Highlights
- The Puppet Technique is a unique and coveted jutsu that creatively utilizes chakra to control puppets as weapons.
- While there are multiple users of this technique in the series, only three notable ones are featured in Shippuden: Sasori, Granny Chiyo, and Kankuro.
- The Puppet Technique's weaknesses include reliance on puppets as the only offensive weapon and vulnerability in close-range combat, but skilled puppeteers like Kankuro have found ways to overcome these limitations.
The Naruto series boasts an unending list of impressive techniques and abilities, yet some are more novel than others, showcasing the creativity and novelty behind these jutsu. The Hidden Sand’s Puppet Technique is one such jutsu, embodying the essence of creatively utilizing chakra to create a unique form of weaponry in the ninja world. The Puppet Technique’s rarity further deems it a coveted technique, with the skill required to master it adding another layer of reverence to it.
While Boruto: Naruto Next Generations may have added a few more users to the Puppet Technique’s lineup, Shippuden featured only three notable users of this technique. The technique may seem rather simple at first glance, yet there is much more than meets the eye about this jutsu’s intricate nature. None have surpassed the initial benchmark of puppeteering expertise, a fact that stands as a testament to the advanced mastery required for this jutsu.
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The Puppet Technique: The Sand’s Secret Weapon
The Puppet Technique is native to the Hidden Sand Village, and its roots can be traced back to Monzaemon Chikamatsu, a playwright who initially utilized puppets for entertainment. His puppeteering techniques gave birth to a new line of ninja arts within the Sand, one that made its way to modern shinobi warfare owing to its lethal nature and element of surprise. The technique utilizes fine chakra threads to control puppets from far away, although the need for more chakra threads decreases over time with greater mastery.
These chakra threads are emitted from the puppeteer’s fingers, and the movement of these fingers controls the puppets' actions entirely. Beginners often rely on all ten fingers to control one puppet, while the highest form of mastery involves utilizing each finger for one puppet. However, expert puppeteers such as Sasori have been witnessed breaking this limit, even going as far as using one hundred puppets simultaneously.
Puppets on their own are rather harmless, yet the lethal aspect of their usage comes from the secret weaponry embedded inside. Blades and knives are the most common offensive weapons etched into these puppets, though advanced versions may even allow the user to trap the target inside or store poison for a more crippling effect. The diversity and innovation in this field of ninja arts is unparalleled, especially since puppets can be made in a thousand different ways with unique modifications and upgrades. This deems Puppet Techniques one of the Sand’s strongest weapons, as the element of surprise is often enough to take out the entire enemy force.
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.
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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.
