Shikaniku Nara

 "Power resides only where men believe it resides. A shadow on the wall, yet shadows can kill. And often times a very small man can cast a very large shadow"

- The Malevolent Shinobi of the Shadows

Yami Nara (闇奈良, Nara Yami), renowned as The Shinobi of the Shadows (忍びの影, Kage no Shinobi) hails from the noble Nara Clan of Konohagakure and is often considered a prodigy among shinobi. He is currently the Jōnin Commander, attributed to the fact that he had evolved his Nara hiden techniques to unprecendented levels coupled with his massive intellect. Assuming the position as the Nara Clan Head, making use of his enhanced charisma, strength and intelligence to convince his fellow clansmen that he would protect them from terror, he has massive resources as the head of the noble family.

Appearance
Raised to believe that he was better than everyone else, Yami's own appearance reflects this disposition. As a result, he is normally seen smirking complacently, in such a way that many can discern that he's arrogant, even random and complete strangers; thus, many refuse to associate with him for this very reason, with the exception of women who feel the need to have a dominating and confident man. One rare occasion, even when under an immediate threat, does his complacent smirk ever falter.

Despite his lack of taijutsu training, Yami was still a child of average size; being around 5”5 when he was thirteen and possessing extremely lean muscles which bulged out of his shirt, a trait many believed in being a natural indication that he was naturally skilled in taijutsu, which is an ironic assumption indeed. In addition to his size, Yami was often categorized as “cute” by many of the females of his age, often subjecting him as a target of envy and jealousy from various males. Coupled with his average size, Yami’s notable features made him a very attractive teenager; he possessed fair skin and bright, green eyes which shone like emeralds in the sun. His face was perfect, every feature being shaped in the correct manner and placed in the perfect place, as if his face was chiseled by the best artist. Even more impressive than his facial features was his shaggy, brown hair, a feature which everyone loved. His shaggy, brown hair was absolute astounding, evident by the fact that every strand were the same size and that they all flowed in the same direction. If one strand of hair was lying down, they all were laying down; it was so nice and extraordinary that Yami rarely had to do anything to keep it as it was.

Disregarding the praise he received about his appearance, Yami was still unsatisfied when being forced to wear the traditional Konoha shinobi outfit, considering the outfits as too plain, simply and ugly for his taste. As a result, Yami personally requested that his own outfit be designed. Because of this, his usual attire looked nothing like that of a shinobi outfit. During his childhood, Yami wore a black vest with white buttons over a white collared shirt with black buttons, to which he didn’t button the top portions of both pieces of cloth and then folded them backwards to resemble that of a V-Neck. Following this, he wore black pants which he tucked into large brown boots. Completing this outfit was a purple cloth which he tied around his waist, allowing it to hang downwards; which was followed a yellow belt which held his blade on his waist, along with black gloves as an additional accessory.

As he grew older and trained much for extensive periods of times, his appearance began to take a shift. His scrawny appearance turned into one that was muscular and as he grew older his face changed, developing more masculine features to accompany this masculine physique. Although this current appearance is much different from that of when he was younger Yami still is extremely pleased and proud of himself; thus, he is often referred to as the, though this may also be because he is indeed still a very handsome man. Perhaps the most noticeable trait/evidence of his complacency is the fact that he poses when attempting to impress someone, usually during his attempts to impress a lady; often showing off of his well defined muscular build, displaying his extreme masculinity regarding his appearance.

While as a child he was called cute, Yami is now referred to as handsome, if not outright stunning. This characterization is attributed to his features; who are so well defined that they seem as if they were created by God himself. Yami is a fairly tall male with fair skin. He has spiky, brown hair with two long pieces hanging from both sides of his face, resembling that of sideburns. He has blue eyes which resemble the same coloring as the ocean. His nose is perfectly shaped, pointed at the tip as if it's a sword. Yami interprets this shape as a symbol of his absolute power that he holds.

Never outgrowing this trait, Yami still has his own clothing tailored by the best tailor in the Land of Fire, because he absolutely loathes the Konoha uniform. However, Yami has adapted a more "responsible outfit" as opposed to wearing clothes for their style, despite the fact that they inhibited his movements; his clothes now allow him to move gracefully and access his techniques in a much smoother manner, due to their loose fit. Currently, Yami is normally seen in a purple, v-neck shirt which reveals his broad chest and the upper portion of his abdomen which are tucked into white, silky pants in which are then tucked into his blue boots which are used to protect his "precious" feet. Completing this unique outfit is a long, blue, short sleeved haori with the Nara clan symbol on the back and a white lining on the inside which reads "The Shinobi of the Shadows", along with black, fingerless gloves and a green bandanna. Contrary to what most believe, Yami assumed this appearance at the age of sixteen years old, which was over eight years ago, but his face hasn't changed or aged in the slightest, not even a single wrinkle has developed, which is because of his extensive treatment and care of his skin.

Personality
His shadow-like abilities, though very very powerful in terms of his affinity, has also altered his state of mind. Shadows, motions of yin, the shadow-style, and yin being the negative side of the human person, represent the seven deadly sins. Because he has absorbed sixth individuals using his shadow-like abilities, he has taken all of them including their deadly sins. As a result, Yami's persona consist solely of these sins, each working with one another inside his being, equally infused within him to create his character and formulate his personality. While the seven deadly sins are normally seen as "Negative" trait, evil characteristics, when combined with one another, they create a perfectly normal being, someone who is so corrupted that they appear pure. Purely corrupted, they often have little issue with themselves, since their good doesn't exist, it doesn't have to internally battle with his bad traits.

Yami, The Arrogant
Essentially raised to believe that he was god, Yami is an extremely arrogant individual who possess little to no ability in congratulating or complimenting others on their skills because of his extreme case of complacency. His arrogance has affected how he battles, often underestimating opponents despite their reputation and how he presents himself, often requiring his outfits to be tailored by the best. Yami's arrogance is the most noticeable of his characteristics as a human being, but even more so is responsible for several other traits, which normally reveal this self-indulged pride that he holds for himself; a pride which has only increased as his powers grow stronger. Stemming from his arrogant nature, Yami is a very flippant man who seemingly goes out of his own to anger or frustrate anyone else, casually mouthing off to even the strongest of foes, because he basically loves rubbing people the wrong way. While majority of the time this seems to just be a mean-move made by Yami, he has noted that he casually mouths off to his opponents to anger them and force them to make a mistake due to that anger, making it a strategic move as well which displays a bit of Yami's intelligence which is normally hidden behind his arrogant disposition. During his mission to guard the Daimyo as a child, Yami is never serious during that trip, though he states he could have been if he wanted to, and was never without a witty comment or comeback to his opponents. Attributed to his pride-full attitude, Yami is also never seen fighting at his full potential, believing himself into being much stronger than his opponents, which occurs a large majority of the time. Yami is simply unflappable, never showing fear when things don't go his way, such as being ambushed by large groups of bandits and also Jonin-level shinobi. Even when battling for the lives of himself or others, Yami will still underestimate his opponent and hold back, simply to make the fight more interesting and longer; this trait revealing a bit of his child-like nature, as he was essentially without a transition stage between a child and a adult, thus he never ridden himself of these child-like habits such as joking around, playing tag and sleeping with his brown teddy bear, Brown-San.

Yami, The Lustful
Finding pride in his beauty, feeling as if he had to be beautiful or else some dire consequences was in place, this deadly sin is responsible for Yami's physical attraction to himself. Lust, the word to describe an extreme urge to partake in sexual activities to appease one's desire. Yami himself is very lustful, this sin being as strongly infused into his being as his pride. As a result, Yami is a very very large big pervert, doing almost anything to get what he wants; the booty. Because of how lustful he is, Yami rarely ever discriminates between man and woman, thus both genders are within his sexual grasp. Regardless of woman and man, Yami will approach them with the same intent to get the bounty that he's awaiting. However, realizing that a rude, ugly man never gets the bounty, Yami has developed traits that will better help him acquire the treat that he so desires.

