User blog comment:Njalm2/Character Creation Contest/@comment-3087943-20130415171808/@comment-3087943-20130418173836

An argument I can’t actually win? Hardly.

Contrary to what you believe, Njalm, there is a difference between good chakra control and excellent chakra control. The former level of proficiency with chakra control would be applicable in the case of a ninja like Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke has been noted to have chakra control that exceeds that of the average shinobi – chakra control that, as Kakashi stated, allows him to reduce the quantity that he squanders for every technique he performs to such an extent that it is negligible. In spite of the fact that he does indeed waste chakra when he uses ninjutsu, Sasuke is still one of the most powerful ninja shown in the series. The latter level of proficiency with chakra control, however, would be applicable in the case of a ninja like Sakura Haruno. The control which is exerted by Sakura over her chakra network is such that she does not waste any chakra whatsoever when she executes a technique, consuming only the barest minimum necessary to use the technique at its maximum power, and it is this same level of control, or perhaps even greater, that is displayed by Kagari. Of course, Sakura is still hopelessly outmatched against Sasuke, and the only relevance of stating this point is to demonstrate that there are ninja with good chakra control, and then there are ninja with superior chakra control. To the latter group does Kagari belong.

You have sorely underestimated the sheer complexity of the Hair Blade Technique, Njalm. There are 90,000 individual hair strands on a female human redhead, with each strand having a diameter of 0.001 inches. In order for those hairs to be manipulated in the same way that is done by Kagari, chakra must be shaped into each one of those strands, separately, and allowed to flow through it, which means that Kagari has to send 90,000 individual currents of chakra flowing through her scalp, each having a diameter of 0.001. In comparison, the chakra scalpel technique, an advanced medical ninjutsu requiring excellent control to be exerted over one’s chakra in order to be performed, produces one blade, or two blades if both hands are used with a thickness of 0.15 inches (assuming, obviously, that the thickness of the blade is comparable to that of an actual scalpel). Sending such a great number of separate chakra currents into each and one of these hairs would alone make it notoriously difficult to perform – but there is more, much more to this masterpiece of Kagari’s.

The typical way in which chakra is used to control an object is that the ninja will alter the flow of chakra in his body in such a way that the alteration produces a movement of the object to which his chakra is attached. This manipulation differs ENTIRELY from that which is employed by Kagari in the Hair Blade technique. You obviously neglected to read the part of the technique which stated that the chakra is also used as a medium through which neural impulses can travel, that is, thoughts. Kagari uses the chakra which is being flowed through her hair to transmit electrical impulses from her brain to EACH strand of her hair, in effect turning that strand of hair into another limb. When you move an arm or a leg, you simply think about it, and it happens. You do not consciously manipulate the energy in your body to cause your muscles to contract, which in turn facilitates your desired movement. That would take far too much effort. With ordinary ninjutsu, say, the Water Dragon Bullet Technique, a shinobi has to consciously manipulate his chakra in order to bring about any change in position of the water dragon, due to the fact that most ninjutsu are not directly linked to a shinobi’s thoughts. Kagari, however, has transcended that limitation, since she is using her chakra as an extension of her nervous system to directly transmit her thoughts to her hair. This means that she merely has to think of her hair performing an action to get her hair to perform that action, in much the same way as you merely think of moving a limb, as opposed to the ordinary ninja having to consciously use his chakra to bring about any change in his technique. Now, accomplishing the addition of __ limbs, which can be manipulated freely, to one’s body, merely by the use of chakra, is by no means an easy task, one that the majority of ninja, much less Academy students, would be hard-pressed to duplicate.

