Sai (Naruto)

Latest revision as of 05:53, 23 March 2025

Sai is a male anime and manga character who features in Naruto.

Biography

Sai Yamanaka (Japanese: 山中サイ, Hepburn: Yamanaka Sai) was a male human born in the Ninja World where he came to be an orphan until he was found as a child by the Root who were a secret branch of the Anbu black ops of Konohagakure under the leadership of Danzō Shimura.

At a young age, Sai was one of many orphans recruited by Root, an organization that trained him to have no emotions whatsoever to make it easier for him to accomplish missions. He at some point in time met an older member of Root who took a liking to his drawing ability, and Sai came to think of him as a brother within the organization. During their time together Sai enjoyed a life of happiness and looked forward to the time he could spend with his brother in between missions. Eventually, his brother died of illness, and so too did Sai's source of happiness. Alone again, Sai reverted back to the emotionless member of Root he had been trained to be.

Danzō Shimura then decided to assign Sai to Team Kakashi to keep a watch over the jinchuriki. In preparation for the appointment, Sai decided to use his ink constructs to attack Naruto in order to test his abilities. Seeing his reaction, Sai stated that he was not impressed and was disappointed in Naruto Uzumaki. Before they could fight, Sai disappeared from the scene and promised that they would meet again. Afterwards, he arrived during the meet up of Team Kakashi that was placed under the temporary leadership of an Anbu member named Yamato. Sai was assigned to join Team Kakashi by his superior Danzō to assist in meeting with a spy in Orochimaru's ranks to find out about Sasuke Uchiha. Sai was confrontational with his new teammates upon their first meeting, exasperating both Sakura and Naruto. On their way to the rendezvous point, Sai once again aggravated them, questioning Naruto's manhood and insulting Sasuke. The latter caused Sakura Haruno to punch him in anger. As they continued on to the meeting point, Sai questioned why Naruto was loyal to a traitor like Sasuke, to which Naruto stated he was not a traitor, but a friend. Upon reaching the designated meeting place, Yamato went ahead disguised as Sasori so that he could meet the spy. When the spy, Kabuto Yakushi, arrived with Orochimaru to kill Sasori, Sai, Naruto, and Sakura were called in for help. When Naruto and Orochimaru began fighting, Sai left the rest of the team to begin his real mission. He briefly observed Naruto's fight with Orochimaru, unconcerned with the danger he left Yamato and Sakura in, and approached Orochimaru after he had repelled Naruto with a proposition from Danzō. Orochimaru accepted, and Sai accompanied him and Kabuto back to their hideout. Once arrived at Orochimaru's hideout, Sai was introduced to Sasuke, who had been training under Orochimaru for the past two-and-a-half years. When Sai mentioned that he might get along better with Sasuke than he did Naruto, Sasuke temporally traps Sai within a genjutsu which startles Sai to the ground due to the amount of fear it gave his emotionless self. He was led to his own room afterwards by Kabuto, who locked Sai in upon leaving. Soon afterwards, Team Kakashi tracked Sai down and confronted him about his real mission. Having been caught, Sai explained that he had been assigned to ally with Orochimaru on Danzō's behalf so that the two may join forces in destroying Konohagakure.

Disgusted by the ramifications of this plan, Team Kakashi restrained Sai before setting out to find and retrieve Sasuke. Sai, however, doubted their success, stating that Sasuke no longer cared about them. Naruto, in response, stated that he also used to hate Sasuke, but over time he had formed a bond with Sasuke through their shared experiences, and as such he would do whatever it took to bring Sasuke home. Naruto's dedication to retrieving Sasuke struck a chord with Sai, who was left without words as a result. When Kabuto arrived and freed Sai, Sai instead helped them capturing Kabuto, hoping to accompany Naruto to find out more about bonds. Naruto and Sai split away from Sakura and Yamato to go looking for Sasuke. They were soon found by Orochimaru, and as a result, Naruto distracted him so that Sai could have a chance to scout on ahead. When Orochimaru retreated and Naruto reunited with Sakura and Yamato, Yamato went through the belongings that Sai had left behind. In doing so he discovered Sai's actual mission: to kill Sasuke as a traitor to Konoha. Team Kakashi raced through the base to find and stop Sai, but Sai had already found Sasuke. Sai, however, truly had a change of heart, and instead, tried to capture Sasuke in order to protect his bond with Naruto. Irritated by Sai's reasons for bothering him, Sasuke attacked Sai, drawing the rest of the team to their location. When they found out what Sai was trying to do, they all teamed up to restrain Sasuke. Although Sai was able to land a successful attack, Sasuke's abilities were too much for them and he prepared to kill them all. He was soon stopped by Orochimaru and Kabuto, who convinced him to spare the team before leaving. Defeated, Team Kakashi returned home. Sai requested that he be allowed to stay as a part of the team and, with Danzō's approval, began to spend time with his new friends. Upon returning to Konoha and failing their mission, Sai began reading about relationships in the hopes of making some for himself.

Overview

Personality and attributes

At first, he claimed that he did not understand emotions and often tried to emulate them. This often manifested at first as a fake smile where he was seemingly mocking the person he was talking to at the time.

Sai would become involved with Ino Yamanaka (山中いの, Yamanaka Ino) that developed into a romance. Eventually, this saw him marrying her and becoming part of the Yamanaka Clan (山中一族, Yamanaka Ichizoku). The couple would later have a son together who was named Inojin Yamanaka (山中いのじん, Yamanaka Inojin).

Powers and abilities

It was his drawing ability that became the source of his jutsu. By drawing things with a brush on his scroll he was able to bring his creations to life, giving them an increased size and the ability to move. His Super Beasts Imitation Picture (超獣偽画, Chōjū Giga) allows him to create birds that he can use for flight and lion-like creatures that he can use for attack. Likewise, by creating an Ink Clone (墨分身, Sumi Bunshin) of himself, he can perform a reconnaissance of an area without actually endangering himself. Sai can also transform words he writes on his scroll into small animals that seek out their target and revert back to words upon arriving, giving Sai an easy way to communicate. Kakashi refers to him as a long range specialist, though he can hold his own at close range using a club he carries on his back.

As a member of Root, Sai is a highly capable shinobi, who is trained in the organisation's kenjutsu. Among the Root, he was considered the strongest of his generation of shinobi.

Among the techniques known to him included:

• Body Flicker Technique (瞬身の術­, Shunshin no Jutsu) :
• Assassination Technique (暗殺術­, Ansatsu Jutsu) :
• Ink Mist Technique (墨霞の術­, Sumigasumi no Jutsu) :
• Super Beast Imitating Drawing (超獣偽画­, Chōjū Giga) :
• Super God Imitating Drawing (超神偽画­, Chōshin Giga) :

Sai was a member of the Root (根, Ne, English TV: Foundation) that were a branch of Konohagakure's Anbu training subdivision.

Notes

• Sai was created by Masashi Kishimoto where he featured in the setting of Naruto.

In other media

Television

Films

Video games

Appearances

• Naruto:
• Boruto: Naruto Next Generation:

External Links

• Naruto Wiki Entry
• Comicvine Entry

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