How The Substitution Jutsu Breaks The Naruto Universe

The Substitution Jutsu is a staple of the Naruto series, but it breaks the Naruto universe. This jutsu is absolutely overpowered and most of the times it's used as a Deus Ex Machina jutsu for characters to escape certain situations. Kakashi used to spam this jutsu in the Land of Waves Arc and the jutsu was used a lot during the Chunin Exams. Sakura also spammed it in the Forest of Death to fight against the Sound Village team.
Kishimoto realized this jutsu was a mistake, it shouldn't be as powerful, so he decided to use it way less in Naruto Shippuden. Let's explore the problems with this jutsu for the Naruto story.
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[@DygoKnight]

What's the best type of substitution?

[@icecrown7324]

Wasn't it sasukes rinnegan ability XAXA

[@zelz3011]

Akamaru's Bone or Bee's Tail thing. Or the Storm 4 one where Naruto Subs with like a Kurama Plush because that's funny.

[@preservinglight]

Orochimarus because its not really a substitution

[@fhiyos_2611]

Ninja storm substitution

[@youtubestudiosucks978]

Obitos teleportation jutsu, just substitute yourself with a bomb and boom, enemy explodes while you're teleported far away

[@Ki_Adi_Mundi]

Imagine when Naruto and Sasuke finally got Kaguya at the end of the series she just poofs into a log and bodies them 💀

[@sebagomez4647]

humans in the naruto world have made a lot of broken techniques. for example the flying thunder god seal minato used. if it was in hands of naruto sasuke or even sakura would be an absolute menace of a thing to fight against. minato lacked the heavy hits those 3 can punch. sakura's weakness is that despite her having monstrous strenght her taijutsu just sucks and her speed is bad. but if she littearaly can thorow a kunai at your side teleport and punch you. mark you with the seal then teleport again repeating the punch you are just dead. if sasuke has it he can put a hole through the enmy with an instant chidori. and naruto could hit you with a melee rasenshuriken. it was one of those techniques that also got written out due to being obnoxiously broken. minato was borderline the most usefull person in the war he saved their asses several times.

[@ViltrumiteIsRite99]

🤣🤣 Sakura POOFS the Substitution, then all 3 look down to see Kaguya, preparing to annihilate them.

[@Ki_Adi_Mundi]

@@ViltrumiteIsRite99 Damn. I literally forgot Sakura got a hit in there before they sealed her 😂👌🏻

[@gentletal5101]

Good thing she didn't know what jutsu was

[@Catswaga]

@@sebagomez4647 I dont think sakura would be able to use it. Minatos reaction time is insane as well. Dude reacted to the raikage. With instant teleportation at some point the speed of your reactions is what dictates how fast you are. And also he was just normaly super fast as well.

[@ivanbluecool]

Meanwhile Madara is basically using a super substitution jutsu with limbo This jutsu should have been saved for only the super elite ninja to show they are extremely dangerous and have those elites use special versions like deidara and his bomb clone and such. Would have made the serious more unique and make Sakura's use of it in the Forrest even more impressive

[@redninja3056]

No more like you guys should stop trying to change everything about Naruto lol

[@ivanbluecool]

@@redninja3056 wow what a dumb comment made on a channel that is making a whole rewrite on Naruto as a whole. You are so narrow minded and hilarious making this response that it's pathetic and makes me pity you Please don't think you said anything useful as you didn't. Naruto ended horribly and things only get worse with Boruto nonsense. Surprised you miss every time the videos call Boruto a fan fic. Please get some help you need it

[@maalikserebryakov]

@@redninja3056No, cope and seethe.

[@redninja3056]

@@maalikserebryakov lol get better comebacks

[@Reynnan123]

​@@redninja3056 says mr stop having opinions

[@olagarto1917]

i think the substitution jutso is not a teleportation jutso but a cloning one. the ninja turns the log into a clone and them like, hides in n a brush while the log has fun in its place

[@aceclover758]

I always found Sasuke’s Koto-ble-ble Kishi’s way of retconning the subsititution jutsu to something unique and OP like how it originally was. Sasuke literally swapping places or substituting himself with an object in the environment Some people already said it but hilarious Sasuke’s main rinnegan ability is a worst version of the substitution lol.

[@Necroverse19]

Worse version of substitution? How?

[@aceclover758]

@@Necroverse19Substituion uses minimal charka Sasuke’s Justu always drains SAsuke of a lot of his chakra

[@bussinnutsfuckinbutts5368]

​@@aceclover758but it only subs in a log, the rinnegan swaps places with anything plus it's not the switch jutsu that takes a lot of chakra, it's his jutsu he uses to go to different dimensions that takes a lot of chakra.

[@ninjajin8788]

No one noticed this guy says amarasu to black flames lmao

[@GuestGaming88]

Nah not really saskue can swap and immediately counter attack

[@emocatgaming2332]

He really should have said something like: 1. Substitution costs more or less chakra depending on how much damage an attack would inflict on you. 2. Substitution is bound by the properties of speed, and takes a small (but not infinitely fast) amount of time to take effect. Then just say that the really powerful jutsu used later are faster than substitution is.

[@Evil_Erica]

When someone masters something, you can be doing something highly advanced, and find yourself saying "oh no I forgot my pen"

[@Evil_Erica]

Why would a sage think to use something so basic, when they are going all out? I actually really like the way giraya's death was written.

[@astralnaught9431]

Naruto: Hand-signs substitution off screen The enemy too busy giving a monologue: “Gonna pretend I didn’t see that”

[@ThePurpleKnightmare]

Idt it's supposed to be a get out of jail free card, and I think the reason you think it is, is largely because of a misunderstanding with the demon brothers. Kakashi see's the puddle, and knows they are there, so he hides and replaces himself with a clone/substitute. Eventually the 2 attack him, binding him first, but they never even bound the real Kakashi, he was already long hidden away. I think the substitution can be compared to a trap card in Yugioh. It's necessary to not only place the trap card down before hand, but to place the right kind. If you want to block a spell card, you need to have a trap card to destroys spell cards before their effect resolves. The difference between Yugioh and Naruto, is that in Naruto it isn't luck based, you hold your entire deck in your hand, and instead of losing the cards when you use them, you lose a resource instead (Chakra) Ultimately you can't just Izanami your way out of any situation using substitution. You use it as a preventative measure, and by the time you actually get hit, you've already had it set up. I think another thing about it is that it's not just 1 jutsu. It's very much like a stealth or clone based jutsu. You can use water clones, shadow clones, wood clones or bug clones. There are substitutions that are quick subs, stuff where you summon a log clone moments before you're about to get hit, and quickly hide, maybe using some sort of spatial ninjutsu, but then also there are substitutions where you prepare long in advance like the demon brothers. Each one is it's own technique created on the fly for the scenario they are in, but they all ultimately use the same formula, the idea behind it, bait, stealth, surprise attack. There are certainly some moments in the show where a substitution is a little ridiculous, or where someone should have used one and it's nuts that they didn't. However ultimately each use of substitution techniques should be judged on their own.

[@wolfinapocalypse1169]

I always thought of substituition as a more basic form of shadow clone, requiring less chakra, but having no/little combat capabilites. They usally joke on Naruto and others when they fall for one implying that it was never the real one.

