Iwanin (MH) schrieb:

Hi guys. I've been in hiding recently (more like swamped with homework and the like), but I just wanted to post that I got the Databook today and thought I'd share a few random tidbits. I've barely even skimmed through it, though...

Are scans for the entire book up at this point?

I'm completely out of touch, so you'll forgive me if I give info that's already out there. I'll also be checking this thread and, while I can't do translations, I can answer questions on the content (specially if I'm given the page and or topic).

A. Kishimoto says the following questions will be answered:

1. Why the seal on the Kyuubi is gradually weakening.
2. Why Naruto started turning into the four tail version of the Nine Tails.
3. What Karin did for Sasuke before (my guess: blowjob).
4. If Kushina (Naruto's mom) is still alive at this point or not.
5. How Kakashi got the Mangekyou.

Stuff I've found interesting in my perusing.

B. Hidan is from the village of "hot water" (hot springs), so what you see on his forehead protector is steam, I guess. The village is small and has been drastically downsized due to the reigning peace and prosperity. The Church of Jashin's motto is "thou shalt massacre thy neighbour" (literal trans), and it attracted him because he was fed up with his peaceful village. He's 22 years old and gained his "immortality" by being a test subject for kinjutsu experiments carried out by his church. His "curse jutsu" can be done by anyone who knows how, but unless you're immortal you're not gonna get very far with it.

C. Chiyo was 73 years old, and not 150 as previously speculated (by me).

D. Kakuzu was 91 years old, which makes him the oldest with perhaps the exception of Madara, who's age is not revealed.

E. Madara's brother was named Izuna, and he died in battle, after he'd given up his eyes. Why they'd send a blind man into battle is beyond me.

F.The "three great doujutsu" are confirmed to be "Sharingan", "Byakugan" and "Rinnegan." The only confirmed power of Rinnegan is to allow a person to use all five elements.

G. Kishimoto answers the question of what would happen if a Hyuuga and an Uchiha had a kid in a humorous tone: one of the kid's eye's would be Sharingan, the other Byakugan.

H. Deidara was 19 years old. Heh! Pretty young.

I. Kakashi's Mangekyou Jutsu is called "Kamui" (Power of the Gods).

J. Design wise, Pain's beads are meant to evoque "self infliction" of pain.

K. Konan's wearing a pretty sexy gettup under that Akatsuki cloak. It's kinda like Karin's outfit, except strapless, and partially reveals her outter bossom. She's got a pierced belly buttom.

L. Gaara's lost Shukaku, but not his use of sand and his trademark eyes.

Nihongaeri (NF) schrieb:

Point me to anything that I missed.

者の書より
角都が悠久の時を歩むに到ったきっかけは、各国に忍里が築かれし黎明期に遡る…。滝隠れの精鋭 として、
火影暗殺任務に挑みし角都はしかし、木遁秘術の前に敗れ去る。絶命の危機を迎えながらも帰郷し た先に
待ち受けていたのは、任務失敗の汚名と重罰。里がために身命を賭した忍への酷なる仕打ちに、激 しい憎悪
を抱き、角都は脱獄する。里の至宝とされし禁術を奪い、里の上役の心臓を悉く奪って…。
で、その禁術ってのが例のヒジキで、地怨虞(じおんぐ)という
91歳
From the "sha no sho"

The story of how Kakuzu came to walk a life of infinite time begins back in the days that the Shinobi villages were formed around the world... As a elite ninja from Takigakure (the Village Hidden Amongst Waterfalls), Kakuzu took on a mission to assassinate the Hokage. This mission, however, ended in failure before the might of the secret Mokuton jutsu. Despite the insurmountable danger faced in the mission, that which awaited upon his return to his village was the stigma and harsh punishment associated with failure. In repose to this treatment, a wrong levied against a shinobi who had put life and limb on the line for his village, Kakuzu came to held a violent hatred as he escaped from imprisonment. And in his flight from the village, Kakuzu took with him its most prized forbidden jutsu, and along with it the every last one of the village elders hearts...

