• This forum is strictly intended to be used by members of the VS Battles wiki. Please only register if you have an autoconfirmed account there, as otherwise your registration will be rejected. If you have already registered once, do not do so again, and contact Antvasima if you encounter any problems.

    For instructions regarding the exact procedure to sign up to this forum, please click here.
  • We need Patreon donations for this forum to have all of its running costs financially secured.

    Community members who help us out will receive badges that give them several different benefits, including the removal of all advertisements in this forum, but donations from non-members are also extremely appreciated.

    Please click here for further information, or here to directly visit our Patreon donations page.
  • Please click here for information about a large petition to help children in need.
Status
Not open for further replies.

UchihaSlayer96

He/Him
VS Battles
Thread Moderator
10,901
14,206
Hey everyone!

It's been a while since my last Nardo thread, but don't worry, this will be the first in a long line of CRTs coming very soon. This new series of threads won't be statistics related (though that stuff will come, too), but will aim to improve the profiles' quality in general. We will add references, scans, fix/improve/add justifications. add/fix the P&A sections, improve intelligence, stamina, weaknesses, etc.

Before we get to all of that though, I would like to get today's topic settled because it surprisingly affects over 95% of the profiles.

So, ummmm, the Goddamn Substitution Jutsu exists unfortunately, and it's just............dumb. I think it's no secret that it's one of the most confusing Jutsu in the series, and it's not even close.

To start with, let's examine how this old bastard of a Jutsu has been handled on the wiki, yea?
Can replace himself with inanimate objects in the vicinity to avoid damage
This little sentence is what's plastered over the grand majority of our profiles, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I hate it. Like, do I even need to explain why this sucks? For starters, it's not actually rated within the confines of our Powers and Abilities. It's ugly, confusing, and doesn't actually tell readers how this thing works at all.

So in case you haven't figured it out already, my main aim with this thread is to figure out the mechanics of this Jutsu, and give it a proper rating that both falls within the confines of our P&A and also explains the ability better.

Now make no mistake, I completely understand why my predecessors opted for the easy way out by just slapping that vague phrase on the profiles. I get it, this ability is tricky to figure out. But the only way to come close to doing that is to examine the facts that the manga presented to us.

A good place to start would be to look to the official explanations of the technique.
So here's the official explanation from the manga. (Chapter 6)
And here's the explanation from the very first Databook:

Body Replacement Technique (Kawarimi no Jutsu)​

  • Ninjutsu, E-rank, Supplementary
  • User(s): Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto, et al.
That body – in an instant, it changes into a block of wood, taking the enemy by surprise!!

With this technique, one replaces their own body with a block of wood or something, the moment an attack lands. This creates an optical illusion, making the enemy think the attack was successful. From this, the user can use the lapse in the enemy’s attention to attack or flee from the battlefield. It’s a basic Ninjutsu even taught at the Academy, but it’s a useful art that can be applied in variety of situations!!

Kakashi’s magnificent Body Replacement Technique. Naruto saw nothing else but him being hit by the attack.
Before analyzing these explanations, let's also have a looks at a few of the most prominent examples of its use from the manga. These are the best examples I could remember; if you guys can remember other/better examples or showings, please feel free to bring them up.

  • Kakashi uses the Substitution Jutsu on Naruto and his clones. He replaces himself with one of Naruto's clones right before Naruto's attack is about to connect. He then disappears into the foliage above. It's important to note that not only did nobody notice him move, including the several clones watching him, but Naruto was literally holding him prior to his use of the Jutsu. More on that later. (Chapter 5)
  • Sakura uses it against Zaku. (Chapter 54)
  • Pain uses it against Jiraiya. Once again, Jiraiya was literally holding Pain physically here, and had him restrained from all directions. (Chapter 374)
  • Itachi uses it against Sage Kabuto. (Chapter 580)
  • Madara uses it against Naruto and Sasuke. Once again, in this instance, Naruto and Sasuke were in physical contact with Madara, had Jutsus connected to him, including one that actually seals movements. Madara somehow used it against these two guys who have godly sensory abilities, precog, and/or unparalleled visual capacity, and simply swapped with a Limbo clone before they could even register what had occured. (Chapter 674)

