alright. Letting go of his own anger at their past, Dark Naruto's eyes lightened as he gave into Naruto's words, and disappeared.
Later, when Naruto entered his subconscious, the Nine-Tails expressed surprise as it could no longer sense any hatred within Naruto, and questioned Naruto about where the "real him" was, to which Naruto replied that the real him was right in front of it.
Appearance
[/center]As stated by Jiraiya, Naruto bears a striking resemblance to his father, having Minato's blue eyes and blond, spiky hair. From his mother, Naruto inherited the shape of both his eyes and face.[21] During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Dan Katō initially mistakes him for Nawaki due to their stark resemblance as well.[22] Naruto's most prominent physical characteristics however, are the whisker marks on his face that he gained from the Nine-Tails influence on him while he was in Kushina's womb. Probably Naruto's most regularly mentioned trait before the second half of the series (which easily provoked him) was his short stature for his age. After the time skip, he had a noticeably significant growth spurt which made him taller than his team-mate, Sakura.
In Part I, Naruto's outfit consisted of an orange tracksuit with blue on the upper shoulders area as well as around the waist, a white swirl with a tassel on the left side, a red swirl on the back, a large white collar, orange pants, blue sandals, and a blue forehead protector that was given to him by Iruka after he graduated from the Ninja Academy.
Naruto as he appeared during his battle with Pain.
In Part II, Naruto's outfit undergoes modification after being worn to shreds during his training with Jiraiya.[23] The outfit retains the orange colour as well as the white (without the tassel) and red swirls, but the jacket is much more form fitting with the blue parts changed to black and the colour extending from around the neck and shoulders to down the front and the sleeves. The forehead protector has also changed with Naruto moving the metal portion to a new longer black bandanna and he wears black sandals instead of blue. During his battle with Pain, Naruto briefly sported a short-sleeved red coat with a back flame pattern on the hemline. He also carried a large summoning scroll on his back.
academy
genin
anbu
(for later on in the bio)
(for later on in the bio)hokage
(also later on in the bio)[/right]sage
Abilities
[/center]At the start of the series, one of the only techniques Naruto could do without fail was the Transformation Technique, and his own original variant of the technique called the Sexy Technique; a creative but almost completely useless diversionary technique, used simply to shock his instructors.[24] Throughout Part I he learns a number of short-range techniques, which are expanded upon during his two-and-a-half years of training with Jiraiya. Naruto also improves his knowledge of other ninja skills while under Jiraiya's tutelage, using more taijutsu and ninja tools than he did in Part I. He also learned how to dispel genjutsu and despite his limited skill with it he was able to resist being put to sleep by Itachi Uchiha. During Part II, he starts to master longer-range techniques, such as the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, Mini-Rasenshuriken, and chakra arms.
In Part I, Naruto is regularly noted to have a great deal of potential, primarily because of the Nine-Tails sealed within him. When Orochimaru saw him defeat Kabuto, he tried to kill Naruto for fear of what he would become. This potential manifests itself during Part II when he regularly proves himself a match for the S-rank members of Akatsuki. His victory over the Six Paths of Pain has earned him great accolade in the ninja world: Konoha villagers now even believe he is Hokage-material after they hear about it, and Zetsu, after seeing the battle, suggests Naruto has become stronger than Sasuke. With further training and subjugation of the Nine-Tails he is even able to fight on a comparable level against Kage of both the previous and current generation on the battlefield. One of his clones even received praise from the likes of Madara Uchiha after stopping one of his attacks.
Being a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, Naruto inherited incredible stamina and vitality, which is further augmented by the Nine-Tails. According to Kakashi, Naruto's normal chakra level is at least four times of his own.[25] He apparently has some knowledge on fūinjutsu, as he knew how to use the seal's key after receiving Gerotora, and resealed the Nine-Tails after he separated it from its chakra.[26] Jiraiya had left Naruto with the key to help him complete an as of yet unknown technique which he, Naruto, and Minato have been working on, but never finished. Naruto stated that he was ready to complete it.
Jinchūriki Transformations
Main article: Naruto Uzumaki's Jinchūriki Forms
Naruto's initial jinchūriki form.
