Why The Anbu Is Such A Useless Organization In Naruto

[@DygoKnight]

Who's your favorite Anbu member?

[@xianjinn]

kid kakashi

[@ozodbek_x]

Kakashi

[@corndog7813]

Fū wasted potential for a yamanaka anbu. Dont get me started on sai's kid.

[@preservinglight]

Yugao

[@cynicalmemester1694]

Kakashi

[@AlteredNova04]

Ever since the ANBU were first introduced I always wondered how the heck Naruto managed to sneak into Hiruzen's home, steal the forbidden scroll and escape into the forest and learn a forbidden jutsu. Shouldn't the jinchuuriki son of a hokage have a permanent ANBU bodyguard detail watching him???

[@donovan4222]

Yeah that’s a problem with the whole concept of Jinchuriki being villages weapons, why would they just abandon their most important weapon in a 1 bedroom apartment with barely any supervision? Lmao

[@lite4998]

@@donovan4222 Because the author had a different concept of hidden villages initially. There were only supposed to be like 100 adult ninja total or so in the Hidden Leaf and it was supposed to be closer to a "xianxia" cultivation sect but with ninja vibes, rather than a magical warrior civilization with thousands of ninjas per village and their own geopolitics.

[@donovan4222]

@@lite4998 Yeah some of the retcons in Naruto were great, but some bothered me a bit (like this one)

[@soulxcvzc1561]

@@donovan4222 I feel the same way. The retcons also made a lot of plot holes like why wasn't Hiruzen taking care of Naruto or delegating a family or a group to take care of him.

[@marvinsteven3874]

Shhh, ignore it. It's gives more a headache if you think because it could lead to some interesting plot line like the ambu watching over Naruto were actually root and Danzo was tested Naruto to see if he was really loyal to the village, which could lead to other things but that's just my fanfic writer brain acting up.

[@xianjinn]

they fr didnt do anything the whole story

[@lapplandkun9273]

The only closest that was actually enjoyable was danzo’s root vs obito but that was it. They proceeded to do jack shit for the rest of the serie

[@zangzhiao8374]

A good amount was ran by danzo which was controlled by darkness

[@zangzhiao8374]

Even in Boruto they were a bit useless

[@stevenkenney8747]

Not true, they caused problems for no reason

[@Sakyo597]

Their missions where top secret not even the viewers could see them

[@nimbledreams7203]

me as a child : damn an anbu! me as an adult : damn, an anbu..

[@ViktorPopov2000]

fr lmao

[@baziworld]

you know, when thinking about it why haku was so badass as anbu despite not being one? because both by statement of kakashi and zabuza, haku meant to be stronger and smarted than kakashi and zabuza(one of them, is famous demon of mist, one of 7 ninja swordsmen which he stated that haku can make perfect counter attack upon seeing a jutsu , the other is world famous ninja, and one of finest ninja of leaf) and haku done that in age of 14 considering that, haku in his fights, was holding back the entire time, saved naruto Against zabuza, held back and wasted chakra with non lethal teleportations, just to not one shot naruto and sasuke with speed of light, yap, he was the best anbu, and he was not even a real anbu, LOL.

[@Swamp_Walker]

This is actually the issues. A bunch of 20-30 year olds are scrutinizing a piece of media designed for 12-14 year old boys. Crazy enough if you go find stories written for adults they apply a lot more logic and consistency. What’s next we wanna talk about in consistency in Edd ed and eddy or something ? Grown men arguing about why a children’s story doesn’t have enough consistency is pretty unhinged.

[@nimbledreams7203]

well those 12-14 year old boys will feel the same after watching long enough. imagine they watch from the start and thinking the anbu is cool when they first saw them.

[@rtgbrotherbert]

@@Swamp_Walker Naruto aired for close to 15 years. Assuming you were 12 when it started you'd be 27 now. I know a few people who have kept up with Naruto like this. If your story will take that long to tell you need to understand that your audience is ageing with it. You can also be 12 and realize when something in the show\story doesn't make sense.

[@ian7064]

The anbu actually kinda remind me of the storm troopers from Star Wars. Within the lore, they're said to be elite shock troopers who are fanatically loyal to the empire and have no qualms about commiting atrocities and are specifically trained to not bother helping their comrades and only focus on their mission. We're told by obi wan that storm troopers are dangerous and that they're "precise marksmen" and the average citizen of the galaxy is afraid of them. In spite of that, we rarely if ever see them do anything cool or meaningful. More often than not they're just faceless drones for the main characters to demolish with relative ease. The only storm troopers who do anything cool are special forces like the death troopers or are characters who used to be storm troopers but defected. The anbu are largely the same way, and having them be hyped up only to be taken out easily by enemy ninja is just a way to make the opposing ninja look more powerful to the audience

[@schwarzerritter5724]

In the first movie, stormtroopers easily overrun the security of Leia's ship, despite them controlling a choke point. The Death Star stormtroopers where under order to let the intruders win, so technically they hit with every shot.

[@ian7064]

​@@schwarzerritter5724 I think that has more to do with Vader than the troops themselves. The troops do well bc Vader is boarding with them. The same thing happens in Empire Strikes Back when the snow troopers and AT ATs attack the Hoth base. Even if Vader isn't leading the charge himself, his presence is enough to scare the storm troopers into being effective

[@schwarzerritter5724]

@@ian7064 It makes sense the fighting close to the boss are the best of the best, maybe even handpicked by Vader himself. Nobody would dare to send a rookie with no combat experience with him. But the stormtroopers on the Death Star still hit everything they where supposed to.

[@flockinify]

@@ian7064 I think it has more to do with regular rebels not being protected by plot armor like the protagonists are.

[@neofulcrum5013]

People just overhyped stormtroopers. Even in legends they aren’t that much better. The sight of them is supposed to invoke fear as is imperial doctrine, but once you get past that, they’re paper tigers. Really it’s the numbers that have been their greatest asset.

[@Bloooo95]

Itachi is really the only ANBU member to set up how insane they can be. That’s it. He’s the only one. Kakashi is there but we mostly know him outside the context of being an ANBU. But the Massacre mission was done while Itachi was an ANBU.

[@NightcoreMelodySoul]

🥹shisui was a better anbu than itachi,

[@danieldiaz-fg2rv]

Obito kill half of the uchihas and probably the stronger half

[@NightcoreMelodySoul]

@@danieldiaz-fg2rv obito was never an anbu and obito didnt kill half of the uchiha, itachi killed all of them ,obito fought other clan but died before itachi killed all the uchiha so he didnt do shit and plus even in the ninja war he got overshadowed by madara, yes he fought well but kakashi still wooped his ass in that fight, i mean it was a tie, but everone mostly focused on madara

[@theonewayroad3867]

​@@NightcoreMelodySoul what ?

[@NightcoreMelodySoul]

@@theonewayroad3867 hé Saïd obito killed half of the uchiha, which isn’t true

[@dissect123]

The Anbu are one of the concepts that was kind of abandoned (like the Feudal lords). Not necessarily something bad because nobody can plan everything years in advance but a bit sad because there was certainly more potential. What we get most of the time are essentially Ninja Stormtroopers.