[@AnthanKrufix]

This one is so iconic to the franchise that it's kinda transcended Naruto in general and is used by ninja characters in other media, complete with the Naruto visual effects of disappearing in a puff of smoke and being replaced by a log. My favorite use of it comes from fighting games where it's commonly used as a parry. Of course there's the Naruto fighting games, but also the likes of Greninja in Smash bros, Answer in Guilty Gear, or Ibuki in Street Fighter.

[@dr.c2195]

Maybe substitution ought to be like the move Substitute from Pokémon where the user needs to sacrifice 1/4th of it's HP to use the move. That would make the move costly and if the vitality is spent in advance it could explain why the move is not always set up in advance.

[@Nuvlord]

Alternate universe where naruto realizes this and just shreds everyone

[@Chris-jm2gx]

Another way to balance Kawarimi is to make it close to medium range, and if there are no objects around to substitute to then you won't be able to use it.

[@Hlasssssssssssssssssc]

Sasuke: Has rinegan Ramen guy: hold my beer *substitution jutsu*

[@exodiaexodus]

sharingan lets sasuke see everything in 5 miles in earlh naruto… good luck escaping mr ramen guy

[@Omgtired]

Danzo collects tons of sharingans to use isanagi multiple times. Sakura: boy, oh, boy, let me show you something

[@profligatescumbag9941]

In my headcanon, I always saw it as a kind of like a 'hybrid genjutsu/clone technique summoned around a log' that was needed as training wheels or a getaway distraction for ninjas that couldnt flicker very well - while more experienced ninjas could use it at a higher level as a humiliating bait and switch. No teleporting, just parlor tricks with added chakra.

[@tjakal]

Never watched Naruto beyond the pilot episode back in the day but learning about this now I can feel the IQ in my brain using 'Substitution Jutsu' and filling my head with sand.

[@Anonymality]

naruto: hand signs go brrrr boruto: tf is that?

[@hulkman245]

I seriously thought the body flicker and substitution we're one and the same😂😂

[@supergamingpros1910]

Another nerf would be if used in advance unless a person gets hit by something in a certain time limit say 20s it would undo itself

[@soyjoyy]

They could have said that you can only teleport short distances, like 3-5 meters, so using it against massive attacks, that we see later in the series, is futile

[@D_Wito]

It could be pretty easy, rock/paper/scizors Make it work only on bludgeoning/cutting/stabbing DMG And characters would have to guess correctly what enemy will do and enemy could try to hide weapons to prevent right guess (still hudge power in hands of writer as he may just make them guess right, but not as large power in hands of characters)

[@mlgesus8362]

When i first watched it, i thought the jutsu was that you used the transformation jutsu on like a log, and you stealthed to set it up, coz most of the time when people used it they were standing still, so you had to have it set up expecting a hit

[@rblackmore1445]

Jiraya was fighting 1v I dont even know how much people. He eventually ran out of substitution jutsu charges and got overwhelmed.

[@ookjannesplanting1296]

Could probably balance it with some more rules, like having to manually activate or tag the subbed object Also it definitely could've been used more creatively, imagine Naruto subbing for one of his clones or for a thrown kunai

[@Jpx0999]

In the defense,the ranks are not for the power of the jutsu,but the difficulty to master

[@theuserofrf]

should've make substitution to trigger when taking a hit turn substitution into something like a damage mitigation technic, taking a single hit and then performing the technique to avoid the next incoming attack. instead of seemingly come out unscathe but a big fatal strike/fires of amaterasu clinging to you would be a game over

[@Mikito456]

Lol very true. Tbh I'm surprised you didn't bring an example clip of the old PS2 game Ultimate Ninja Storm, where you players can just skip spamming substitutions with a smaller window again, and again to the point of pure absurdities.

[@zg1k68]

I always thought of it more like a clone jutsu that maybe is more convincing when you strike it

[@chukyuniqul]

Honestly? Substitution could have made fights insanely cool and high-stakes if it then translated in the characters being actually frail. Like, the damage sakura took when she faked out palm guy with substitution? That would immediately put her out of commission after adrenaline runs out. Kunai and shuriken would be ACTUALLY deadly and the whole ninja schtick would actually stand out, since everyone would be a glass canon/fragile speedster. That way abilities like fire style-while maybe still not necessarily as deadly as they should be-would be useful for zoning your opponent into a point where they straight run outta options. Because I personally never really found stories as compelling when it's just "oop this guy is straight busted and untouchable because he has a higher level" rather than when they are monstruously skilled and from there their power comes.

[@thisfeatureissostupid]

the point of a hand sign is that if the opponent is obsrvant they would see you use the substitution jutsu. also had a problem with the shadow clone jutsu. they always setup some big "surprise" where all the naruto on screen are actual clones and the real one was somewhere else, then since they love to drag fights out over 10 episodes they have naturo make his big move after the opponent has relized theyre all clones instead of doing it mid fight and stabbing him right in the back while the clones still exist. best example is narutos fight with the sound village 4 when he gets caught in the web. also you can only surprise an audience so many times before its not surprising anymore, its better to write intelligently i.e. show us on screen every time they setup a sub jutsu or when the real naruto is waiting to jump a guy from behind.

[@mfizze]

thats what I've been saying. just finished the series and noticed that no matter the situation, substitution had a 100% success rate

[@Chill.Gaming]

I’ve always imagined that the substitution jutsu was derived from the clone jutsu. If you have to make a clone (just an illusion not a solid clone) you can pair the illusion with any object which you have a summoning contract with. Like ninja tools. I’m sure they have a warehouse full of ninja logs ready to be summoned. Summoned log + clone = substitution. Sakura can make a few clones as a genin that why she was able to pull off a few substitutions in the forest of death. Jiraiya got tricked by pain’s substitution because it’s such a basic jutsu like clone jutsu that he didn’t expect such a basic jutsu. Orochimarus jutsu is more like a solid clone of himself which he summons. (Not an illusion) the smoke effect from the summoning is also like the smoke from a clone disappearing

[@FlamingNinjaBoi]

The jutsu is so dumb the writers didn't even realize it, because Sasuke's mangekyo ability is basically just a super substitution.

[@kokirimido3924]

What makes this jutsu worse, is not that you can just substititute a log in your place. Kakashi literally switched places with naruto in their first fight, like what is the use of Sasuke's Rinnegan, when Kakashi can do the same thing with like almost 0 chakra drain, while sasuke would be all out of chakra after using it twice or thrice in the battle field.

[@UlfgrimRaneth]

And It would be so easy to fix this too, imagine If more advanced ninjas would be able to see through the substitution jutsu, It would be too obvious, so they'd predonk the sub and catch the fucker mid sub. That would be fucking rad

[@dddmemaybe]

TL;DR: Tenten should be the strongest in the whole series before jinchuriki/hokage/obito level by blinking between infinite summoned items (easier multi-location; anti-tracking similar to 4th hokage) and spamming a hail of tracking-projectiles faster than you can substitute. Only extremities like chakra beasts and chakra armors should be on the same level, or other space-time specialties.