As the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, Naruto is gifted with its enormous supply of chakra and stamina, to which Kakashi estimated it to be a hundred times greater than his own when its influence is not suppressed.[25] It also gives Naruto accelerated healing (recovering from minor injuries within a few seconds to major injuries within a day) and depending on the amount of the Nine-Tails' chakra he's using, Naruto is also given an increase in strength, speed, and his healing factor to such levels that he recovered from a Chidori strike through his chest in mere seconds. At times, he is also granted a nearly impenetrable, fox-shaped chakra shroud.
The seal had allowed a small amount of the Nine-Tails' chakra to always mix with Naruto's own. In Part I, Jiraiya once commented on the fact that Naruto's body was much too small a vessel to properly contain the Nine-Tails' chakra, and his body would instinctively reject the bulk of it due to the damage it could cause. Ebisu also implied that Naruto's poor chakra control stemmed from this, as a portion of his chakra was used in attempt to suppress the Nine-Tails' own overwhelming chakra.
The Nine-Tails' chakra first came to Naruto during life-threatening situations, given to him by the Nine-Tails itself to ensure its survival, but after training with Jiraiya, Naruto learned how to contact the Nine-Tails and demand some of its chakra. Alternatively, Naruto could give into his anger or frustration, allowing the Nine-Tails to force its influence upon him. Depending on how much he gained, the Nine-Tails' influence within its chakra could make Naruto lose control of his senses, devolving into an animal that attacks anything within reach, as well as damaging his own body, slowly shortening his lifespan. Although a number of methods had been devised to break its influence over Naruto (Jiraiya's seal tag,[27] and Yamato's Hokage-Style Sixty-Year-Old Technique — Kakuan Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands, which was facilitated by Hashirama Senju's necklace Naruto wore before its destruction),[28][29] Naruto simply limited his use of the Nine-Tails' chakra, and tried not to allow his anger get the best of him, but he eventually attempted to exercise more control over it.
Naruto demonstrating one of his new Rasengan ninjutsu in his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
The Nine-Tails Chakra Mode is a form that Naruto gained after he separated and sealed the Nine-Tails from its chakra. He can access its chakra directly whenever he needs it without interacting with the beast at all. In doing so, he gains a chakra shroud that resembles the Sage of the Six Paths' silhouette.[26] This form's chakra shroud also gives Naruto a great deal of protection, but he noted that it would have been dangerous, and the fight would have been over, if A had gotten a clean hit on him.[30] Like his predecessor, Mito Uzumaki, Naruto also gains the Nine-Tails' ability to sense negative emotions as well as chakra signatures from very long distances, even while he was inside a chakra isolation chamber within the Falls of Truth; something that not even the best sensor-type ninja can do.[31][32] The power of his techniques become so great that unless they already have some inherent durability, like the Third Raikage, resurrected shinobi have a hard time regenerating.[33] He has shown to stay in this form for an entire night and most of the morning during the Fourth Shinobi World War, much longer than that of Sage Mode.
Taijutsu Edit
Naruto fighting Kiba.
Naruto had always been at least passable in taijutsu, ever since the Academy where he received a B in that class. Throughout Part I, his taijutsu slowly improved, where it was first showcased in his battle with Kiba Inuzuka in the Chūnin Exams preliminaries where he was able to hold his own and avoid multiple slash attacks from Kiba and Akamaru's Four Legs Technique without the aid of his shadow clones. A testament to his skill with taijutsu was shown when Naruto was fighting against Neji Hyūga's Gentle Fist techniques in the Chūnin Exam finals, where he got into striking distance using only hand-to-hand combat. After the time skip, Naruto's taijutsu improved greatly under the tutelage of Jiraiya where he could hold his own in hand-to-hand against several shinobi skilled in taijutsu. Throughout the series, Naruto's taijutsu continually improved, eventually learning the Frog Kata style from Fukasaku. He was also able to react quickly enough to block Karui's sword with his elbow while she was slashing, then catch her blade when she tried a spinning slash, and even break it. In Sage Mode, he was able to beat the Deva Path twice in taijutsu, the first time sending it flying back with a roundhouse kick leaving it vulnerable to a Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, and the second time disarming it of its Chakra Disruption Blade and sending it crashing into a boulder with a single kick. After thinking he found a weakness in the Third Raikage's ultimate shield, Naruto used the Frog Kata style to avoid his Hell Stab when it was just one finger by sensing the chakra, before slamming a Rasengan right into the Raikage's elbow to send his Nukite slamming right into his chest.[34] While in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, he was also able to block several of A's immensely strong punches despite being intercepted several times.
