Ever present in the world of Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto, ninjutsu forms the foundation of the series' power system and the fighting styles of its main cast, as one of the three main shinobi combat skills. From nature transformations to more esoteric and uncategorizable schools of techniques, ninjutsu is at the core of the clever contests of strength and skill that popularized the series.

Another core theme of Naruto is that of cooperation, and there is one particular class of ninjutsu techniques which best exemplify this — cooperation ninjutsu. This category of jutsu encompasses all combinations of two or more ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu techniques, which merge with or augment one another to yield something entirely new. On this note, here is a deep dive into cooperation ninjutsu in its many forms.

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What Is Cooperation Ninjutsu?

Cooperation ninjutsu in Naruto — occasionally referred to as collaboration techniques — involves the mutual execution of two or more ninjutsu abilities either as a single attack or through a series of stages. The end result of this process is a technique or maneuver whose potency is greater than the sum of the jutsu that constitute it. Generally, this augmentation is seen through the increased destructive power or enhanced range of the new technique.

More often than not, there has been some confusion regarding which techniques can be classified as cooperation ninjutsu. This realm of shinobi combat skills is ill-defined and poorly understood, largely due to how it was not explored in too much depth in the manga or anime. Hence, even though techniques such as Naruto and Sasuke's Shadow Shuriken Jutsu and Transformation Jutsu combination in the Land of Waves Arc could fit the bill of cooperation ninjutsu, there is no real way to ascertain whether it falls into this bracket.

In the Naruto manga, the first prominent instance of a cooperation ninjutsu technique was the Ino-Shika-Cho Formation, which involves shinobi from the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clans of Konoha. As a testament to how long this trio of clans has been working in tandem, there are a number of different formations created as part of this school of techniques, each involving three different jutsu used by all three participants, to produce an attack of devastating scale.

How Is Cooperation Ninjutsu Used In Combat

When it comes to combat situations, cooperation ninjutsu can be quite helpful when facing large numbers of opponents or confronting an adversary of much larger size, such as a tailed beast or massive animal summon. Alternatively, cooperation ninjutsu is a vital tool when battling a kekkei genkai user, or someone who excels in a nature transformation that can overcome the user's own specialty.

For instance, Wind Release can be used to augment Water Release and Fire Release, boosting their potency and scale to such a degree that the new technique produced by their merger is much more effective against superior nature transformations. Similarly, cooperation ninjutsu techniques can also be performed alongside an animal summon such as a toad, or with the aid of ninken like in the case of Inuzuka clan members.

The Various Forms Of Cooperation Ninjutsu In Naruto

Nature transformation-based cooperation ninjutsu is an integral part of jutsu such as the Typhoon Water Vortex technique, which combines Naruto's Wind Release: Rasengan, with Yamato's Water Release: Tearing Torrent, which creates a massive vortex. At an even higher level, Naruto and Sasuke combined their Wind Release: Rasenshuriken and Blaze Relase: Kagutsuchi respectively, to execute the Scorch Release: Halo Hurricane Jet Black Arrow Style Zero, which is an ability that is near impossible to defend against.

The Inuzuka clan in Konoha specialize in cooperation ninjutsu performed alongside their ninken, with the Fang Over Fang technique and its variants playing a major role in Part I of Naruto. Kiba Inuzuka's use of this ability alongside Akamaru, his canine companion, is prominently featured in the Chunin Exams Arc and Sasuke Recovery Mission Arc, with Part II expanding on this technique due to the duo's growth during and after the time skip.

Jutsu such as the Sage Art: Goemon used by Jiraiya, Shima, and Fukasaku, as well as the Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet combine nature transformations with the abilities of animal summons, adding another dimension to how they can be applied. Even genjutsu can be executed with the aid of this method, as seen in how Jiraiya used the Demonic Illusion: Toad Confrontation Chant against the Six Paths of Pain.

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Alternatively, cooperation ninjutsu has also been used by shinobi from Kumogakure, as seen in the Fourth Raikage and Killer B's Lightning Release: Double Lariat, which is an especially powerful application of their signature nintaijutsu fighting style. Within the realm of medical ninjutsu, certain techniques such as the Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique, require an entire medical team to perform, highlighting the need for cooperation ninjutsu across a wide range of shinobi skills in Naruto.

Similarly, complex techniques such as the Flying Thunder God Formation may require teams of shinobi to execute them, in case no single ninja is capable of performing it on their own. This also applies to barrier ninjutsu, with techniques such as the Four Red Yang Formation, the Four Violet Flames Formation, the Four Black Fogs Formation, or the Self-Repairing Barrier involving teams of shinobi funneling their chakra into a large-scale technique.

Pushed To A Whole New Level

On a larger scale, cooperation ninjutsu can yield techniques of such monumental proportion, that users can battle a tailed beast with them. Naruto and Gamabunta's Cooperation Transformation is an ideal example of this, as the duo transformed into the Nine-Tails itself, to take on Gaara and the One-Tail, Shukaku. Similarly, the Tailed Beast Full Charge, Cooperation Tailed Beast Ball, and the Yasaka Magatama: Tailed Beast Noka involve multiple tailed beasts using long or short-range attacks alongside their jinchuriki.

Medical ninjutsu such as Katsuyu: Immense Network Healing allow a user to administer emergency first aid to an entire village through segments of the slug, Katsuyu, as seen in how Tsunade used it during Pain's invasion of Konoha. Conversely, the Allied Shinobi Forces Technique is a combination of several jutsu combining the abilities of shinobi from all five nations.

Perhaps the strongest offensive cooperation ninjutsu of them all is the Hurricane Thunderclap — Majestic Attire Sword Stroke, which sees Naruto and Sasuke combine their Kurama avatar and Susanoo respectively, to deliver a slash that can split mountains in a single blow. Finally, the Six Paths — Chibaku Tensei is likely the most powerful sealing jutsu in Naruto, and qualifies as cooperation ninjutsu due to the need for the users of the Six Paths Yin and Six Paths Yang Power to synchronize their attacks on a target.

Naruto is available to stream on Crunchyroll.

Animation

Action

Adventure

Release Date

October 2, 2002

Studio

Pierrot

Creator

Masashi Kishimoto

Number of Episodes

220

Streaming Service(s)

Crunchyroll , Hulu , Netflix , YouTube

Watch on Amazon