Susanoo

Susanoo is an ability granted to those who awaken the powers of both their Mangekyō Sharingan. It creates a gigantic, humanoid being that surrounds the user and fights on their behalf. As one of the strongest techniques granted to those that have acquired the Mangekyō Sharingan, it is the user's guardian deity, but at the same time, it consumes the user's life.

Overview
According to Obito Uchiha, for a Sharingan user to activate Susanoo is a rarity. Since it is formed through the materialisation of the user's chakra, its abilities, appearance and colour vary among individuals. While the user usually remains grounded within Susanoo, it is possible for them to freely move around within its body, as well as levitate inside of it. The user can allow others to enter Susanoo, or leave its body entirely. While Susanoo acts as a defence against external attacks, anything coming out of Susanoo will simply phase through it.

Several users of this technique have demonstrated the ability to activate and maintain Susanoo without having their Mangekyō Sharingan active. Madara is able to use this technique even while not having any eyes.

Weaknesses
As with other techniques granted by the Mangekyō Sharingan, the user's eyes and body are strained while using Susanoo and a large amount of their chakra is consumed. Sasuke described it as feeling pain in every cell in his body which only grew from prolonged use. Because the user is able to freely pass through Susanoo, it is possible for an opponent to forcibly remove them from it; Gaara, for example, was able to drag Madara outside of his Susanoo using the sand under his feet. A sufficiently powerful attack can result in damage being done to Susanoo, especially during the technique's developmental stages, after which the user is left open to attack. Susanoo cannot defend against attacks which do not actually deal physical damage to it, such as strong lights and sounds, sound-based genjutsu and, in the anime, paralysing pollen, all of which can impair the user's ability to sustain Susanoo.

Development
As it develops, Susanoo goes through several different forms, usually gaining additional weaponry in the process. The user can switch between these forms at will or, in the case of the first two stages, leave it in a state between forms. Susanoo's development was best demonstrated while Sasuke was learning how to use the technique, gaining additional forms as his control over it increased. When first activating the technique, the user can only manifest a portion of Susanoo's skeleton, such as a smaller version of its ribcage which, while providing a good defence, can still be fractured, or even melted. The user can form other parts of the skeletal structure, such as an arm, to interact with their surroundings, or to wield one of Susanoo's weapons. When first forming, Susanoo manifests around the user as an aura.

Eventually, the user is able to form the entirety of Susanoo's skeletal structure. Additional musculature and skin can form atop Susanoo's bones, progressively completing it until it develops into a full-bodied form, in which the invulnerabilities of the skeletal form are largely eliminated. In its next form, this fully humanoid shape is further surrounded by a layer of armour that causes it to resemble a yamabushi. At this stage, it can anchor the user to the ground, preventing opponents from forcibly moving them unless they can get through Susanoo's various layers.

Though users of this technique usually only form Susanoo's upper half, legs can be manifested to give it a complete body, granting it increased mobility. A small number of users, who have attained perfect mastery over this technique, are capable of stabilising Susanoo's chakra, causing it enter a colossal "Perfect" form.

Itachi's Version
Itachi's Susanoo is yellow in the manga, while it is depicted as red in the anime. Of all the known Susanoo, Itachi's looks the most human-like. In its full-bodied form, its face is framed by locks of hair, with an appendage on its chin reminiscent of a Pharaoh's false beard. Itachi's Susanoo has two sets of arms, which are conjoined at the elbows; the secondary arms are manifested as required. In its final form, the armour that surrounds Itachi's Susanoo resembles a long-nosed tengu which wears a pair of magatama earrings.

In its primary left hand, Itachi's Susanoo wields the Yata Mirror, a shield which is endowed with all five nature transformations, allowing it to change its own characteristics depending on the the attack it receives, thus nullifying it. With its right hands it wields the Sword of Totsuka. The sword is a variant of the Sword of Kusanagi, also known as the, and is wielded by Susanoo's primary right hand and sheathed in a sake jar held by its second right hand. It is an ethereal weapon with an enchanted blade capable of sealing anyone it pierces, and can cut through opponents and objects like a normal blade. Victims of the sword are trapped in a genjutsu-like "world of drunken dreams" for all eternity. Black Zetsu said that the Sword of Totsuka combined with the Yata Mirror essentially made Itachi's Susanoo invincible.

For longer-ranged attacks, Itachi is able to use the powerful Yasaka Magatama, which can be used as three chakra magatama bound together by a single, circular thread and fired as a projectile, or as several magatama strung out on a chakra string, which detach and fire off individually. Itachi's Susanoo is also able to wield a sword resembling a curved dagger in its skeletal form.