On top of his taijutsu skills, Naruto has shown a high level of physical strength. During the Chūnin Exams, he stopped a charge from one of Orochimaru's giant snakes albeit while using the Nine-Tails' chakra. During his senjutsu training in Part II, he was able to budge one of the huge statues without using the special oil. After the training, he could shatter stone with his raw strength, as seen when he escaped from the petrified Preta Path after it absorbed too much of his senjutsu chakra. His strength is increased to such a point in Sage Mode where he can toss not only the Animal Path's Giant Rhino after stopping its charge, but the Nine-Tails itself. In Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Naruto becomes strong enough to push a fully formed Tailed Beast Ball through a multiple layered barrier.
Naruto has also displayed impressive speed over the time skip as well. When confronting Sasuke after the Five Kage Summit, he saved Sakura from her own poisoned kunai which Sasuke wielded to stab her and received only a shallow cut in exchange. Naruto was then able to restrain Kakashi while charging up a Rasengan, meeting Sasuke's Chidori charge and equaling it. While in Sage Mode, Naruto's speed increases greatly to the point where he could intercept the Asura Path, which was using its chakra boots before Nagato could complete his sentence or attack Tsunade. He was even able to avoid the Third Raikage's Nukite at near point blank range and retaliate with a Rasengan after meeting his charge. Naruto's speed is at its greatest however, while in his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, where Killer B even had trouble determining if he used the Body Flicker Technique when attacking Kisame Hoshigaki, who was hidden in Samehada. His speed in this form surpasses even that of A's while clad in his Lightning Release Armour as seen when he was able to dodge A's attack while he was clad in a full-powered lightning armour and using what he referred to as his fastest attack, something that only the Fourth Hokage had done in the past, with his Flying Thunder God Technique.
Taijutsu
[/b]Naruto fighting Kiba.
Naruto had always been at least passable in taijutsu, ever since the Academy where he received a B in that class. Throughout Part I, his taijutsu slowly improved, where it was first showcased in his battle with Kiba Inuzuka in the Chūnin Exams preliminaries where he was able to hold his own and avoid multiple slash attacks from Kiba and Akamaru's Four Legs Technique without the aid of his shadow clones. A testament to his skill with taijutsu was shown when Naruto was fighting against Neji Hyūga's Gentle Fist techniques in the Chūnin Exam finals, where he got into striking distance using only hand-to-hand combat. After the time skip, Naruto's taijutsu improved greatly under the tutelage of Jiraiya where he could hold his own in hand-to-hand against several shinobi skilled in taijutsu. Throughout the series, Naruto's taijutsu continually improved, eventually learning the Frog Kata style from Fukasaku. He was also able to react quickly enough to block Karui's sword with his elbow while she was slashing, then catch her blade when she tried a spinning slash, and even break it. In Sage Mode, he was able to beat the Deva Path twice in taijutsu, the first time sending it flying back with a roundhouse kick leaving it vulnerable to a Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, and the second time disarming it of its Chakra Disruption Blade and sending it crashing into a boulder with a single kick. After thinking he found a weakness in the Third Raikage's ultimate shield, Naruto used the Frog Kata style to avoid his Hell Stab when it was just one finger by sensing the chakra, before slamming a Rasengan right into the Raikage's elbow to send his Nukite slamming right into his chest.[34] While in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, he was also able to block several of A's immensely strong punches despite being intercepted several times.[30]
On top of his taijutsu skills, Naruto has shown a high level of physical strength. During the Chūnin Exams, he stopped a charge from one of Orochimaru's giant snakes albeit while using the Nine-Tails' chakra. During his senjutsu training in Part II, he was able to budge one of the huge statues without using the special oil. After the training, he could shatter stone with his raw strength, as seen when he escaped from the petrified Preta Path after it absorbed too much of his senjutsu chakra. His strength is increased to such a point in Sage Mode where he can toss not only the Animal Path's Giant Rhino after stopping its charge, but the Nine-Tails itself. In Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Naruto becomes strong enough to push a fully formed Tailed Beast Ball through a multiple layered barrier.[35]