(Poster speaking) So, in other words, this forbidden jutsu is that seaweed stuff, and it's called Jiongu (characters are literally "earth - grudge - fear"... I'll translated it as... umm... Geogrudgeaphobia, "the fear of people who hold a grudge against the Earth"... Or not).

Age 91

二代目火影は千手扉間、三代目は猿飛ヒルゼン
九尾の封印はなぜ薄れてきたか、ナルトが四本目まで九尾化したのはなぜか、香燐が昔サスケにや った事はなに か、
クシナは今生きてるか、カカシはどうやって万華鏡写輪眼を開眼したか、はこれから本編でやる
岸本が女の子だったら彼氏にしたいのはシカマル

The 2nd Hokage's name is Senju Tobirama, and the Third's name is Sarutobi Hiruzen.

The reasons for the weakening of the Nine-tails seal, why Naruto transformed into the four tail mini Nine-tails, what Karin did for/to Sasuke in the past, whether Kushina is alive, and how Kakashi attained the Mangekyou Sharingan will all be dealt with in the manga in the future.

If Kishimoto were a girl, the character he would chose as a boyfriend would be Shikamaru

ヒダンは戦を忘れた里と称されし湯隠れの里出身
世界から大戦がなくなり縮小されゆく戦力としての隠れ里ながら
豊饒なる自然と観光資源を有する里は時代の流れに肯定的になっていく
忍びとして生きてきたヒダンは常に戦いに飢え平和主義というぬるま湯への苛立ちはやがて里その ものに向けら れる
新興宗教ジャシン教が彼に目を付けたのは必然だろう
汝、隣人を殺戮せよ
教義はヒダンの意志を肯定する要素に満ちていた
177.1センチ 56.8キロ

Hidan hails from Yugakure (the Village Hidden Amongst Hot Springs), the village purported to have forgotten war.
Even as the Great Wars disappeared from the world and the Hidden Villages were scaled back as military powers, those with an abundance of nature and tourist resources gained positive position in the new times. Hidan, who had lived as a shinobi constantly starved for strife, grew frustrated and discontent with this new pacifism, eventually directing his feelings at the village itself.
It was inevitable that the newly found religion of Jashin would set its eyes on him.
Thou shalt massacre thy neighboor.
The religion's teachings would prove be abundant with elements that affirmed Hidan's own desires.
177.1 cm 58.8 kg

Vered (NF) schrieb:

kushina info:

Birthday: July 10, Age not given, Cancer
Height: 165cm
Weight: 47kg
Blood Type: B
Personality: Tomboyish, hates losing
Likes: Shio ramen
Dislikes: Bitter foods, coffee
Wants to fight: none
Favorite word: Don't give up until the end
Hobbies: Chatting, horseplay, pulling pranks

No information on number of missions/ranks given. Former kunoichi of the Whirlpool Country, lived most of her youth being caught-up in war.

tora-chan (MH) schrieb:

Ok guys, I don't know if I should post it here or somewhere else. I haven't even reread it (it's laaaate), and I don't think it's polished enough to deserve a place in some Translation thread, but anyway, I thought it might be interesting to you.

I bought the guidebook this morning and copied/translated some stuff from it. I basically took the post straight from my LiveJournal to post it here (after changing some tags obviously). Enjoy

I included: a few character stats, a LOT of character height/weight/age/birthday data, name of previously unnamed charas/jutsu, translations of polls/rankings, Kishimoto creation sketches & comments, Q&A session, special 5 pages manga.

It also contains (crappy) photos I took with my iBook's webcam. Sorry for the absence of thumbnails, I've had enough problem uploading the normal pictures already... (hypercrappy connection)

This is the cover + back. I wonder why he drew Sasuke with the bandages and that random dress.. By the way, this guide covers the manga up until volume 43 included, thus it also has everything about Uchiha, Itachi's death, the story Madara tells Sasuke etc etc


:::Some character stats:::

This is a quick overview of some character's growth, that is their abilities in Sha no Sho compared to how they were in Tou no Sho (2nd guidebook). I know it's impossible to read and it's also pretty difficult to see the lines, but anyway, you mainly need to know what the 8 points are. Starting from the top, clockwise:
-Ninjutsu
-Taijutsu
-Genjutsu
-Intelligence
-(Physical) Strength
-Speed
-Stamina
-Seals
Also, the charas in the lower left are (top>bottom, left>right): Neji, Shikamaru, Gaara, Rock Lee.