Charisma, a big trait for sociable people to have, Yami must be charismatic to be likable; having a compelling attraction that everyone is seemingly drawn to. Being charismatic is no easy task, for it requires specific traits that allow one to do so. For hundreds of years, people have made use of these traits to appear charismatic, even if it meant acting. Because these traits are the success to being charismatic, Yami does them consistently. The first of those traits is actually Yami's first deadly sin of pride. Because Yami is confident, however he often mask the extremity of his arrogance just a bit to make himself likable, he radiates an aura of power which charms anyone seeking someone of a higher stature. Being confident allows Yami to speak openly in one to one, or one to hundred group settings without being rattled and this powerful sense of positivity often spreads to others, boosting their own confidence as well.

Optimism is another aspect of charisma, or rather appearing optimistic is very important to relate to other. By trying to understand and see the best in others' ideas and plans, always remaining very cheerful and "bubbly". He rarely ever give up hope in situations, remaining hopeful that everything will play out accordingly. Often, Yami's first deadly sin of pride adds on to this, his arrogance making him unflappable and calm in all situations, as he believes he can handle most situations without much effort thus worries little. Such positivity and optimism often serve as a weapon for Yami to use to get others to enjoy his presence.

Another part of being charismatic is being witty, capable of coming up with jokes that will make people laugh without trying too hard. Yami employs his witty humor by using multiple strategies. The first is laughing at himself. By poking himself, people often realize how self assertive and comfortable he is with himself and will generally be more comfortable around him. The second strategy is being capable of joking with a large variety of people. Depending on the personality of the group, Yami often changes the content and offensive nature of his jokes accordingly. Because most younger people often display more offense attitudes, to the ignorance that they have because of the lack of experience, Yami will use more offensive jokes within that group setting. However, with older people, he uses less offensive jokes and ensuring that they generate a small, but genuine chuckle from his audience. The third and final strategy Yami employs is timing. Because different times calls for different levels of seriousness, Yami very rarely continuously tell jokes, instead waiting for the perfect time to employ them.

Naturally adept at this because of his shinobi nature, but with even more practice due to his lustful disposition, Yami is an emotional player. By employing different tactics, he can appear charismatic, rude, or even crazy. However, these tactics are not the only things that he uses. As a shinobi, especially one who had undergone shinobi training, he is capable of restraining and accessing his emotions with relative ease. He can appear happy, sad, frustrated, or even nervous; he uses physical motions to convincingly make this flawless. Often enough, he uses his emotions to enhance his charm. In a situations where someone has passed, even if Yami doesn't know the person, he can make himself appear saddened, convincing others that he has a heart of gold even though he most likely didn't care. In situations where someone has received an award or good news, Yami can suddenly become very excited. By changing his emotions at any given situation, using physical movements and diction to make his acting flawless, he can easily relate to others through some sort of empathetic relationship.

The last and most important trait that makes up Yami's charismatic disposition is that he is very engaged with others. He proves that he is very interesting, fabricating stories or telling true ones that is concisely and articulated communicated that makes the story easy to follow without much trouble. Once again using bodily motions, he uses tons of eye contact and even small gestures to help assist with his speech and to help articulate the message properly. However, while proving to being interesting, Yami acts as if he is very interested. Due to his photographic memory, he remembers anything he sees or hears and can instantly draw it from the depths of his brain. Able to recall details, he can ask insightful questions at later times and coordinate events that relate to someone's particular interest since he can recall whatever they say, gaining respect and admiration from that specific person.

Yami, The Sloth
Sloth is described as spiritual and emotional apathy, the lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern. However, since it is infused with several other sins equally, it counterbalances the lazy nature of Yami so that he just doesn't sit around and die. However, Yami is very apathetic. Because of his superiority complex and because of his slothful nature, he cares very little about things that do not concern his immediate interest. Whether they are his citizens of Yakigakure, the Daimyō or Kage, Yami will rarely ever feel anything if they were to die or pass painfully. Physical torture on others barely makes the Nara Male flinch, simply sitting with a blank expression as he tears his victims limb from limb. Death is nothing to Yami.

Because of his apathetic nature, Yami cherishes human lives, other than a few, very loosely. Only those that are essential to his ambitions are in his immediate concern. As a result, he is truly very cold and pitiless. As a result, Yami is normally calm and collected, caring very little about what others say or about others generally. His apathetic attitude allows him to suppress his emotions, for they are nearly nonexistent, quite easily. Even when directly insulted, he is never angered. When someone close to him dies, he doesn't feel sadness. When the situation becomes very tense and inconvenient, he does not get stressed. Without the interference of emotions, Yami is virtually able to hide his true nature and carry out his shinobi missions effectively. However, while Yami is apathetic, all of his emotional knowledge comes from interactions. Though he doesn't feel them as much, or because this trait suppresses them some, he can easily judge others and comprehend their emotional status.

Physically, sloth is described as the unwillingness to waste motions. Yami only does what is necessary, evident in battle, rarely wasting even a single motion. His motions are merciless, he tries to kill or incapacitate them swiftly. However, similar to his father, the Nara does not enjoy fighting, finding it much too "troublesome". In addition, Yami rarely ever moves on his own, preferring to have his Root Shinobi provide transportation from place to place, or creating his own animal made from his shadows to move him around so that he doesn't have to himself.

Yami, The Envious
Envy, described as the intense desire to acquire the superior qualities of another, is another sin that generates the known Yami. While a deadly sin, since it is intertwined perfectly with the others, it generates qualities that are set to make up the emotion. To understand and to acquire the qualities of another person, they must first notice that person and recognize that the person's superior nature. As a result, Yami is truly a realist, being fully capable of acknowledging another's strength and superiority to his own. Seeing things as they already are, Yami's strongest attribute from his envious nature is his perception. He believes the world is an infinite spectacle, allowing this to happen and not interpreting things through his experiences but rather as it happens. A neutral force, he is neither good nor bad, immoral nor moral but rather truly neutral. Choosing to watch events, Yami considers himself a "player" rather than a manipulator. He plays his cards and allow events to unfold.

Also because of his arrogance and his actual neutrality, Yami tends to perceive everything as being perfect. If it does not directly influence himself, or even if it does, he does not stress over situations that he probably should. Because of his willingness to get involved and watch rather than force, he often plays cards that cause catastrophic damage to people. A scientific truthfully, Yami only desires to know and understand everything. To acquire all of the world's techniques, to stand among as the primordial being. Practicing, experimenting is all considered art to the Nara, regardless of whom is hurt in the process. For this, he is truthfully a sociopath to those who know of his experiments, which are very few.

However, as much as he is a sociopath, Yami is truly a philosopher. Not immoral or moral but rather amoral, he tends to discard morality and grey areas to avoid contaminating the situation at hand with petty emotions. When conducting these experiments, Yami processes one thought "survival of the fittest" and since he believes that he is the most fit he should be the survivor. Regardless, he understands that risk must be taken and is willing to gamble anything, including his own life to further promote his being and develop into a deity. Calmed, collective and charismatic, Yami manages to mask this sociopathy with his charisma while only allowing it to surface in the presence of those that will never see the light of day; people who will be sacrificed in his experiments.