[@Kyroro97]

Danzo should have started collecting logs of wood instead of uchiha eyes 😂

[@GregL_G]

You frogot to talk about how each substitution jutsu will have a about 177 flashbacks, which makes the original Naruto much more enjoyable 😅

[@UniversalAero]

Hey there, I'm a little late to your videos, new subscriber but I want to add something to your videos. You're missing a huge part in your videos and that is the Chakra consumption. Now Rank E Jutsu doesn't mean it's weak. Just because everyone knows about it doesn't mean it's all that useful in a battle. Remember when Kakashi was at the end of the Zabuza arc in Naruto? He was exhausted but still managed a few shadow clones to fight the ruffians. That means throughout that arc, with all the rest and food during protecting the bridge maker, he depleted almost all of his chakra. That was his limit. If you played any Naruto games, you can use that as a reference to how much charka is used when you charge up and all. Substitution Jutsu takes a lot of Chakra. Now a lot of you may say that games aren't canon and you're right but they can still be used as a reference for how much Chakra is being consumed for each Jutsu, no? Food for thought.

[@danz9268]

Substitution Jutsu is so broken it has "charges" in the Naruto games.

[@penieladounkpe9548]

I think that the more consequent the damage, the more chakra the substitution takes

[@jinkxa4091]

Im pretty sure its more of a case that its a beginner trick and requires set up. Kind of like when you're playing a fighting game. Sure, you can spam one move on a noob often no problem, but someone who knows how to play the game won't continue to keep falling for the trick. Plus, the consideration of setting it up and weaving the sign can take up time and if your fighting someone of your same caliber or stronger I don't think you want to waste most of your chakra and time trying to do this one trick just for your opponent to catch you off guard mid signing or just figure you out before even hitting the sub jutsu. There's also the consideration of speed and more than one opponent. Just cause it seems like its OP and can be spammed to an extent doesnt means it's really to something that is OP and can be spammed.

[@Zero2HeroX]

Jiraiya, seconds away from dying remembering that he could've just used the substitution justu: 🗿

[@nicolas._.2294]

Or just use reverse summoning...or put the old frogs to summon him and then get him to the villiage

[@curtislevere7282]

It was done for plot purposes​@@nicolas._.2294

[@TheLeoGBA]

@@nicolas._.2294 every death in naruto be like

[@starlitee]

Don’t those rods absorb chakra, and why jiraiya and Naruto almost only use sage energy

[@Zero2HeroX]

@@starlitee just use the substitution jutsu to avoid getting hit by the rods 🗿

[@JamesMadisonsSpiritAnimal]

The thing is it essentially makes you immune to any attack once. So basically it's like a free life. Every human would use this before they left the house. It would be like wearing a seatbelt or something

[@stevefilms1997]

I think it’s sort of implied that you gotta cast it just before you get hit.

[@Martin-yh7vi]

​@@stevefilms1997It's kinda like OP was implying it was automatic defense or something.

[@ulti_mages9200]

You are using the Transformation Technique on a log or anything else before you get hit, the object gets hit and you gtfo. You can only do it when they lose track of you more an instant, like when lee closed his eyes from pain fighting gara.

[@Linkwii64]

Dream bro. Have you ever dream you in a life and death situation and bam you woke up.😂

[@Schnoz42069]

Not how it works

[@MichaelGregoryII]

I guess Neji must have skipped the substitution jutsu lesson back in school

[@patsander5634]

🤣🤣..makes sense ..dude needed to tank kidomaru's arrows in order to strike him

[@einstwareinlicht]

I was thinking something similar. Could've used it in the war.

[@KaiKrimson56]

​@@patsander5634 Neji should've died in that fight instead of getting sniped by Obito.

[@raydaveed]

The jutsu probably won't tank high level attacks and go through it then hit the person you try to protect. 😂

[@tevonboyd93]

Special place in hell for u sir! 😂

[@Folkeregor]

The funny thing is that the poorly-thought-out nature of the jutsu was immediately apparent in the Naruto games. It wasn't until the later Storm games where Subsitution had its own resource instead of Chakra did it start to feel remotely balanced lol.

[@Potato_Quality7]

Once you learned the timing, you could just spam the shoulder buttons and never get hit.

[@tribopower]

@@Potato_Quality7 but you would need to learn the timing for every attack, it had a lot of skill involved, when you stop to think about it, sakura just spaming it was just stupid...

[@marxist-leninist-protagonist]

I stopped playing that game because at some point I realized it was basically "who runs out their substitution first" the game...

[@manbat4582]

​@@marxist-leninist-protagonist true. It makes me sad watching "pro" players talk as if depth means anything if you just constantly rush your opponent

[@alicepbg2042]

​@@tribopowerit was pretty easy to do.

[@calvinwilson3617]

My biggest problem with substitution-jutsu is that it isn't an evasive ability, it's basically a time reversal/retcon/genjutsu ability

[@homemovelha4173]

True, its basically izanagi but anyone can use It for basically no cost

[@MaríaCamilaBolívarBetancourt]

​@@homemovelha4173 I never was able to put it into words but yeah, that's why that jutsu bothered me so much! It basically can be seen as a version of izanagi!! You are so right

[@NinjaPieceLOL]

@@homemovelha4173 The Uchiha clan: Izanagi is a high level technique that allows you to escape death at the cost of an eye. Some kid from the academy: Haha! Substitution go brrr!

[@danang5]

i mean that jutsu is not a problem before everyone become too powerfull its a classic fantasy power in japan thats mainly used by ninja and exist before Kishimoto was even born,and it fit pretty well in the original series because of the grounded power level it just become a problem when Naruto turn from a ninja manga to a classic shounen manga

[@measlesplease1266]

Yeah cause the character is shown in pain or unaliving before poofing into a log.

[@cosmiccynic2757]

The substitution jutsu has always confused me. Does it teleport the characters, because if so, everyone has access to space-time ninjutsu. I think jutsu that teleports is supposed to be rare.

[@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl]

To be fair..... Everyone already has space time magic. Due to summoning contracts

[@allancesar6718]

it's not teleportation it's body displacement it's explained in the manga and databook

[@adam-dn3hi]

@@allancesar6718 right except we saw people replace themself with wood when there is no wood around

[@1BuFo]

@@adam-dn3hi still doesnt make it teleportation

[@adam-dn3hi]

@@1BuFo it quite literaly does there is nowhere for them to get the wood from and they are in a completly open area that shit could not physicaly be done by anyone in the series this is teleportation

[@AdrX003]

"Even kakashi was spamming it so it means that it REALLY DOESNT REQUIRE CHACKRA" line was funny and sad.

[@1001011011010]

Doesn't Kakashi have a decent chakra pool? The sharingan mismatch just drained it

[@anthonycortes868]

​@@1001011011010exactly. Even when covered it drains his chakra

[@paulperez6167]

​@@1001011011010 by the time you get to the war arc he's fighting and using jutsu nonstop lol

[@Remijoh]

Be honest chakra limits are more of a plot device than a actual in universe mechanic.

[@anthonycortes868]

@@Remijoh everything is a literal plot device in any manga, book, or show.

[@johnfinch621]

I have also always had a problem with the substitution jutsu. It just always seemed weird that it's clearly a space time ninjutsu but it's E rank despite every other space time ninjutsu being S rank.

[@midgetydeath]

It might work like the body flicker instead, though. Doesn’t have to be time-space.

[@ulti_mages9200]

It's a lot harder to use. They are using the Transformation Technique on a log or anything else before you get hit, the object gets hit and you gtfo. You can only do it when they lose track of you more an instant, like when lee closed his eyes from pain fighting gara. If they don't hit the substitute then presumably it would just stand and go nothing.

[@TheRobotoon]

​@@midgetydeath except body flicker is a d rank jutsu which makes no sense

[@arthropod-doctor]

It was never stated to be like ST Ninjutsu. In ch7, it's strongly implied to be a two-way body flicker. The user propels himself towards an object's direction, and the object is launched in the opposite direction towards the user's original location.