Sasuke's Version
Sasuke's Susanoo is purple in colour in the anime. While initially dark blue in the manga, more recent chapters have coloured it purple as well. Sasuke's development of Susanoo is marked by intense feelings of hatred; whenever angered by the words or actions of his opponents, Susanoo grows in power. His Susanoo is, accordingly, noted to be much darker in composition compared to Itachi's. In both its skeletal and full-bodied forms, it has a more demonic appearance in contrast to Itachi's, possessing horns, a long appendage on its chin and a malevolent grin. Sasuke's Susanoo can form up to four arms, manifesting the secondary arms as needed. When it first entered its armoured form, the tengu-like layer of armour surrounding it had jagged teeth around its hood, as opposed to the straight teeth of Itachi's armour, and wore magatama earrings. After Sasuke gained the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, the layer of armour worn by his Susanoo changed in appearance. The mouth of the armour took on a beak-like shape, its arms gained additional plating, and it overall became more ghastly in appearance.

Sasuke's skeletal Susanoo is able to manifest a sword, which it wields in its left hand. In its full-bodied form, his Susanoo wields a bow in its left hand and an orb capable of producing weapons, such as arrows for use with said bow, in its second right hand. In Susanoo's armoured form, its bow grows in size and takes on a more shield-like appearance. Entering its armoured form also gave Sasuke's Susanoo the ability to manifest an orb of black flames, which it can wield regardless of which stage it is in. Using Blaze Release: Susanoo Kagutsuchi, Sasuke can produce various weapons from the orb, including a blade wielded by Susanoo's primary right hand, which can be used to stab his targets and set them ablaze, and arrows which can be utilised with Susanoo's bow. Sasuke can also produce tomoe-shaped projectiles from the orb to set his opponents on fire from a distance.

By the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Sasuke was able to conjure legs for his full-bodied Susanoo and likewise greatly increase its overall size. He was able to use the senjutsu chakra Jūgo generated via Sage Transformation to enhance his Susanoo with natural energy, temporarily creating markings reminiscent of the Cursed Seal of Heaven. After obtaining half of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki's power, the face of his full-bodied Susanoo was altered slightly; holes appeared in its cheeks, and it no longer bears a grin. In its stabilised Perfect form, Susanoo is clad in armour akin to a samurai. It has a long tengu nose, more accentuated eye-holes, two spikes over each eye, a slit stretching across the mouth and three gaps on each side of the cheek and one on the chin. Its hair appears fiery, and on its forehead is a large pentagonal prism which contains Sasuke. It wears robes, thick boots and body armour on its shoulders, chest, and waist. The secondary arms of Sasuke's Susanoo become wings that retain small fingers, making it capable of flight. It wields two katana, which were able to slice through satellites formed by Chibaku Tensei with ease. In conjunction with Sasuke's Rinnegan, it has the ability to block out the light of the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Sasuke was able to shape his stabilised Susanoo into armour for Naruto Uzumaki's Sage Tailed Beast Mode. In that state, his Susanoo wielded a plated sword which was able to cut through even the famed Sword of Nunoboko.

Madara's Version
Madara's Susanoo is blue in colour and ogre-like in appearance. It is made up of two entirely different sides that are conjoined along their spine, each having two of its four arms as well as a distinct distinct face. The front face has elongated canine teeth in its lower jaw bracket and two tusks growing from said jaw. The back face has similarly elongated canine teeth in its upper jaw bracket instead, as well as a single horn protruding from its forehead. It wields a pair of undulating blades, one being held by the right hand of both sides. Madara is able to manifest a lower half with legs and feet.

Susanoo itself appears to be capable of contributing towards some of Madara's techniques, as it was seen forming hand seals when he drew down two meteorites. It is able to use the powerful Yasaka Magatama as a ranged attack, creating a string of magatama that Madara can fire at his opponents. Madara has shown the ability to combine this technique with the Multiple Wood Release Clone Technique to create a multitude of these ethereal warriors.

The armoured form of Madara's Susanoo is an enormous construct, standing taller than the wreckage of the meteorites he summoned, with its mouth obscured and a body similar to its full-bodied form. The outer armour, which only remotely resembles the usual tengu-like armour, is split down the middle from the beak downwards, under which Susanoo's eyes are visible. Along this armour, which seems more fluid than that of other known Susanoo, are holes at the end. It has four plated arms, two of which wield its undulating blades. While in this unstablised form, the two front hands always appear to be forming the Tiger hand seal.