If you haven't already figured it out, this Jutsu is problematic because it sometimes functions straight up like teleportation. The Madara, Pain, and Kakashi examples are the most egregious. These guys were physically restrained by their opponents, and yet somehow managed to replace themselves with either a log or another character at the exact instant they were attacked, without their opponent noticing at all. Like Kakashi was attacked, and in that moment he managed to replace himself with a Naruto clone, without Naruto, the replacement clone, or the other clones noticing, and then disappeared into the trees.
We can somewhat justify this instance by Kakashi simply being incomparably faster than Naruto, but the issue is that this Jutsu consistently works on people comparable to the user in speed, and many of them even had very powerful senses, ESP, precog, etc. Somehow disappearing and nigh-on instantly, physically, replacing yourself with another object against such characters seems very hard to believe.

At the same time, I understand some of the reservations about treating this Jutsu as straight up Teleportation. The initial explanation by Sasuke doesn't really support it. Sasuke's words imply that this is the work of insane speed and skill, allowing one to replace himself with an object or a person in the vicinity at the exact moment of attack to create the optical illusion of being attacked and creating an opening for a counter attack.

However, I have some issues with this. How on earth can they get so fast? Shunshin? Because that makes zero sense, too. Shunshin can indeed be a pretty substantial speed amp, but it's not like it's THAT substantial. Comparable characters sure as hell can't blitz each other that badly with Shunshin, and we have instances of characters reacting to usages of Shunshin, and battling each other with Shunshin.
Another logical issue is for the user himself. Even if we pretend that Shunshin is some incomparable godly speed amp so far beyond the user's own level of speed and perception, then that would automatically disqualify it from being the thing responsible for the Substitution Jutsu. Why? Because while using the SJ, the user is making multiple complex actions at that speed which would be utterly impossible if they were moving at speeds far beyond their own perception.

So we either have:
A) The user is moving at a speed far beyond their opponent's perception, which would contradict the cases where the Jutsu is used against characters comparable to or superior to the user.
OR
B) The user is moving at a speed far beyond their own perception, which just negates the whole premise as they NEED to be able to react to their own movements to physically replace themselves with an object at such speeds.

As you can see, the "they're just moving really fast" interpretation isn't exactly without flaws, and in practice, I find it far more illogical and headache-inducing than the "Limited Teleportation" idea. I understand that the SJ was never stated to be a Space-Time Jutsu or anything, but still, we don't need everything spoon-fed to us necessarily. We can make interpretations, take liberties, and even ignore statements if what the lore presents to us is utterly incomprehensible.

The only way for the "speed" idea to even remotely work is for it to be accompanied by an ungodly level of Stealth Mastery, which would still be weird in the cases where they're against sensors, are physically restrained, and just in general because it's strange for such levels of Stealth to be limited to this technique for some reason.

Now, you may think I'm solely advocating for the Teleportation idea, but I'm actually not. I realize that both interpretations have flaws. This thread is ultimately meant for us to collectively decide how to treat this damn thing once and for all. I need all of you to help me decide which options works best in this case.

Option #1:
  • Limited Teleportation (The Substitution Jutsu allows its user to instantly replace themselves with a nearby object such as a tree log, plant, person, or clone at the exact moment they are attacked. The Jutsu works even if the user is physically restrained or observed by characters as observant as Sharingan or Sage Mode users. This creates the optical illusion of the user being hit, which confuses the opponent and gives them an opening to flee or counterattack[39][40][41][42][43])
Option #2:

That's about all I have to say. If you guys have any better suggestions, I'm all ears. I just wanna replace what we currently have on the profiles, BADLY.
This is 100% open for discussion and modification.

P.S. I probably won't make the changes right away, since it'll literally involve dozens of profiles. I'll make the changes progressively as I fix the characters' P&A sections.
Of course if ya'll want to apply the changes right away, I'm open to that as well, but I'll probably need some help with it.