Yami, The Wrathful
Though masked under his charisma, wrath is still embodied just as much as the other deadly sins, infused into his being. Wrath is ultimately described as the ultimate form of anger, fury and hate at times. Though he rarely ever shows it, Yami is generally very wrathful. A physical embodiment of wrath, he has qualities to express his angry nature. While it is weaved generally into his everyday personality, it is more of all shown during his battles. Because of his wrath, Yami is not a very patient individual and is rather inpatient. Quick to be offended, he never lets a single world go unanswered. For those that disrespect the Nara, unless they serve some valuable insight or of some importance to his plans, will find themselves quickly sliced down. He is aggressive, augmentative, never allowing his contention to go unheard. When his plan is countered, Yami never lets up. He refutes a person’s point, just for the sake of refuting. This is often responsible for his witty remarks, often making a comeback regardless.

An extension of his wrath, Yami possesses a massive Killing Intent, so much that he has to forcefully suppress it to avoid scaring off others. When he becomes angered especially, or rather when he allows his killing intent to go unrestrained, it is powerful enough to give off illusions. Illusions in which the person is consumed by shadows, enveloped entirely and exposed to their wrathful nature. Tugging and pulling, scratching, clawing, anything that they can do to express their disdain for the person. Thousands of shadows, souls they represent, cry out in agony, drowning the listener in their unforgettable cries.

Unlike most people who are wrathful or wishing to kill others, Yami never really shows “anger” in terms. Rather, he becomes noticeably sadistic and sinister. When in the heat of battle he simply laughs hysterically and smiles at his opponent. Expressing delight in slicing them up, his movements become virtually unpredictable. Rather than use direct assaults, Yami bends his body, using his incredible dexterity to change his position. Bloodthirsty, nothing short of taking actual hits and slices from his opponent, is within Yami's reach when crazed. More madness than rage, Yami's wrathful nature is insanity embodied. His thinking deteriorates, all reasoning dissipates, and he becomes an absolute killing machine.

Yami, The Greedy
Greed, the sin of desiring possessions, the necessity to obtain material objects. Money, gold, clothes are all apart of these objects that one wishes to obtain. Infused equally as the other sins, Yami has shown himself to be a very greedy person. He will rarely initiate any action of any sort unless it can, or will, compensate him for his valiant efforts. Tying in with his slothful disposition, he doesn't waste any actions on anything other than his own self benefit in which he hopes to obtain something he didn't have. As such, the Nara finds money to be more valuable then what it already is. Since his childhood, everything Yami did was to obtain money for himself and for his clan. S-Rank Missions, A-Rank Missions, partnering with criminal agencies is among the few mere things he would do to obtain the green. However, because he desires so much money, Yami is often conserved when simply giving the money away. Only if he believes it will bring him something of equal value, then he will spend his money.

Yami, The Hungry
The last deadly sin deals with the excessive intake of food, gluttony. Similar to greed in such a manner, gluttony deals only with desiring food and that alone. Gluttony has seven major portions that establish it as gluttony. The first form of hunger is Praepropere, eating too soon. Yami often eats meals before the meals are meant to be taken in. Within a few short hours, or rather every hour, the Nara is seen engaging in a full course meal. Tying in with the second form of hunger, Nimis – eating too much. When Yami partakes in hourly meals, his meals are gargantuan. Thirty bowls of food, nothing less than that is enough to fill Yami's appetite. While prodigious, Yami rarely takes a long time while eating. The third form of hunger, Forente, the Nara leader eats very wildly. Most times, he prefer to eat in private to avoid exposing such a habit to others and presenting himself as less charismatic. This wild nature is a result of Yami being incapable of containing his eager (Ardenter) as the food is exceptionally delicious to the shadow manipulator. His appreciation for the materials he consumes, Studiose (eating too daintly), Yami fully taste every bit of the food he eats and appreciates it. Eating it any way he wishes to acquire the full taste of the food, Yami licks his fingers, smacks his lips when eating, crunches extremely loudly, etc. Regardless of his seemingly manner-less habits, he does possess some elegance. Laute, the act of eating too expensively, is where his elegance is portrayed. He only orders the finest foods from the finest chefs, often giving them prodigious money to prepare him the best meals possible.

Intelligence
With the clan known for their intelligence along with his lineage's genetic genius, Yami's greatest assest is indeed his intellect which is seen as supernatural by those outside of the Nara. Both naturally and artifically enhanced, Yami stands as one of Konoha's greatest mind like his father and before him. During his initial ANBU training, Yami was taught how to fight alone and for this reason he had to always be not only observant, analytical and attentive, but even more so than the enemy shinobi. He had to see faster, analyze quicker and respond before the enemy shinobi could especially in this time of war. He exercised this ability countless numbers of time, against other ninja whom were also being drilled with the same mentality. With every training session against his peers, he proved capable of running several thousands of simulations and choose the best one within seconds.

His genius allows him to recall anything that he has directly interacted with: seen, heard, touches, smell, tasted. Any little detail can be seen and examined twenty years later as if it occured yesterday. For this reason, he is an encyclopedia of knowledge, having acquired a vast amount. Conversations with others, books he read, overhead conversations from adults around him, games of shogi and observed battles are among the many things Yami remembers almost as if he had just experienced them. For this very reason, he is a genius similar to, and. His training, techniques and forms are all engrained in his brain and as he acquires more knowledge he can practice them and improve his skills. A single demonstration of the technique is enough to allow Yami to break it down over a course of time and learn it for himself. Because of his remarkable memorization and incredible intuition, his growth rate is truly incredible and that is the reason he is recognized a child prodigy.

As the leader of the Nara Clan, Yami has mastered every aspect of the clan and has read the thoroughly and over and over again despite his photographic memory. As a result, he has full understanding of the concepts inside of the medical book. He can recall any medical herb, medical procedures and the effect of those things on the spot and can complete the actual procedure and prepare any herb when given the proper tools, making him a well rounded and well versed doctor who relies on actual skill rather than ninjutsu to heal others. In addition to being capable of identifying the herb, procedure and their effects, he can also identify and analyze the problem of someone else upon a single person. Also, because he completes medical procedures on others, Yami has been inadvertently memorized the human anatomy, which he can use during battle to strike weak points in the body such as their vitals, organs or nerves, making him even more dangerous than he is without this knowledge.

Next, due to his arrogant disposition he is usually unflappable, even when facing danger directly in the face. Because of this, he is normally calm and composed, granting him the ability to recall everything clearly and devise a strategy to handle the situation in nearly the same amount of time in which he can recall details. More impressive than this ability is how he manages to devise the best strategy to assist him in a situation and how quickly he can do so. He is capable of acting on a moment’s notice. He can out think his opponent by being several steps ahead of them and can act before they can even make their next move. In fact, it can be argued that he is several steps ahead of the entire shinobi world because of his strategy and extremely formulated plan to conquer the world, and how advanced they are. Due to his extensive use of his spiritual energy and coupled with his massive intellect, Yami has developed a mindscape; a world inside of his head similar to some who uses their minds to communicate with their tailed beast. A place that keeps his thoughts organized in different forms rather than words, this internal world is what allows him to store his massive collection of acquired knowledge. Yami's mindscape is a massive forest with many different deer running about. The trees are all different, their leaves reflecting different colors and the texture of their bark differing with every single one. Each tree represents a different experience, a dialogue, a training session, a battle, etc. The deer, created by Yami through several different fuinjutsu seals and barrier ninjutsu, are the guardians of his information; prevents anyone from easily accessing his glorious information. To tap into this secret world requires concentration, the ability to break through the various traps he has set forth as the deer themselves all inherit special abilities that can change in the blink of an eye. Consciously attached to himself, he can warp this world instantly and change it.