Naruto has also displayed impressive speed over the time skip as well. When confronting Sasuke after the Five Kage Summit, he saved Sakura from her own poisoned kunai which Sasuke wielded to stab her and received only a shallow cut in exchange. Naruto was then able to restrain Kakashi while charging up a Rasengan, meeting Sasuke's Chidori charge and equaling it. While in Sage Mode, Naruto's speed increases greatly to the point where he could intercept the Asura Path, which was using its chakra boots before Nagato could complete his sentence or attack Tsunade. He was even able to avoid the Third Raikage's Nukite at near point blank range and retaliate with a Rasengan after meeting his charge. Naruto's speed is at its greatest however, while in his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, where Killer B even had trouble determining if he used the Body Flicker Technique when attacking Kisame Hoshigaki, who was hidden in Samehada. His speed in this form surpasses even that of A's while clad in his Lightning Release Armour as seen when he was able to dodge A's attack while he was clad in a full-powered lightning armour and using what he referred to as his fastest attack,[36] something that only the Fourth Hokage had done in the past, with his Flying Thunder God Technique.[37]
Ninjutsu
Shadow Clone Technique
[/center]Shadow Clone Technique
Naruto using the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
Although Naruto had trouble with the Clone Technique at the start of the series, he quickly learned how to use jōnin-level techniques, like the Shadow Clone Technique and its large-scale version. The technique would become his first signature technique, one of the two foundations of his ninjutsu, and later, the base of his training skills. The Shadow Clone Technique takes advantage of the massive chakra reserve Naruto possesses due to him being the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails. Naruto is able to create upwards to two thousand clones, and able to have a decent amount of chakra in each of them. Because of this, Naruto can use his shadow clones for virtually anything, from straight combat to speed training.
In the beginning, Naruto would create a multitude of clones to overwhelm his opponents. Other times, however, he would employ the use of the Transformation Technique to change the appearance of these clones to catch his target off guard. By Part II, Naruto learned that whatever his shadow clones learn, he, the main mind, would also learn. By using this, he is able to learn techniques that would usually take months or years in days, which sped up his training greatly. Naruto takes advantage of this often, using shadow clones to determine his opponents' abilities, to determine how many clones he will really need to defeat them instead of simply wasting chakra on thousands of clones.
Despite the risks of Naruto's chakra being drained faster by the Nine-Tails whenever he uses the Shadow Clone Technique while in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Naruto did use the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to scatter throughout the battlefield, although he didn't create as many as he normally does.
Summoning Technique
Naruto using the Summoning Technique.
Naruto was first taught how to use the Summoning Technique by Jiraiya. After allowing Naruto to sign the summoning contract with the toads of Mount Myōboku, Jiraiya took Naruto through the execution of the technique in order to provide Naruto with allies in future battles. Additionally, Jiraiya's other motivation to teaching Naruto how to summon was to help Naruto to realise and take advantage of the Nine-Tails' chakra.
The type of toads that Naruto can summon at any time is proportional to his chakra and skill, as when he first started out he could only summon tadpoles. At first, Naruto had a hard time getting any specific toad, as he summoned either Gamakichi or Gamatatsu. But when he used the Nine-Tails' chakra, or when he was truly motivated, Naruto was able to summon the toad boss, Gamabunta. Naruto is also capable of summoning Gamahiro to use Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique.
Rasengan
[/center]Naruto using the Rasengan.