So, umm, yeah, let's discuss.
 
Last edited:
I choose option 2.

I disagree with ignoring the canon statements and explanations because it doesn't make much sense. Us not comprehending Kishimoto's mindset when he bullshat this jutsu into existence doesn't mean we ignore it. And I'm not bashing you, just saying that if Kishi says a water based jutsu incorporates fire, even if it doesn't make much sense, we'd add fire manip because of how the statement works.

Substitution works via moving so fast that somehow you create an afterimage/optical illusion that makes it seem as if you're still in a specific location, and you quickly replace yourself with another object.

It looks to be another usage of Shunshin, as most of the uses have that smoke that comes with most Shunshin users when they attempt to cover their movements.

The issues reside in misconceptions with how Shunshin works and its difference with Body Replacement.
Shunshin can vary in speed from a single user's choices and movements.

We see this with Sai, who's Shunshin was FTE to Naruto who just fought him. We see this with Gaara, who's Shunshin was FTE to Temari and Kankuro who can react to his sand and his regular movement. Sakura and Zaku in your example in the OP.

It just means the movement is ridiculously fast.

Now I'm not saying they're running fast, it just means it incorporates speed. A theory on Narutoversity about Shunshin is this
It is like an extreme type of chakra enhancement, but what makes it a ninjutsu rather than just chakra control is that the technique is a burst of pure speed which essentially pulls the caster from one point to another. They are not consciously running between the locations, the technique is using their body as a vehicle to move them from one to the other.

It is for this reason that someone could start at a standstill and stop at a standstill in a completely different position from what they started in without apparent effort, or even initiate the technique while in mid-air when they would have no surface to run over. Because of that, even ninja who aren’t predisposed towards fast movement can and do make frequent use of this ninjutsu.

Which does seem similar to Shunshin.

Basically, it incorporates ridiculously fast speed.
You should add afterimage creation in the OP with option 2
 
I choose option 2.
Thank you for commenting.
I disagree with ignoring the canon statements and explanations because it doesn't make much sense. Us not comprehending Kishimoto's mindset when he bullshat this jutsu into existence doesn't mean we ignore it. And I'm not bashing you, just saying that if Kishi says a water based jutsu incorporates fire, even if it doesn't make much sense, we'd add fire manip because of how the statement works.
I don't necessarily agree with that sentiment tbh. If the author is objectively wrong or isn't making sense, then he gets ignored imo. Death of the Author exists for a reason. If Kishimoto comes out and says that, idk, Konohamaru is the fastest Shinobi alive, but he gets blitzed every other chapter, then the statement would simply get disregarded as it's just......wrong.
I'm not saying that's the case here, as I made it VERY clear in the OP, there really is no perfect solution for this because the Jutsu genuinely doesn't make sense, and I personally don't really care what we ultimately go with as long as it's accurate. But I'm just disagreeing with the idea that the author's word is absolute even in the face of blatant contradictions and inconsistencies.
Substitution works via moving so fast that somehow you create an afterimage/optical illusion that makes it seem as if you're still in a specific location, and you quickly replace yourself with another object.

It looks to be another usage of Shunshin, as most of the uses have that smoke that comes with most Shunshin users when they attempt to cover their movements.

The issues reside in misconceptions with how Shunshin works and its difference with Body Replacement.
Shunshin can vary in speed from a single user's choices and movements.

We see this with Sai, who's Shunshin was FTE to Naruto who just fought him. We see this with Gaara, who's Shunshin was FTE to Temari and Kankuro who can react to his sand and his regular movement. Sakura and Zaku in your example in the OP.

It just means the movement is ridiculously fast.