Ok, well, I'll be kind enough to type the numbers XD; But only of the newest stats..

Naruto: Nin 4 - Tai 3.5 - Gen 2 - Int 3 - Str 3.5 - Spe 3.5 - Sta 5 - Sea 1.5
Sasuke: Nin 5 - Tai 3.5 - Gen 4 - Int 3.5 - Str 3.5 - Spe 4.5 - Sta 3.5 - Sea 4
Sakura: Nin 3 - Tai 3 - Gen 3.5 - Int 4 - Str 3 - Spe 3 - Sta 2.5 - Sea 4
Shikamaru: Nin 3.5 - Tai 2 - Gen 3 - Int 5 - Str 2 - Spe 2.5 - Sta 3 - Sea 3
Rock Lee: Nin 0 - Tai 5 - Gen 1 - Int 2 - Str 4.5 - Spe 4.5 - Sta 3.5 - Sea 1
Neji: Nin 4 - Tai 4.5 - Gen 2 - Int 3 - Str 2.5 - Spe 4.5 - Sta 3.5 - Sea 3
Gaara: Nin 5 - Tai 2 - Gen 3.5 - Int 4 - Str 2.5 - Spe 3 - Sta 5 - Sea 4

Most of the points definitely don't surprise me.
Naruto's intelligence grew a lot.. He's almost as smart as Sasuke (-0.5 points) XD Sakura is smarter than both (0.5 points higher than Sasuke). I'm surprised about Neji, I thought he was smarter
Naruto should really improve his seal ability... Maybe now that he's been training for Rasen Shuriken etc he will also do that..
Sakura improved a lot, though apparently, as strong as she looks, her taijutsu and physical strength are still lower than the other boys' (well, yes, she's a woman indeed and most of her strength depends on her chakra control, but anyway).


:::Characters - Height & Weight (& Age/Birthday):::

This totally crooked chart (I mean, the photo) compares the height of the various characters. Sasuke looks quite taller than Naruto, although he's actually only 2 cm taller.. Maybe it's the shoulders..

Anyway, here's a list of the height/weight of the characters shown in the chart (it's in centimeters/kilograms, sorry, I cannot convert it for you... ==;. I also included the age and birthday for those ones you might be wondering about XD By the way, Naruto & co. are listed as 16 years old.

Naruto: 166.0cm x 50.9kg
Sasuke: 168.0cm x 52.2kg
Sakura: 161.0cm x 45.4kg
Chouji: 172.3cm x 87.5kg
Shikamaru: 170.0cm x 53.4kg
Ino: 162.2cm x 46.0kg
Neji: 172.1cm x 54.2kg
Tenten: 164.0cm x 47.3kg
Rock Lee: 172.0cm x 54.7kg
Sai: 172.1cm x 53.3kg (17 years old, bday 11/25)
Yamato: 178.0cm x 58.4kg (26 years old, bday 8/10)
Kakashi: 181.0cm x 67.5kg
Kiba: 169.1cm x 52.5kg
Hinata: 160.0cm x 45.0kg
Shino: 175.1cm x 56.6kg
Akamaru: 127.2cm x 80.5kg (7 years old XD)