Physical Prowess
The notion of being a ninja revolves around one being able to dodge arrows, leap from tree to tree and other feats that people hail as godly. Despite taijutsu being one of his less used skills, he possesses some special attributes which classify him as particularly talented in the respective field. Custom made regiments and training schedules have been mandatory in his everyday life. By exercising regularly to maintain his physique, Shikaniku has maintained an impressive conditioning that many desire. Everyday, he finds some way to exercise, but often times he alternates exercising cardio and strength. The more muscle that you get, the more it will challenge your cardiovascular system. As a result, to truly build the condition one requires you must train both. One day Shikaniku could lift weights, do a thousand pull ups, then run five miles continuously until he is satisfied. Between these exercises however, Shikaniku doesn't allow himself the pleasure of resting for ninety seconds or even five seconds. Unless he physically is unable to continue, he will move from training method to another and input himself in the same manner.

His training exercises differ from week to week through various activities and martial arts. Using the same exact methods to hone one's body is ineffective due to the human body's ability to adapt to routines within two weeks. In addition to the hellish activities he puts himself through day by day, Shikaniku is a very healthy eater and sleeper for the amount of energy he uses. Although many people believe that eating as little as possible to maintain your physique is the proper path, the truth is that you exercises extensively uses prodigious energy. To prevent your body from converting muscle to create more energy, one must eat to ensure your body has enough energy for the activities that you are you going to partake in. Shikaniku consumes an enormous supply of food so much that people consider it unreal. But, while the amount he consumes is vast the food that he consumes is often high quality, thus proves to be very healthy. Chocolate and other unhealthy desserts aren't daily treats. Equally as important, Shikaniku gets approximately eight to ten hours of sleep a night with two or three twenty minute naps during his day. Rest is equally as important as working and eating; it gives your body time to adjust and to heal. With these habits that he has created for himself, he has developed his superb conditioning.

Agility: Notably, more apparent out of all of his physical attributes, Shikaniku's acrobatic prowess stands above all. Agility, defined as the ability to rapidly respond or change by adapting its initial stable configuration; the ability to change one's body position effectively, it makes use of a combination of balance, bodily coordination, speed, reflexes and endurance. In conjunction of his these things, Shikaniku can instantaneously shift motions entirely, effectively dodge attacks point blank, swing from most surfaces and other gymnastic feats consisting of back-flips, somersaults and cartwheels. Physically, Shikaniku is capable of dodging attacks and attacking from virtually any position or direction without much effort. Often in close range combat, striking Shikaniku is almost nearly impossible, using his agility to dodge attacks by slithering away from them, bending his body in ways that are unimaginable.

Endurance: By training his cardiovascular system alongside his skeletal system, Shikaniku has developed endurance that befits his title as a shinobi. Subjecting himself to hellish training was absolutely necessary if not mandatory and subject to even more punishment to his own body under his own philosophy. To simply become the best required the greatest training regiment, but to be able to endure such a regiment he would need the endurance to further increase the malevolence of his methods. As a teenager, Shikaniku was already using one hundred pound weights on his legs just as he walked around, running three miles every two or three hours and many more activities. The increase in muscular density makes it much harder for one to damage him because of an increase in mass. Such density coupled with his body adjusting constantly to withstand the unimaginable training he puts himself through. Extensive physical activities do very little to Shikaniku; he is built to handle longer battles.

Speed: His most recognize attribute is the raw speed that he possesses due to his developed muscles. On average, Shikaniku wears an extra three hundred pounds upon his legs in addition to the weight he already has to carry giving him a total of around four hundred and fifty pounds. His legs have adjusted to this massive amount of weight positively. When training specifically to increase the power in his legs during his marathons, the weight increases by an extra two hundred pounds. By the end of most exercises, he is incapable of moving his legs due to the stress he places on them during these marathons and everyday life in general. However, while he has had to rest for extensive periods of time to deal with these injuries in the past, Shikaniku's speed is tremendously affected. To quote himself, he is "faster than fast" who's speed rivals the most elite of shinobi; he can cover vast distances in the blink of an eye before the unaided eye can notice. Coupled with his quick reflexes due to his overdeveloped intellect, he becomes a very annoying opponent to truly deal with.

Chakra Prowess
Originally, Yami’s primary weakness were his averagely sized chakra reserves which would normally be enough for most shinobi, however Yami’s heavy dependence on his chakra, due to his rare usage of physical objects, often relying on his shadows for makeshift weapons, along with his poor chakra control exhausted whenever he fought for extended periods of time. To compensate for this weakness, Sai trained Yami to control his chakra in the best manner possible so that he would possess refined chakra control, granting him the ability to use his techniques with the minimum amounts of chakra needed to perform the feats he wished to perform. By the age of thirteen, Yami’s chakra control was so advanced that he could perform his clan’s techniques with one hand as opposed to two. By the time his strenuous training was complete, Yami's chakra control exceeded even the highest of expectations that the shadow manipulators, others and himself had set; his chakra control allowing him to fight for extended periods of time due to the severe decline in chakra needed for a specific technique, to such an extent that many of his opponents would mistake him as a Jinchūriki.

When first learning to control his chakra, Yami was tasked with normal exercises which are commonly used to help improve chakra control such as and the  to help him improve where and how much chakra to release and use. These exercises were basic, but extremely helpful in assisting the Nara’s own chakra manipulating abilities. However, these exercises when used in their basic training methods were not enough. Not if Yami was to be something great. Under his own personal motivation to be the best in the world, Yami soon discovered his own training method. Connecting his chakra to his hiden ability, Yami soon focused on using his unique yin based chakra to control his own shadow and other shadows. When controlling his own shadow, Yami would typically focus on using the lowest amount of chakra possible to change the shape and size of his very own shadow. As one can tell, this helped him master the quantity portion of his chakra control. When attempting to control other shadows, Yami would attempt to shift the shape and size of those shadows without making actual contact with them. To perform this feat, he would release his chakra from the palm of his hands and extend his own chakra to the shadows.

These exercises tested and helped him improve his chakra control significantly, to the point where he could complete the feats with very little ease and without exerting the tiniest of effort. By the time he reached the age of thirteen, Yami could control multiple shadows at one time and shift their form into the most detailed of things, such as that of a mere fruit fly. Note that this was prior to his training with Sai, which is where his skills as a shinobi truly developed. During his time with Sai, Yami soon discovered that his own abilities were not limited to that of the shadows. Learning that shadows were yin based, he focused on controlling the yin chakra, taking the energies of the kidney systems to perform this task effectively.

Using Yin energy to manipulate a yin force of nature, Yami soon found himself struggling to do so. In fact, his natural talent during this period failed to display itself, requiring him to put in even more work than he would on a normal basis. On rare occasions what there ever a day that Yami didn't practice his unique yinbased abilities. In fact, the Nara would even dedicate a large portion of his nights to mastering certain aspects of his abilities. Inevitably, hard work and dedication that was present during the entire course of his training finally emerged. After his first discovery and force motion of dark forces, Yami worked on perfecting the manipulative portions of his abilities, attempting to do some of the most complicated feats with very little chakra. Spending an more than half a decade on perfecting this particular skill, he progressed quickly and his proficiency with this ability and his chakra control rapidly improved. Three years into his training, Yami his yin-nature chakra, Yami could envelop and entire area in darkness from a single point or form minions and creatures created from the darkness around him.

Emerging from Sai's training regiment, Yami's own hiden abilities entered a completely different league compared to the members of his clan, so much that they often referred to him as the greatest Nara to ever live, an epithet and title that he personally takes to heart and is one of the main reasons that his rule as the leader of their clan was never objected by any other clan member. Yami's very own chakra control alone is indeed the sole reason for his success as a shinobi, as his chakra control allows him to switch between elemental forces that he is going to use to manipulate the different yin and yang forces present in the natural world. While the Nara's hiden often does a a portion of the work for them, Yami has achieved such mastery over his clan's abilities and his own chakra that the hiden does very little work unless he wants it to. If that is the case, his mastery and chakra control is so great that the hiden ability itself will do all of the work for Yami, displaying his amazing chakra and Yin Release Hiden prowess.