[@MagnusMegamind]

@@arthropod-doctor that makes 0 sense because we can see it being hit from every side and angle possible there is no way to get it inside or yourself outside without actual teleportation. This is god-tier magic spell avaible to everyone. In shippuden author forgets it exists so scenes like sasuke getting very hurt can exist.

[@robertminnie782]

Armless Deidara substituting out of Naruto's Shadow Clones while being grappled and pummeled is probably the dumbest way I've seen it used so far.

[@bigjayiv]

I agree, I think that the substitution jutsu should only work when you're either freed up from any sort of attack or are able to simply physically overpower your attacker. Like how Kakashi substituted out of Naruto's clutches during the bell test, he's probably just strong enough to escape his grip. He was basically toying with naruto there.

[@r.a.panimefan2109]

Ya how he got away from team guy. ...lol

[@robertminnie782]

​@@bigjayiv I agree. Makes sense that Kakashi would be able to do it against them easily because he's so much stronger and faster. But, against opponents relative to you and your speed, they should be able to see you, or stop you. Unless everyone just moves faster than everyone can see, which isn't really the case lol. Maybe the exception to that would be dōjutsu. But my take is that it should definitely be prepared beforehand, and it needs solid limits. It should not be Spacetime Ninjutsu or Kamui. At that point, it should be a much higher-ranked Jutsu. I honestly thought it was hilarious when Dygo pointed out that Kawarimi and Amenotejikara are practically the same thing. 💀

[@1BuFo]

I think he subbed out before he hit the ground but then he bleeds from his nouth and im like tf is going on here

[@sasukelownwolf]

@@1BuFo that’s bc it was an anime mess up. In the manga he only gets hit once and subs

[@rbr1170]

To those wondering where all the wood comes from, of course everyone carries a few pieces of logs. This is why most of them often gets short on shuriken. You can't have carry that much if you are hauling a few of those logs.

[@detective2221]

no dude

[@sloth0708]

I always imagined the timer on substitutions in Ninja Storm 4 was for your off screen characters furiously carving wood to make more substitution logs.

[@Longshot441]

Sealing scrolls.

[@mariguanaiguana]

@@detective2221yes bro

[@MP-vc4nu]

Ninja Tools Sealing Scrolls You can do summoning to objects in preparations set

[@raidenpainn1561]

Patch 17.2 art of substitution cooldown increased from 4 seconds to 40 seconds (effect when missed increases to 120 seconds), Hand sign count increased by 4 Substitution rank increases from E to B rank Chakra expenditure changed to 10% of users total stamina (20% when missed) Substitution storage changed to 15 seconds (after, costs 0.8% chakra per second) Genjutsu required for the "surprise" factor of substitution

[@IDontReadReplies42069]

virgin

[@bingbong5076]

Imagine Hidan's frustration if everyone keep spamming substitution jutsu

[@brandon-qc1ul]

Not until they start to run out of chakra and Hidan starts playing they waiting game exhausting their chakra and attacks when he have the chance. (Edit) Unless the person is a tail beast, Madara or Hashirama or an Uzumaki clan who have large chakra pool they can spam as much as they want.

[@joshchild]

Underrated comment

[@Guah00]

@@brandon-qc1ul But it's an E-rank low chakra requirement jutsu that even chuunin exam arc Sakura was able to spam 😂

[@Jack_Woods]

Naruto games in a nutshell

[@ZigySpACe]

@@brandon-qc1ul substitution takes no chakra lol

[@amireffect6054]

I like how in part 1, when lee was fighting gaara, gaara managed to substitute lee's primary lotus because lee closed his eyes for a moment when he was kicking upwards. At least it showed that substitution justsu had to be concealed in some way in order to work

[@hasseo195]

I wonder more, to where he moved by that moment? He was flying in the skie and all his sand was even into the air. So, where was his body, until Lee finished his move, by sending Gaara on the ground?

[@amireffect6054]

@@hasseo195 Well, he came out from his sand, so I guess he hid himself in the sand that was trying to catch up to lee and fell down with it after he completed his substitution

[@jlit5215]

That was some bullshit😂 gaara couldn’t keep up with Lee’s speed but managed to move fast enough to perform that jutsu and nobody noticed

[@1BuFo]

@@jlit5215 ofc not, gaara can move at kakashi's speed, so of course none of the genin saw it. Thats basically speed of sound movement.

[@MiahV007]

@@1BuFo Sasuke literally LOST to lee in that unofficial fight and Sasuke had to copy Lee's Taijustus and was STILL faster than Gaara by the time they matched. Gaara is definitely not on the same level as Kakashi lmao

[@Holden.Tudiks]

If I were in this universe I would monopolize the “logs-used-for-substitution” market and make *MILLIONS*

[@kucingdrive3248]

Too late with Hashirama cells spreading like a virus, you need to wait for Yamato's death since he monopolize the property market

[@Holden.Tudiks]

@@kucingdrive3248 black market logs 🪵

[@historyking9984]

The weirdest thing is it switches the person with a thing in the vicinity which is always a piece of wood. Like that makes sense in a forrest but in pains village ? Which has no wood and all the buildings and everything are made of metal

[@Homodemon]

And not any piece of wood, a perfectly cut, perfectly sized branchless piece of firewood that is randomly just there

[@ohhellwhereami2574]

​@@Homodemon Infinite tree trunk glitch 😏

[@Garvant_]

I thought the same thing like "where did that path of pain get that log?"

[@maalikserebryakov]

@@Homodemon *Hashirama laughing mischievously in the Pure World* In reality, the substitution jutsu only works in some circumstances depending on whether or not Hashirama and Tobirama agree to answer the prayer. What happens is, when any ninja completes the handseals for a substitution jutsu, their chakra takes the form of a FLYING RAIJIN SEAL, for a few seconds. Then Tobirama is informed and he tells Hashirama about it. They briefly consider whether they should answer the call, because time passes much slower in the Pure World of the dead. If they agree to it Hashirama gives tobirama a piece of perfectly chopped piece of wood. He already mads produced a collection of these in the pure world. There is not much else to do there you see. Then tobirama teleports to the caller and does three things at once: (1) Throws the piece of wood up into the air, (2) Throws a kunai in any direction (3) Grabs a hold of the caller. And then performs another flying raijin to teleport the caller out of the way. And then by this point the god of death realises what happened, and instantly pulls Tobirama back into the pure world whilst giving him an irritated glare. And this is the truth of how the Substitution jutsu actually works 😎

[@chosenrace7361]

​@@maalikserebryakov its bothering that this has less plotholes

[@retrohanska4441]

Personally, if I had been in Kishimoto's shoes, I would have revealed at some point that substitution jutsu is really just a basic trick that most adult shinobi can predict and counter. Maybe it requires a specific setup that can be spotted if you know what you're doing, maybe it indeed relies on speed so that any character faster than the user can just outpace it or something along those lines. Then it is framed as basically similar kind of excercise as playing flute was in our elementary school music lessons. It's not gonna be of any use by itself when you're grown up but it taught you the the principles you can evolve further. After Chuunin exams basic substitution would be basically useless and after that characters start to develop versions of it that are harder to predict and counter but are also much more difficult and costly to use. Some rely more on genjutsu, some rely on raw speed, some use trickery like Orochimaru's snake arts and so on. And on the top of them there are the hax substitutions that excel because they don't have those drawbacks or requirements.

