Highlights
- Kamui, a space-time ninjutsu, stands out among Mangekyo abilities for its limitless applications and unique powers in Naruto.
- Each eye of the Mangekyo Sharingan grants a different application of Kamui, with Obito's right eye having a short-range variant.
- Using Kamui with both eyes results in a more potent version with doubled teleportation speed and the ability to imbue its powers in other techniques.
The Naruto series has clearly cemented the Mangekyo Sharingan to be the epitome of ninjutsu, yet even among the various Mangekyo abilities, a clear disparity of power exists, with some abilities far exceeding their counterparts. Kamui is one such ability, a space-time ninjutsu that is a product of Obito Uchiha's Mangekyo Sharingan.
Kamui is arguably the most novel jutsu in all of Naruto, as its applications are limitless, yet its counters are few and far between. Equipped with its own separate dimension, Kamui triumphs over all other Mangekyo abilities with ease. However, the ability itself is rather complex, and the fact that each eye has a separate application of Kamui deems the jutsu all the more intricate.
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What Is Kamui?
First Appearence | Naruto Shippuden, Episode 29, "Kakashi Enlightened!" |
Debut Date | September 27, 2007 |
Users | Obito Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake |
In essence, Kamui grants the user the power to transfer objects (including people) to and from a separate plane of existence called the Kamui dimension. Since this dimension exists in a separate reality, those trapped within cannot escape, and their chakra also becomes untraceable. The novelty of Kamui extends far beyond its space-time nature, as the jutsu itself has a number of unique workings.
Teleporting to the Kamui dimension is characterized by a symbolic swirling motion, as objects become formless for a mere moment while being swallowed into Kamui. However, the Kamui dimension merely scratches the surface of the true extent of this jutsu, as the jutsu grants users several other powers, though each one is still tied to the Kamui dimension.
Each Mangekyo Eye Offers Different Kamui Powers
The Mangekyo Sharingan is known for possessing different abilities in each eye, but Kamui's case is rather unique as each eye has a different application for Kamui itself. Since Obito retained his right eye and gifted his left eye to Kakashi, the two Mangekyo users ultimately gained different powers of Kamui.
Despite possessing two different variants of the same technique, both Kakashi and Obito's Kamui work under the same principle of transferring objects to and from the Kamui dimension. However, the two are immune to each other's Kamui, since they can simply teleport themselves out of the dimension.
The Right Eye's Kamui Powers
The right eye of Obito's Mangekyo had access to the short-range version of Kamui, meaning Obito could only warp objects directly in contact with him. Moreover, the right eye granted Obito the ability to teleport himself to the Kamui dimension with ease, an ability that Kakashi struggled to learn due to possessing the long-range variant of the ability.
The right eye's Kamui grants the user another overpowered ability — intangibility. This power, when activated, sends parts of Obito's body to the Kamui dimension, meaning all direct attacks would simply phase through his body. The overlapping parts of his body are involuntarily transferred to the Kamui dimension. Once Obito is in the intangible state, he cannot interact with anything, meaning he would have to deactivate the ability to engage in physical combat. However, he can still knead chakra and perform other jutsu while being intangible.
The Left Eye's Kamui Powers
The left eye of Obito's Mangekyo grants Kamui's long-range application, a power that Kakashi had access to since he possessed the left Mangekyo. With the long-range Kamui, Kakashi simply has to look at the target's location to create a space-time barrier, sucking in anything that comes in contact with it. However, this variant of Kamui requires considerable concentration, both in terms of aiming Kamui and maintaining the teleportation barrier.
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The Kamui's long-ranged warping does not have a size limit, as objects of any size can be swallowed whole by the barrier. Kakashi was able to warp the entirety of Eight-Tails using Kamui, meaning there's no upper limit in terms of the size of the object being transferred. It's worth noting that Kakashi can also close the portal midway, severing body parts and permanently mutilating enemies. Kakashi was able to sever Deidera's arm using this brutal application of the technique.
Kamui's Power With Both Eyes
Considering the diverse and powerful abilities Kamui offers in each eye, it comes as no surprise that using the two Mangekyo eyes together would result in a more potent version of Kamui. When Kamui is used with both eyes, the teleportation speed is almost doubled, along with a significantly larger size of the space-time barrier. Using Kamui with both eyes also allows the user to teleport to other dimensions, a power that Kakashi and the rest used to travel through Kaguya's dimensions.
Possessing both eyes further allows the user to imbue Kamui's powers within other techniques. Kakashi was able to embed Kamui's space-time powers into Kamui Shuriken and Lightning Cutter Kamui, turning these powers into an extension of Kamui itself.
Kamui Has a Few Weaknesses
Kamui has limited drawbacks of its own, though its usage comes with a great cost for Kakashi. Since the Sharingan is an Uchiha bloodline technique, it takes a hefty toll on non-Uchiha users. This meant that Kakashi could only use Kamui once before being incapacitated by the technique's immense toll. He was able to reduce this downside after enough practice, though he still couldn't escape the Mangekyo's crippling drawback of losing his vision with each usage.
To be frank though, I'm starting to lose sight in my left eye... I'll have to get pretty close to target them accurately.
Obito, on the other hand, experienced little to no drawbacks. This could be attributed to Hashirama's cells implanted in his body, though it was never exactly specified why Obito never suffered from any of the Mangekyo's drawbacks. However, the Kamui's intangiblity does come with a certain drawback. While intangible, Obito cannot use Kamui, meaning he is invulnerable for a split-second between solidifying and transferring himself to the Kamui dimension.
Kamui's intangibility has another situational disadvantage; the parts of Obito's body that phase into the Kamui dimension are completely vulnerable, meaning anyone from inside the dimension can target his body. However, this drawback is extremely situational, and it can only be a cause of concern if two users of Kamui are in play.
Naruto is available to stream on Prime Video.
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Naruto
A popular shonen anime based on Masashi Kishimoto's manga, Naruto follows its eponymous shinobi's journey as he goes from his town's outsider to its hero.