Now I'm not saying they're running fast, it just means it incorporates speed. A theory on Narutoversity about Shunshin is this


Which does seem similar to Shunshin.
This is an interesting theory, but again, it still has some holes.
If the SJ just magically moves them from point A to point B at speeds far beyond what they're capable of with normal or Shunshin enhanced movements, it would cover the "Teleportation" aspect, but it would not cover the "Replcament" aspect. They still need to manually replace themselves with an object, which would require them to be able to react and conduct certain actions at this speed. And as we already established, this speed is utterly beyond their opponents' perception. And again, they are usually comparable to their opponents in many of the examples I listed above. So unless the "Replacement" just somehow happens magically and automatically, which is not what the statements imply, then this is still a logical issue I'd like to sort out.
I'm not expecting a 100% logical solution here, I realize that's impossible in this case, but I just want it to make a little bit of sense.
Basically, it incorporates ridiculously fast speed.
You should add afterimage creation in the OP with option 2
Idk, I'm not seeing Afterimage Creation here at all. Like even if we go with the speed option, I don't see where Afterimages were utilized or shown.
Unless you mean the split-second where the user still looks like themselves before its revealed to be a log or whatever? I guess that could work in that case.
 
Last edited:
Ninja Magic.

I also think Option 2 is better. I think Sasuke's Teleportation Jutsu is to the Substitution Jutsu like what the Hiraishin is to the Body Flicker technique. They're similar surface level wise, but the mechanics aren't similar at all. From what were were told and shown, it's just a speed illusion/optical illusion, just the classic ol' ninja misdirection.
 
Couldn't Substitution jutsu itself just be plain and simple PIS? There's a reason why it becomes noticeably less used during the latter parts of the series and we don't see a ton of log stumps during the Great Ninja War.
 
How does one explain the elemental substitutions. Where on earth are they getting their respective elements from to do all that.

Option 3: PIS anyone?

EDIT: Damage beat me to it
 
Thank you for commenting.
Yeah np
I don't necessarily agree with that sentiment tbh. If the author is objectively wrong or isn't making sense, then he gets ignored imo. Death of the Author exists for a reason. If Kishimoto comes out and says that, idk, Konohamaru is the fastest Shinobi alive, but he gets blitzed every other chapter, then the statement would simply get disregarded as it's just......wrong.
I'm not saying that's the case here, as I made it VERY clear in the OP, there really is no perfect solution for this because the Jutsu genuinely doesn't make sense, and I personally don't really care what we ultimately go with as long as it's accurate. But I'm just disagreeing with the idea that the author's word is absolute even in the face of blatant contradictions and inconsistencies.
Well in this scenario, I guess I understand this.
This is an interesting theory, but again, it still has some holes.
If the SJ moves them from point A to point B at speeds far beyond what they're capable of with normal or Shunshin enhanced movements, it would cover the "Teleportation" aspect, but it would not cover the "Replcament" aspect. They still need to manually replace themselves with an object, which would require them to be able to react and conduct certain actions at this speed. And as we already established, this speed is utterly beyond their opponents' perception. And again, they are usually comparable to their opponents in many of the examples I listed above. So unless the "Replacement" just somehow happens magically and automatically, which is not what the statements imply, then this is still a logical issue I'd like to sort out.
I'm not expecting a 100% logical solution here, I realize that's impossible in this case, but I just want it to make sense.
Another consistent theory by the same person which explains it well and attempts to justify it
The caster’s chakra latches onto the object they want to replace themselves with, binding the two of them together and slipping them past one another until they reach the other’s original position. The curious nature of this movement means that a ninja can use it even while being restrained or are in mid-air.

Like I said, Shunshin varies in the use of a user.
This also contradicts the databook which says
This super fast movement is almost impossible to grasp with the naked eye. If seen by an ordinary person, it would seem as if the user has teleported…
The whole thing though is here

Body Flicker Technique (Shunshin no Jutsu)​

  • Ninjutsu, D-rank, Supplementary
  • User(s): Gaara, Hatake Kakashi, et al
A movement technique with extreme speed like a gust of wind!!