Here is the same info for other charas you might be interested about (Japanese alphabetical order, except for the Hokage, who are where the "ho" would be):
Kushina Uzumaki: 165.0cm x 47.0kg (age unknown, bday 7/10)
Itachi Uchiha: 178.0cm x 58.0kg
Madara Uchiha: only known thing is his bday, 12/24
Iruka Umino: 178.0cm x 66.2kg
Orochimaru: 172.0cm x 57.3kg
Kakuzu: 185.0cm x 63.2kg (91 years old, bday 8/15)
Gaara: 166.1cm x 50.9kg
Karin: 162.6cm x 45.8kg (16 years old, bday 6/20)
Kankurou: 175.0cm x 61.2kg
Konohamaru: 141.1cm x 36.9kg
Konan: 169.4cm x 45.3kg (age unknown, bday 2/20)
Sasori: 164.1cm x 47.3kg (35 years old, bday 11/8)
Asuma Sarutobi: 190.8cm x 81.6kg
Shizune: 168.0cm x 49.2kg
Juugo: 202.1cm x 75.8kg (18 years old, bday 10/1)
Jiraiya: 191.2cm x 87.5kg
Shin (Sai's "brother" XD): 174.0cm x 55.4kg (age unknown, bday 9/6)
Zetsu: only known thing is his height, 177.0cm
Danzou: 170.0cm x 52.7kg (72 years old, bday 1/6)
Chiyo: 149.1cm x 39.1kg (73 years old, bday 10/15)
Deidara: 166.0cm x 50.8kg (19 years old, bday 5/5)
Teuchi: 170.0cm x 64.0kg (47 years old, bday 8/10) (I know you just wanted to know about him 8D)
Temari: 165.0cm x 47.9kg
Tobi: 175.0cm x 55.9kg (anything else is unknown; and yes, he and Madara have different profiles)
Yugito Nii: 170.2cm x 50.8kg (29 years old, bday 7/24)
Hidan: 177.1cm x 56.8kg (22 years old, bday 4/2)
Pain (by the way, in romaji it's clearly written PAIN, not "Pein" ): 176.5cm x 57.2kg (age and bday unknown)
Suigetsu Hoozuki: 177.4cm x 57.0kg (16 years old, bday 2/18)
Hashirama Senju: 185.1cm x 74.0kg (age unknown, bday 10/23)
Tobirama Senju (second Hokage ): 182.3cm x 70.5kg (age unknown, bday 2/19)
Hiruzen Sarutobi (third Hokage): 163.1cm x 50.6kg (69 years old, bday 2/8)
Minato Namikaze: 179.2cm x 66.1kg (age unknown, bday 1/25)
Tsunade: 163.1cm x 48.9kg
Kisame Hoshigaki: 195.0cm x 83.1kg (32 years old, bday 3/18)
Maito Gai (yes, I do know the guidebooks have him as "Might Guy" XD): 184.0cm x 76.0kg
Kabuto Yakushi: 177.0cm x 65.0kg
Kurenai Yuuhi: 169.1cm x 54.4kg


:::Character names & quick ages:::

These are actually featured in the above part as well, but anyway...
New names we found about:
-Sai's "brother" was called Shin
-Madara's brother was called Izuna
-Fukasaku's wife is called Shima
-After finding out about Hashirama Senju and Minato Namikaze, now we know about the second and third Hokage's names as well, that is: Tobirama Senju and Hiruzen Sarutobi
-The names of Kakashi's dogs: Pakkun (this one you already know ), Shiba (the one with the black crest), Bisuke (little one with droopy eyes), Akino (one with glasses), Guruko (little one with Naruto-like whiskers), Uuhei (one with bandages), Urushi (one with not black crestlike fur), Buru (the big bulldog)
-Sai's senpai from Ne (who we see when he hands Sai the envelope from Danzou) is called Hyou
-The two guys from the Rain village, who Jiraiya questioned: Yuudachi (he got transformed), Ryuusui
-The guy in Orochimaru's lair that Suigetsu kills ignoring Sasuke's orders: Takishi
-The four women who were bathing in the hot springs Yamato & team 7 went to: Emiru, Sumire, Nae, Yui
-Nekobaa's granddaughter: Tamaki

And here's the age of some new charas:
-Sasori: 35
-Deidara: 19
-Kakuzu: 91
-Hidan: 22
-Suigetsu: 16
-Juugo: 18
-Karin: 16
-Sai: 17
-Yamato (Tenzou): 26


:::Jutsu names:::

Some jutsu names you might want to know. Mostly jutsu whose name we didn't hear in the manga.

