The Strength of a Hundred Seal is a jutsu from the Sage of Six Paths era,[3] that requires extremely delicate chakra control.[2] By storing a vast amounts of chakra over an extended period of time into a specific point on their body — usually the forehead — the user creates this seal, which manifests in the form of a rhombus-like marking. Once the seal is formed, the user's already impressive chakra control allows them to perform techniques without any wasted energy.[4] When released, the seal will either spread across the user's face or wrap around their entire body. The stored chakra is then released into their body, greatly amplifying the power of their techniques. The seal will permanently remain in the centre of the user's forehead, presumably so that the user can keep on benefiting from its effects.
This seal is also symbiotically linked to the summon Katsuyu, to either perform widespread healing of people, or communicating with the slug over long distances. That is to say: the power of the techniques used by Katsuyu, is directly proportional to the reserves of the seal.[5] By releasing the power of their seals, Tsunade and Sakura were able to combine its power with the Creation Rebirth technique in order to gain access to the Ninja Art Creation Rebirth — Strength of a Hundred Technique.
Trivia[]
- When written as '白毫', byakugō means 'Ūrṇā' (literally meaning: Fine White Hair), which is a white swirl of fine hair on the forehead of the Buddha, represented in art by a spiral or a dot, or even a gem or pearl. It represents the third eye which allows one to see past the mundane world and into the divine world.
- Mito Uzumaki had a similar marking on her forehead. While the Strength of a Hundred Seal seems to be modelled after this in terms of appearance, it is currently unknown if hers is also a Strength of a Hundred Seal.
- In the chapters published in Shōnen Jump, the seal was initially identified as "White Strength Seal" (白豪の印, Byakugō no In). It was corrected in the tankōbon version.
- Tsunade also uses a portion of the seal's chakra to maintain her youthful appearance.[4]
- Sakura spent three years storing chakra to form the seal, something Tsunade's first disciple, Shizune, noted that even she was unable to achieve due to the level of chakra control required.[6]
- In the anime, Tsunade stated that because of the delicate nature of building up chakra required for this technique, a person is substantially drained of normal reserves of chakra, making it dangerous for one to perform surgery or battle. Sakura, however, found a way to divert a small portion of that built-up chakra back into her normal reserves.[7]
- Mitsuki claims Orochimaru has researched it, finding it to have a long and poorly understood history.[8]
- Due to similar appearances, Sarada Uchiha speculates there exists a connection between this seal and Kāma.