But wait… There is more to the Hair Blade Technique, those features of it that allow Kagari’s hair to be extended at will, and to be hard and sharp enough to reave steel. Hair, being an organic substance, is very complex, which means that it is very difficult to replicate. In order to have her hair extend itself at her will, Kagari must replicate its molecular structure, while simultaneously attaching the ends of the newly created hair strands to the tips of her natural ones, in order for her hair to extend in a controlled manner rather than in all directions, a feat that requires phenomenal chakra control. Now, creating physical replications is a rather hard task to accomplish, as evidenced by the fact that the Shadow Clone Technique is typically reserved for jounin. However, creating selective replications of an object is more difficult than simply cloning the entire object by an order of magnitude, as the molecular structure of the selected portion of the object must be isolated and copied, rather than simply taking the whole object and making a copy of it, which makes Kagari’s task that much harder. The Shuriken Shadow Clone technique is an A-ranked technique, created by the likes of a Kage-level shinobi. In the Shuriken Shadow clone technique, one shuriken is thrown and multiple clones are made of it. This pales in comparison to the processes which take place in the Hair Blade Technique, since steel is obviously much less difficult to replicate than is hair. Neither are the shuriken interconnected with the neural pathways of the technique user by the use of chakra, as are Kagari’s newly created hair strands connected to her neural network.

Furthermore, there is the fact that the durability of Kagari’s hair is greatly bolstered by the use of this technique. This means that chakra must be used not only for manipulating and extending the hair, but for hardening it as well. Most replication techniques create a copy of an object, the quality of which is less than or equal to that of the original, but does not exceed it. Kagari’s hairs are actually strengthened by the chakra which flows through them, and again, I will point out, __ individual chakra currents flow through Kagari’s hair for this technique. Do the reasoning, and see how difficult the technique really is.

Take note of the fact that most Academy students have not even learned to walk on water, which merely involves emitting a single stream of chakra from one’s feet and varying its intensity to grip the surface of the water. Now, you might wonder why, with all of these nuances and complications, why the Hair Blade Technique is even feasible at all, let alone is able to be performed by an Academy student. The reason is rather simple, you have even said it yourself: Kagari’s hair is connected to her head, which is a great place from which to emit chakra – if it weren’t, the Hair Blade Technique would be impossible, even for someone of Kagari’s immense prowess with chakra control. In spite of the fact that the head is the place to which chakra is most easily channeled, however, the sheer number of adjustments, which must work in concert with each other, in order for the Hair Blade Technique to work, means that its use is restricted to those ninja whose aptitude for manipulating chakra is extraordinary.

You also conveniently forgot to account for the fact that Kagari can accurately control shuriken dozens of meters away from her by picking them up and throwing them with only her chakra, which does indeed require one to have chakra control that greatly surpasses that of ordinary levels. So, as I stated in my previous comment, the chakra control that Kagari is far superior to Temari’s.

Now, to address the point of Temari’s tessenjutsu: Contrary to your belief, winds created by a tessen are not, in fact, influenced by nature. Temari creates a blast of wind using this fan simply by swinging it – which displaces a certain volume of chakra-enhanced air that is directed in the direction of its target. That is simple physics, Njalm, similar in many respects to the principles on which a household fan operates. There is nothing excessively ornate about that. For a technique to derive its power from nature, natural conditions, atmospheric, aquatic or otherwise, must be created, which, in and of themselves, will interact to produce energy greater than the sum of their constituents. Sasuke utilizes Kirin by creating rapidly rising air currents, which in turn produce thunderclouds. He then takes control of the static electricity present in those thunderclouds and discharges it, producing a lightning blast that is powerful enough to obliterate the Uchiha hideout. Kagari’s Heavenly Dog Wind Technique is also one that makes significant use of nature’s power, but nature-derived techniques Temari’s tessenjutsu attacks are not.