Madara's mastery over Susanoo has given him one more stage past the armoured form which he accesses by stabilising its chakra. In this state, the eye-holes on Susanoo's armour become more accentuated, with lines running upwards at the side. It gains the traditional long, tengu nose, rather than a beak. The mouth is carved out, with two lines running down to the chin area, and it wears robes, pointed shoes and body armour on its shoulders and waist. Madara's Susanoo possesses "hair" in this form, which is tied up at the sides. Its back set of arms, which are still plated, extend upwards and hang behind his back like wings and its front set of arms, which lose their plating, are somewhat smaller than the plated arms. The undulating blades are replaced with straight katana, which are kept sheathed inside the palms of Susanoo's back arms and wielded by its front arms. According to Madara, the offensive power of his Susanoo is comparable to that of a tailed beast. Madara has displayed the ability to equip Susanoo onto Kurama to complement their respective abilities.

Indra's Version
As the first user of the Mangekyō Sharingan, Indra had attained complete mastery over Susanoo and its many developments. He was able to manifest Susanoo in its stabilised Perfect form.

Shisui's Version
In the anime, Shisui gained access to this technique after fully unlocking the power of both his Mangekyō Sharingan. It is green in colour and has a wide mouth with elongated lower canine teeth. The construct has rounded shoulders with blade-like appendages on them as well as the side of its face and along its forearms. Shisui was skilled enough to manifest his Susanoo in its full-bodied form. It wields a swirling spear as its primary weapon.

Shape Transformation
Madara Uchiha and Sasuke Uchiha have shown far more skill with their Susanoo than other users, to the point where they could shape them around an entire tailed beast without effort. With this, the tailed beast is now protected from Chakra Absorption Techniques and gains more protection due to Susanoo's defensive properties. It also gains the bladed weaponry that Susanoo possesses, which as Madara demonstrated, could be combined with the Tailed Beast Ball which gives the ball cutting power and makes it impossible to catch.

Weaponry
As users gain more control over Susanoo, they are able to extend their power by forming weapons. Like Susanoo itself, the appearance and abilities of the manifested weapons vary between individuals. Additionally, as Susanoo becomes more powerful, its weapons do so as well.

Sword
All known users of Susanoo are able to manifest at least one sword for the ethereal warrior to wield. Despite their variations, each sword is extremely effective, and in the case of some users, the swords evolve along with Susanoo.


 * Itachi's Susanoo wielded a blade which was curved in nature and resembled a dagger or tantō rather than a sword. Itachi demonstrated the ability to manifest this blade while only forming his Susanoo's ribcage and arms. With it, he was able to cut through Kimimaro's bones, which were stated to be harder than tempered steel.
 * Sasuke's Susanoo is capable of utilising a blade resembling a sabre in its skeletal form, which is wielded by its primary left arm. Sasuke was able to use it to cut through several stone pillars with ease.
 * In its full-bodied form, Sasuke's Susanoo is able to generate a blade resembling an Ōdachi from the orb in its second right hand, with which it was capable of cutting through the roots of the Shinju.
 * Upon reaching its armoured form, Sasuke's Susanoo gained an orb made of black flames, from which Sasuke is able to forge a blade wielded by his Susanoo's primary right hand.
 * When Sasuke equipped his Perfect Susanoo to Kurama, it wielded a plated sabre which, while enhanced by senjutsu, overpowered the Sword of Nunoboko.
 * When otherwise in its Perfect form, Sasuke's Susanoo wields a pair of katana, which it used to cut through the satellites formed by Chibaku Tensei.
 * Madara's Susanoo wields distinct, undulating blades, which resemble kris. The blades are held by the right arm of both sides of his Susanoo in its skeletal and full-bodied forms, and Madara can materialise one while only surrounded by his Susanoo's aura. He is able to throw it as a guided projectile. In the anime, Madara was able to manifest swords in all four of his Susanoo's arms; the blades left traces of blue, fire-like in the ground after impacting and could unleash tremendous shock waves capable of obliterating hundreds of shinobi in a single strike. When wielded by its armoured form, the blades were shown to be strong enough to block a caught Tailed Beast Ball being pushed against them by Hashirama Senju's Wood Release: Wood Human Technique.
 * In its Perfect form, the blades more closely resemble traditional katana, complete with sheaths. Said sheaths are held by his Susanoo's back, plated arms, while the swords themselves are wielded by its front arms. Madara can use these to cut through a range of mountains in the distance with a single swing. The blades could be partitioned to a Tailed Beast Ball during its formation, giving it cutting power and preventing it from being caught.