[@sonic-bb]

im pretty sure that was the implication. this video doesnt need to exist

[@fellowmemer5693]

@@sonic-bblmao what a dumb thing to say. Feel like you can justify a lot of plot holes like that

[@sonic-bb]

@fellowmemer5693 what was even the point in your comment?? Want to talk about dumb things to say? Lmao. What's dumb is this video and all you idiots. Substitution jutsu was never overpowered and never implied to be. We literally see them learning it AFTER learning shadow clone jutsu. They even mention how you can use the shadow clone to transform things to look like you to trick opponents. The whole purpose is to anticipate an attack, and use the illusion ahead of time when no one expected you to do so. Then when THE CLONE gets attacked, we see that it was an illusion the whole time. It's not instant transmission. And an experienced ninja would have seen through the illusion or seen u slip away because of their hyper awareness. That's why you hardly see it used in high rank fights and why it's considered an E rank ability

[@aurelian2668]

​@@fellowmemer5693 Naruto fans are blind

[@didack1419]

​​@@sonic-bbPain literally used it to escape Jiraiya's hair grapple, with the log and everything.

[@debrachambers1304]

Making a substitution something you have to prep, like your casting an illusion around a log, could also make it less OP. It might be less useful than a clone but it also might take less chakra. Then again, you could just use the clone technique that all genin know but rarely seem to use for some reason.

[@RealMrRobinson]

I believe that learning the clone jutsu is just Chakra control and is useless in a real battle cause any chunin level ninja could probably spot a clone from a mile away

[@exodiaexodus]

i don't remember any prep for the many broken sharringan illusions…

[@skwasigr]

Agreed. Just imagine the 1 vs 1000 fight against Madara, but right and left people switch with the logs 😅

[@MP-vc4nu]

Problem is that Madara can attack with crazy massive Area of Effect unlike most ninjas, Unless the substitute can be far away…

[@SaltareObscurum]

People That die in the Naruto verse Are just the Most stupid Characters ever. Why would you Even leave your house? Just Send your Logs everywhere 😆

[@Bolvar4dragon]

His sharingan would also see through it tbf.

[@AnxP110]

@@SaltareObscurum profile picture

[@tmathis9882]

Every time a Mandara attacks a forest becomes a plain

[@tylersmith9942]

If you had to prepare before a fight by placing a summoning/substitution type seal on trees or logs then maybe that would've balanced it in some way. Would've been cool if for some fights you can watch someone place a certain number of them, like 10 or so, and then during the fight youre constantly counting them down, building tension for when they ultimately run out of substitutions. Then they really have to get creative if the fight drags on fron there

[@hetoverseo3887]

Agreed.

[@genericgorilla]

I thought about it, how about you have some previous setup for substitution, but it would fundamentally ruin the point because the reader would know "oh this hit won't count because the character setup the substitution beforehand" which would undermine the tension. I mean it already does, but explicitly pointing at it with a setup would ruin it further. You could have characters explain their setup AFTER they perform the jutsu but that seems functionally the same as what already exists. What could maybe fix it is giving it some sort of limit, like "oh I have to know I'm going to be hit a second in advance" or "I need to time the jutsu with the point of impact" which would give the author a license to make the jutsu fail whenever and thus characters would be able to receive critical hits and hard to read enemies would have a way to get over the substitution jutsu easily. Oh wait this was covered on the video lol

[@casualcookin3893]

@@genericgorilla They dont have to show characters doing this all the time,just establish it once or twice in OG Naruto series for example,and then if it happen in shippudden episode 505,everybody would know that there are prerequisites for it

[@MP-vc4nu]

@@genericgorilla They do, there are ninja tools for these. But as time passes, this seems more BS instead.

[@alex_zetsu]

Yeah I think that would make some sense. Of course, to keep some tension, we should have some fights where not all the substitutions are used, so it's not always down to the last one, and maybe it being countered by someone going over and unsealing all the things you would have substituted out with yourself.

[@Alexaltair972]

It's common in mangas to have overpowed techniques at the very beginning of the story that suddenly disappear or rarifies because it would cause storytelling issues, it happens a lot in Jojo

[@aouyiu]

Thanks for reminding me why I shouldn't watch JoJo

[@ZeltThePotatoBoi]

​@@aouyiushould*

[@leaffinite2001]

​@aouyiu wooow dude youre so cool. I bet you only like really obscure and niche things that make you seem esoteric

[@guymannargit]

​@@aouyiu That's barely a significant issue with the series. I'd highly recommend you give it a chance at least

[@leaffinite2001]

@@alejandrootazu1837 where?

[@018FLP]

I like the idea of Rock Lee learning just Kawarimi and through intensive training becoming a legendary godlike Kawarimi user, and because his taijutsu is so high level, he can make signs without the opponent even noticing. Combo this with his natural speed and now we have a viable character to finally bring back. BUT NO, EVERYTIME WE HAVE A OPORTUNITY TO MAKE LEE BADASS THEY DITCH HIM.

[@chello6974]

They hatin on real niggas as usual

[@justiron2999]

Because they can't keep pulling magic powers out of their asses with physical strength. It's like having smart and well planned out battles instead of just huge jutsus.

[@nizu9544]

@@justiron2999 MASHLE

[@kaydgaming]

He’d be the realest Ninja

[@allanbroady2970]

I think too being the eight gates master takes years of attrition and building the body/spirit to handle it. At least that's my head cannon

[@nicoolive7613]

I think Kishimoto notice how problematic the substitute jutsu is when he made that fight with Sakura. That fight show very well how broken and problematic the jutsu can be in a story pespective. You can spam it multiple times and reach a point you won't know if you going to hit a substitute log or the real person, so he decide to make alternative jutsus that has some balance to it and omit the original one in big battles.

[@Kamorzy]

I think it could've been salvaged by somehow making her excellent chakra control the only reason she could spam it at such a low rank. She needed something notable about her anyways. Maybe the cost or difficulty rises exponentially each time its used in some way.

[@nicoolive7613]

@@Kamorzy Making Sakura look special and balance the jutsu? Huh, good though, two birds with a kunai.

[@joshchild]

Best comment

[@naphackDT]

Another way to salvage it would be a scene where a highly perceptive character predicts the substitute and as soon as their target swaps, it gets impaled by multiple kunais on their new location, maybe even with an explanation that a haphazard substitution leaves you wide open. Would make substitution a contest between the user's deception and the attacker's perception.

[@Julius064]

​@@Kamorzy Problem with that is that as the story continues and they come across greater numbers and higher concentrations of powerf ninja it makes no sense for sakuta to be one of the scant few with such fine tuned chakra control. Its for the best that this justu was shoved to the wayside.

[@animan8192]

Isn't substitution jutsu just a cheap version of Isanagi??

[@nicolas._.2294]

And it doesn't cost an magical eye😮

[@MrSupedoSpade]

Substitution Jutsu was perfect for OG Naruto. Idk how to describe it but it's a perfect ninja ability. The nonsense within it doesn't even matter

[@KevonDaDon]

Yea it’s ninja esque

[@letsomethingshine]

I didn’t even know it had to be performed ahead of time and basically became like a trap card you carried for a certain amount of time. I didn’t know it was such a low level jutsu either, but I guess so was single (shadow?)clone and that was pretty advanced/useful in my view

[@grapplingberger]

@@letsomethingshine na shadow clone even the single one is difficult. a normal clone jutsu is easy

[@jaybronx98]

Exactly, this guy is always complaining about tiniest of nitpicks in the series😂 and I always found substitution cool cause it kept you on edge when you thought a character was genuinely in danger. Especially earlier on in the series.

