All posts by Arcadia warlic

Certain figures in the community have perpetuated misinformation in relation to when exactly Kakashi was promoted to jōnin (and by extension, when the battle of Kannabi Bridge occurred), that he was 9-10. This post shall serve to be a reference point to illustrate the truth on the matter. It shall be broken up into the arguments used for the incorrect conclusion, debunking that conclusion, then illustrating in more certain terms what his actual age was.

Arguments for Kakashi being 9-10 when he was promoted:

The primary argument for Kakashi's 9-10 promotion age stems from his relation to Obito, namely the latter's data given in Tō no Sho:

From the fact that Obito was 9 when he became a genin, which would be at the earliest shortly before Kakashi became a chūnin (since he would have to be a genin with him on during the exams, at the same time), and Kakashi was 6 when he became a chūnin, it is argued that Obito is three years Kakashi's senior, rather than his same age (which he actually is, more below), and thus Kakashi's promotion (which occurred shortly before Obito's death) must have been when Kakashi was three years younger, or 9-10.

Debunking Obito's age argument:

The argument for Obito's age involves both ignoring further context from Tō no Sho (corroborated in further databooks), and the context of chapter #599:

For the latter, Chapter #599 is known to be erroneous, as the genin present in the exams were still in the Academy. Take Might Guy, who in the same databook, Tō no Sho, was said to be the same age as Kakashi (27), and promoted from the Academy when he was 7 (so the year after Kakashi would have already become a chūnin):

This would show that it impossible for Guy to have been present in the same exams as Kakashi, and in turn would indicate chapter #599 is in error. This is present across the entire chapter, with most character ages being off. Proponents of the 9-10 age say this is proof that the vast majority of databook ages from Rin no Sho to Jin no Sho and beyond for Kakashi's generation is wrong, and that using #599 as a basis, they would all be several years older. However, the proponents still keep to using the same graduation ages, asserting that Kishimoto only would have given those as accurate, as well as the age when Obito died.

The issue with this is that graduation age, actual age, and Ninja Registration Number are all linked. Betwixt Rin no Sho and Tō no Sho, Iruka's age was changed, and this in turn caused his registration number to be altered, so the idea that all in the generation would have their ages off except Obito and Kakashi, is unlikely. Furthermore, it assumes that Obito's age at death is singularly without flaw, when it is just as likely it is mistaken.

Furthermore, this stance assumes that #599 is itself not in error, to supersede every single databook from Tō no Sho onwards, which consistently portrays Kakashi's generation as incompatible with it. This ignores the fact that the chapter itself contains other errors, such as Hiruzen being drawn older than he actually is:

Hiruzen half a decade later, noticeably younger, with no marks on his face, or wrinkles on his forehead:

In fact, the original weekly release of the chapter was so wrong, it showed Minato upon the Hokage Rock, which would indicate it took place after Obito's own "death":

This was corrected in the volume release, which the proponents may argue means that if there were any errors in the chapter, they were now resolved, however, Hiruzen's continued improper age drawing indicates otherwise. Herein, Hiruzen was actually misdrawn as too old during Kyūbi Attack in the weekly release, but it was later fixed. That a Hiruzen in an error point in time is not fixed indicates that Kishimoto forgot even that, which in turn would mean the genin ages are also suspect. Ergo, the idea that the chapter supersedes multiple databooks, when it is not even consistent with the manga less than a hundred chapters earlier, is dubious.

Furthermore, using Tō no Sho to date Kakashi's promotion from Obito's page ignores the same databook itself, as well as others. In its glossary, page 305, Tō no Sho itself dates the battle of Kannabi Bridge, when Kakashi was promoted:

神無毘橋の戦い●約十三年前、第三次忍界大戦時に起こった局 ページさんしょう 地戦。(188P参照)

Battle of Kannabi Bridge ● A ground battle that occurred during the Third Shinobi World War about 13 years ago. (See page 188)

Kakashi's age is given as 27 in the same databook (an estimate that is not really contested by anyone, including the 9-10 promotion group), so 13 years before that even giving two years leeway to say about 13 is 15, he would be 12, about the same age as Obito (which is consistent with later information, see below), and would mean he was promoted at that age. Naysayers would argue that glossary is erroneous, and that the only information that can be taken for certain is Obito's age. However, the claim that only Obito's page is accurate, and the same databook is in error elsewhere, and that every other character age is also wrong (see above), without any evidence to illustrate why only that one piece of information would be accurate given the above context, is unsubstantiated cherry-picking.

Withal, the next databook, Shō no Sho, page 12, supports this interpretation, going over the Battle of Kannabi Bridge:

火の国の国力を奪う果てなき戦争 三 神無毘橋の戦い ~第三次忍界大戦~ 土の国の補給ラインを断ち、 侵攻を止めるべく、里は神無橋の破壊を画策。後の四代目が率いるたった三人の小隊が、作戦にあたった。 敵の猛攻の中、尊い犠牲を出すも成功。これにより、 長き戦いは終結に向かった。

The Endless War for the Power of the Land of Fire (Point 3) Battle of Kannabi Bridge ~Third Shinobi World War ~ In order to cut off the supply lines of the Land of Earth and stop the (their) invasion, the village planned to destroy the Kannabi Bridge. A platoon of only three men, led by the future (Yondaime Hokage), undertook the operation. They succeeded in their mission despite the loss of precious lives during the onslaught of the enemy. With this, the long conflict came to an end.