[@ReggieBowe]

Bad writing

[@Foxy_LamaLama]

If you are a writer you should clearly know how your story will be in the future

[@fuckakakaka]

@@Foxy_LamaLama shonen is written for weekly releases and they have a lot of different editors telling them what to change. it's no surprise relatively smaller details get lost for a series that ran for over 10 years

[@justinarzola4584]

@@Foxy_LamaLama problem is that Kishimoto was writing a weekly manga with editors telling him to make changes, this is why shoenen writers should outline their stories before writing.

[@maalikserebryakov]

@@justinarzola4584 Tell me one major shounen success where the writer planned everything from start to finish it never happens Kishi was in his twenties when he began naruto. His ability changed over time ( not for the better lol. Shippuden writing was considerably worse than part 1 )

[@TheChiog]

I think the Anbu had the same problem as Sakura in Shippuden did: They were meant to scale the enemy. For example, one of the first descriptions of Orochimaru we get is "the missing-nin not even the Anbu could do anything against". It's supposed to show how powerful the enemy is, but it doesn't work well because it was never *really* shown how strong the Anbu are. By the way, you forgot one Anbu Action scene: right before the barrier around hiruzen is erected, those Anbu that become the spectators of the fight rush to them, and a squat of Sand ninja (or sound ninja, one of the two) tries to intercept them. And to guys simply get bisected without even slowing the Anbu down. It's actually quite the badass moment, but I doubt many remember that scene because it's literally just three panels.

[@maizen1403]

The Anbu scenes of sealing Pain animal beasts is great too

[@Necromancer4267]

You realize the guards they bisected were the Sound Four in disguise who then immediately jumped out from that disguise to erect the barrier, right? They didn't kill anyone in that scene.

[@Necromancer4267]

You realize the guards they bisected were the Sound Four in disguise who then immediately jumped out from that disguise to erect the barrier, right? They didn't kill anyone in that scene.

[@ashlinthomas4500]

This is why one or more of the Konaha 11 should've became ANBU post-time skip. It kills two birds with one stone by giving shine to the Konaha 11 and the ANBU. Personally, I think it would've been cool and fit really well if Shikimaru was recruited into the ANBU as a captain/squad leader based on how smart he was, and his performance during the Sasuke Retrieval Mission. Shino should've got recruited by Danzo into the root and replaced Sai's role in the story (that being a character that's been corrupted by Danzo and is fully loyal to him). It would’ve been even better than Sai because Shino is someone we actually saw and spent time with pre-time skip. And before anyone says "Shino is too weak", search up fanon versions of Shino or fanon Aburame clan abilities and ninjutsu. Aburame clan had so much potential with their bugs but were heavily underutilized. An ANBU-trained Shino would've been deadly. Even Neji being recruited into the ANBU with Shikamaru would’ve done so much for his character as well. He was the only one to become Jounin post-time skip but then preceded to do nothing of relevance until his death, DESPITE BEING IN THE SAME RANK AS KAKASHI! Him becoming an ANBU would’ve made him more strong, gave more relevance to Hyuga clan as a whole and not waste his character.

[@littenfire3563]

Shinola should've been part of the Anbu tbh

[@ghostlyapples]

Shino not becoming ANBU but a teacher was one of the most painful character assassinations ever

[@517127]

You are right. It would create more development to some characters.

[@tahtah688]

@@ghostlyapples facts

[@guythat779]

shino it'd do my boy shino a lot of good

[@supersoldierx40]

Kishimoto has a tendency to really forget stuff or characters what he did to neji and lee in shippuden was unforgivable

[@nerostile333]

Well Nejis sacrifice was essential for the plot because it was bloody war, it would be highly unlikely that the 12 starting characters all survive. He was also a little more popular and people would care about his death compared for example Kiba or Shino. Lee is too young to die without showing his stuff unlike Guy who is already an "older" Lee who can show his 7th and 8th gate death scenario.

[@redninja3056]

Yeah neither of them were the focus of the story cry harder

[@justinarzola4584]

Kishi never had any plans for Lee, neji or choji in Shippuden, they were meant to die in the Sasuke retrieval.

[@WiiSage]

​@@nerostile333 neji's death was stupid and shouldnt have happen

[@beywheelzhater8930]

@@nerostile333 think it is more of the method of killing Neji

[@ojaeftw]

"They specialize in espionage and assassination" so...ninjas?

[@littenfire3563]

If the Naruto Ninjas are more like soilders, than the Anbu are more like real Ninjas

[@beywheelzhater8930]

Well when the actual ninjas run around wearing bright orange while yelling out their move names you need someone to pick up the slack

[@gustavolopes5094]

Never thought about that lol

[@diazkohen2149]

Is there silent mission, with some blonde ninja who yelling their jutsu and YAPPING about his ninja way of life?!👊😂

[@lightyoshiman]

of course the anbu are useless why do you think kakashi went from being one to just a jounin teacher? he knew if he was in anbu he'd become a background character to be killed off and he'd be damned if that was his role in the series

[@Animemanist]

Kakashi is just built different

[@jirou6228]

Actually it was Guy helping Kakashi to get out of Anbu tho...

[@Aru_im]

@@jirou6228 then Guy did him a favor to become a much more relevant character to the story

[@lapplandkun9273]

They were literally wasted. Literally the Hokage’s personal guards and none of them proceed to beat anyone of importance. Even in filler they were fodder

[@Franklin_Malloy]

I agree that the Hokage should had sent the Anbu to saved Sasuke, Orchimaro ended up killing the previous Hokage and performed a terrorist attack on the leaf.

[@andrebryant5081]

Facts she put 4 kids on a suicide mission

[@maalikserebryakov]

@@andrebryant5081 tsunade wanted them to die. She hated Konoha for killing Dan and Nawaki, so dhe sent 4leaf kids against Oro’s men out of spite

[@remington_acr1651]

What were the ANBU gonna do? It was already expressed how incompetent and bad they were. They got smoked left and right throughout the series and overall were just background characters being sacrificed. Story wise it would make sense but everything that has happened to them before and after the Sasuke retrieval arc shows that they just weren’t capable.

[@N0noy1989]

@@remington_acr1651 That was the start of the series lol. What the hell are you talking about? They sucked fighting the sound 4, so the suggestion was they go get Sasuke right after to redeem themselves. That's it. What are you on about smoked left and right? Their only serious appearance up to that point was to exposition dump during the Orochi and the Third fight, nothing much happened to them yet.

[@maalikserebryakov]

@@remington_acr1651 No that wasn’t expressed yet ANBU had cool moments in the beginning of Naruto

[@Naul6892]

What sealed the deal on the anbu being fodder for me was when 2 of them tried to stop the sound 4 from getting away with Orochimaru, and Kidomaru (in base, mind you) was able to trap them in his web all by himself, dudes couldn't dodge nor break the web, it also implies that they were slower than part 1 Neji.

[@shoikotshahid1409]

They were exhausted while returning from a difficult mission.

[@Naul6892]

@@shoikotshahid1409 You're thinking of Genma and Raido, and that was in a different arc.

[@la8ball]

What ended Anbu for me was how a bunch of kids are doing their job. Even the adults don't get involved in any of these matters. When Orochimuru attack the leaf, none of the parents or other ninjas got involved other then the teachers. Anbu are just there to explain the plot or say stuff like "I cannot believe how strong these ___ are" or "I've seen anything like this before". They're just background characters used to show they have an army and to show off enemies abilities and die. Since we can't have the main characters kill anyone. Only Sasuke kill 1 person and that's his brother. Naruto Raisengan is suppose to be OP but he used it every episode and never killed no one even though it blasted a hole in a water tank. Face it, the writing sucks and what makes ppl enjoy it are the ninjas and their abilities.

