Sharingan
The Sharingan is a special type of pupil condition that naturally occurs in all members of the Uchiha clan, though not all of them gain the ability to use it. Itachi hints at some dark ultimate purpose behind the Sharingan, which both he and Sasuke apparently know, but the series has yet to reveal exactly what that purpose is. The Sharingan is thought to be descended from the Byakugan, but grants the user different abilities and a different insight.
The Sharingan's first and most well known ability is to memorize any technique that it witnesses. It can memorize
ninjutsu,
genjutsu, and
taijutsu with perfect accuracy, allowing the user to use the techniques as his own. In order to reproduce copied jutsu, however, one must have the necessary skill or ability to perform them. A prime example is
Rock Lee's brand of taijutsu. While Sasuke was able to copy some of Lee's moves, they put a much more significant strain on him since he hasn't trained nearly as hard as Lee has. In addition to physical skill, the Sharingan cannot allow the user to reproduce other kekkei genkai since the Sharingan user doesn't possess the same genetic trait. Additionally, Sharingan users cannot summon a creature which they have not made a contract with. The Sharingan also grants the user incredible clarity of perception, allowing them to track fast-moving objects with ease and even predict the subsequent movements of those objects. The ability to track and predict movement is largely based on individual skill, as unskilled users have much more trouble tracking fast-moving objects. A fully-evolved Sharingan eye can track all but the quickest opponents, even if the user can't move at the same speed. This perception is also great enough to see through genjutsu, depending upon the skill of the user, and the ability to observe the movement and flow of chakra, but not to the same extent or clarity as the Byakugan. Additionally, the Sharingan grants the user exceptional analytical powers, allowing them to instinctively pick up on various visual clues with little difficulty. In one instance, Kakashi had to shut his eyes to avoid accidentally reading Naruto's lip movements while he was spoiling the ending of one of Kakashi's Icha Icha books. Sasuke is also able to reproduce answers on another person's test by watching their pencil movements during the Chunin Exam. Finally, the Sharingan is capable of a unique brand of hypnosis that involves suggesting actions and thoughts to the opponent. When used in conjunction with the other aspects of the Sharingan, this allows the user to perfectly mimic every move their opponent makes, even before they do, making it appear as if the user can see the future.
Sasuke's evolving Sharingan.
The Sharingan does not automatically appear from birth in a user; instead, it will usually appear when the user is in a life-threatening situation, where the power of the Sharingan could save the user. After this first appearance, the user can then call up the Sharingan any time he or she pleases. (Due to its unique nature, Kakashi's Sharingan cannot be deactivated, and thus he usually covers it to conserve chakra.) The power of the Sharingan is judged through the number of tomoe in the eye, known as the "tomoe seal". It is not unheard of for a Sharingan user to have different amounts of tomoe in each eye. For example, Sasuke's Sharingan initially had two tomoe in one eye and one in the other. Upon his first regular activation of it, it had evolved to two tomoe in each eye. He evolved it to three in each eye during his battle with Naruto at the Valley of the End. A fully-matured Sharingan has three tomoe in each eye.
It is possible to transplant Sharingan eyes from one person to another, as occurred with Kakashi and his deceased comrade
Obito Uchiha. However, transplanted eyes do not work as well in a non-Uchiha body, causing more strain on the user, as is the case with Kakashi – extended use of his Sharingan will cause him to collapse. Uchiha clan members are not burdened with this weakness; while activation of the Sharingan does consume chakra, the drain is so small as to be almost insignificant. Itachi in particular seems to have no trouble keeping his Sharingan activated near-constantly. Characters who currently possess the Sharingan include Sasuke Uchiha,
Itachi Uchiha, and Kakashi Hatake. Kakashi's eye was given to him by Obito Uchiha, one of his teammates in his original three-man ninja team. Obito developed it in a battle against a camouflaging Rock shinobi. During this battle, Kakashi lost his left eye when he was attacked, hence his scar. Near the end of the battle, Obito's right side was crushed under a giant rock, and as his last act Obito had
Rin, a medical ninja, remove his left eye and implant it in Kakashi's empty eye socket, thus allowing Kakashi to use the Sharingan even though he does not have Uchiha blood. This is also why only his left eye is a Sharingan eye.
Dragon Flame Jutsu
The user breathes fire along a cord or any other type of long object. While the technique is shown in the anime to be even larger and more devastating than Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, in the manga it is shown to be nothing more than a small burst of flame running along a line of wire.
FireBall Jutsu
Utilizing a large amount of chakra, a large ball of flame is exhaled from the user's mouth. When an Uchiha clan member masters this technique, they are recognized as an adult. This technique also seems to be fairly common amongst Konoha's Chunin-level ninja.
Phoenix Flower Jutsu
This jutsu sends multiple balls of fire at a target. It is also possible to hide shurikens within the fireballs, creating an unexpected secondary surprise attack. For the most part, this jutsu is used as a distraction.