Nara Clan Techniques
The concept of Yin-Yang is not that of opposing forces balancing and challenging each other out. However, this is completely the opposite of what the true nature of the Yin-Yang is that opposites bring rise to one another. Without yin, yang cannot exist and without yang, yin cannot exist. During his long, extended training in the Root of Konoha, Yami has discovered that the shadows themselves are yin that requires the yang generated from a physical, tangible object to maintain itself, to be able to remain in the physical realm. This means that a shadow cannot exist without a physical body. Even still, the physical object requires the yin from the shadows, to maintain its form. Thus, without a shadow, the physical object's form is incapable of maintaining itself, and becomes nothing. If one is not present, the other dies shortly after. The shadow requires the yang to continue living, to continue its existence and the physical body requires the yin of the shadow, to continue and hold its shape. As they require the yin and yang from a one another, they each are always mirroring the physical object in the same manner. When one moves to the right, the other moves to the right. Thus, each movement that one of these two makes the other follows. They are stuck in a constant state of imitation with one another.

The Nara Clan, through a unique employment of their non-elemental natured chakra can choose whether not to follow this rule. Using this chakra, they can defy the laws of the universe itself. This non-elemental energy is generated as equal concentrations of yin and yang, though unlike other forms of energy this non-elemental form of energy possesses three organs that can be used. The yin organs are the two kidneys and the yang organ is urinary bladder. By generating chakra through two of these organs, two yin and one yang, the Nara Clan are able to defy rules of the shadows. While most Shinobi make use of their formidable techniques by channeling their energy through the pancreas and stomach, the Nara clan instead decides to channel their energy through their kidneys and bladder to truly gain access and absolute control over one’s shadow. A technique which is still theoretically yin because of the dominating amounts of yin energy, it is ones unrecognized by other members outside of the Nara due to the erratic manner in which it is utilized.

Yami's proclamation of being the best Yin release user in the world is strongly supported by his natural talents and employment of this yin chakra-nature. Using this chakra, Yami has achieved feats which many would think is impossible and because he has such mastery over his energy, he can use it in the best manner to make his Nara Clan abilities even stronger. His abilities with transforming his chakra and shaping his energy to manipulate the shadows is seen as a power sent from the heavens themselves.

Apart of his ninjutsu abilities fighting style, Yami has developed two abilities which he applies to utilize his shadow in the best manner possible and to truly benefit his being during a battle. The first is Shadow Manipulation, where he can manipulate his shadow and other shadows around him with his own chakra. Within this technique, Yami has developed two other principles in which he uses to truly manipulate these shadows in the best and most powerful manner yet: Shape and Animation. The second major technique is Shadow Absorption. Within this technique, Yami has access to multiple things, being seen as a Fūinjutsu rather than an actual technique. Using this technique, Yami can do one thing, devour things.

According to various people, Yami is truly the master of the Shadows and has achieved such mastery over them that many fear his power. Solely relying on his family’s hiden abilities, Yami can achieve mastery in a multitude of shinobi arts. As a result, Yami has no trained himself in other forms of fighting styles, not even the most basic of ninjutsu skills, as he instead tends to rely on his family’s hiden to truly do anything and everything within his comprehension and realm of power. This make him an exceptionally resourceful shinobi.

Using his abilities, Yami normally takes control of the shadows in an immediate area to fight his opponents, and typically utilizes the shadows to their fullest extent to attack and defend himself from his opponents simultaneously. During battle, Yami is actively mobile, relying on his physical prowess to deal damage, while using the shadows in the surrounding area to shape the battlefield and provide him with an advantage. Taking controls of the shadow, Yami channel his chakra into the earth beneath him. Depending on the amount of chakra generated in the earth, the bigger or smaller the area will be. Nevertheless, once the energy is forced into the earth it then travels through the earth in the form of a wave, infusing every shadow with equal amounts of Yami’s chakra. Once injected with his chakra, these shadows simply become his to control, his to shape and manipulate in any manner that he wishes through his very own refined chakra control.

Attributed to such chakra control and the sheer amount of time that he has personally invested into this skill, Yami can complete feats which are normally seen as impossible and simply outstanding in scope, potency and power. He has noted to be capable of actually transforming these shadows into other states of matter. He can animate the shadows and break them into tiny insects or bats, convert the animated shadows into a sort of a three dimensional fog which clouds the battlefield and makes it nearly impossible to see. He can even convert the shadows into weaponry such as kunai, blades and arrows which he can launch across a battlefield, create hard constructs composed of these shadows. Essentially, Yami gains complete control over the battlefield and can shape it to his will.

This battlefield is not easily controlled, as many Nara Clan members state that if they even possessed knowledge on how to do this they would still be incapable of doing so. Firstly, many do not possess the refined chakra control that Yami possesses himself. To control and infuse chakra into every little shadow in a specific area and then control them all requires extreme chakra control, which many do not possess themselves. While chakra control is a major factor, the principles and powers Yami have established for himself is the actual culprit in why many cannot master this technique. As of currently, Yami makes use of the ability of Shadow Manipulation to control these shadows, but within this ability are two principles known as animation and shape which are the fundamentals for using this unique aspect of the Nara’s hiden abilities.

Shadow Manipulation: This is a major ability utilized by the entire Nara Clan, but has furthered improved under Yami's own skills and is considered extraordinary when he applies it himself. Yami has improved this basic principle to such an extent that even Nara Clan members cease to recognize it themselves, despite it simply being an improvement of what most of them use. By many others who battle Yami without any knowledge of his heritage or abilities, they find themselves incapable of truly identifying the technique he is using and believe him to be using some sort of sorcery as opposed to the Nara Clan's hiden abilities, making him even harder to combat even more than what it is. This ability, just as the name suggest, blesses the wielder with the capability to manipulate shadows. Naturally, most only manipulate their own shadows. Yami, through extensive training however, learns how to utilize shadows in the immediate area around him along with his own to aid him in combat or everyday life. Beneath this major technique are two specific principles that he applies to further increase the potent and scope of this profound abilities, animation and shape. Shadows naturally possess a certain shape which is determined by the shape of its source, such as a person, tree, rock and several other examples. On normal occasions, these shadows are incapable of changing shape unless their source changes shapes, which is normally impossible for others to do as well. Shadows and their sources are normally trapped in the same shape for all eternity, forever forced to mirror one another.

However, Yami and the Nara Clan are an exception to this rule and their hiden ability allows them to change the shape of their shadow without changing the shape of themselves. Using their specialized chakra, they can control their shadow. Yami, however, has taken this own principle a step further and instead uses this shadow to shape his shadow or the shadows in the immediate area into things that are convenient for him at the moment, whether it be during battle or simply everyday life. His mastery over this principle blesses him with feats that many simply dream of, going from creating sharp constructs composed of his shadow such as blades, knives, or even shaping animals made of shadows or creating an entire fog made of shadow to blanket an entire village in darkness, any construct can be generated essentially. Another portion of this principle is size, as by shaping a shadow Yami can choose whether or not he wants to change the size of the respected construct. He can shape his own shadow to being eight feet tall if he wishes, or increase the size of the shadowy fog to cover more area of a respective village or he can decrease the size of a shadow construct to the mere size of a fruit fly.

In terms of animation, Yami does so by channeling yang energy into the shadows, supplying the shadows with the ability to influence the material world. Depending on the amount of yang energy, the longer they can influence the material world and the respective durability of the shadow. The durability of the shadow governs the “hardness” of the shadow and how much force is needed to displace or damage it. For objects that require the ability to withstand force, such as attacks, Yami tends to put large quantities of yang energy into them to ensure that they withstand the attack or those meant to do damage. However, with the more amount of yang energy the more mass the shadow acquires, thus shadows intended for assault often hold a special, different ability that doesn’t require them to have a large durability. As such, this different property falls into the second major technique of Yami’s fighting style, Shadow Absorption.

