PUPPETS

Kugutsu - Puppets

The art of using puppets in battle was developed in the Hidden Sand Village. Over time these skills were passed on to new ninja. The earliest known puppet master was Chikamatsu Monzaemon. The oldest living master was Chiyo, her grandson Sasori would pick up where she left off and take the art to new heights. When Sasori fled the village, Kankurou would use Sasori's puppets as his own and become renowned in his own right.

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The Puppet Masters

Chiyo

First Anime Appearance: Shippuuden Episode 9

Name Meaning: "Thousand Years" or "Forever"

Hidden Village: Sand Village

Rank: Unknown (Potential Jounin)

Notable Features: Grandmother of Sasori, Retired at her old age but still spry, Former poison expert

Notable Quotes: I have been wanting to give my cute little grandson some love for quite some time now anyway...

"Chiyo-baasama" as she is affectionately known, is a retired Hidden Sand ninja. She and her brother Ebizou served as the legendary "sibling" ninjas of their village. In one of the previous Great Ninja wars, Chiyo used her poison skills to affect many enemy ninjas. When her grandson Sasori left the village twenty years previously, she longed to see him again.

Chiyo then decided it was best to combat Sasori with the scrolls she had brought along. Chiyo used them to summon two puppets, Sasori's parents who had been made into puppets in the past. Sasori was amused by this and the parent puppets were eventually damaged. Sakura's strategy allowed her to destroy the Sandaime puppet, and her constant vigilance and assistance to Chiyo greatly impressed the older kunoichi. Chiyo was forced to pull out her ultimate technique, her ten Chikamatsu puppets which she had inherited from the first kugutsu no jutsu user.

Finding the dead Gaara who had been rescued by Naruto, Chiyo used her jutsu one last time. Her final act of redemption was to give up the last of her life-force to Gaara, aided by the chakra of Naruto. She died happily, passing on advice to Sakura and moved by Naruto's heart.

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Kankurou

First Manga Appearance: Chapter 35

First Anime Appearance: Naruto Episode 20

Name Meaning: A famous kabuki player, kurou=crow

Hidden Village: Sand Village

Age: 15

Jounin Master: Baki

Notable Features: Carries mysterious large package on his back

ersonal Stats

A Genin from the village of Sand, Kankurou is the brother of Gaara and Temari. All three siblings participate in the Chuunin Exam. Kankurou is the son of the Kazekage. In the third preliminary matches of the Chuunin Exam, Kankurou is placed against Sound spy Tsurugu Misumi. Utilizing his puppet Karasu, Kankurou is able to surprise Misumi by having Karasu wrap his arms around the Sound spy and crush him. In the third test Kankurou is placed against Aburame Shino. When it was time for his match, Kankurou gave up before the match even started. He became paranoid and was unsure what to do because Gaara's match was delayed. The Sand Genin were under orders to start their plan for the invasion of Leaf by Sand and Sound after Gaara's match. After the invasion began Kankurou helped Gaara escape from the arena to an area where he could rest so he could begin his transformation into the Shukaku demon. Along the way he was stopped by Uchiha Sasuke and Aburame Shino. Shino directed Sasuke to continue after Gaara as he wanted to finally have his match with Kankurou. Kankurou and Shino exchanged blows but Shino was able to overcome Kankurou with his destruction bugs. Later Temari was able to find her injured brother and help him to safety. With the defeat of Gaara by Uzumaki Naruto, Kankurou and his siblings retreated from Leaf.

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Sasori

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First Anime Appearance: Shippuuden Episode 2

Name Meaning: "Scorpion"

Hidden Village: Sand Village

Notable Features: Puppet Master, Also known as "Akasuna no Sasori" (Sasori of the Red Sand)

Notable Quotes: "You insist on calling those fireworks of yours art? True art endures the ages... beauty everlasting."

Sasori is a missing-nin from Hidden Sand Village who serves as a member of the Akatsuki Organization. He is very large in size, appearing to squat low to the ground when he slides across it. Sasori, whose name means scorpion, was a former highly ranking ninja within Hidden Sand who fled 20 years earlier. He was master of puppet making who was responsible for the design of the puppets Kankurou uses today. One of his underlings was a Sand ninja named Yuura. When Sasori fled Sand to join Akatsuki, he placed a jutsu on Yuura to cause him to unknowingly gather information and serve as a sleeper agent. When the time came, Yuura would be activated to do his masters bidding.