Appearing along with the wind, disappearing like the wind: the ninja’s instantaneous movement technique. This super fast movement is almost impossible to grasp with the naked eye. If seen by an ordinary person, it would seem as if the user has teleported… In reality, the user has vitalized his body with chakra and moved at super speeds. The amount of chakra used up differs depending on the distance and elevation of their stopping point in comparison to the starting point.

If you need an instance of substitution jutsu being used speed wise, look no further.
Naruto saving Inari.
Inari is about to get cut, and his mom is next to the swordsmen.
Naruto saves Inari and grabs both him and the mom.

He couldn't
A. Grab someone while using it if it's just him switching with something.
B. Grab multiple people in 2 different locations if it was just switching with something.
Idk, I'm not seeing Afterimage Creation here at all. Like even if we go with the speed option, I don't see where Afterimages were utilized or shown.
Unless you mean the split-second where the user still looks like themselves before its revealed to be a log or whatever? I guess that could work in that case.
Yeah they specifically state that their speed causes the illusion that they're still there.

Otherwise stuff like this wouldn't make sense.
EOrFRb1.jpg
 
I thought (unless im confusing it with clone jutsu) there've been ninjas who have been attacked and then like turned into water or something like that
a lot of clone jutsus do this

i know there's elemental shunshin
The cloud of sand dances in the wind…

There are many variations of the Body Flicker for the various villages and user. Gaara’s use includes the Sand Body Flicker. There are also the Mist Body Flicker, Water Body Flicker, and Leaf Body Flicker, among many others.

Haku’s and Kakashi’s Body Flicker. Dancing leaves and disappearing in an instant like mist!!
Know there's elemental clones

But elemental shunshin? Idk
 
But elemental shunshin? Idk
It would kinda be possible if one were to substitute with an elemental clone, but I don't remember us seeing anything like that outside of Itachi subbing with crow clones and Gaara subbing with sand clones.
Another consistent theory by the same person which explains it well and attempts to justify it
I actually really like this theory, but I mean, can we really use something that speculative? Also this would involve very refined chakra control and chakra projection, which seems pretty unlikely for an E-Rank Jutsu.
Like I said, Shunshin varies in the use of a user.
This also contradicts the databook which says

The whole thing though is here
KT, I know how the Body Flicker works. That's not my issue here at all. My issue is with the logistics of them manually replacing themselves with an object at speeds imperceptible to characters comparable in speed to the user. And also with them doing it while restrained. But honestly, I can overlook this whole thing as "random ninja magic" if need be.
If you need an instance of substitution jutsu being used speed wise, look no further.
Naruto saving Inari.
Inari is about to get cut, and his mom is next to the swordsmen.
Naruto saves Inari and grabs both him and the mom.

He couldn't
A. Grab someone while using it if it's just him switching with something.
B. Grab multiple people in 2 different locations if it was just switching with something.
Yeah, this wouldn't work if it were a simple A/B switcheroo, I agree.
Yeah they specifically state that their speed causes the illusion that they're still there.

Otherwise stuff like this wouldn't make sense.
EOrFRb1.jpg
Okay, yeah, that makes sense.
 
Personally I think that initially Kishimoto wanted it to be a speed-skill thing but later he did things without really thinking do to be cool and ended making the jutsu something without coherence.

Between the two options however option 1 I think is the one that could make the most sense, is also the easiest way to explain it in the profiles and make others understand the ability which give it more points. The option of treat it like pure PIS proposed by Damage also sound honestly good.

Regardless of the option choose in the end I think it could be good to add in the profiles, verse page or somewhere else a note clarifying the problematic nature of the jutsu and why was decided to treat it the way choose here.

This is just my opinion so treat it like a grain of salt.
 
Last edited:
Thank you to everyone who's helping out with this.

As I expected, there seems to be quite the divide in opinions regarding which option we should go with. I guess that means all we can do now is wait for more opinions.
 
I think I agree with option 2 based on all the evidence provided. This seems to be a very tricky arguments and definitely one that Kishimoto probably didn't think about when he made the technique when considering all the different abilities characters would have in the future or the logic of such a technique. But I believe that just being a master in stealth and a short burst of speed would be a better explanation than limited teleportation.
 