[@Thanatossssx]

@@la8ball Didnt Naruto kill that Akatsuki Kakuzu guy? Youre correct on everything else but tbf, this was a shonen from 1999. That was just how shonens were back then, its only been these recent years where mangakas have had the balls to kill their characters like in JJK etc

[@vibechecker3168]

ANBU really had so much potential to be a great addition to the lore, but with the lack of ninja, tactics and intelligence gathering, they just needed up getting sidelined again and again. Maybe some of the konoha 11 or other characters (shikimaru?) join ANBU but the black ops were still wasted

[@lapplandkun9273]

It also wasn’t that. It was just to hype up Kakashi or itachi.

[@lapplandkun9273]

That’s the problem. It was just about Kakashi and itachi because none of them matter or contribute anything unless if it’s them

[@haikazumadesu36]

Anbu are assassins, so Shikamaru probably wouldn't want to join. Shino may be.

[@lapplandkun9273]

@@haikazumadesu36 instead, he’s a fucking teacher because let’s butcher the character who got the least screen time.

[@huntertezz]

My one hope is anbu spin-off about Kakashi.

[@Thund3rDrag0n12]

Kishimoto failed the ANBU from the start. They were the people that acted like true ninjas working efficiently in the shadows, but even from the first major fight in Naruto (Team 7 vs Zabuza) basically happening right out in the open, it showed what the ANBU brought to the table wouldn't fit well in a series like Naruto

[@redninja3056]

How did he fail them if they weren't built up in the first place?

[@ExeErdna]

@@redninja3056 They're killers, they're not talking it out types they're waiting until somebody goes to sleep and blows up an entire district of a village type of ninja.

[@Thund3rDrag0n12]

@@redninja3056 That's how he failed them. Like many other comments said it would've been cool to see a member or two of the Konoha 11 become Anbu

[@redninja3056]

@@Thund3rDrag0n12 no that's pretty fucking stupid if they're not important to the plot

[@tsukune2910]

@@redninja3056 dude I promise you these people do not read naruto or even know the story that well outside of clips and nostalgia. Then complaining about seeing the anbu is the most whiney thing lol

[@rafaelperalta1676]

One problem Anbu had was it was made too big. It would've been better if it was a lot smaller, to emphasize that it's elite and to make their relevance in the story much easier to handle. It would've been nice had Kishimoto added one of Konoha 11 to it.

[@silentecho92able]

Yeah i could see someone like say Neji, Shino, or maybe Shikamaru fitting into the role perfectly as they hit all the Marks as a leader, a genius and a prodigy they would have fit right on in.

[@midgetydeath]

It's not elite, it's mostly a temporary assignment for when a mission comes up that requires special skills. People with the needed skills are then recruited into ANBU for that mission. Competence outside of that specific job is completely irrelevant. Many of them are plain average genin.

[@la8ball]

@@midgetydeath That's why we get a bunch of kids like Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke to do these specialize missions. Like recruiting Tsunade, stopping the Sand Village assault, tracking down Orochimaru, and defeating the Akatsuki members.

[@DrippleDragon]

@@midgetydeathI’d say there was a time Danzo was looking for elite members that’s why he MK Ultrad Sai and his brother, had the two aids from the Anbu who had monster kekkei genkai, and had recruited Kakashi and half the Uchiha after the war, and Yamato, I think in instances specific skill sets were needed and top priority like Hayate and his sword techniques could kill in a blinding instant, Kabuto had special potential as a spy

[@aharonmercy6433]

​@@midgetydeathwatched naruto in reels? Kakashi himself stated anbus are the best amongs the best

[@tonicconverse]

It's worth noting that the anbu were not only made up of exceptionally strong shinobi but also those with unique abilities and skills

[@Asi-Lives46]

You know with the ANBU, to show their power, you could write that they're scarce within the village, where having 7 in one village shows a great display of power. for example make it that just 1 ANBU member is the equivalent of 10 member Jonin squad and used only for extremely important missions.

[@aceclover758]

Thats how I use to see Anbu in part 1 and beginning of part 2 until the power scaling. Only the best jonin or those with unique/strong powers can join the Anbu, on top of the right mentality.

[@DaroriDerEinzige]

Yeah but Jonin > Anbu actually. Jonin are "Elite Ninjas in basically all sorts of stuff." while the Anbu Member were rather "Killing without question :)". The Anbu were first the "actual Ninja" in that Series. [Edit: Also, the Anbu are willing to off themselves if something gets sidesway - Jonin are more "human" and Chunins are kinda like "Its the ideal buuut we don't know". Theoretically, but it never becomes relevant because ... you know ... its for children.] But, the Series doesn't really kill off alot of Characters - So you never have something like "Oh noe, the nice character I actually liked got killed y Anbu :(". We've that once with Itachis Backstory. That's it. Jonin are rather either "Look, we're cool, look at this guy :)"-Advertisment for Villages and/or rather not 100% controllable because they are so strong. Although due to the lacking power scaling, we've in the end more Jonin than actuall Characters. It's kinda like the Sanin were first "So friggin' legendary strong! :o" and then, they weren't kinda and maybe and idk and in the end Sakura was suddenly on the same level.

[@Asi-Lives46]

@@DaroriDerEinzige Then I guess you could say that in this case a their strength is relative to each other but the ANBU are more dangerous, kind off like the difference between lava and radiation.

[@DaroriDerEinzige]

@@Asi-Lives46 ... I'd compare it rather to existing military units like e.g. the different brenches of the Speznaz or the different kinds of US Special Operation Units. While the US Marines have a "harder" training than the regular Army (Any Soldier in the US Marine Corp has to do "Shoot Training"), Neavy Seals are trained to operate on their own behind enemy lines and will kill civilians if they endanger their mission - While Marines would rather not and used as "Spear", they are the "first to send in", to build the bridge head. Only that Jonin in general are "maxed out" Characters, while ANBU Ninjas probably can lack Charisma Stats so to speak. So basically; normally, you wouldn't want - in the Naruto Setting - ANBU's to train children because they are straight up like "... Mate, do the mission or you're dead. Like, I'll kill you.". Its somewhat shown in some fillers/backstories. ANBU are expected to succeed or die. Jonin not so much. They are public figures. Its odd because at first, everybody is depicted like that because "NINJAS!!!" but later on ... yeah. But also, to come back to the comparission to real life Military units; Units like Navy Seals or also KSK/SAS Units get sacrificed more "easily" to some extend. Yes, the command will sometimes straight up send elite Soldiers to their certain death - Their missions aren't as public as normal Units. Their deaths will have less impact on the overall moral. While we hear over and over and over hero stories over the exceptions; the majority of SpecOp Missions are classified/get burried. I remember that the KSK got heavy critic from US side because in an illegal (Germany was officially not a part of the War against Iraq) mission they were part of, they didn't kill children which stumbled by chance over their position - Which then forced the Command to alter the plan because the children could expose the present of SpecOp Units to the enemy (if they say their parents they stumbled over Soldiers in the hills). Yes, SpecOp Units are expected to straight up murder people. If you dream of becoming an Elite Soldier; that's your buisness. While "War Heros" like you see in Movies often rescue Civilians / protect them. So, ANBU = irl SpecOps Jonin = Glorified Characters like War Heros from movies.