[@brandonontama2415]

@@jaybronx98 Seems like you can't just take criticism.

[@brandonchacon7745]

I don't think they ever fully explain the jutsu, and that is the real problem. Though It's implied that they trade places prior and transform that object during the Rock lee Gaara fight. I think this version of it is a lot more believable. Genin also know how to transform themselves (regular transformation justu, sexy jutsu, etc), so it's not farfetched that they can transform other objects as well. With this explanation, they are transforming logs, etc, into their likeness before someone notices. They work similar to shadow clones in that the transformation is broken when the target is destroyed. This also explains enemies who are held down since naruto's shadow clones don't go down unless they are hit with decisive blows, but they can be touched, held, etc. To me subs are basically the regular clone jutsu, but with a log or rock stuck inside to give it an impact. It's still Good in that with enough prep work, you can just be subbing over and over on unknowing enemies, but I'm sure there are in universe tells to these jutsus, like sensing chakra, which makes it only useful in the heat of battle when the enemy is probably too distracted to notice your change in chakra.

[@steffanofumo]

Exactly that is what it should be, actually physically trading places with a transformed obtect but how it’s portrayed it looks more like they are just teleporting a pice of wood in once they get hit.

[@henrygreen2096]

OH this is a good interpretation actually, way better than my attempt.

[@brandonchacon7745]

@@steffanofumo using my logic, they portray it that way to make it look like the ninja was cunning and thought 10 strips ahead, so much so that you're attacking his sub without realizing. In practice it looks like a lazy trick to make us think they got hit

[@oldmanlogan9616]

Yes, this is what I think too.

[@ExeErdna]

That's honestly how and why naruto's own combat logic went from ninjas to wizards. Since you can look at Naruto's contemporaries in Ninja Scroll and Baslisk. Where most of Naruto's weakest become fairly interesting characters in those series

[@itsdolph2116]

Ninja storm is a great example of how OP this jutsu really could be

[@asyty1]

deadass

[@FRISHR]

So Sasuke’s Rinnegan ability is basically a glorified Substitution Jutsu, bro got nerfed even before Boruto 🤣

[@exodiaexodus]

substitution jutsu only works on the user, suske's r9nnegan works on any 2 things or people… and the degree to which he can spam it is next level

[@achimsinn6189]

One thing you forgot its this: Naruto would be almost impossible to beat if he used the substitution jutsu properly. He has the ability to create 1000 shadow clones which he now can use to substitue with. That's like him having 1000 extra lives which he could reset whenever his chakra regenerated (which already happens very fast whenever the plot calls for it) Heck - the way some of Narutos early fights are done I would almost say he DOES actually use substitution jutsu that way. There are so many instances where he is hit, there is that awkward pause where we're supposed to think he might have been hit and then POOF, it was a clone... But seriously IMO the thing they substitue with should have been something they prepared beforehand. Something like lacing the log with your chakra for example. That would mean in order to cast the jutsu you would have needed to do more preparation and you would have needed to use some of your chakra which means you have less chakra for your other attacks and which also limits the amount of uses you have for the jutsu. That limitation would also be easy to write into the story as it would have allowed the uses we've seen at the beginning, but also explain why they are using it less later - they don't have the chakra to spend and the don't have prep time to lace logs with chakra.

[@exodiaexodus]

just consider that rock lee could move so fast that even sasuke with sharingan couldn't see him. substitution doesn't help canon fodder ninja win fights… besides how does that work against bullshit like sgarigan, c4, meteors etc.

[@solitude6110]

Good point. I always thought the same. It was presented as basic jutsu that any genin can do but looked actually overpowered. Even tho the intention was to create suspense and drama in fights.

[@MP-vc4nu]

Imagine they used it in the war… Entire battle field is filled with logs 🪵 😂

[@GeorgeMonet]

But this jutsu REMOVED suspense and drama. Suspense and drama can only exist in a world without fakeouts.

[@BlueBChan]

I always thought substitution jutsu was only really possible if the ninja using it had it primitively ready kinda like the few times early in the season when we see Kakashi use it. Then as the series went on and everyone was using it to the point it felt like a get out of the deadly attack free card it started to break as a jutsu in universe. I feel like it would be okay to use still if it was limited to being a pre-emptive measure instead of every time some enemy got the jump on you and Kishi cant think of a way for you to survive the surprise attack.

[@superbad8008]

I honestly always liked the substitution jutsu. It made them feel like ninjas, you know? Being all about trickery and diversionary tactics.

[@sloth0708]

It's definitely a slick move, no question. More a case of TOO OP

[@Wreckedandruinedand]

Ninjas in naruto are more about mystical beings and decorated eyes that do absurd things than they are about trickery and tactics

[@wade2112]

​@@Wreckedandruinedand this is true but there's still a little trickery. Even against Kaguya, Naruto used sexy jutsu to distract her

[@Ebani]

True, as opposed to literally everything else that happened which made them feel like anything but ninjas

[@mariguanaiguana]

@@Wreckedandruinedandeh, OG Naruto was more about tactics even though it had a mystical aspect

[@NuclearWaffle0]

Assuming Gaara's substitution jutsu works the same as the basic one; During Lee vs Gaara, when Lee used the Hidden / Front Lotus ( I can't remember which is which) and Gaara substituted, Kakashi stated that Gaara was only able to do it because Lee took his eyes off of him for a moment. And that gave him the chance to swap. If you need to keep your absolute attention on the target at all times, that really diminishes the usefulness of the jutsu and probably why it's an E rank jutsu. Because yea, you can fool a genin with it. But once you start to get to jonin+ and you're going against experienced ninja. And even ones that can track / see chakra, it'll become substantially harder to get your opponent to lose track of you for even a brief second. To the point where it's not worth it, except for niche circumstances.

[@alphachief572]

Yeah but gaara substituted with a sand clone.

[@krausercruz2780]

Your missing part of the usefulness. Sure the opponent would see you substituted with a clone or a log, but you still switched places. That's the main problem, there doesn't seem to be a limit on what, when or how you substituted. It's like in the Ninja Storm games where you press a button and you switch places out of a combo.

[@NuclearWaffle0]

@@alphachief572 "Assuming Gaara's substitution jutsu works the same as the basic one"

[@NuclearWaffle0]

@@krausercruz2780 Not exactly. It's not like Sasuke's rinnegan ability where he can swap with whatever he looks at without any prep time. He said in the video that you need to prepare the substitution. I.E. you see the attack being readied, you prepare the sub, the attack hit your sub, then it poofs. Now in that scenario imagine you had a byakugan. Your opponent's entire chakra network is lit up like a christmas tree and you start preparing an attack to hit them with. Then all of a sudden their entire chakra network goes dark without any explanation. It would be extremely obvious that they substituted.

[@piccolobeamcannon812]

I agree midruto mid

[@gilgabro420]

You could balance it by deactivating it if you use another Jutsu. You essentially get one free hit at the start. You can also balance it by limiting the allowed distance of the substitution object.