If you need an instance of substitution jutsu being used speed wise, look no further.
Naruto saving Inari.
Inari is about to get cut, and his mom is next to the swordsmen.
Naruto saves Inari and grabs both him and the mom.

He couldn't
A. Grab someone while using it if it's just him switching with something.
B. Grab multiple people in 2 different locations if it was just switching with something.

Yeah they specifically state that their speed causes the illusion that they're still there.

Otherwise stuff like this wouldn't make sense.
EOrFRb1.jpg
Basically all of this makes perfect sense to me.

Someone would have to debunk the above for Option 1 to be accepted.

Option 2 seems right to me, or maybe some variation of it. IDK

In the end there are things that contradict both sides. However Option 2 is still the better option, as Option 1 is a complete assumption. Option 2 takes the establish statements of the technique, and how it's used in the series. While Option 1 makes it something that is never stated to be, and contradicts previous showings.

Afterimages being left behind via speed and Naruto being able to save people mid substitution. The technique is rather stupid in the first place, since there is no reason to return to your original spot and place a log or something. Since you can just use that speed to dodge.

However that is exactly what happens in universe, so it has to be accepted that they do that.
 
Agreed. That's one of the reasons why I think it is pretty much PIS.
Be that as it may, I don't think ignoring its existence is the way to go. If we were to just straight up ignore the existence of every stupid or inconsistent thing in Naruto, we'd have to axe a tenth of the verse, lol. I'm not disagreeing that it IS dumb btw, that's kinda the whole point of this thread; to combine our wits and figure out the best way to treat it.

Anyway, I'll make a tally of everyone's opinions so far:

Those who are for option #1: Confluctor, Expectro2000xxx, LordGriffin1000, theultimate5105

Those who are for option #2: KingTempest, Arc7Kuroi, Nierre, CiscoTheSoto, TheRustyOne, LordTracer, Damage3245

Wow.........
It's an actual dead even divide lol. Guess we'll be here a while longer.

Btw, if you guys wish to know where I personally stand, I'm kind of stuck in the middle rn. I think both sides are making sense. So I suppose you can count me as neutral atm.
 
Last edited:
Well, just to double check, the two options here affect just the Power & Abilities sections, not the ratings of the characters themselves?
 
Out of the two, I am most in favor of option 2.

It's simply not Teleportation, even if it visually appears to be sometimes, and Sasuke's Rinnegan jutsu actually being what substitution appears to be is funny and I'm surprised it haven't been remarked in the series itself.
 
Out of the two, I am most in favor of option 2.
Thank you for the evaluation, I updated the tally.
Yeah like Amenotejikara being special because it... does the exact same thing that Option 1 does except with a specific range, pretty much contradicts option 1
It's simply not Teleportation, even if it visually appears to be sometimes, and Sasuke's Rinnegan jutsu actually being what substitution appears to be is funny and I'm surprised it haven't been remarked in the series itself.
That's just it guys, Amenotejikara isn't special at all. That's the whole meme, Sasuke essentially became a Demi-God and all he's got to show for it is a glorified Substitution Jutsu.


Anyway, at this point it seems that option 2 (with the Afterimage modification) is what's most likely getting accepted. I'd still like to wait for another day or so to give potential supporters of option 1 the chance to speak.

That aside, I'd also like us to decide how we'll apply this. Like I already said, it'll involve the grand majority of profiles. If you guys want this applied immediately, I'll need help doing it. If you guys want me to progressively add it to the profiles I revise, that's also on the table.

Finally, if there are any modifications any of you think need to be made to the wording of my suggestions in the OP, lmk.
 
I guess progressively?

Naruto is in the point of revisions. As someone who hates to revise full verses but does it anyways, I think you should just do it when you're revising the characters in the next CRTs, and whoever is nice enough to do it when they don't have to can also edit them
 
If we make a list of all the profiles in a sandbox, I can apply them one afternoon this weekend.

Obviously most Shinobi will get it, but not every single character.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top