Created by the Fourth Hokage and taught to him by Jiraiya, the Rasengan is Naruto's second and strongest signature technique. While the Rasengan is a one-handed technique, Naruto required the use of two to form it due to his poor chakra control, thus using a clone to form the "shell" of the sphere. Despite this, Naruto has used the Rasengan effectively in almost every one of his fights after mastering it. The Rasengan holds an advantage over its counterpart, the Chidori, in only requiring chakra control to form, while the Chidori uses so much chakra that it can only be used a few times a day. Naruto has mastered the Rasengan to a degree that he can do it almost instantaneously.[41] He is now able to create larger Rasengan without the use of natural energy or the Nine-Tails' chakra.[42]
The Rasengan, like the Shadow Clone Technique, would be the base of several original techniques created by Naruto, such as the Big Ball Rasengan, a larger and more powerful version of the Rasengan. He has also created the Wind Release: Rasengan and Wind Release: Rasenshuriken after his wind training, and after his senjutsu training, the Sage Art: Big Ball Rasengan, Sage Technique: Spiralling Serial Spheres and Sage Art: Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan. He has also demonstrated the combined use of his shadow clones and the Rasengan, resulting in the Sage Art: Many Ultra-Big Ball Spiralling Serial Spheres, in which Naruto and his shadow clones can each use a Rasengan many times their own size against a single target. Because of the risk of using the Shadow Clone Technique while in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Naruto instead uses the shroud's chakra arms to help him create new Rasengan variants, such as the Spiralling Strife Spheres, the Spiralling Absorption Sphere and the Planetary Rasengan for example. He has yet to complete the technique related to the Tailed Beast Ball: the Tailed Beast Rasengan.[43]
Due to the unique nature of the Rasengan in Naruto movies, Naruto creates a new type of Rasengan, often facilitated by a character in the movie, or a unique property present in the movie.
Nature Transformation
[/center]Naruto using the Wind Release: Rasengan.
After failing to bring Sasuke back to Konoha for the second time, Naruto went through elemental training where he discovered that he had an affinity to wind. By incorporating his wind affinity with the Rasengan, which was originally intended to be combined with a nature element, he would greatly increase the technique's power and range. The wind nature compliments a fighter like Naruto, as the wind nature is a great match for short-range fighters. By focusing his wind chakra, Naruto can go as far as cutting objects with just his chakra. During his training to use his Wind Release, Asuma Sarutobi taught him how to channel it through his weapons.
Naruto had learned nature transformation to upgrade his Rasengan, which he achieved with the Wind Release: Rasengan and the Rasenshuriken, combining both shape and nature manipulation originally deemed impossible without natural talent or instinct. The Rasenshuriken was capable of slicing into the victim and cutting them at a cellular level faster than a Sharingan can see it. However, it caused similar damage to his own arm, as it is still a hand-held technique, despite its name. After his senjutsu training, he completed the Rasenshuriken. He could increase its power and attack radius, to the point where when one exploded it took up half the area of a mountain-range, or reduce Human Path to just the top of its head. The speed of the Rasenshuriken is so great it could cross an entire mountain-range in a single second. In Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Naruto can create a miniature Rasenshuriken, using two small chakra arms on his forefinger.
Collaboration Techniques
[/center]Wind Release: Toad Gun.
Collaboration Jutsu entail techniques that are comprised of at least two or more techniques that, when initiated with the right timing, one will feed into each other to become a technique of greater power than the sum of its parts. Naruto was introduced to the subject by Jiraiya in the anime, in order for him to synchronise with a toad, and develop a collaboration technique. Naruto eventually managed to synchronise with Gamakichi and Gamatatsu developing the Wind Release: Toad Gun, and the stronger Wind Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet. The stronger version had enough power to temporarily knock out the Three-Tails. Naruto has also done collaboration techniques with both Gamabunta and Yamato.
Senjutsu
Naruto in Sage Mode.