Born and praised as a natural user of his hiden techniques, Yami is hailed as the most powerful nara clan member ever to roam the shinobi world. He has trained his entire life and dedicated all of his time solely on developing his superb prowess with his hiden techniques and mastering these techniques completely. His mastery of is hiden have opened unique and several windows of abilities outside of ninjutsu, making Yami an extremely resourceful man. In fact, Yami have used his hiden abilities to enable him mastery in bukijutsu. Because he has trained his entire life only on his hiden technique, Yami’s other shinobi skills are severely lacking and are beneath even the genin level. Nevertheless, he has developed his hiden technique in such a way that he counteracts these weakness and uses his shadow to use the most basic of techniques, one being the Shadow Clone Technique which name fits the his shadow-like abilities.

Shadow Absorption Technique: A special technique that Yami himself devised and only by himself through comprehension of his clan's abilities and capabilities along with his own natural talent towards their regarded techniques. Combining this with fuinjutsu, Yami has managed to generate an alternating fighting style that allows him to do several things. His second ability, Yami can literally do as the name speaks, devour things through his shadow. Subdivision techniques stemming from this major one all make use of the same property of devouring materials things, however what they do with these material things depend on the user. First, Yami must make contact with the object or thing that he wishes to store, which he usually does through the use of tentacles or by connecting his shadow to his opponents. Following this, he then generates his chakra into the following thing he wishes to seal, essentially connecting them with his shadow and his being. Within the last step, Yami then animates his shadow through the use of his Shadow Manipulation principle to create chains extending from his shadow, which proceeds to pull the things infected with his chakra into a shadow which is also infected with his chakra, thus they are pulled into his shadow, trapping them within his dark embodiment. Within this shadow however, isn't a small confined space, but is actually a large, shadow dimension in which the sealed things are chained up at, forced to wait in the darkness until they are released. A subextension, Yami can turn these people into chakra, stripping them off their form and leaving their blob of chakra. Most cases, Yami takes in these blobs of chakra, their physical and spiritual energies and steal their memories and nature affinities. As a result, Yami assimilates the abilities of those whom he wishes to.



Shadow Physiology: A technique that is perhaps Yami’s most beneficial is his ability to literally transform himself into a shadow. A technique discovered in the Darkforce Realm, Yami’s technique is said to be that of a killer, for it is so quick and instantaneous that foreseeing it is almost impossible. Using this ability, he has chased down the swiftest of foes and have successfully subdued them. A technique that works best in his three dimensional fog, in conjunction with that, Yami is seen as unstoppable, a silent killer, an assassin, a true shinobi in nature. This technique is the true reason he is known and praised as the Shinobi of the Shadows.

How this technique works is truthfully no different than the rest of his techniques, with a few mild exceptions, however the biggest principle that it applies is animation. To initiate this technique, Yami will absorb his own shadow into his body, literally fusing with it temporarily, allowing him to adopt a shadow like quality. Combined with yin and yang solely, Yami can channel his chakra through himself, depending on what he wishes to do, to either become intangible or tangible. When wishing to adopt an intangible like state, Yami will infuse his shadow, which has become apart of him, with yin energy from his spleen allowing his shadow to become intangible. When infusing his shadow with the yang energy from his stomach, his shadow becomes tangible once more. In battle, Yami constantly makes use of these different ratios of yin and yang to become tangible and intangible at will.

What is most notable about this form is the speed increase that it supplies, as Yami is able to travel at near instantaneous speeds without much effort in this form. As the shadow is the absence of light, shadows are often required to exceed speeds much faster than the speeds like that change, however since shadows aren’t entirely real and are just illusions, it does not break any physical laws. When combined with a human body, fused, adopted, the newly fused being adopts the nature of a shadow and the physical laws. As such, while not able to exceed speeds that are faster than the speed of light, Yami can access speeds that accordingly faster than the speed of sound waves when intangible, for any other speed when tangible would have negative effects on his body. By combining his ability to become tangible and intangible at will, in that of a split second, Yami is often seen as untouchable. However, unknown to many, this transformation can only be used for ten minutes maximum, to avoid becoming permanently fused with his shadow. Thus, Yami accesses it only under certain circumstances, though when attempting to brag or show off, he tends to briefly access it and then deactivate it right away.

Shadow Clone Technique: Like the name of the technique suggest, Yami possesses the ability to create a shadow clone. Unlike the original technique that many people have used, Yami actually forms his clone out of his shadow by using the first technique of Shadow Manipulation to truly tap into the extensive powers of this technique. With his technique and the principles underneath of them, Yami can manipulate his shadow extensively. On most occasions, Yami only requires the utilization of one single principle from the Shadow Manipulation, that principle being the Animation principle. Because his shadow already reflects his image and is already much larger in size, Yami does not need to focus on the other two principles and simply has to animate his shadow.

Often, Yami uses the shadow to overwhelm his opponent, considering that the shadow is also given its own chakra and can do the same exact thing as Yami, though it is obviously inferior because it doesn’t have the chakra to continuously battle like Yami. These shadows however do possess unique traits. When they come in contact with one’s shadow, they can convert their shadow into chakra for them to use. In addition, the shadow can also use another’s shadow to regenerate a body part which is injured, such as taking another shadow’s arm to replace their missing arm or injured arm; essentially substituting an injured part of themselves for a healthy part of another’s shadow. Because Yami and the Shadow are connected, Yami can actually see out of the shadow and possessed a shared field of vision with his doppelganger. In addition to that, the Shadow can relay messages and his thoughts back to Yami if they are connected, making the shadow an extremely good spy/infiltrator in Yami’s place if he has to be two places at once. When they fight together on a battlefield in the same place, the doppelganger and Yami are truly absolute beast and rarely have to communicate to be on the exact same page, allowing them to collaborate in the most efficient manner without revealing any part of their plan with the enemy.

Shadow Imitation Technique: Being the basic of the Nara's hiden ability, Yami has practiced this technique over and over again, learning to perfect it and utilize it in the best way possible. On basic levels, this technique grants one the capability to extend their shadow across a surface and merges it with another's shadow upon contact. With this, they are ultimately connected and the target is forced to imitate the user's movements. It's possible for one to split their shadow and take control of a multitude of people as well. In addition to this, one can also bind someone else to another's shadow and not their own, forcing them to imitate someone else's movements as opposed to their own. This is simply the basics of the Shadow technique, but Yami isn't satisfied with the basics. He requires absolute excellence to be pleased with himself and he rarely rest when he does so. Due to the sheer strength and practice of this technique, he possesses the ability to force his opponent to move around the battle field while assuming a still positioning, thus he doesn't actually have to move to force his victims to. This is achievable through his Shadow Manipulation technique/principle. Using the sub principle of his Shadow's technique, motion, Yami can control how his very own shadow moves in every possible aspect, even without animating it. Also, because of his extreme mastery of this technique and phenomenal chakra control, he can hold his opponents with this technique for a longer duration of time, without overexerting himself or tiring in the least.

Shadow Gathering Technique: Another underestimated ability of the Nara Clan, Yami's strenuous practice over his hiden abilities have allowed him to reach a mastery over this technique to the point where most shinobi fail to recognize the technique entirely. By employing his ability of Shadow Manipulation, and its sub-principles of Shape and Animation, Yami can truly achieve the best of this technique. Yami will typically utilize this technique in different manners, either using small tentacles or large tentacles. These different size tentacles serve different purposes. When shaping these tentacles to be tiny, he can use them to pierce an opponent as if they were blades. The second and most interesting ability he uses with this technique is when he uses the tentacles in a similar manner as Chakra Threads. With this, he will normally attach these tentacles onto several points of someone's body and inject them with his own chakra, giving him access to their body. After the necessary conditions are made, Yami proceeds in controlling their being against their will, effectively turning them into a living, human puppet. He has access to their body, including their skills, weapons and such. The next method in which he utilizes this technique is to create large tentacles. Due to the size of these however, Yami is limited to only a few. Nevertheless, quality triumphs over quality and these tentacles are of the utmost quality. Using this large tentacles, Yami can slam them onto the ground to split the earth in half, use these tentacles as a wall to shield him from danger or even crush his opponents by circling the tentacles around them and then squeezing their body.