[@aceclover758]

Overall given the unique position of the Anbu, they wont be weak. Most of them in theory, would be jonin level but rank alone is not a factor since one can have a unique ability to take into factor. An example if a chunin with such high sensory skills, he surpasses any of the current Anbu members Anbu also act as the Kage and elders personal bodyguards. Overall with their position and responsibilities, they arent weak by any means and are likely the strongest ninja in the village behind the Hokage not counting the strongest of jonins like Kakashi or Guy But as we see, mentality is a big part and there are jonin like Guy that will never be Anbu but can beat 99% of the easily in a direct fight. Its just in the story, we see many fight the main threats or powerful enemies that surpass even the strong Jonins

[@Grugyn]

That's low key my favourite scene from the entire show when the anbu captains do the combo attacks on pains cerberus, the way their jutsu play off of each other is so cool, I wish there where more moments like that in the show aside from like ino-shika-cho. The wind style bird mask one specifically is sick as well, the way he can straight up chop off its leg and 'force push' its head down. Also the anbu where briefly in boruto after that weird squid game arc. They where 'interpol' anbu which is a pretty cool concept now there is an alliance

[@Thanatossssx]

Yeahh lowkey one of the best combos and teamwork in Naruto.

[@ivanbluecool]

If the anbu did their job well. Sasuke would never escape the village we he'd be watched like a hawk Same with so many other things as we'd have eyes everywhere which is strange as they don't do much while we have ninja like the test proctor who can get information better than an anbu and he's out in the open.

[@anvos658]

Yeah you get Danzo knows the truth about Itachi, but just for appearances they'd need at least one Anbu on him, to lessen public fear the only person Itachi spared might be loaded with Genjustu sleeper directives.

[@Yokoyanorihiko]

Let’s be honest: The only reason people even remember the anbu is cuz of itachi and kakashi

[@jaythewolf7216]

Anbu = random ninja in incognito mode.

[@Elazul2500]

Honestly, the reason's pretty simple. Kishimoto didn't want to downplay the main characters (namely the genin) and wanted the characters he did focus on to be unique, so he didn't want to clutter the cast by having 20+ people using the exact same types of jutsu. So anyone without a name or designated role in the plot was stuck using substitution jutsu and kunais while all the genin that DID get spotlight were given all the superpowers. By all rights, every single ANBU member should have 2 or 3 chakra natures, at least one kekkei genkai or secret jutsu, at least one variation of clone jutsu, a plethora of genjutsu, a summoning jutsu, a couple sealing/barrier jutsu, and maybe even the Gates. =p

[@TheNewRedOne]

Pretty much this. Conservation of ninjutsu being at play here, he wanted things to be clear from the get go. I'll add that ANBUs are very antithetical to the story Kishimoto wanted to write, and to Nekketsu Shonen stories in general. They're not boisterous, not loud and proclaiming their goals to the world whenever needed... They would be much more at home in darker, more political plots.

[@lapplandkun9273]

Imagine in Boruto instead of being a fucking academy teacher, Shino was revealed to be in the ANBU. Him being a teacher just cemented and dug shino's grave and was a middle finger to his fans

[@kanashimi4356]

@@TheNewRedOne A lot of Naruto's coolest Elements are barely explored for that exact reason sadly.

[@ayhamahmad2277]

​@@kanashimi4356its the editor fault because kishimoto wanted to have more arc like visiting each other village but the editor forced him to cut down

[@Aru_im]

@@ayhamahmad2277 the editor might be to blame for rushing things, but Kishi is not free of blame for inconsistency.

[@zerrez9791]

i would love it if certain anbu masks gained fame and notoriety, and then the fandwom had to piece together who these anbu were. I would love it if npc characters in the village were secretly anbu members. E.g. icheraku or icherakus ramen shop being anbu or his daughter being anbu would be insane.

[@Thanatossssx]

Would make a lot of sense too, random "NPC" looking dude selling noodles and booze? Intelligence ANBU

[@ravenr0cks]

They're so unimpactful for me that I actually forgot they existed

[@abzeromusic]

Anbu are the Galactus of the story. They were turned into jobbers that bad guys roll over to prove they are strong

[@mosesmm5473]

In the end, they're the same as all other fodder, only we're supposed to believe them a different breed because of their title of Ambu but since we get no moments to justify that rep, no-one in the fandom buys that. It's the same pitfall Stormtroopers fell into as because they're mainly fighting main characters, they can't hit thier marks because the story needs to happen, which as a consequence makes them seem incompetent.

[@JakeSmith-mq5dc]

Blood Prison's covert operation and investigation is good example of what one would expect from an Anbu mission. We even had named and face of ninjas from the grass. Cloud and leaf all undercover working with and against each other. It might not be cannon but I hope you reference it for an anbu mission

[@mlh1367]

The anbu did a really cool coordinated team attack and stopped one of the Pain summonings. The large 3 headed wolf. And they were present during the first Konoha invasion and were shown taking down enemies. One helped Hinata when she was coughing up blood. One just slaughtered two sand shinobi on the roof like it was nothing. They really don’t get much screen time anyway. But the times we saw them, they were all really cool moments.

[@grawar1]

Lol stop justifying. Anbu is so useless

[@TheColdOnez]

It’s kinda hard to find the dog feat impressive considering Konohamaru took out a pain path.

[@zetadahana235]

I think ANBU is the closest to represent what a shinobi is. Nameless, working in the shadow, and focused only to do their master bidding no matter what or dirty the mission is. Focusing story about the ANBU kinda defeat the purpose of their existence. I believe they are strong, but they kept their skill hidden because its part of their mission. They are not an army but kinda like FBI or CIA, ready dirty their hands with blood for the greater good or purpose. They do espionage, assassination, sabotaging enemy without people knowing. Isnt that what shinobi is?

[@xion0713]

I wouldve loved to have a spin off focused on the anbu doing missions

[@pokegoplayer6701]

The anbus were badass when they fought against Pain's three headed dog

[@BlueTigerRadio]

I just found your channel last night. I’ve been obsessed 😂 Thank you for the quality Naruto content bro. 💪🏽

[@DJYC21215]

It's called the worf effect, the exist solely to lose to make other people look strong.

[@daboy5256]

That’s the Vegeta Effect the make a character as strong as the main to get whooped to make the Villain look tuff

[@jackgonahieu4999]

0:48 that's why he da GOAT.

[@BigSirSplash]

They are top tier Jobbers. Excellent work

[@emekao502]

The anbu are basically as useful as police officers in horror movies😂

[@Amazingshorts3463]

Lmao so true 😂😂

[@Dotaitos92]

Late to finding out about your channel. Becoming my favorite so quickly about Naruto!

[@williambreeze2659]

Thanks for the video!

