{"id":"sellos-de-manos","name":"Hand signs","japanese":"印","category":"world","subtitle":"The gesture that shapes chakra.","summary":"The hand positions ninja use to mold chakra for their techniques, the twelve basic signs and the exceptions that break the rule.","facts":[["Sellos básicos","Twelve"],["Base","Zodiac animals"]],"lvl":0,"sections":[{"h":"The twelve basic signs","t":"Most techniques are activated with a sequence of hand signs that helps mold the chakra. There are twelve basic ones, named after the animals of the Chinese zodiac: rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, bird, dog and boar. Some recur in many techniques; the ram sign is used to concentrate chakra, and the tiger appears at the end of several fire techniques. Naruto, who usually uses the cross-shaped sign of his Shadow Clones, is the noisy exception to the rule of memorizing long chains.","lvl":0,"ch":"naruto-2","pos":2},{"h":"Sequences, speed and copying","t":"The number of signs and the speed of performing them make the difference in combat. In the Land of Waves, Zabuza strings together a long sequence for his water dragon, and Kakashi reproduces it at the same time thanks to the Sharingan, which lets him read his opponent's hands. From then on, seeing the signs becomes a way to anticipate what is coming, and hiding them, or making them faster than the opponent's eye, an advantage. The series insists that a good ninja shortens the sequence with practice.","lvl":0,"ch":"naruto-15","pos":15},{"h":"With a single hand","t":"Haku surprises Kakashi by performing signs with a single hand, something almost no one masters, while holding his opponent or throwing senbon with the other. The skill lets him use his ice in the middle of close combat and set up his mirrors without stopping his attack. It is one of the first hints that hand signs allow variants: the essential thing is molding the chakra, and the gestures are a tool to achieve it.","lvl":0,"ch":"naruto-28","pos":28},{"h":"Techniques without signs","t":"Several techniques do without signs entirely. The Rasengan is the clearest example: it is pure shape transformation, and Naruto gathers it in his palm without a single gesture, though at first he needs a clone to help contain the energy. Gaara moves his sand with his will, and many hereditary abilities respond directly to the user's chakra. With experience, high-level ninja shorten or eliminate sequences that take others several signs.","lvl":0,"ch":"naruto-169","pos":169},{"h":"Signs of confrontation and reconciliation","t":"Beyond the twelve signs there are traditional gestures. Before a practice match, two ninja raise two fingers before their face in the Seal of Confrontation; when it is over, they join those fingers with their opponent's in the Seal of Reconciliation, to show they are still comrades. Kakashi teaches the custom to Naruto and Sasuke at the Academy, and the series closes it when the two, after their last fight, finally complete that gesture.","lvl":1,"ch":"naruto-699","pos":699},{"h":"Signs in the age of tools","t":"In Boruto, the Kote offers a shortcut: it releases techniques stored in scrolls without the user making the signs or mastering the nature. The Chūnin Exams show why the shortcut is controversial, since Boruto uses techniques he does not understand. The Ōtsutsuki, for their part, use powers that need no signs, and the Kāma can absorb techniques without any gesture at all. Even so, the new generation still trains with the same twelve signs their parents learned.","lvl":2,"ch":"boruto-5","pos":705}],"characters":["kakashi","zabuza","haku","naruto","gaara","sasuke","boruto","katasuke"],"related":["chakra","ninjutsu","naturalezas-de-chakra","kage-bunshin","rasengan","sharingan","kote","ninshu"],"reference":"Naruto, chapters 2, 15, 25–28, 168–169 and 699; Boruto, manga, chapters 3–5.","sources":[{"title":"Guía oficial de anime: Naruto y Shippuden","url":"https://naruto-official.com/en/anime"},{"title":"Kakashi: el Sharingan recibido y la enseñanza del Chidori","url":"https://naruto-official.com/en/news/01_1903"},{"title":"Boruto: Naruto Next Generations · Índice de capítulos","url":"https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/chapters/boruto"}],"figures":[]}