Bukijutsu
A style originally developed by Yami during his training with Sai, it was discovered by sheer coincidence, activating as a result of his own unique abilities. When placed under dire circumstances, Yami's latent abilities awakened, seemingly responding to a sudden fluctuation in Yami's spiritual energy. When activated, the child's own shadow became alive, acting purely in defense. It would shape itself into forms to protect the Nara, slicing and devouring anything that approached without warning or hesitation. Friend or foe, no one was allowed near the child, and for this very reason Yami was chosen by Sai for Root.

Because he is formally educated in the proper manner to utilize a blade, Yami's kenjutsu forms are often quite polished, making use of the basic principles of the blade. Infused with advanced training in all sword techniques, combined with his own incredible acrobatic prowess, the limits of his swordsman is truthfully outstanding, as he is capable of virtually defending and attacking from all possible positions. His swordsplay is typically filled with feints that creates opening, causing misdirection from his enemies. Combined with his speed, his feints are often fast, quick, leaving him capable of creating openings with a single motion. The feigning techniques utilize effective moments of the blade and of the body. Twisting one's body to match the feign of the blade is often the most convincing, but for many shinobi, switching directions is too difficult, thus the application of this feigning method is rarely used in combat. However, Yami's agile nature allows for such, as he can change direction so spontaneously, that he can strike down his opponent before they have the opportunity to properly respond to the feign. For those who do detect, dodging the next strike is difficult in it's own right, for even if they manage to dodge Yami's physical attack, his shadow comes right behind him, attacking the position where they dodged too.

Originally, Yami's control over this ability was fairly poor. He could truly only use it when he was placed under severe mental stress, thus this ability was often not utilized for taijutsu purposes. It wouldn't be until his training with Sai, that he would properly learn control, for once he understood how his clan's techniques functioned, then he could replicate the fluctuations of his spiritual energy without forcing himself into an emotional state of dissatisfaction. With control over his own abilities, Yami has combined his shadow's ability to manifest instantaneously and it's ability to bend and defend accordingly to his will, with his own general kenjutsu skills to achieve a devastating fighting style. A form of unique kenjutsu, with every strike comes one followed behind by his shadow, using the physical feints and attacks to create openings for his shadow to deal the devastating blow.

In addition to his shadow-style kenjutsu, Yami is skilled in turning his shadows into several different forms of weapons, but the form he seems to admire most is transforming his shadow into triple bladed-scythe, similar to the one that a prisoner of the Nara used long ago. Unlike that scythe however, being made of a shadow, the blade is noted to being very light, with very little mass, for cutting and doing damage is not it's job, but is to rather absorb and trap. When something comes in contact with the shadow, it absorbs it into itself and traps it within itself, however without prior knowledge to such a technique, it simply appears as if the scythe is slicing. As such, Yami can swing the scythe around easily and quickly, allowing himself to attack fast but with lethality. His skills with wielding this scythe is noted and recognized by the villagers of Konoha. Apparently, only when he feels the opponent is strong, does he use this scythe, considering it his triumph card.

The method in which Yami employs his scythe is similar that of how one would control a flailed weapon, such as nunchaku combined with the control of a blade. Employing this dual wield like fighting style, Yami follows the principle of the sword with their slashes and strikes while following through with the attack. This allows him to effectively cut and slash his opponent, dealing the maximum amount of damage that he do with every single slash and slice. Following the concept of the nunchaku, Yami tends to swing the scythe around his body, allowing the momentum of the scythe to continuously move it without the need for him to exert force, instead using his hands to catch and guide the scythe rather ferociously apply greats amount of force with every strike. This, combined with his ability to control shadows telekinetically using just his chakra, allows him to use the scythe effectively and nearly do anything with it with unprecedented control.

Genjutsu
As a master manipulator of the forces of yin and yang and his own intellectual intuition on the desired forces, Yami is naturally a perfect candidate and user of Genjutsu, as it is used from the yin release. His employment of genjutsu if not commonly used alone and is instead used in conjunction with his own attacks, either making them undetectable in terms of sight, hearing, smell, touch and even taste. According to himself, the undetectable attack is the most dangerous. His attacks are normally applied and left alone to soak into his opponent’s soul, simply implemented. More importantly, his genjutsu are simple and without being any form of complicated. This is not due to his lack of training in the respective art, but may be attributed to the fact that these genjutsu are more chakra efficient, easier to produce at a quicker rate and serve the purpose of masking his attacks without drawing unnecessary attention.

Eventually, Yami learned that the employment of genjutsu originated from the yin of one’s energy, that being the spiritual energy. By injecting a person with one’s own spiritual energy, they caused a disturbance in their chakra which travels to the most foreward portion of their brain, as that portion of the brain is responsible for the senses in the human body. As such, Yami has discovered that by when using the yin force to control darkness, he can implant genjutsu, using darkness as a medium of chakra exchange between him and into the desired target. Yami uses his genjutsu for the three different purposes, these being his main reasons for using them. The first it to mask his own ninjutsu, in which the genjutsu isn't really complicated as it is normally just a single illusion cast to hide the effects of his ninjutsu.

The second is to mask his own presence, in which he uses several simple genjutsu which makes undetectable by those with the most perfect senses. The last is torture, which requires very complicated genjutsu blended in with one another, rather than stacked and piled over one another as they are in the second method. These illusions are often made to break one spiritually, while simultaneously masking the effects of several ninjutsu being cast on them which causes significant amounts of pain, to such an extent that they believe that the illusions are real.

Unlike several insightful, well trained illusionist, Yami does not directly use any of the five senses nor just a simple employment of the yin release as a medium to use his genjutsu. Instead, he implements his genjutsu through the use of shadows the forces controlled by the yin half of his yin-yang manipulation. In this manner, the genjutsu is disguised, hidden within the forces of darkness as it threatens to eat away its opponent. The medium, more than anything, is exceptionally efficient. Rarely does he ever require large supplies of chakra to inject his opponent with to cause these hallucinations of a madman, as the exchange between the darkness and the desired target is nearly perfect, with very little of the incredible spiritual chakra being lost. Thus, once they've come in contact with this darkness, they are injected ,infused with the hallucinatory energy and are encapsulated in Yami's fantasies; sick and twisted in nature.

Witnessing the rapid increase of dōjutsu users and illusionist, Yami's implementation of genjutsu makes it nearly impossible for himself to be placed under a spell. As his shadow is connected to his being, Yami will often inject himself with his very own spiritual energies to prevent himself from being influenced by others. Obviously, this is a tiring method of protecting himself, which is why it is rarely continuously active and is only used when he realizes that he's in the presence of a genjutsu user.

A large majority of the genjutsu that Yami creates attacks three senses to achieve their devastating effects:

Sight: This sense, although not used as a medium, is Yami's second favored distortions. Not only because of how effective it proves to be on and off the battlefield, but also due to the fact that he can make his target see whatever he wants, as he believes that the eyes and sight are the window to one's soul. Without that window, that person is closed out from the outside world, forever lost and drowned in their own sorrow and failures. With respective control over this window, the more influence that he would have over their inner sanctuary. Yami seeks to drown these people, break their souls and inner will, destroying their last bit of humanity. Once their souls are broken, Yami leaves them to rot in their own sorrow, abandoning them to pick up their remaining shards of hope and life.