[@VanLe-gk3ie]

Sasuke’s Rinnegan does the exact same thing as the Substitution Jutsu with the Wooden Log, but the only difference is, Kishimoto glorified Sasuke’s Rinnegan unique ability of switching between himself and an object like it’s this insanely “Godly Technique” we’ve never seen before making it unimpressive to me. It also costs too much chakra for Sasuke making it an idiotic move in battle.

[@redninja3056]

It's clearly a better technique I swear Naruto fans have become braindead over time

[@Necroverse19]

Actually, the technique Sasuke uses is an upgraded version of it as it can be used on pretty much whatever you want, while the substitution is severely limited in application. They're definitely similar, but not identical at all.

[@trent800]

Sasukes move also can telefrag

[@VanLe-gk3ie]

@@Necroverse19 “upgraded” is an overstatement. In Boruto, Sasuke becomes a a fodder and an absolute joke after using the technique: “iM OuT oF ChAkRa” and proceeds to get his ass handed to him like a Level 1 fodder.

[@shengrant3088]

Bro the teleport chain switch top 10

[@Benw8888]

The interpretation that makes the most sense to me is that the substitution needs to be set up in advance, and then the log is just placed under an illusion to look like you. And it's less of a teleportation and more of a rapid-shunshin replacement while the opponent is distracted (although the precise mechanism of the swap is not something I can say the exact details of). So it's less of a teleportation-escape method and more of an illusion distraction that you only use when you predict you're going to be attacked in advance. As for the "only used when you get hit" phenomenon, my interpretation of the jutsu explains that as well: the illusion only breaks when you get hit, but that doesn't mean that the ninja hasn't already substituted away a while ago and you're actually holding a disguised log. This also explains why ninja don't form handseals to use it- they've already used it seconds before. And I know that canon doesn't support this interpretation, but it also doesn't directly contradict it (canon never claims that ninja are ONLY using substitution and not substitution + genjutsu); I think in this case Kishimoto doesn't explain the mechanics on purpose to make it cooler, but that doesn't mean that extra details for the technique don't exist.

[@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl]

If they are so fast they can replace themselves with a log..... Why don't they use that speed to kill their opponent?

[@newtype6043]

But Sakura doesn't do any setups. She just spammed substitutions like it was a teleportation.

[@jpcsdutra]

The problem with that interpretation is that then the log isn't distinguishable from an elemental bunshin, which is a much higher level techinique; and it would also make anyone with eye jutsu immune to falling from it, and when the later half of your story consists of everyone having either a Sharingan or a Rinnegan, it's kinda pointless.

[@brunoir283]

that's actually how i always thought it worked tbh

[@Benw8888]

@@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl Cause it's easier to jump behind a tree in a split second than to approach your enemy and kill them. The enemy ninja presumably pays more attention to the area closer to them and therefore it's harder to approach unnoticed. I also think the jutsu may have some mechanic that speeds up the movement of the log: perhaps some "summoning jutsu" type thing where the log is summoned from nearby instead of the ninja actually moving the log themself.

[@popeneiad7968]

I think a way to balance it would have been that the caster still takes the damage that actually triggers the effect, but now they are far away and have a chance to get away. Fatal attacks are still fatal, and smaller attacks will slowly build up over time

[@ThiagoGlady]

This would be perfect

[@qualiswilliams7403]

I like the ideal of it being chakra costly as well it's only right that you use a bit of chakra too

[@chimericpaladin35813]

another way to fix it is simply make it only trigger when youre hit by taijutsu or a kunai or smth, basically purely physical attacks that are not on the level of the eight gates i guess, and then ninjutsu doesnt trigger it especially if its a jutsu of a higher rank, this would also nicely explain why it slowly falls out of favor and why fights can happen at all, mostly cause everyones throwing around ninjutsu more than kunai

[@ThiagoGlady]

@@chimericpaladin35813 This would nerf a lot of the taijutsu users

[@vesanus5600]

There is no way to balance this thing. You can switch positions with anything near you. Why not, for example, switch place with your enemy? Or throw a kunai, hit yourself and switch places with it.. imagine someone like rock lee throwing a kunai near an enemies face and just teleport to it. with all his tajutsu-abilities... In direct combat you could switch places with a bomb if you prepared one. This jutsu was just a very bad idea from a writers perspective. It takes away all tension and logic

[@Hm-cd2wj]

Im a sucker for fanfiction, always wanted to write one but then i remembered substitution jutsu and all my motivation just went poof everytime i think of how to rationalize that jutsu.

[@Alyxandeyr]

My headcanon, and the explanation we used in the Naruto roleplay that I used to play, was that you effectively link an item to yourself with a bungee gum-type of chakra string, and when you activate the jutsu, it yanks both you and the item in order to swap the places of the two. We said that it cost more to move someone with more chakra, because the chakra string had to pull harder, and the cost-benefit didn't make sense, or they lacked the chakra control to move something so strong. Effectively, the stronger you become, the harder the jutsu becomes.

[@josephoyek6574]

Ooooo, that's a good restriction.

[@DanOdalson]

That sounds a bit silly but still good idea

[@SantosAl]

Let's add that you need to use something of approximately similar size/mass as you. This will prevent cheezing with kunai or something.

[@ThiagoGlady]

That does not make sense. Strong characters used to use this jutsu a lot (Although maybe this is why Sakura was able to perform it so well XD)

[@raydaveed]

Genius 😂

[@nektarsolne4niy804]

I remember this one old Naruto game where you're fighting from a sideview with pixelated characters from 15 years ago. Every character there had "Substitution jutsu" and it would literally evade any attack from any targets. So you could just spam it and not get hit for a long time. That was dumb, but this is when I started to think "Why nobody spamming substitution in Naruto?"

[@decidueyezealot8611]

Plot reasons mainly, everyone with a large Chakra pool would be untouchable. Even more so if they used shadow clones as well, someone already said this but Naruto would be a God 😂 it would have been boring.

[@hazelcrisp]

Because it's harder to do than mash a button. And it's for the sake of gameplay

[@t-yu]

I'm always so confused why when people ask themselves that, they conclude that the writing doesn't make sense instead of asking, "yeah, WHY aren't more people using it Naruto?" Because maybe there's an in-universe explanation which is the fact that it takes prep and it's not actually very good which is why it's a basic technique taught in the academy?

[@AAhmou]

@@t-yu It is literally a get out of jail free card. Its setup doesn't take much considering it's that much of a low level technique, that can spare its user from taking a deadly physical blow.

[@decidueyezealot8611]

@@t-yu Don't remember any Canon explanation for it, they simply stopped until plot called for it.

[@grim1165]

I like to think of substitution like the deflection or parrying in souls games. Basic substition has very little i-frames so you need to time it properly, while the more advanced ones need more chakra but has more i-frames.

[@nicholaskratzert]

I liked the elemental chakra substitution. It made more sense then random objects teleporting to you.

[@hellyeah3889]

My head canon for this jutsu is kinda like how it is implemented in the storm games,as in that they need to be cast just before getting hit by the attack(i.e need a very skilled and experienced shinobi like kakashi to actually time it and use it correctly).

[@maalikserebryakov]

If its that difficult that only Kakashi level shinobi can do it then how are kids able to do it? 🤡🤡🤡

[@hellyeah3889]

@@maalikserebryakov a kid can cast it correct, but he can not time it correctly like an experienced shinobi like kakashi, also i said it is head canon not facts lol.

[@daddysempaichan]

Basically it's a Parry.

[@Delimon007]

@@maalikserebryakov The kids are not able to do it correctly. . . Whenever they fight a higher level opponent they get blitzed and bodied. . .