Chidori
Sasuke using One Thousand Birds
This jutsu is Kakashi's only original technique, though he now uses an S-ranked version known as the
Lightning Blade. He created it around the time he was promoted to Jonin, and later taught it to Sasuke. This jutsu channels a large amount of chakra into the user's arm. The amount of chakra is so great that it becomes visible to the naked eye. The technique actually alters the nature of the user's chakra, effectively converting it into electricity. As a side effect of the conversion process, the large amount of chakra, and the speed at which the user moves, this technique makes a loud noise similar to many birds chirping, hence the name (if the user is not in motion, it merely makes an electric crackling sound). Once the technique is completed, the user charges forward and stabs their enemy with it. The amount of thrust combined with the large concentration of chakra allows the user to stab through almost anything; as such it is usually fatal to the enemy. This technique is classified as an assassination technique because of the speed at which it is performed, despite the loud noise it produces.
This jutsu has a major drawback, however. The speed at which the attack must be done, combined with the fact that the user must run in a straight line, causes a
tunnel vision-like effect for the user. This allows their enemy to easily counter the attack, making it a potentially lethal move for the user. Though this drawback would seem to make learning the technique fairly pointless, Sasuke and Kakashi are able to avoid the drawback because of their
Sharingan eyes, which take in every detail regardless of how fast the user is moving. As an additional drawback, the large amount of chakra required limits its use to a few times a day (two for Sasuke, four for Kakashi). Sasuke can manage one more than normal with the use of his cursed seal. Should the user attempt to go beyond their limit, all of their chakra will be drained and their very life force could go along with it, killing them. An additional problem, though not necessarily a debilitating one, is the fact that the large amount of chakra can also injure the user's hand if they put too much force into the attack. Sasuke does this while battling his brother,
Itachi, causing some of the skin to peel from his hand and leaving it slightly smoldering after the attack was finished. In real history, Chidori was the name of
katana owned by famous
samurai Dousetsu Tachibana. The legend says that one day Dousetsu was neary hit by a lightning bolt while taking shelter from rain under a tree. He escaped by using his katana, Chidori, to split the lightning in half. Thereafter the name of the katana was changed to
Raikiri(雷切), in this context meaning "lightning cutter". Chidori also means
plover.
One Thousand Birds Current
Sasuke's One Thousand Birds Current
A variation on a regular
One Thousand Birds developed by Sasuke during his two-and-a-half year training with
Orochimaru, this jutsu allows Sasuke to cover himself in electricity, instead of just concentrating it in his hand. The electricity can be channeled anywhere, allowing Sasuke to enhance his attacks with it. Because it is channeled throughout his entire body and not concentrated, the electricity will only cause temporary paralysis instead of killing an opponent. While this is not a problem in one-on-one battles, it does allow others to save their comrade if Sasuke is outnumbered. Sasuke can also channel the electricity through his
Kusanagi sword, increasing its overall strength and cutting power.
Flapping One Thousand Birds
Flapping One Thousand Birds
Using the power gained through the level 2 form of his
Cursed Seal of Heaven, the
Chidori that Sasuke Uchiha was taught to use as a "blade" to protect his comrades is warped into a dark version of itself that is used to sever his ties with them. In contrast to the usual chirping of birds that the Chidori is known for, this technique emits a noise much like that of a large number of birds taking flight. Its power far surpasses that of the normal Chidori.
Lion's Barrage
Sasuke defeats
Yoroi Akado with his Lion Combo
This jutsu is a variant of
Rock Lee's
Front Lotus, which Sasuke develops after using his
Sharingan to copy the first part of the move. Because Lee wasn't given the chance to finish the attack, Sasuke makes his own ending to it.
Like Lee, Sasuke gets to the point where he does
Shadow of the Dancing Leaf to get behind an airborne opponent. Afterwards, his is different. He starts with a kick to the left side of his opponent (the easiest part to block). From there he does a backhand strike to the face, one straight punch to the gut to send the opponent towards the ground and finishes with a spinning kick that lands his left heel on the center of the opponent just as they both hit the ground. Sasuke tends to use different moves each time he does this technique, though the ending is always a kick to the chest.
Manipulating Windmill Triple Blades
Orochimaru is caught by Sasuke's Manipulating Windmill Triple Blades.
Utilizing the abilities of the
Sharingan, the user is able to control shuriken that have wire cords attached to them (two held with the hands and one with the mouth) and manipulate their paths to tie an opponent to a nearby large object, binding them. If there is no object, the shuriken will impale the opponent.
Shadow Shuriken Technique
The user of this technique throws multiple large shuriken in such a way that the first shuriken hides the subsequent ones by blocking the line of sight. To the target, it appears as if only one shuriken was thrown.
Sasuke first used this technique against
Zabuza Momochi. When he used it, he referred to the technique as "Wind Demon Shuriken, Shadow Windmill", which in the English version was dubbed as "Demon Wind Shuriken, Windmill of Shadows". His version used a transformed Naruto as the second shuriken, creating an additional surprise attack after Zabuza avoided the first thus releasing Kakashi from the water prison.