Although most are left to rot in the darkness of their souls, those who seem to be of use to the malevolent, ambitious nara, they are kept within his genjutsu for as long as their services are required. When utilized in this manner, Yami continuously feeds them illusions that they inevitably take for reality, for their minds are altered with to such an extent that they soon forget what reality is and simply accept what they see as their reality, as the truth. Their reality becomes what the nara wants it to be, and they do his bidding unconsciously. In addition, because they illusions are continuous, genjutsu dissipation is almost impossible, for the energy which fuels these illusions are continuously being implanted into their being, thus the flow of chakra is constantly disrupted.

These illusions, as opposed to the ones used to destroy the hope, the will that the desired target possesses are instead used to make them think that what they see is reality. For this very reason, the first illusion tends to be the genjutsu that Yami originally implanted failing and them being rescued, then tortured by the very people who saved them. Then, he makes himself appear as some sort of savior, someone who saved them, obviously with a different appearance. Anything, any illusion to make them loyal to this persona, facade that he created to ensure that they become his own personal slave. The illusions that are fed to them after this all depend on the circumstances, often making someone appear as the enemy who Yami wishes to use them against.

Touch: Yami's first most favored distortion, but second most used out of all of the five, he finds it extremely useful, even more than that of the sense of sight. Finding it heavily underestimate, overlooked by every illusionist, he hopes to reveal the usefulness of genjutsu that involves the sense of touch to the world. Unveiling its worth to the world, Yami has one major use for this sense. This use is what he seeks to cause, something that he believes will benefit humanity and unite them under a single goal: Pain.

Commonly, the sense of touch is affiliated with pain. Using this, he can use his spiritual energy to inflict intense pain onto his opponent, overstimulating their body and rendering them incapable of motion or the ability to mold chakra. As such, they are rendered motionless, helpless for once intense, agonizing pain is caused. Even after the genjutsu has been removed, the pain is still felt across the body. Paralyzed, unable to mold chakra, renders one incapable of using genjutsu, ninjutsu or taijutsu. With all three options removed, the target is left defenseless and susceptible to Yami's ninjutsu.

More impressive than this, Yami is capable of rendering his opponent incapable of sensing pain. Pain, despite being extremely disturbing, is indeed a protective mechanism which alerts the body and allow it to perceive that it is being damaged. Without this ability, one could easily overlook a bleeding wound and die as a result, from blood loss, overlook the fact that their is a lack of oxygen in the air and suddenly pass out and die. Essentially, without this mechanism to detect the body's failures, one could surely succumb to death. Yami, often exploits this by removing this mechanism, to mask the damage done by his physical attacks. For this reason, Yami greatly enjoys distorting the sense of touch.

Hearing: His third most favored distortion along with being the third most used distortion, Yami's manipulation of the sense of sound differs from many as he has applied three major methods of distorting it. In truth, while sound his third most used sense, Yami claims that it is often his first, for two of three methods that he use when distorting this sense exist within the two other senses as well. Using his energy to control one's sense, Yami seeks to infect them with the screams of those they love, cause paralysis and removing their ability to communicate with others. The first method, Yami attempts to overflow his opponent's sense of sounds with the screams and cries of those they love or loved, echoing throughout their ears for generations. Using this, this attempts to further break their spirit, for they hear the screams of loved ones, but are incapable of discerning where they screams are coming from. They are driven insane, for they are helpless in nature. This method is only used when he seeks to leave them tattered, broken, usually used for interrogation as he does when distorting the sense of sight.

The second method, when Yami attempts to cause paralysis, he distorts one's sense of sound by creating a hallucination in which an extremely high pitched sound is emitted constantly. The vibrations generated cause intense paralyzing pain, rendering them immobile and without the ability to move, for their bodies are overloaded, overwhelmed with pain. As such they are rendered incapable of molding chakra, moving, thus just as when Yami distorts one's sense of touch, they are rendered defenseless and are highly vulnerable to another attack.

The last method involves removing one's ability to communicate, for without the ability to hear, one cannot communicate as quickly as they would be capable of, thus this sense is often distorted when Yami seeks to destroy groups of people. Overwhelming them with the turmoil of being incapable of communicating, along with using ninjutsu to attack them, those who rely on teamwork find it very difficult to arrange an attack alongside a teammate and are forced to attack alone against Yami, who had probably already accessed the shadows of the area, giving him more power over the battlefield. Attacks against him alone are nearly useless and without the ability to communicate, they are surely doomed.

Bringer-of-Darkness Technique: A technique originally created by the Hashirama Senju, Yami inevitably discovered it's existence and devised a technique which sought to exploit the same result of this technique. The original bringer of darkness technique surrounds an opponent in complete darkness, rendering their eyes useless as the genjutsu stops their ability to see. In his attempt to counter those who rely on their eyes, Yami recreated the same effect of this technique, but implementing it is much different than Hashirama once did. By using a ninjutsu which turns his shadow into a foggy mist of darkness, Yami already makes it difficult for his enemy to see. Surrounded by the shadow mist which makes the visibility of his opponent completely gone, it disguises the genjutsu, making it seem as if it didn't even exist. The shadow mist is used a medium, for it is simply a shadow of Yami's creation. The hallucinatory energy is transferred from every particle of the shadowy mist, injected into his opponent. As the energy is transferred, the mist disappears, but their vision remains blurry and distorted, for the genjutsu is now active. Recognizing a genjutsu such as this is very difficult, for they simply think the mist has gotten thicker as opposed to a genjutsu being used in play.

Embracing Forces of Darkness: A side technique used to work alongside the Bringer of Darkness Technique, Yami attempts to further incapacitate his opponent by disrupting their sense of hearing, employing the first method of creating forever lasting screams of agony from within the darkness. With this, he removes the ability to detect the opponent via hearing, for their sight is drowned in darkness and without light, seeing is near impossible. As many do not possess keen sense of smell, Yami developed this to prevent his attacks from being detected in their entirety, for the imperceptible attack is the best strike. Unlike the bringer of darkness, Yami does not attempt to use a genjutsu to mask this technique, but instead utilizes the genjutsu to mask this genjutsu. Ordinarily, he seeks to only use this technique when in large groups, confusing the entire team trapped in the genjutsu by making them hear the screams of one another. Unable to hear anything other than their teammates scream in agony, as if they were dying, most find it difficult to focus on defeating Yami and will often jump to protect their teammates, who aren't really screaming. An illusion wrapped within an illusion, perhaps the highest form of sense distortion.

Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique: Yami's most powerful technique is this one and for good reason. This genjutsu, unlike any other, is truly unique in implementation and the effect that it causes. Unlike most genjutsu which seek to drive one insane by using their darkest fears as a way to condemn them to damnation, this technique seeks to reveal their "true" nature and help them embrace who they truly are by revealing the evil that exist in their souls. A manipulation of every one of the five senses, this genjutsu is nearly impossible to stop alone, for their senses are overloaded to such a point that their ability to mold chakra is quite impossible. Their darkest memories, shoved into their eyes to watch forever. Drowned in their darkest thoughts, then saved by their dark selves that they are also forced to confront. If those under this spell are not persuaded to accept their "true" nature, they are surely driven insane by being surrounded and drenched in their malevolent thoughts and sins.

Quotes
"What the Akatsuki failed to do, the organization before us, is that they attempted to dominate the world as criminals. What we're doing..well, what we have done is infiltrate and hatch our plan for worldwide domination on a political level. By time the people realize what we have done, it will already be far too late. Such a pity, that people are this stupid. Oh, now off with you. To the after-world you go!" (Yami speaking to a half-dead bandit)

"You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” (Yami speaking to Kanko Nara)

Trivia

 * Yami's battle theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGjwsowDDhI