In Naruto, some characters appear with the powerful eye jutsu Sharingan. In an interview, the author Masashi Kishimoto explains that he was inspired by a play.
What is Sharingan
? Sharingan in Naruto is one of the three great eye techniques alongside the Byakugan and the Rinnegan. Additionally, it is a Kekkei Genkai, an inherited ability that is generally reserved for the members and relatives of the Uchiha clan. Members of this family can awaken the Sharingan, but this is not guaranteed.
The Sharingan turns the iris of the respective user blood red upon activation. Depending on the level of awakening, it has one to three so-called Tomoe, points with tapering tails
. In its most powerful variant, the Mangekyou Sharingan, each user receives a unique symbol.
The fundamental applications include copying abilities or movements. It can also analyze the chakra flow of other people. Moreover, it allows the owner to activate illusion jutsu merely through eye contact. The powerful Mangekyou grants the user additionally overwhelming abilities, such as the inextinguishable black flames of Amaterasu or powerful illusions via Tsukuyomi.
One of the most powerful Sharingan users is Sasuke Uchiha. Here he stands with Naruto against the adversary Momoshiki:
Inspiration from Theater
What inspired Kishimoto? In an interview for the release of the film The Last: Naruto the Movie, Naruto author Masashi Kishimoto discussed an inspiration for the powerful Sharingan. Specifically, it comes from the Kabuki play Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari
(translated approximately to The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya
).
The protagonist here is the namesake Jiraiya, who has an eye called Sharingan
. Jiraiya also made it into the Naruto manga – as Naruto’s powerful teacher.
In the interview, Kishimoto further explains that he took the concept of Sharingan from the play and gave it as blood inheritance to the Uchiha clan. He intended to build up Kakashi’s own Sharingan as a great mystery. This was only resolved years later with Kakashi Gaiden: The Naruto manga started in 1999, while the resolution in Gaiden was only told from the end of 2004.
How does Sharingan develop throughout Naruto? Especially at the beginning of the story, Kekkei Genkai are very rare. Only Sasuke Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake use it and thus stand in focus of envious adversaries like Orochimaru. Later, Sasuke’s brother Itachi appears, who can use very powerful jutsu partly through Sharingan.
Especially after the time skip, more and more Sharingan users appear, including Danzo Shimura, as well as Shisui, Madara, and Obito Uchiha. While the Uchiha have awakened their Sharingan, Danzo stands out in particular because he shamelessly implanted the eyes of deceased Uchiha clan members into his arm.
By the way, MeinMMO has recently published several power rankings for Naruto. Included is also one for the members of the Uchiha clan. If you want to know who can use their Sharingan best, read more here: Naruto: The 7 strongest members of the Uchiha clan ranked
