Part of the reason we love Naruto is the magical take on ninjas that it presents to us. Yes, they learn combat and strategy skills, but they’re also learning about these abilities that don’t seem to have any basis in reality.
And of course, the series doesn’t take place in a real part of Japan, so it feels like it’s mostly fiction. But Naruto actually does take cues from the real-life ninjas that once lived and worked in Japan. Here are 10 things in Naruto that you might not have noticed are similar to the factual ninjas that once existed.
10 Ninjas Were Mercenaries And Spies
In Naruto, the teams start off taking low-level tasks and missions given to them by the Hokage. They’re usually small tasks for our protagonists who are still in training, like catching a runaway cat, and the more complicated or dangerous missions are left to higher-ranking ninja. In Japan, historically, ninjas were also hired as mercenaries and spies. They were often used to commit assassinations or to destabilize governments so that someone else could step in to take power. They sometimes worked as bodyguards or soldiers for the various feudal lords who needed protection.
9 They Were Seen As Magical
Even in the days when ninjas were active, most people didn’t know a lot about them. Unless you were fighting in a war or you were an actual feudal lord or samurai, common people didn’t really have that many actual interactions with ninjas, and the skills they developed meant that they had some skills that seemed supernatural.
Many people thought of them as having magical powers, and Naruto treats ninjas no differently in the show, as exhibited by the various passed-down powers and abilities that clans have, such as the sharingan.
8 Historically, They Weren’t Called Ninjas
In Naruto, the characters rarely refer to themselves as ninjas. They instead call themselves shinobi, for the men, and kunoichi, for the women. This is actually because the kanji for shinobi and ninja look the same, but ninja is a Chinese-influenced reading of the kanji, causing it to be a completely different word. Kunoichi, the specific term for a female ninja, is thought to have come from the fact that the three strokes that make up the separate sounds in the word (ku, no, ichi) are the same strokes in the kanji for woman.
7 Ninja Families Were Organized Into Guilds
We hear a lot of talk in Naruto about the various ninja clans that live in Konoha. This isn’t too off-base from real life. Most ninja groups were made up of families that were then a part of larger guilds that controlled a certain area.
This concept isn’t that far off from a bunch of different clans (like the Uchihas or Hyugas), each having their own particular ninja specialty, living in Konoha, versus one of the other ninja villages, and having a certain territory that they lived and worked in.
6 The Ranking System
Early on in Naruto, we see Naruto and his classmates competing against each other to try to earn the rank of "chunin." All of the ninjas start out as "genin" and the highest level they can achieve is "j0nin," a rank which ninjas like Kakashi hold. The rankings in the series are based on ninja skills, and the reality isn’t all that different, though the positions came with different responsibilities in real life. "Genin" were the lowest ranking ninjas, who were often responsible for actually doing the missions. "Chunin" were the right-hand men of the "jonin" and were there to help them. "Jonin" rarely went out for missions themselves and were responsible for assigning missions to lower-ranking ninjas.
5 Use Of Kunai
Kunai in Naruto are usually used as weapons, the way that one would use a dagger. Naruto often uses it to try to attack people head-on or, once, to stab his own hand to get poison out of it.
But in reality, while kunai were a sharp tool, they weren’t really considered a ninja’s first weapon of choice and were instead more likely used for cutting things while in the field, not stabbing people. Naruto characters often use kunai for other purposes too, like cutting rope if someone’s bound, but most often, kunai are presented as weapons.
4 Use Of Shuriken
Shuriken are a more interesting matter. While they were historically used as weapons, they weren’t necessarily used to actually cause injury but more likely to distract or misdirect an opponent. So Sasuke throwing a half-dozen shuriken at someone to try to give them a bunch of tiny cuts probably wasn’t happening. Also interesting is the fact that, while the use of shuriken is associated in pop culture with ninjas, in all likelihood, they probably didn’t use them that much. They were more often a weapon used by samurai or police.
3 Ninjas Could Split Into Multiple Bodies
Okay, ninjas couldn’t actually split into multiple bodies. But a lot of people who didn’t know any better believed that they could. This was of course partially the product of living in a time when people having some sort of magical abilities was more widely accepted, not just in Japan, but across the world.
But it was also the fact that ninjas were stealthy and seemed to be able to be in many places at once, because their training meant they were fast and quiet. So Naruto’s shadow clone jutsu is not completely off-base with historical beliefs about ninjas.
2 Ninjas Could Summon Animals
Again, ninjas probably couldn’t really summon animals. At least not the way that they do in the Naruto series, where they can do a hand seal and a toad or dog appears in a puff of smoke. Ninjas could have possibly been using animals for various strategic purposes, but most likely, this goes back to the fact that people thought ninjas were magic and had spiritual powers that they could use in combat. It seems like the only natural next step would be that they could commune with nature and animals and bend them to their will.
1 Kuji-kiri And Hand Seals
We’ve all watched Naruto and seen them do the various hand seals that allow them to summon fire, multiply themselves into a bunch of clones, or turn a log into a copy of themselves so they can run away. This also has something of a basis in reality. Kuji-kiri, which is the official name of this use of hand gestures, is found in several martial arts and has some roots in Taoism. Essentially, one would be able to reach different levels of consciousness if one mastered the hand seals. There is some evidence that ninjutsu users also used hand seals, but, of course, they weren’t able to make themselves a clone with them.