[@alexk7880]

They could have just made a hole in the building where the 3rd hokage and orochimaru were fighting on top and another hole on the roof big enough to get in or for the 3rd to get out as the sound 4 cant defend themselves underneath them thus a sneak attack as they would know the layout of the building to where specifically they could attack. OR that they could have destroyed the main pillar parts of the chunin exam building keeping it up as its not a historical building or important like the hokage office building to represent. As they have yamato's wood style to EASILY repair by making a new building later

[@riptaiyo]

I always thought they were cool with the mask and shiz but I remember what ruined them for me was when gaara went all berserk and they couldn’t stop him Their uniform is very cool tho

[@flight_knight_]

Fuu or Torune I forget which one, didn't do "nothing" They also fodderized Ao. That's a solid feat. Ao isn't crazy but at least it shows there are Anbu members on the level of guards at the Kage Summit like Darui, Chojuro, or Temari. But that's if you consider all of them to be on the level of Ao. It is sad we don't see them fight much.

[@Bryce911]

The Anbu should’ve been rare to see during the show. Like if the main characters were struggling in a major fight they’d apear out of nowhere and almost 1 shotting most villains then disappearing as soon as they came. Then when someone as powerful as pain shows they actually put up a decent fight but are ultimately defeated. Making pain look even more powerful as well as the Anbu

[@umitencho]

They did fight against Pain in the manga & anime. They fought the summoning path & lost and were guarding Tsunade while she did her transmission healing jutsu.

[@Bryce911]

@@umitencho yea I meant they put up a much better fight than they did but still loose.

[@OK-yy6qz]

They were rare to see. They should just have a bigger impact in the story. For example in the Chunin exams a few clips of them cutting down sound and Sand ninja would have gone a long way of them (also don't have them be the bodyguards against Kabuto). I also think Having Root Anbu commit the Uchica massacre alongside Itachi (then pin it on him alone) would have been a good idea. It helps establish Danzo as a villian and Itachi as a good guy that was forced. Plus it helps establish Root Anbu as a threat and makes more sense than Itachi alone destroying an entire clan.

[@anvos658]

@@umitencho Problem being they also had Konohamaru take on a Pain, which when a young genin is matching a squad of your village's elite ninja in impact on the battle your elite look like shit. This could have even been a way to make the Anbu look better, by having him do well but an Anbu still has to finish off the Pain, as there would be nothing wrong with somebody as young as him losing against an ungodly force and needing rescued.

[@rebitedon]

They should do a spin-off of Anbu missions and operations. Like on some Tom Clancy ish but in the Naruto universe. That would be DOPE!

[@huntertezz]

A spin-off about Sai and his students doing Anbu missions would have been nice. Maybe even Kakashi is there as mc.

[@ChasehaWing]

The problem with the ANBU is they are characters who are cut off and have no emotion. To be invested in a story, one must connect with their protagonists. And if a character has no emotional journey or opinions, they're boring to read and write. Its why I think all the stories about the ANBU is about getting these characters OUT of ANBU and connecting with the world again. ANBU strips them of their humanity and who they are. Thus to save them, they must leave.

[@JoyKazuhira]

I always think of them as working in the shadows and mostly gather information regardless of their own safety but yeah, they should've just gave them a better screen time like the fight between 2 anbus vs Obito.

[@JACK123101]

The anonymity and black ops mission concept of the anbu would’ve been a cool idea for a video game. In a way like the tenchu game series, where being a Shinobi was about stealth and real ninja shit. A nice diversion from the shonen dragon ball-esque conflicts that the series is now, and that could be a great world building media. Like, I love fighting games and power levels, but harkening back to pts naruto focuses such as sneaky ninjas and subterfuge was always an idea that I liked. And with the world building, imagine all the kinds of missions you’d take your anbu character on. Honestly, I just want Tenchu to come back and flavor it in Naruto’s anbu.

[@garigari8937]

I read this before from Masashi Kishimoto; "What ANBU stands for? Haha, it's actually kinda funny because they're supposed to be the elite ninja. But as the stories goes on, I feel like their development in the manga faded away I kinda lose interest in making them. So I named them ANBU, A Ninja But Useless." Source; Trust me bruh

[@ericcartman9070]

Wait what? Is there no official one? Really?

[@Thanatossssx]

ANBU was truly such a missed opportunity, but then again, so is most of Naruto. They were supposed to be these cool ass +jonin level ninjas who'd die for their village but didnt end up doing much in the story apart from getting destroyed just to show how powerful X Y Z is. One cool thing they could have done was to be the shadow leaders of the Mist village, kinda like when the Roman Empire was low key controlled by the Praetorian Guard (the emperors bodyguard) since they could just get rid of an emperor and put a new one. I think its fitting since the Mist was supposed to be this survival of the fittest bloody stenched village. They could have developed this even further when Obito idk

[@Thanatossssx]

When Obito took over*

[@kazonikz]

Wtf was that sound 4:56 the way you talked 😂😂😂

[@BAMBAM62699]

It would be dope to have a 12 episode mini series where each episode is a half hour long story of a mission being carried out whether it be successful or not (as far as the target being annihilated but the team being wiped out). Anbu story’s should be focused on the individual skill and coordination between team members but also the necessary cold decisions made to insure the security of ones identity, affiliation to one’s village be kept secret and the missions priority (depending on the village I’m sure team safety will vary between them as far as the importance is concerned compared to the mission).

[@jackgonahieu4999]

I think that Shino would've been key to the Anbu in the story since he was a character that fit the criteria of the Anbu and we saw him since the very begining. Using him to tell us about Danzo, Yamato and Sai would've been more organic, like him dropping by one of the main cast with the info when he somehow learns that Danzo send Sai to kill Sasuke, him trying to stop Sai cause he knows how important Sasuke is for Naruto and him stating how strong Yamato is.

[@slavchansidorov32]

And instead Shino got turned into clown

[@jackgonahieu4999]

@@slavchansidorov32 did him dirty

[@lapplandkun9273]

Watching him become a teacher instead of an ANBU was the final nail in the coffin and a middle finger to the Shino fans.

[@jackgonahieu4999]

@@lapplandkun9273 fr, Sai and him would've been great as leaders of the org, even if they added some filler fights for them, great stuff right there.

[@Thanatossssx]

he also made A LOT OF SENSE TOO, bro could literally speak with insects, that was some Gaara surveillance tier shit

[@nappyk96]

I still think Kishi could of given Yugao more screen time and story significance which wouldn't of changed how most people see the anbu as a whole but it'd be a good sized step in the right direction.

[@ChrisDeebo]

The issue with the Anbu is simple, they essentially went from the Elite to literal Stormtroopers because drawing them is easier because you can basically copy and paste their design

[@Unelephant]

Anbu: supposed to be top secret Kiri Anbu: we from this village

[@bestcarschannel6898]

At the beginning, the Anbu was supposed to be the strongest organisation in Konoha with outstandingly strong jonin, even stronger than Kakashi. However, as more time goes on, the more incompetent they are. It's another plot hole from Masashi Kishimoto! Anyway, You are the best to do outstanding analysis and write alternate scenarios about Naruto . Your stories are 100x better, more thrilling and more logical than the original story ftom Masashi Kishimoto. I can't wait to see another episode bro. Sorry for my English, it's not my native language.

[@redninja3056]

Na his story is trash about everything he brought up is dog shit excuse of story compared to the real Naruto and it's not close at this point he hasn't made a good point for a few months now

[@MagmaSpacer]

The thing is, as people who analyze, they have way more time to sit down and think about the concepts, not having to worry about drawing anything and they have tons of hindsight. There’s a reason I feel a lot of reviewers don’t actually make their own original stories or manga.