Sasori revealed his greatest triumph, the puppet form of a man who had disappeared under mysterious circumstances, Hidden Sands own Sandaime Kazekage. Another surprise waiting for the two kunoichi, was Sasori's "real" form, a young man unaffected by time, appearing in the same form he was 20 years previously.

Sasori revealed he had made himself into a puppet, adding deadly weapons to his frame. Sakura managed to strike his body but it only managed to reform around a cylinder marked with the "Scorpion" kanji. Chiyo was forced to summon her ten Chikamatsu puppets, and Sasori in turn summoned his special hundred. The huge puppet fight began and Sakura managed to pin Sasori's body to the cave wall with the help of one of Chiyo's chakra sealing puppet parts. Missing though was Sasori's chest container, where his human essence lived. One of his broken puppets rose to reveal the container implanted inside. Weapon in hand it rushed for Chiyo but Sakura jumped in the way to take the lethal strike. Using her remaining strength, Chiyo secretly moved the parent puppets from either side to pierce Sasori's chest container, striking an apparently fatal blow.

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Ryuudouin Clan

First Anime Appearance: Episode 195

Name Meaning: Ryuu=Dragon, Dou=Hall, In=Institution, School, Temple

Location: Fire Country

The three Ryuudouin brothers Genshou, Rokkaku and Jakou are the sons of Ryuudouin Agira, who had fought Maito Gai years before and lost. The Ryuudouin use wood training men in their attacks. Most of the men act on their own using simple kicks and strikes through a charm placed on their body. The clan members through can use Kugutsu to move certain men independently. The brothers believed their father took the loss to Gai as a disgrace. On his deathbed he commanded them to fight Gai. Since then the three patiently waited for their chance for revenge. When they confronted Gai he stated he remembered their father and he fought valiantly. The brothers tried to trap Gai and destroy him but he managed to escape with Rock Lee's help. Gai explained how he fought their father fairly, and that the man was eager for a rematch. The brothers then realized they probably misunderstood their father’s final words.

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Karasu

First Anime Appearance: Episode 41

Name Meaning: "Crow"

Hidden Village: Sand Village

Type: Attack

Karasu was originally built by Sasori. Karasu is the primary puppet of Kankurou, as his skills developed, he used Kuroari and Sanshouou in conjunction with it. Karasu is a puppet loaded with weapons, each limb has multiple weapons installed and ready for use.

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Kuroari

First Manga Appearance: Chapter 213

First Anime Appearance: Episode 125

Name Meaning: "Black Ant"

Hidden Village: Sand Village

Master: Kankurou

Type: Defense

Primary Weapons Saw blades on arms, Large expanding chest cavity for capture

Kuroari was Kankurou's second puppet. This puppet was originally built to capture the opponent. Together with Karasu it makes a set, with Karasu leading the attacks to lead the enemy into the trap that is Kuroari. Once trapped inside Kuroari, Karasu will disassemble to extend poison blades. These blades will then by sunk into Kuroari's holes, sending a poison death strike into the enemy trapped within.

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Sandaime Kazekage +++++++ important

First Manga Appearance: Chapter 266

First Anime Appearance: Episode ?

Name Meaning: Third Wind Shadow

Hidden Village: Sand Village

Master: Sasori

Type: Attack, Defense

Primary Weapons Hitokugtsu retaining Satetsu abilties, Massive summoning arms, Many hidden bladed weapons, Poison Gas

The legendary puppet master of Hidden Sand Sasori had killed Sandaime Kazekage and then turned him into a puppet using his hitokugutsu process. Sasori kept Sandaime as his favorite and best puppet.

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Sasori's father and mother

A young Sasori made his dead parents into puppets as a measure of comfort. These puppets would be modified over time by his grandmother Chiyo, who would add more weapons and abilities to her puppet-form son and wife.

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Sanshouuo

the croc in the middle

First Manga Appearance: Chapter 250

First Anime Appearance: Episode ?

Name Meaning: "Salamander"

Hidden Village: Sand Village

Sanshouuo was Kankurou's third puppet. This puppet was in the form of a large lizard.

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Kugutsu no Jutsu - Puppetry Technique

Character Use: Kankurou, Sasori, Chiyo

See also: Karasu, Kuroari

Type: Attack, Defense, Supplementary

Kugutsu no Jutsu is a Ninjutsu technique that allows a ninja to use a puppet to attack from afar. Using their body's chakra, the ninja emits strings of chakra that run from their fingers to the puppet. The puppet itself can be loaded with many weapons and tools, allowing the puppet master to remain hidden while the puppet moves and attacks the target.