The reference I made to the battle between Zabuza and Kakashi was to highlight that both ninja have roughly the same skill with the Water Release. It is true that Zabuza was deceived into thinking that Kakashi could predict the future, by the use of subtle hypnotic action of the part of the latter. However, affects the strength of his techniques in no way whatsoever. Kakashi and Zabuza began to form the hand seals for the Water Dragon Bullet Technique simultaneously, after which their respective water dragons collided with each other and cancelled each other out – meaning that the magnitudes of the forces of both techniques were exactly the same. The hypnotic suggestion with which Kakashi deceived Zabuza would have had absolutely no effect on the power of the latter’s technique, only his judgment. Thus, it stands to reason that both ninja have the same competency with the Water Release, since neither of them was able to overcome the other. As for Zabuza being able to catch Kakashi with his Hiding in Mist Technique, that was merely due to the element of surprise. You should also note that Kakashi was able to disperse that mist in their first when he was guarding Team 7, which rebuts your point that Zabuza is a more skilled user of the Water Release than is Kakashi. Now, Kakashi obviously has far less focus in terms of the Water Release than has Zabuza. Zabuza is limited to two areas of expertise, while Kakashi is known to utilize at least seven. Yet the power of Zabuza’s water techniques is not greater than that of Kakashi’s, despite the latter’s great diversity and the lack of time he would have truly devoted to them. Now, Temari makes exclusive use of the Wind Release, something which Kagari does not. However, during the Academy, Kagari’s only skills were the Wind Release and the ability to manipulate her hair, her other skills having been acquired after her promotion to genin. As was previously stated, the Hair Blade Technique and its derivatives are not only highly useful offensive moves, but serve as rigorous exercises in chakra control as well. This means that while Temari was indeed more focused than Kagari, the latter’s superior chakra control would provide her with a distinct advantage in a battle of wind, despite the former’s tessenjutsu, which brings me to the next point.

Performing nature transformations at the age of 9 is not an overly impressive feat. Sasuke was able to perform the Great Fireball Technique at the age of 7. Admittedly, Sasuke is a genius who hails from a clan of adept fire users. However, Kagari’s chakra control, which is much, much greater than Sasuke’s own, coupled with the fact that she is nearly two years older than Sasuke when she first used it, makes her utilization of nature transformation more than plausible. Now, nowhere in Kagari’s article have I said that Kagari’s Wind Release techniques are more powerful than those of Temari, save the Heavenly Dog Wind Technique, of course, which is more powerful than anything Temari can bring to bear. However, the latter statement is irrelevant, since Kagari did not develop that technique until many years subsequent to her graduation from the Academy. I simply said that Kagari is more skilled in the Wind Release. There is a difference between the two, subtle though it may be. Kagari was capable of honing a blade of wind to the point where it had the diameter of a sewing needle while in the Academy, an accomplishment that Temari, even now, would find extremely difficult to achieve. This means that while Temari’s attacks may have had greater power to them, Kagari’s attacks were far more refined and had far more precision to them. Keep in mind, moreover, that Temari’s approach to battle is simply “fire and forget”, that is, she simply unleashes a gust of wind at her target and hopes for the best, with hardly any regard for strategy. This was exampled when she and Shikamaru fought against Tayuya, and when she fought against Shikamaru. In contrast, Kagari is an adroit tactician, which I’m sure you can see from her use of the Death God Shuriken Technique. Kagari also has the added advantage of being vastly knowledgeable of the intricacies of the human body, having devoted many hours in her Academy days to reading books on human anatomy. Thus, disarming Temari of her tessen would be, in your own words, “child’s play” to Kagari. While Temari is capable of deducing her opponent’s strategy to some extent, she can be easily fooled – evidenced by the fact that she fell for Shikamaru’s strategy hook, line, and sinker during the chuunin exams. Kagari is not on Shikamaru’s level in terms of analytical capabilities, yes, but she would easily be able to divert Temari’s attention with one of her more powerful wind techniques, and while she is occupied, slit her wrists with a wind needle that is nigh on impossible to even detect, thus forcing her to relinquish her hold on the tessen, and that strategy is just one of the many that Kagari could possibly have thought of to defeat Temari.

Now, for the denouement of this argument: You are right, Temari is definitely not nice girl. She is arrogant, conceited, and believes she is the best at what she does – evidenced by her claiming to be the best wind user in the Allied Shinobi Forces during the war. It is precisely because of this arrogance and conceitedness that Temari would view Kagari’s abilities as a threat to her power, and thus would attempt to assert her dominance over the latter. Despite this, Temari has been shown to be amiable to those people who earn her respect, the prime example of this being Shikamaru. Temari was beaten at her own game by Kagari, humiliated in the process. She would, despite her mean streak, concede that Kagari is the better wind user between the two of them.