After Jiraiya's death at the hands of Pain, Naruto began training with Fukasaku in Mount Myōboku to learn senjutsu and how to enter Sage Mode. In order to achieve this, Naruto had to learn to sense and control the natural energy around him. Once mastered, Naruto was able to perfect the Rasenshuriken, so that he could throw it, and learn Frog Kata, a taijutsu style that uses the natural energy around the user to enhance the range and the potency of their attacks. In Sage Mode, Naruto's overall physical abilities are dramatically enhanced to the point where he could throw entities much larger than himself with little to no effort, including the Animal Path's Giant Rhino and the Nine-Tails. His durability increased to the point where he could fall on a bed of spikes and not even be damaged, as well as surviving the Giant Rhino's charge despite it tearing up the land behind him with its impact. His speed increases to a point where he was able to intercept a charging Asura Path, which had been using its chakra boots to attack Tsunade, create a Rasengan and slam it down before it could even react, showing him covering considerable distance in a short amount of time. Also while in Sage Mode, Naruto gains a sensory ability to detect and identify other people's chakra from very long distances.[44] His sensing abilities have also enabled him to predict the movements of his enemies for easy retaliation.[45]
However, Naruto had two flaws in his senjutsu training: To mould natural energy, the user must remain absolutely still, something one cannot do while in combat; and because of the Nine-Tails, Shima and Fukasaku were unable to fuse with Naruto to mould it for him. To counter this, Naruto had to leave two shadow clones in a safe place to mould the natural energy for him. Once he depleted his current amount of senjutsu chakra, he would dispel one of the clones and use the natural energy it had gathered to re-enter Sage Mode. However, this method limits the maximum number of shadow clones that Naruto can create to five. Any more would interfere with the focus of the clones' gathering natural energy. However, this limit in shadow clones ceases should Naruto decide to go all out during a fight and forget having any clones store natural energy for him.[46][47][48] Also, Naruto had been training to extend the time he could remain in Sage Mode. His skill with Sage Mode has increased greatly where he only needs a couple moments to enter it.[49] During his battle with the Nine-Tails within his subconscious, Naruto and his large group of shadow clones entered Sage Mode (though it appeared that his "physical self" was able to enter Sage Mode in his meditative state, then his "mental self" reflected the act as well as all of his shadow clones). This is possibly a reverse on how Naruto got past his original five minute limit by having a clone transfer the already balanced senjutsu chakra to him.
Deception and Strategy
Although Naruto's intelligence is greatly downplayed for most of the series, his skills in deception and strategy are actually extremely high, which according to Kakashi, was thanks to his cunning and imagination as a former prankster, allowing him to fool perceptive and dangerous jōnin-level shinobi like Zabuza Momochi in Part I and even defeat S-rank ninja such as Kakuzu and Pain in Part II. He also possesses the ability to formulate complex plans in the midst of battle. Naruto's strategies typically involve shadow clones; either directing his opponent's attentions towards one of his clones to disguise his own movements, transforming them into various shapes (such as shuriken) to allow for surprise attacks, or making himself seem predictable by creating a pattern, just to surprise them by breaking it (examples being when Naruto fooled Neji and Kakuzu into thinking the shadow clone furthest away from danger was the real him, or variations using the Shadow Shuriken Technique).
His deceptive skills were first best displayed in Team 7's first battle against Zabuza; he came up with the strategy to disguise himself as the Fūma Shuriken in order to free Kakashi from Zabuza's Water Prison Technique. During the preliminaries of the Chūnin Exams, Naruto was even able to get around Kiba's sensitive nose by fooling him visually. His skills in deception were shown to have grown exponentially during his battle with Pain, allowing him to prevail through an elaborate and highly unpredictable array of back-up plans, such as transforming his clones to mimic the environment. He also used the Shadow Shuriken Technique and the Transformation Technique to turn himself into a Rasenshuriken to temporarily neutralise the Preta Path while his real Rasenshuriken went to attack the Deva Path, while a clone attacked the Naraka Path from above with a Sage Technique: Spiralling Serial Spheres. When Naruto caught his second wind against the Nine-Tails to bypass its hatred completely, he systematically used the Sage Art: Many Ultra-Big Ball Spiralling Serial Spheres, Wind Release: Rasenshuriken and his mother's chakra chains to push the Nine-Tails' chakra out of its body from a safe distance to absorb it into his own body. During his fight with the Third Raikage, knowing the speed of the Raikage is great, he tricks the Raikage into dodging the first Rasenshuriken, his true intentions being to use the Nine-Tails' chakra arm to redirect it and throw it at him from behind. Even after the second attempt fails, Naruto still has the where-with-all to attack the Kage with a third at point blank range before he can even get decent footing to dodge. After speaking with the Eight-Tails about his battle with the Third Raikage he deduced that the latter injured himself with his own Nukite and used this to his advantage by slamming a Rasengan to the side of his arm forcing the Raikage to impale himself with his own technique. When he learned the location of the chakra receivers on Tobi's Six Paths of Pain, he immediately formed a plan to eliminate them. Testing it out on Rōshi, he nearly destroyed the chakra receiver if not for Han's interference.[50]
Naruto can also be quite innovative, using his clones to master advanced techniques. Examples of this include a two-man Rasengan, three-man Rasenshuriken, using clones to perform senjutsu and using chakra arms to perform the Tailed Beast Rasengan.