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Akahigi • Hyakki no Souen - Red Secret Technique • Performance of the Hundred Puppets

Character Use: Sasori

Type: Attack, Defense, Supplementary

Akahigi • Hyakki no Souen is a Ninjutsu technique used by puppet master Sasori that is said to have brought down a whole country. The skill of a puppet master is said to be proportional to the number of puppets they can manipulate at one time. In his puppet form, Sasori has been able to greatly increase the number of chakra strings he can emit from his body at one time. A normal puppet master like Chiyo limits herself to ten strings and puppets, focusing on quality over quantity. For Sasori, this technique goes for the brute force approach, seeking to overwhelm his opponent.

To start the technique, Sasori will remove the summoning scroll from his back. Opening his right chest compartment, he will emit approximately a hundred chakra strings to reach into the scroll and control the puppets. These puppets are former opponents of Sasori's who he has made into hitokugutsu puppets. This allows the puppets to retain the skills and abilities they used in life. For that reason many of the puppets will retain the weapons they once used.

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Doku Kiri Jigoku • Baribari Hyaku Renpatsu - Poison Mist Hell • Hundred Continous Tears

Character Use: Kankurou

Type: Attack

Special Note: Anime Only

Doku Kiri Jigoku • Baribari Hyaku Renpatsu is a Ninjutsu technique utilized by the Sand ninja Kankurou. Kankurou will use this technique while doing his Kugutsu no Jutsu. This technique involves Kankurou using both Karasu and Kuroari. Kankurou will maneuver the two puppets around his target. He will then use Karasu to launch poison mist bombs at his target, enveloping them in the gas. Karasu and Kuroari will then launch a multitude of needles at the target.

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Kairai Engeki • Kuro Higikiki Ippatsu - Puppet Theater • Black Secret Technique Dual Mechanism One Shot

Character Use: Kankurou

See also: Karasu, Kuroari

Type: Attack

Kairai Engeki • Kuro Higikiki Ippatsu is a Ninjutsu technique utilized by the Sand ninja Kankurou. Kankurou will use this technique while doing his Kugutsu no Jutsu. This technique involves Kankurou's second puppet Kuroari acting in conjunction with Karasu. Kuroari acts as a defensive puppet, capturing Kankurou's opponents. Kankurou will use Karasu to manuever his target unknowingly into Kuroari's opened chest. Once inside it will immediately close to prevent their escape. Acting quickly, Kankurou will break apart the limbs of Karasu, with each limb popping out a deadly poisoned knife point. These limbs will then jab into the slots of Kuroari, puncturing and killing the opponent trapped inside.

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Kuro Higi Kiki Ni Hatsu - Black Secret Technique Crisis of Two Début

Character Use: Kankurou

Type: Attack

Special note: Movie Two Only

Kuro Higi Kiki Ni Hatsu is a Ninjutsu technique utilized by the Sand ninja Kankurou. Using his Kuroari puppet, Kankurou will distract his opponent in some way, either by another ninja or possibly using Karasu. With the opponent distracted, Kuroari will move into position behind them. Kankurou will open the chest cavity and emit wire to ensnare his target. They will then be pulled into the chest cavity. Blades will then run through the chest cavity carving the unfortunate soul inside to pieces.

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Mokujin Hitsugi - Wooden Men Coffin

Character Use: Ryuudouin Clan

Type: Supplementary

Ninpou: Mokujin Hitsugi is a Ninjutsu technique used by the Ryuudouin clan. Using their vast army of wooden training men, the three brothers will place charms on the heads of the dummies to attack their target. When the target is sufficiently surrounded, the clan members will break the wooden men down into their base parts and then combine them into long rows. These rows will stack and combine to surround their target and isolate them from the outside world. The wooden parts will be imbued with the clan member’s chakra and be greatly strengthened as a result. If enough power is placed against the structure however, it can come crashing apart.

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Mokujin Soujutsu - Wooden Men Manipulation Technique

Character Use: Ryuudouin Clan

Range: Close (0m ~ 5m)

Type: Supplementary, Attack, Defend

Ninpou: Mokujin Soujutsu is a Ninjutsu technique used by the Ryuudouin clan. Using their vast army of wooden training men, the three brothers will place charms on the heads of the dummies. Because these men are "dumb" and only attack randomly, a target can easily defeat them with time. This technique allows specific men to become puppets to the clan members, and obey their will. This allows the puppets to better attack and defend themselves against their target.