[@ayhamahmad2277]

Kishimoto is a better writer than dygo kishimoto has to come with a story and work for 24 hours and he had to draw as well and he didn't have freedom as well and he was being rushed by shonan as and got injured and kishimoto has to miss his father ferinal his dad passed away during the war arc and missed his honeymoon because how busy he was working while dygo has literally doing nothing but rewrite and he didn't need to draw and he had more and freedom he even said that in the first rewrite video

[@rayk36]

This applies to most animes: when a character wears a mask, it can imply that the author doesn't consider them important enough to be given a face.

[@Buzterer]

Yeah, that was on Kishimoto. He wrote a story about ninjas and with barely any intelligence missions

[@ayhamahmad2277]

He wanted to have more arc and he wanted to do more missions but the editor forced him to cut down

[@gustavolopes5094]

It wouldn't make much sense for wizards to- Wait a minute

[@ayhamahmad2277]

@@gustavolopes5094 it was never about ninja and don't forget the first chapter the story well be boring with those types of fight

[@Thanatossssx]

@@ayhamahmad2277 We are not talking about boring fights, we are talking about more intelligence / stealth, basically more NINJA stuff bruh

[@ayhamahmad2277]

@@Thanatossssx look how much successful Naruto both part is even with the war arc and everything single fight in Shippuden they use strategy and tactics stealth was used like jiraia and kissam as well stealth wasn't the main focus Naruto has kaiju battle since the beginning and think is that the power levels was already established in the first chapter and that power inside Naruto and the akatsuki and madara were hyped ever since part one and the thing is that you can have these things and keeping the rest like madara if you wanted to aid more arc to the story blame the editor because kishimoto wanted to have more arc before the chunin exam like visiting each other village introduce each other team but the editor forced him to cut down and do the chunin exam

[@travistreadway3180]

These are the tales I enjoy from you man, I may not agree with your opinions all the time but I hear you out because I enjoy your content that much I won’t allow just disagreeing stop me from watching

[@MisterJackTheAttack]

Plain and simple, it's the Worf Effect. They are written as this elite soldier, so you get to show that the villain is powerful by kicking that elite soldiers ass. This is such an easy short hand, that it happens all the time and that elite soldier becomes a joke.

[@hishark7082]

Idk man, Kakashi, Itachi and Yamato being in Anbu, and Sai being in Root, increased their stake in characters. They all are powerful and linked with black ops. They are technical in fights and resourceful. And Kakashi is a cool jounin being an ex-anbu. But have to agree Anbu are portrayed as faceless jobbers often especially other villages' anbu like mainly the mist anbu when Rin gets killed

[@lapplandkun9273]

So they’re nothing without those characters? Gotcha. You just proved why they were fodder

[@noaharthur9041]

@@lapplandkun9273 I dont get why he made that point. He made the anbu sound worse😂

[@MrREAPERsz]

Dygo just said this in the video

[@blacklivesorblackvotes2985]

Literally just proved the point. Without main characters, the ANBU are fodder. Thanks for being the obligatory lolcow.

[@blacklivesorblackvotes2985]

@@noaharthur9041 idiots tend to do that to those they defend.

[@stickthelanding4785]

It’s weird I always got excited to see them but never realized how they pretty much didn’t do much.

[@altacct_3614]

We need more screentime of Tokubetso Jonins or elite Ninjas like Anko, Aoba, Raido, Genma, Tokuma Hyuga, Ibiki, Ebisu, and Hayate (sadly he died at the hands of Baki) *Raido already appeared before in Naruto but he sucks. He was wounded when he got attacked by the Sound Village Anbus..kunai pierced his body. He was also wounded when they faced the "Sound Four Ninjas" . The author Kishimoto maybe realized he need to rewrite Raido's character in Naruto Shippuden and that is when Raido made a little bit impressive thing when he attacked Kakuzo with a black sword.

[@chriscassidy9625]

Its crazy too because every known character who was anbu is at the very least a solid shinobi. Any non named member were literally low tier garbage.

[@maalikserebryakov]

14 yo obito with hashirama cells barely got out of bed fodderised kiri Anbu lol

[@marthashepherd935]

Great honest and unbiased commentary😊

[@DanaOtken]

The ANBU weren't actually a bad concept when introduced: I thought of them as in between the Chunin and Jonin rank except you don't get promoted into them. Effectively, a category in between "receiving mentorship which mostly self-training" and "is qualified to teach", where self-development comes from simply surviving on the job with the masks signifying that the job consists of things you want to be able to deny doing even to yourself once you take your mask off. Former membership is meaningful, but not really something to brag about, it isn't a mandatory step because there's only so much work that calls for ANBU to start with, and jonin keep coming out of the ANBU simply because nobody else survives long enough to retire from the work. Not too unlike what we saw later with Danzo's group. That said, there wasn't any use in the story for people like that.

[@N0noy1989]

The main problem with them is that they became the exposition dump character during the Orochi and the Third fight. Instead of, I don't know, literally doing anything else to save the boss. How many chapters/episodes was that those guys were just on the sidelines chatting?

[@Gidi66]

You do see anbu in the forest of death, they go and rescue anko after her encounter with orichimaru where they knock out some lions with genjutsu and tell her the hokage wants a report - if I'm recalling that correctly.

[@Chibby-Chubby]

Anbus are the opposite of secret agents 007. They're portrayed much weaker when their identity is kept secret than when everyone know who they're. Plus, they're thee to create hips when mentioned, but does little to truly prove their critical role in the village.

[@jackgonahieu4999]

12:56 that doesn't really make much sense, by that time Obito was still trying to escape Madara and get back to the leaf so he was not being trained by him. The only thing we can say to justify that carnage is his mental amp from Rin's death.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

ANBU are basically what Stormtroopers would be if they where not shown easily overwhelming rebel soldiers at the start of episode IV and V.

[@Animemanist]

Lol 😂

[@rabsaque]

The thing is no one understood Anbu not even Kishimoto , he was all over the place overselling them, Ambu are black ops, specialist in assasination and infiltration, the problem is Anbu was sold to us as the Navi Seals, and they work more like the CIA.

[@ismetkabir2901]

even in the war arc genins r the. Most strongest and useful and not a single anbu was shown to do anything in the whole fucking war despite their ranks

[@Babajoshi1687]

I think see the following rank scheme Genin < Chunin < Jonin < Anbu < Kage. I think this is probably wrong. I think Anbu will select anyone Elite Chunin (I think this was Itachi's rank when he was selected) or above. So it makes sense for them to be relatively fodder compared Elite Jonin's like Kakashi and Yamato, who are Anbu Captain Level. Also remember Kid Itachi and Shisui taking down Root members (I am not sure whether this is cannon).

[@flight_knight_]

The Mist Anbu were capable of handling the 3 tails. So the unit was at least above the 3 tails. Obito was just crazy with the 2 most powerful/broken abilities and probably the biggest rage boost in Naruto. He ways VERY powerful, probably WAY beyond 3 tails in power. I don't think they were fodderized if you take in that info.

[@otterfire4712]

The problem is, they were set up as guards for both the third and fourth Hokage at pivotal moments in the Leaf Village and they failed to protect both. They couldn't break through barrier Jutsu made by rouchly Chunin level ninja. Anbu are supposed to specialize in infiltration and assassination jutsu, breaking through barrier jutsu should be in their repertoire. They were also rag-dolled by Kabuto during the Chunin exams.