Crossbow
In its full-bodied form, Sasuke's Susanoo is capable of wielding an unusually shaped crossbow, which manifests on the wrist of its left arm. In its second right hand, his Susanoo holds an orb capable of creating arrows which can be grabbed by Susanoo's front right hand and fired through the bow at such a speed that evading them is nearly impossible. The crossbow can double as a shield strong enough to withstand attacks capable of shaving away at the terrain in Susanoo's immediate vicinity. The arrows, which are seemingly made with variable thickness based on the user's discretion, travel at a very high velocity and possess considerable piercing power; enough to easily breach a tree created by Wood Release. Even Kakashi Hatake, a ninja noted for his speed supplemented by the Sharingan's keen perception, was unable to dodge the arrows and was instead forced to use Kamui to warp them away. Only Kabuto Yakushi, while utilising the extrasensory capabilities of Sage Mode, has been able to successfully avoid one of these arrows thus far.

When Sasuke's Susanoo enters its armoured form, the crossbow gains a notable increase in size, more closely resembling a shield. Upon first entering this stage, Sasuke gained access to an orb made up of black flames, which can be manifested in any of his Susanoo's forms. Sasuke later demonstrated the ability to produce arrows made up of black flames from said orb, which can also be used with Susanoo's bow.

Influence

 * Similar to other Mangekyō Sharingan abilities, Susanoo was taken from Japanese mythology: Susanoo is the wild god of sea and storms, brother to Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi. He was born from Izanagi washing his nose. Susanoo inherited his father's sword Totsuka no Tsurugi, which Izanagi used to kill his newborn son, Kagu-Tsuchi after his birth burned his mother, Izanami, to death. After his exile for his relentless harassment of Amaterasu, Susanoo redeemed himself when he used Totsuka to slay the serpent Yamata no Orochi and obtained the Sword of Kusanagi from the monster's corpse. He later gave the acquired blade to Amaterasu as a peace offering.
 * Susanoo's designs are based on, well known yokai that are associated with the ascetic practice of shugendō. In their final forms, the Susanoo are garbed in the attire of shugendō practioners, known as yamabushi, and wear hoods that resemble tengu masks, with Itachi's and Madara's appearing as long-nosed Hanataka Tengu and Sasuke's as a crow-billed Karasu Tengu. In Japanese myth, Susanoo produced the fiend Amanozako who is said to have been the progenitor of the Tengu.
 * Madara's Susanoo design may be influenced by, a human-like being described in the as having one body with two faces back-to-back, each with its own set of arms and legs.
 * The is one of the, together with the Sword of Kusanagi and the.

Trivia

 * When it was first used by Itachi, Susanoo was shown to have five fingers on each hand. In all subsequent appearances in the manga, Susanoo has six fingers on each hand. However, in the anime, Susanoo always has five fingers.
 * In the anime, the armoured form of Sasuke's Susanoo had a few minor changes: it had straight teeth and was shown wielding a gourd in its secondary right hand instead of an orb, making it look similar to Itachi's armoured Susanoo.
 * Itachi and Sasuke's Susanoo are depicted as different colours in the anime than in the manga. In Itachi's case, his Susanoo was illustrated in the anime before being coloured in the manga.
 * Prior to the completion of Sasuke's Susanoo, its full-bodied form was glimpsed as a shadowy figure in a genjutsu that Sasuke placed C under.
 * Sasuke's full-bodied form of Susanoo bears a great resemblance to Raideen the Brave, one of a number of Yoshiyuki Tomino references in the series (another being the Gundam-derived names of Kakuzu's techniques).
 * Both Itachi and Sasuke's armoured Susanoo's mouth area always appear to face to the right, but the mouth area of Sasuke's new version faces to the left side instead.
 * The Totsuka Sword wielded by Itachi's Susanoo is considered to be a "Sword of Kusanagi", although this has been popularly mistranslated as it being the perfect counter to the Sword of Kusanagi.
 * Itachi's Susanoo carries the Sword of Totsuka in a gourd. An ethereal weapon inside a gourd could be a reference to the hyōtan-kozō, a gourd spirit from Japanese folklore.
 * During the Sasuke vs. Itachi boss battle in Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, Susanoo doesn't appear around Itachi, but behind him. However, during his "awakening", Susanoo appears around him in a much smaller form.
 * In Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, Madara's Susanoo's swords are capable of spinning, giving them a drill-like ability.