-Ukojizai no Jutsu: Pain uses this jutsu to make rain fall.
-Kagura Shingan: Karin uses this jutsu to check a vast range around her. It's labeled as "hiden".
-Kagerou: the jutsu Zetsu uses to vanish and reapper in/from the ground.
-Kamui: the jutsu Kakashi uses with his Mangekyou against Deidara. It appears to be an original jutsu of his (that is, other people with other Mangekyou Sharingan probably can't do it).
-Karasubunshin no Jutsu: the bunshin jutsu Itachi uses to transform into crows XD It appears to be a normal jutsu, I mean, no hiden, no kekkei genkai XD
-Kishou Tensei: the jutsu Chiyo uses to revive Gaara. Level S.
-Kyoumen Shuuja no Jutsu: Pain used this jutsu to make team Gai clones appear.
-Kirin is labeled as S-level.
-Kuchiyose - Gamamise no Jutsu: Jiraiya used this jutsu to create the fake pub in the Rain village XD
-Kuchiyose - Raikou Kenka: Sasuke used this jutsu to summon weapons in the fight against Itachi.
-Gufuu Suika no Jutsu: Naruto & Yamato's joint jutsu used against Kakuzu.
-Saikan Chuushutsu no Jutsu: the jutsu Sakura used to extract Sasori's poison from Kankurou's body.
-CO (the second one is "O", not "zero"): Deidara's last jutsu.
-Shikigami no Mai: Konan's jutsu when she was floating in the air and her body transformed into paper.
-Shikoku Fuuin: the jutsu Jiraiya used to leave his last message on Fukasaku's back.
-Jagei Jubaku: the jutsu Sasuke used to make snakes coil around Juugo and Suigetsu to stop them. It's actually Orochimaru's, so I don't know if he's able to use it now..
-Shouten no Jutsu: the jutsu Pain used to transform random men into Itachi and Kisame.
-Suika no Jutsu: Suigetsu uses this jutsu to transform into water.
-Suiton - Gousuiwan no Jutsu: Suigetsu used this jutsu once to make his left arm bigger.
-Sennou Sousa no Jutsu: Sasori used this jutsu to control Yura's mind.
-Chidori Eisou: when you see Sasuke shooting a laserbeam-like Chidori from his hand, well, it's this jutsu XD;
-Tensha Fuuin - Amaterasu: this is how the Amaterasu Itachi sealed into Sasuke's left eye is called.
-Fuuton - Rasenshuriken is labeled as S-level.
-Magen - Kasegui no Jutsu: the jutsu both Itachi and Sasuke used against Orochimaru when he tried to enter their minds.
-Yamata no Jutsu is labeled as S-level (the user is Orochimaru, not Sasuke)


:::Polls & Rankings:::

The results of some polls XD In most of them the male/female rate is 4:6 or 3:7... No wonder.
Be prepared to also see the results of the overall character popularity poll... XD

The best scenes that went straight to your heart
1) Ch306, "Naruto and Sasuke meet again" - 161 votes
2) Ch279, "Gaara revived" - 132 votes
3) Ch393, "Itachi's death" - 122 votes
4) Ch281, "Gaara's handshake" - 87 votes
5) Ch383, "Sasuke VS Itachi, the fight begins" - 63 votes
6) Ch362, "The last ultimate art" - 56 votes
7) Ch310, "Title 'Friends'" - 49 votes
8) Ch328, "Shikamaru's tears" - 45 votes
9) Ch278, "Cry of grief" - 40 votes
10) Ch339, "Overlapping backs" - 38 votes