This indicates that shortly after the battle of Kannabi Bridge, the long, protracted Third Shinobi World War came to an end. Naysayers typically indicate the war went on for two years after that, but that clearly is not what this page indicates, and it is known the war ended when Kakashi was 12, through Itachi:

It is stated by Obito, and corroborated in Itachi Shinden, that Itachi was 4 when the Third Shinobi World War came to an end. Both in the databooks, and in Itachi Shinden, Kakashi is shown to be about 8 years Itachi's senior, in other words, when Itachi was 4, Kakashi was 12. Proponents of the 9-10 age would claim that both the Tō no Sho glossary and Shō no Sho directory are wrong, and instead insist on using the above Obito age calculation, but the idea that the dedicated Kannabi Bridge information is made in error, whilst the random Obito age at death corresponds how they believe, is ultimately, unfounded, when the latter databooks are more in line with the overall evidence.

Thus, the primary argument through Tō no Sho does not hold up to scrutiny, and in fact the same databook, the next databook, and so on, indicates Kakashi and Obito to be about the same age, Kakashi being promoted when he was 12 when he died (more detail below) and that in all likelihood, chapter #599 is just an error.

Actual evidence of Kakashi's promotion at 12:

In addition to the above dating for the Battle of Kannabi Bridge indicating Obito and Kakashi were about the same age, in Jin no Sho, Obito is shown to be close in age as Kakashi. Proponents of the 9-10 range (henceforth naysayers) argue that like all of the other character ages for Kakashi's gene

ration, Obito's is wrong, pointing to legitimate errors elsewhere in the databook to discredit all of it. Whilst it is true that Jin no Sho has some timeline errors in it, as shown above (and further below), Obito's age from Jin no Sho lines up with how it was presented in Tō no Sho, and thus is likely not in error, cementing that Kakashi and Obito are about the same age (which in turn means that Kakashi was close to Obito's listed age at death, which lines up with a age 12 promotion).

Next, in Boruto episode #36, Iwabe directly states in amazement that Kakashi was promoted when he was 12:

すげえ！ 12歳で上忍になった 木ノ葉隠れきっての天才忍者！

So awesome! The Hidden Leaf's famous child genius who became a jōnin at age twelve!

Naysayers may claim that Iwabe is referring to an arbitrary point wherein he had already been promoted, however, that is not what the term "歳で" refers to, as it instead is used to mean at that point, that is, he was at the age of 12 when he was promoted, no younger:

It would not really make sense for Iwabe to randomly mention an age he was already promoted at, when not all of the prospective genin (including Boruto) are 12 yet, while he is actually likely holder from being held back multiple years.

Next, there is the official Kakashi birthday article, made by the same company that handles the databooks, which indicates that Sakumo died after Kakashi became a chūnin (a similar, though less precise narrative, when one views without bias, can be seen in Sakumo's own article):

He graduates in the blink of an eye, and a mere year later is promoted to Chunin. Everyone in the village has high hopes for him.

However, one event casts a dark pall over Kakashi's life... [Sakumo's death]

Naysayers would argue that the events are being depicted out of order, but even in Japanese, it is clear it is referring to a darkness that occurs after the listed events,

瞬く間に忍者学校を卒業し、翌年には中忍試験に合格。 輝かしい将来を嘱望されていました。しかし、ある事件を機にカカシの人生に暗雲が立ち込めていきます。

This is important because Sakumo's death is directly stated to be five years prior to Kakashi's promotion to jōnin.

Since Kakashi was promoted to chūnin at age 6, and Sakumo's death was after that, it would mean five years after that point, Kakashi would be at least 11, but more likely, 12, since some time could have passed after his promotion, before Sakumo's death, in line with other evidence.

Miscellaneous:

Naysayers use the fact that Obito and Kakashi joined the Academy at the same time, and then were both present on Team Minato to argue that since Kakashi graduated in only a year, as the youngest genin ever, that Obito would have to be older to graduate at the same time. However, neither Kakashi nor Obito's graduation is actually shown. It is only shown they both joined Team Minato together. It is not stated that they joined Team Minato immediately after the both of them graduated.

In fact, it is known that Minato was still not Kakashi's sensei, even after Sakumo died, as indicated in Kakashi Retsuden:

Naysayers would argue that Sakumo died when Kakashi was 4-5, with them believing that the few years later are referring to when Kakashi graduated, however, as established above, this takes place after Kakashi is already a chūnin, which also lines up with the fact that Kakashi handled Sakumo's funeral proceedings, which would be dubious to entrust into someone who was potentially not a shinobi, yet (so even going by just the novel, it seems more likely Kakashi was older than when the naysayers need him to be). Id est, Kakashi did not immediately join Team Minato after he became a genin, and was transferred to that team some time after Obito graduated, years after Kakashi's own promotion (with chapter #599 being the error by showing Obito with Kakashi within a year of the latter's promotion to genin), much like how Team 2 had new members come in at different ages and times.

Naysayers claim that the first page of Kakashi Gaiden indicates that the Third Shinobi World War was "many decades ago" or some other phrasing to suggest it was beyond the ~13-14 years in the past it actually was in relation to when it was shown in Kakashi Gaiden. However, the actual phrase used in Japanese is just analogous to about "over a decade", or "more than a dozen", and that meaning is consistent, even without the furigana changing it, as those who understand Japanese would actually know (which unreliable chat bots may not), with the number kanji being used to refer to the number of years it is in the past, rather than the number of tens it would be.

Naysayers would argue that since Obito claimed Kakashi was always of stiff personality, and that they met since they both entered the Academy, at the same time, that Sakumo must have died before Kakashi graduated, however, by their own calculus, Sakumo would have had to died at the earliest shortly after Kakashi entered the Academy (since he graduated at 5), which would mean it would be after Obito met Kakashi, and Obito simply did not know Kakashi well enough to notice the change. Even if not, Obito's subjective perspective is not as strong of evidence compared to actual events being compared before and after, above, which shows most consistently that Kakashi was promoted at age 12.