[@Sayushiriii]

14yr Obito had an entity that covered his body and did all the work for him, if it was normal Obito against 50+ Kirigakure Anbu, no.

[@zemm9003]

They got destroyed by a weak Kabuto at the beginning of the series in the hospital. They got owned by the sound 4 multiple times. There are so many examples of them getting absolutely manhandled by characters that, while strong, shouldn't really be anywhere near the top tier.

[@zemm9003]

​@@otterfire4712yeah they got demolished by a young and weak (at that point) Kabuto.

[@zemm9003]

​@@Sayushiriiiforeign Anbu don't count because they were shown to be many times stronger and more useful than the Leaf's Anbu.

[@TheKagedd]

As a Star Trek fan as well as a Naruto fan, I appreciate the use of the term “Red Shirts” to refer to essentially meaningless characters (timestamp 6:50. Good video

[@reaverfang377]

In my rewrite, the ANBU are frequent though the fearsome reputation is justified because they're usually enemies. Black ANBU or Foundation are frequent adversaries of the protagonists and a frequent hazard for Good Guy Sasuke to handle while dealing with a laundry list of other problems such as a rogue Naruto and the Akatsuki. I feel as though the ANBU are coated as antagonists but because Naruto was more or less a one-man army writing team, there wasn't enough brain power possible to truly utilise them properly. Kishimoto was trying to make a great story, very quickly with little help, which is something I think people kinda forget about Legacy Authors, Many of the classics like Naruto didn't have a cadre of people working on it. It was just some guy and a studio animating his work. It's actually why G.R.R. is so impressive, he was one of the only authors to make such a massive and functional setting that represents itself in the narrative even though there are still many flaws. It gets even more impressive the further back you go, cos like many Authors didn't have the internet so any correct information they represented within a book was stuff they actually knew and didn't just look up. Technology has spoiled both the Reader and Author, I think if Naruto was redone with a Large Team of writers it'd be a very different setting (And likely have its own fanbase cos I am sure there will be many who stick to the original, just how people are.)

[@redninja3056]

Wow your rewrite sounds like trash I'm glad you didn't write Naruto lol

[@ayhamahmad2277]

The biggest problem is the weekly manga you have to work for 24 hours in order to deliver in time and some arc were rushed because of that like hidan arc that arc was supposed to be longer but the editor was rushing him to end it because of time and tusnade and sakura were supposed to have a fight in the pain arc but that's was cut down because of time kishimoto was in the hospital he got injured and the second problem is freedom is that kishimoto didn't have a final to say it was the editor original kishimoto wanted to have more arc before the chunin exam but that's was cut down the editor forced him to cut down

[@reaverfang377]

@@ayhamahmad2277 yeah absolutely, 8 months of writing like this later has shown me how much logistics affected so many stories I love. Naruto was hard cos every scene needed a drawing on top of that it appears as though the writing staff stayed the same even though the story and project grew. Managing everything like this would've been hell. Luckily Kishimoto was passionate enough to see it through and now we can all benefit and learn from the shortcomings

[@ayhamahmad2277]

@@reaverfang377 if Naruto was monthly manga it would have much better because it won't effect his health and allow him to focus and not rushing arc like hidan arc that arc was supposed to be longer but the editor was rushing kishimoto to end it because of time and he was in the hospital and the biggest problem is freedom when you work in shonan you don't have the final to say the editor has more power than the creator which effect Naruto world building original kishimoto wanted to have more arc before the chunin exam like visiting each other village but the editor forced him to cut down and the ruined guy the only reason he is alive because he was pupuler character just like neji neji was supposed to die in the sasuke rescue arc which would have a great ending for them but they forced him to keep them alive

[@reaverfang377]

@@ayhamahmad2277 Shows more of the realities and logistics Kishimoto had to navigate to make the story. In General, Kishi just needed more of everything lmao.

[@kev1118]

good video also nice ro music

[@Goaway95]

Their whole point imo was to show how more powerful the main characters are than people considered to be the elites

[@TheArchersTungsten]

Anbu minus plot armor was straight cannon fodder . Not to mention half the Anbu was protecting the village then there was a secret anbu with Danzo still cannon fodder though .

[@vincentmarcellino7183]

What's worse is the impressive members. Kakashi, Yamato, Itachi, Minato and Ibiki are all really strong

[@Necromancer4267]

Sai not catching Sakura has nothing to do with Anbu emotions. You said that after 30 seconds of panels of Yamato being an Anbu member and Yamato was the one telling Sai to catch Sakura. Sai was just emotionless. Period.

[@Exiled28]

Yeah, this is a huge missed opportunity, I think Kishimoto needed to make at least one of the current ANBU members very strong to convey the sense danger they are, then slowly but surely develop that ANBU into an actual character, but no, Kishimoto just made them equally average and that didn't help at all.

[@redninja3056]

Kabuto?

[@nilsperry04]

1:56 Who are the female characters? I recognize the others as Kakashi and Shisui

[@delta634]

bro thirsty

[@reyband141]

If we knew information on the anbu then they would REALLY be useless. I think we correlate the average anbu member to people like Kakashi and Sai both of whom are S ranked ninja (Sai might be questionable but he has some pretty wild feats)

[@maalikserebryakov]

😂😂😂 you can’t be serious. You think average ANBU is Kakashi Level? 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@reyband141]

@@maalikserebryakov read slowly next time

[@truth-seeker2]

Anbu are just mix of high to low Jonin who are more or less even with other villagers. We see the events from Naruto view who faced almost Kage level from the beginning. Zabuza High Jonin maybe Low kage and Gaara transformation is Kage and Cm2 vs 1 tails is easily High Jonin and then Shippuden all about Kage + members Akatsuki and War Arc demi gods

[@dragowolfraven3806]

I forgot the Anbu even existed in Naruto as you never see them do anything. If they do it is off-screen making these elite ninjas suck at their job.

[@zemm9003]

Young Kabuto manhandled a bunch of ANBU in the beginning of the series. From that point on things never got better. They also got destroyed by the Sound 4 more than once in base form.

[@solidskullz5736]

For a group of some of the villages most elite ninja they sure do a whole lot of nothing. They get used like fodder most of the time

[@redninja3056]

Well they're a secret group of ninjas and not the focus of the story at this point you losers are just looking for stuff to be mad at

[@Animemanist]

@@redninja3056 💀dayum as a group of elite ninjas they sure do a lot of nothing

[@Animemanist]

@@redninja3056 complain to kishimoto then he established a organization of elite ninjas that don’t do anything impressive in the shoe

[@redninja3056]

@@Animemanist you mean they don't show you everything a SECRET origination of ninjas do unless it's an important characters like itachi and kakashi do because they're not important to the story gee I wonder why?

[@trianglemoebius]

I always assumed the ANBU got basically destroyed in Orochimaru's invasion of the Leaf. Not only are they absolute badasses during the early stages of the Invasion, but media like Kakashi Gaiden shows them being pretty powerful in the past, so I assumed that the sheer scope of the invasion resulted in most of them dying. Which would make most of the ANBU after that fresh-ish recruits, possibly being recruited under lower-than-previous standards because they needed to fill manpower.