The best lines that moved you (my translation will be very rough, sorry)
1) Ch307, "No way you can become Hokage if you can't even save a friend. Right... Sasuke?" by Naruto Uzumaki - 131 votes
2) Ch382, "Not to give up.. That was the real choice I had to make. Naruto, the 'boy of the prophecy' is undoubtedly you. I leave the rest to you." by Jiraiya - 97 votes
3) Ch249, "As Kazekage of the village of the Sand." by Gaara - 90 votes
4) Ch383, "'The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki'... Yeah... That sounds good." by Jiraiya - 75 votes
5) Ch321, "You're the only shinobi able to surpass the Yondaime Hokage. That's what I believe." by Kakashi - 63 votes
6) Ch333, "It's because only the power of the 'wind' is able to save the 'fire' and make it burn higher than before." by Naruto Uzumaki - 61 votes
7) Ch362, "Be scared!!" by Deidara - 57 votes
8) Ch303, "Orochimaru might even try and rip me apart, but I'll definitely steal Sasuke back from him!" by Naruto Uzumaki - 47 votes
9) Ch278, "If you Sand shinobi hadn't put a monster inside of Gaara all of this wouldn't have happened!!!" by Naruto Uzumaki - 40 votes
10) Ch304, "I wanted to show this to niisan..." Sai by - 38 votes

The best battles that heated you up
1) Sasuke Uchiha VS Itachi Uchiha - 361 votes
2) Sasuke Uchiha VS Deidara - 130 votes
3) Sakura Haruno & Chiyo VS Sasori - 107 votes
4) Gaara VS Deidara - 94 votes
5) Shikamaru Nara VS Hidan - 56 votes
6) Jiraiya VS Pain - 50 votes
7) Naruto Uzumaki VS Kakuzu - 46 votes
8) Naruto Uzumaki & Kakashi Hatake VS Deidara - 45 votes
9) Sasuke Uchiha VS Orochimaru - 44 votes
10) Hashirama Senju VS Madara Uchiha - 43 votes

Which shinobi would you like as your teacher?
1) Kakashi Hatake - 268 votes
2) Itachi Uchiha - 104 votes
3) Jiraiya - 100 votes
4) Minato Namikaze - 84 votes
5) Maito Gai - 66 votes
6) Tsunade - 54 votes
7) Yamato - 44 votes
8) Iruka Umino - 40 votes
9) Asuma Sarutobi - 38 votes
10) Deidara - 32 votes

The king of chapter covers (I know that the titles alone don't help you remember the pics, but anyway, you can still look them up somewhere..)
1) Ch384, "Two roads..." - 192 votes
2) Ch317, "The nightmare begins!!" - 144 votes
3) Ch388, "Difference in strength...!!" - 128 votes
4) Ch341, "Results of training...!!" - 64 votes
5) Ch377, "Sennin mode!!" - 52 votes
6) Ch357, "Deidara VS Sasuke!!" - 51 votes
7) Ch294, "The fourth tail...!!" - 50 votes
8) Ch332, "Shikamaru's fight!!" - 45 votes
9) Ch337, "Shikamaru's talent!!" - 37 votes
10) Ch364, "The target is...!!" - 36 votes

Which shinobi would you like as your older/younger brother/sister?
-Younger brother:
1) Naruto Uzumaki - 92 votes
2) Sasuke Uchiha - 76 votes
3) Deidara - 48 votes
4) Gaara - 26 votes
5) Sai - 20 votes
-Younger sister:
1) Hinata Hyuuga - 30 votes
2) Sakura Haruno - 16 votes
3) Tenten - 7 votes
-Older sister:
1) Temari - 52 votes
2) Sakura Haruno - 28 votes
3) Ino Yamanaka - 21 votes
-Older brother:
1) Itachi Uchiha - 158 votes
2) Deidara - 116 votes
3) Naruto Uzumaki - 93 votes
4) Neji Hyuuga - 78 votes
5) Sasuke Uchiha - 50 votes
6) Shikamaru Nara - 31 votes
7) Gaara - 30 votes
8) Kakashi Hatake - 29 votes
9) Sai - 24 votes
10) Sasori - 16 votes

Overall Character Popularity Poll (basically they additioned all the votes of the past popularity polls... XD)
1) Kakashi Hatake - 48431 votes
2) Naruto Uzumaki - 42862 votes
3) Sasuke Uchiha - 33632 votes
4) Iruka Umino - 23532 votes
5) Shikamaru Nara - 11211 votes
6) Sakura Haruno - 9701 votes
7) Neji Hyuuga - 9362 votes
8) Gaara - 8660 votes
9) Rock Lee - 8614 votes
10) Itachi Uchiha - 7067 votes
11) Hinata Hyuuga - 6917 votes
12) Haku - 3551 votes
13) Maito Gai - 2913 votes
14) Temari - 2803 votes
15) Yondaime Hokage (Minato Namikaze) - 2734 votes
16) Deidara - 2555 votes
17) Kiba Inuzuka - 2398 votes
18) Hayate Gekkou - 2183 votes
19) Jiraiya - 2055 votes
20) Shino Aburame - 1963 votes


:::Secret character creation sketches:::

I took some (crappy) photos of the sketches Kishimoto did to create the grown-up versions of his characters. I'll also roughly translate (aka "the meaning is fine, just ignore the horrible English adaptation") what he says about them... Click the names to see the pictures. Note: the "LOLs" are actually in there, it's not my comment (though sometimes I do agree 8D).

Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha
-Naruto: "The forehead protector is slightly wider"
"Actually, the main characteristic of Naruto's clothes is his forehead protector. In the earlier version the line used to show the "thickness" of the metal and the line of the cloth part were very close, and that made it kind of difficult to draw the eyebrows that were right under that. For this reason, I made the cloth wider. This made both the metal's and the cloth's thickness visible, plus the eyebrows are a lot easier to draw. Besides that I also removed the rolled up part of Naruto's pants and changed his shoes from sandals to high-cut boots. Showing too much the ankle looked childish, so I tried to fix that."
-Sakura: "Sakura changed from China-style dress to karate suit..."
"I changed Sakura's clothes from the previous China-style ones to a more lively karate suite style. I gave her boots and gloves. The upper part, though, still has a Chinaesque feeling to it, so as to make her more feminine."
-Sasuke: "I thought I had to make him look cool!"
"I changed my mind a lot of times in my quest to make him look cool. I tried to put a "shimenawa" (the rope, ndt) around him to preserve Orochimaru's style.. I tried a turtleneck to show cleanliness.. I tried a military uniform.. In the end I just chose Japanese-style clothes and left his chest naked (LOL)."

Sai, Shikamaru Nara, Chouji Akimichi, Shino Aburame
-Sai: "I tried to make him look interesting to a certain extent by showing his belly (LOL)"
"Since he's Sasuke's successor, I thought that he had to somehow look cool and interesting...The result is his exposed belly (LOL). I also made him look unbalanced on purpose by making the gloves different in length."
-Shikamaru: "The focal point is the forehead protector on his arm"
"I wanted him to be unique despite wearing a normal chuunin vest. That's why I decided to put his forehead protector on his arm, so that it wouldn't hide his peculiar hair line."
-Chouji/Kiba: "One similar to his dad and a ninken rider"
"As for Chouji, in the past I've drawn his father Chouza, so I thought he might just follow his style. Kiba rides Akamaru, so he has sweat-proof clothes. Like those of a ninken rider (LOL)."
-Shino: "Even Shino's bag is stuffed with bugs"
"I eventually decided that Shino must be dressed in layers (LOL). I decided not to show much his face and other parts of his body to make him look eerie. He's also a bug user, so even his backpack is full of bugs."