[@Alyxandeyr]

ANBU could have easily saved Hiruzen. Sure you can't pierce the barrier. You can leave that. But the fact that none of the ANBU, who were all old enough to have served with Kakashi --who swims through land as if it were water-- thought to break the ceramic tile roof that they were standing on to undermine the footing of the people who decided to cast a jutsu that requires them to remain perfectly still and focused on top of a building is mind-boggling. You could have had two fights going on, once the ANBU set about trying to break the formation, where the ghostkage would have to peel off to mitigate the damage caused by the ANBU in order to prevent their interference, and they could have still been bodied --because they were fighting the fucking hokage-zomba-- but you would have had this moment where the ANBU were fighting to kill the ones they were formerly sworn to defend (and they may have even had special insight into the hokage, since they served in such proximity to them), and it could have ended the same way, but they might have opened a small window through which Hiruzen could have landed the Reaper Death Seal, or something of the sort. I just feel like if your jutsu requires you to be stationary in 3d space, you shouldn't do it while standing on top of what might as well be a cardboard box covered in one of the most slippery roofing materials that has ever existed. Especially when you take into account the edo-kages demonstrated abilities to change the landscape of a battle, it could have been a really cool chess game where they had to intersperse their fight with Hiruzen with mitigating measures to maintain the barrier and prevent the ANBU from squeezing through the cracks to wreak havoc on the sound hashira (cuz they're the four pillars of the box. Screw you it's funny.) Just my 2 yen, I guess. Would have been cooler to watch the zombies fighting the ANBU and then crumbling away to dust, Orochimarus control over the jutsu failing, as the last ANBU member died at the hand of one of the kage, just returning to lucidity in his final few seconds, having bought Hiruzen just enough time to land his final attack on Orochimaru, which never could have happened if all of the undead horde were actively attempting to blitz Hiruzen. You would have had this really cool moment, and still had everything happen basically the same (with the potential slight alteration of the autonomy of edo-tensei), but the ANBU would have demonstrated their prowess, and Orochimaru could have worked on refining edo tensei so that in the war arc the zombies were self-sustaining, because of what he had learned in the battle, when his failure of concentration lost him his posse. Shit, you could have made them still get sucked into the Shadow Realm, even. If they were still connected to Orochimaru, the slithery sannin could have fed them to Hiruzen while he was tug-of-war-no-jutsuing, demonstrating his callousness and Hiruzens determination. He would have still swallowed both kage and then been so depleted that he only got Orochimaru's arms. Same outcome, different journey.

[@ashlinthomas4500]

Wow, this is so much better than canon. Buffing the 2 Kage to make them fight the ANBU would've perfectly fit into the story. The ANBU fighting and holding off Tobirama while Hashirama disappears due to Orochimaru, who then uses this battle as a learning experience to improve the Edo Tensei is genius. The explanation that Hiruzen had to seal the 2 Kage before Orochimaru kills two birds with one stone. It gives an actual good explanation as to why Hirizun didn’t seal all of Orochimaru into the Reaper Death Seal, and foreshadows the Kage being revived during the war via reaper death seal. My only one question is what would the 4 sound ninja with the cursemarks do? No way they'd just sit around and watch.

[@Alyxandeyr]

@@ashlinthomas4500 They would be trying to maintain the jutsu, which would be possibly flickering enough to let fodder into the fight, which could have been used to demonstrate the power of Orochimaru and Hiruzen as they were dispatched with haste. They would be forced into a defensive battle trying to deal with the large-scale environmental effects. I figure they'd try to maintain the jutsu at all costs, to prevent the entire village from blitzing cockroachimaru. They'd effectively be in the same position as canon, just more dynamically. Perhaps the jutsu could survive, but waver when one was disturbed, and the weak spot could be pierced through with sufficient force by stronger ninja with adequate defensive/offensive skills. It would probably be one of those holes that the zombie-sama(s) would pop through to deal with the riffraff. I just do not accept that the hokage's personal guard would have seen a situation that they wouldn't have continued trying to beat through. Hell, they could have just all blasted it with a different element in the exact same spot, trying to open up a tiny hole to send someone through. Anything is better than what they did. We have the Sasuke retrieval arc, where the genin get caught in a dome, and they never stop trying to get through it. In the war arc we see walls and barriers, and no one ever stops trying to get through them. Even Gaara's impenetrable defense, no one ever stopped trying to get through, and they succeeded every time. They could easily have carried that theme through this part of the story.

[@ashlinthomas4500]

@@Alyxandeyr ik this is off topic, but what would you have done with the Konaha 11 post-timeskip. You seem to be someone with very good ideas, so I wanna hear you opinion on how you’d change the characters.

[@maalikserebryakov]

Then why is Kishimoto successful and you are here?

[@Alyxandeyr]

@@maalikserebryakov What are you talking about?

[@hant2661]

we all can agree kishimoto had a vision, but Shippuden was never the plan. he can write story but nothing this big of a lore

[@michaelmarkcavita7979]

If there was an alternate timeline where Sasuke never left Konoha, he'd probably become an Anbu. The other one would be Shino and maybe Neji.

[@brianpadilla3152]

9:49, gotta think some of the anbu gotta have large scale jutsu fit jinjiriki work. The nine tails did go on a rampage in their lifetime

[@SunlightGwyn]

The same reason Naruto's friends are all useless: They aren't main characters or antagonists. Shino, Ino, Choji, Neji, etc are all in the same class as Naruto and Sasuke and they started off stronger than yet Naruto and Sasuke became demigods and the rest of the class didn't.

[@samuelcosta8189]

I think the Anbu were very powerfull indeed offscreen, but i guess we´ll never know

[@N0ES]

The Ambu are useful because they follow orders and procedures, they are true professionals. Not because they are strong, they are simply efficient and effective on their missions. Someone that is more likely to act on emotion and disregard the procedures is not Ambu material regardless of their strength.

[@N0noy1989]

They are professionals AND strong. What are you on about? Only the geniuses like Kakashi and Itachi get in there--that's canon. They're not personal assistants/secretaries. They are special forces. If you're going to stick to that nonsense, then at least they should have completed basic ninja training, right? So why were they beaten by the sound ninjas at the start, and LITERAL CHILDREN NEWBIE NINJAS won? Even Tenten has better performance than them! The child TENTEN! She's like the most weakest among the main characters, zero secret technique or being a prodigy or what not. Child Tenten was more useful than ANBU. I'm not sure how you're supposed to explain that.

[@hopelessedgelord]

14:50 It wouldve if the war was interesting with factions depth and different motivations. Because its just an army of jobber zetsu's, nothing that, that particular specialisation would be able to help with, they are no sergeants, lieutenants or captain's to assassinate on obito's side. Other than Obito who is in the wind at the start of the war. Sure edo tense happens. But even then thats locating one Kabuto would could effectively be anywhere.

[@jasoncarter1869]

I'm glad this was brought up. I thought they were going to have "an important role" at some point. I was expecting them to be manipulated into to assassinating a *main character on a high level.* Or holding their own against a *high level threat* by using tactical advantages, speed, strength in numbers, and unethical measures. Would have been cool find out that they had been secretly involved in every major plot line but behind the scenes. Almost like Black Zetsu....but in a more logical way.

[@Animemanist]

Fr