Tenten, Akamaru, Ino Yamanaka, Hinata Hyuuga
-Tenten: "Her design is my favorite"
"Tenten wears a comfortable three-quarter China dress. I tried to think about the ease of movement when I drew it. This Tenten is my favorite design."
-Akamaru: "Akamaru..... well, I just made him bigger"
"I just made Akamaru bigger (LOL). His face is the same as before. I never decided a specific breed for him. I just thought of him as a dog that gets bigger and bigger and that would be able to carry Kiba around."
-Ino: "She was full of bandages, so I removed them"
"The previous Ino was covered in bandages, so I first removed those. Then I thought about the ease of movement, and since she's a girl I tried to leave some parts of her body exposed."
-Hinata: "Hinata is cute-but-uncool (LOL)"
"Hinata has to look simple, so I tried to cover all of her body and to give her a "provincial" feel. She's not interested in fashion... so I do want her to look cute, but in an unfashionable way. ...Cute-but-uncool (LOL)"

Pain, Hidan, Konan, Zetsu
-Pain: "I wanted coolness and danger"
"He's Akatsuki's leader, so he has to look cool at least to a certain extent, but I also wanted him to look dangerous. Since his name is "Pain", I decided to put some piercings on his body. Kind of like a person who gives pain to himself".
-Hidan: "Bones and a scythe remind of a shinigami"
"Hidan uses curses and such, so I wanted him to look similar to a shinigami. That's why he carries a scythe and bones. I originally planned the scythe to have a lot of tricks, but I didn't have time to show all of them... (LOL)."
-Konan: "Yeah, she's obscene... but she wears clothes (LOL)"
"I'd thought since the beginning to have Konan as the only woman in Akatsuki, so I tried to make her somewhat obscene, but...... In truth, she wears the Akatsuki mantle above that (LOL). And then, she transforms into paper right away..."
-Zetsu: "I originally wanted to make Akatsuki into a group of monsters"
"Zetsu is modeled after an insectivorous plant. I originally wanted Akatsuki to be a group of individuals with close to no human characteristics. I decided to make Zetsu half black and half white to better show his double personality."

I forgot to take photos of the page with the Nibi and Sanbi, but anyway...
-Nibi: "If it was just a cat it would be too cute..."
"There's actually a youkai (Japanese folklore monster, ndt) called "Nekomata", so the Nibi was easy to imagine. With two tails.. But if it was just a cat it would look too cute, so I tried to make him more beastlike, sort of similar to a tiger or lion, to make him look more powerful."
-Sanbi: "I've always liked monsters (LOL)"
"I've always liked monsters, youkai and huge creatures. With Sanbi I tried to mix many kinds of those. Its body recalls a turtle, and its tails are modeled after shrimps."


:::Kishimoto Q&A Session:::

I'll translate the very short Q&A session to which Kishimoto answered. It's 4am, ignore my horrible English.

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**About the sensei**

Q. How do you choose the characters' names?
A. I think about Japanese nouns and decide which ones might be good as names.

Q. What character would you like as your girlfriend?
A. No one. It's characters I create, after all...

Q. If you were a girl, who would you like as your boyfriend?
A. Shikamaru. He's smart and looks like he might be successful in life.
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**About the characters**

Q. Do members of Akatsuki pairs sleep somewhere at night?
A. They get two single rooms.

Q. Now that Gaara doesn't have the Ichibi anymore he's unable to use the sand, right?
A. Both the sand and the rings around his eyes are there for good, they can't be taken away.

Q. If a Hyuuga and an Uchiha had a child together, what eyes would s/he get?
A. His right eye would be a Sharingan. Meaning that the left one would be a Byakugan! (LOL)

Q. If I drank Suigetsu would I get diarrhea?
A. He would just come out from your bottom.

Q. Why is Naruto able to summon Gamakichi if he signed the contract with Gamabunta?
A. Because signing a contract with Gamabunta means that he's able to summon not only him but any toad.

Q. What is Naruto's "new erotic ninjutsu"...?
A. I'd like to draw it one day. I can do it anytime, I just need the editor's approval.
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**About the mysteries**

Q. Why did the Kyuubi's seal gradually fade?
Q. Why was Naruto able to grow up to four tails?
Q. What did Karin do to Sasuke in the past?
Q. Is Kushina alive?
Q. How did Kakashi awaken his Mangekyou Sharingan?

A. It's a secret!! Just keep on reading the manga!
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Some questions are really useless.. Though..... did SO many people ask about Naruto's new ero ninjutsu and what Karin did to Sasuke???? X°DDD Of course I also wanna know, but anyway...