[@B7RDemonLord]

i think there's a misunderstanding happening here. I believe when you see a substitution jutsu revealed the implication is that the person was never hit in the first place. It was always the log/substitute in their place disguised as them. This would explain why the substitute doesn't always fade immediately, because it has a certain amount of short-term chakra in it to maintain its form before disappearing to allow for the person to capitalize on the surprise. Also it explains why you never see the substitution setup, because the implication is that a ninja sets up the substitution off screen to take a hit they see coming, i.e. kakashi's counter ambush against the water ninja. It makes for a dramatic effect, and shows how smart a ninja is to have predicted an attack and planned ahead. It doubles, on top of that, to show how stealthy they are that no one else noticed them setting up the substitution.

[@Ihatedumbasses]

Yes but where tf do people get those logs from

[@kobeeater3636]

I love this theory, however it wouldn't work in the case of Sakura fighting that sound ninja

[@exodiaexodus]

@@kobeeater3636 thats because she prepd ger substitution out in the open

[@orbarak123]

Generally, I think Kishimoto didn't think about a lot of things ahead when the series begun. This jutsu is probably one of them. I think the limitation to this jutsu however is that you need to know in advance that danger is coming (foresee it like Kakashi/Sakura/Nagato) and weave hand sign before hand. Kakashi probably weaved the hand signs, they just didn't show it (So do Nagato, maybe other pain path weaved it for this specific path that Jiraya caught). They just didn't show the weaving before hand to keep the element of surprise

[@justiron2999]

Well that's the problem because it leaves the reader unaware and cheater since it wasn't properly set up. It's like if a character is about to lose but all of a sudden has 10 million jutsus or is immortal. Things that you want to know about beforehand.

[@RaphBlade7]

Sakura's use of the technique was actually quite genius but not for the reasons you think! She uses it repeatedly to catch her opponent off guard allowing her to attack them! Again its like in a fighting game where a player uses a basic move repeatedly only to switch to a different one to catch the opponent off guard! But most people just see her spamming it and say that's what everyone should be doing, only they forget that its like spamming a move in a fighting game, skilled players will find ways to counter spamming! Its like Itachi said, no jutsu is unbeatable! Its like Izunagi with Izunami being created to counter those who abused Izunagi! Why wouldn't ninja develop counters to something as rudimentary as the Substitution! Just because an ability seems broken to the audience doesn't mean its actually broken in-universe as since its so rudimentary, skilled will figure out how to counter it or reduce its effectiveness! There are also certain Jutsu that Substitution can't escape from cause their is nothing to swap with! Also you need to be ready to perform the hand signs yet it is best to conceal them as your opponent will definitely recognize them, which is why Sakura was so blatant in using the hand signs as her strategy was to make it obvious she was using Substitution repeatedly to catch her opponent off guard so she could attack them! It goes to show Sakura is smarter than she appears as she uses a rudimentary technique over and over again to catch her opponent off guard! Most just see her spamming the technique as smart when they ignore that she was doing the hand signs on purpose as its such a rudimentary jutsu anyone paying attention would be like, those are the signs for Substitution!

[@yeahbutontheotherhand]

I always hated that on the war arc no one used the substitution jutsu. So many would have survived. Looking at you neji 😉

[@rialyandriamiseza9814]

Just a friendly reminder that Sasuke needs a Rinnegan to perform a substitution jutsu

[@TheOnlyPersona]

An OFFENSIVE substitution jutsu 😂

[@account-pending-deletion]

A pretty easy explanation is just that the substituting character has to be MUCH faster than whoever they're using it against. Or at least able to use their chakra to get that temporary speed boost to pull off the jutsu. Which would explain why it's used much less outside of part 1 because in Shippuden we're seeing much faster, more powerful characters who would be able to keep up. Whereas amenotejikara isn't about speed but literal teleportation. That's my head canon at least

[@zelz3011]

No I think you're just right as the Body Flicker and replacing is how it works.

[@4thjulybd809]

Simp here

[@zelz3011]

@@4thjulybd809 Who the fuck you think you talking to?

[@mrevilducky]

The mental gymnastics of Naruto fans

[@ThermalVoid]

​@@mrevilducky He admitted this is his personal head canon, chill.

[@standard-carrier-wo-chan]

You're wrong about one thing: Kishimoto didn't use it a lot in the early series because he likes fake-outs, he did it because replacing with a log is a literal staple trope in ninja arts as according to Japanese legends. When the series first started, it tries to adhere as strictly as possible to how the ninja myths were believed, as in "ninjas can evade and disappear without a sound", "ninjas can blend in with everything, from the crowds to the shadows", etc. Things like tree hopping, kawarimi, illusion jutsu, etc are all based on things that real life ninjas were _believed_ able to do. It was only problematic after the power scaling went up significantly, where people who seem like they could've been able to spam kawarimi all day, well, should've.

[@rasmusforchhammer9557]

He mentioned that in the beginning

[@pieoverlord]

Y'know, it probably doesn't hold now that I think about it, but I always assumed they were partly transformation jutsus on prepared external objects. You'd turn something else into you, then at some point into the fight, secretly swap places with it - the object acts as though it were you, but you're somewhere else preparing your surprise attack. A good whack breaks the transformation, which would be your cue to dramatically attack while your opponent is confused. It fit with the general intention of the substitution jutsu ("I knew you'd do that and have been in hiding the entire time!") but the idea that basic pre-Genin trainees are effectively duping shadow clones is pretty mind boggling in hindsight. I suppose the balancing act would be in the foresight and specific material, like paper bombs, and more advanced versions can do it on the fly with more available resources. Regardless, I'm sure there are many scenes that make this impossible.

[@sleepinggiant3353]

Oh god just yesterday i was looking for a soli explanation for the substitution jutsu , found none ... really broke the narutoverse .. Especially with kakashi

[@zelz3011]

Body Replacement Technique: The instant before they are to be struck by an attack, the user replaces themselves with a block of wood or something similar. Because the attack does hit something, opponents may briefly believe that they've successfully struck the user. But this is merely an optical illusion and opponents will quickly notice what's happened. If users are fast enough, they can use this brief lapse in the opponent's attentions to stage a counterattack;[1] in the anime, the replacement log itself has been shown used as an attack, being applied with explosive tags.[2] Alternatively, this is a good opportunity for users to escape.[1] The Body Replacement Technique can evidently only be used in response to what would be harmful attacks: Pain only escapes from Jiraiya's Wild Lion's Mane Technique when Jiraiya tries to kill him with it; when Jiraiya uses the same technique to only keep Pain restrained, Pain remains captured.[3] Trivia This technique is based on a real-life ninja art, kawarimi, where ninja substitute themselves with anything that can be mistaken for them (such as a dummy or a mannequin). As it means "a quick shift in position, or adaptability to changing circumstances", it is also utilised in Sumo. In other series, abilities similar to the Body Replacement Technique are sometimes referred to as the "Empty Cicada Technique" (空蝉の術, Utsusemi no Jutsu) (not to be confused with the Empty Cicada Shell Technique, which uses the exact same kanji). This name refers to the empty shell a cicada leaves after moulting. In Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 and subsequent games in the series, Killer B uses the Eight-Tails' severed tentacles to mask his escapes. In Naruto: Clash of Ninja 2, Akamaru substitutes himself with a bone rather than a block of wood. There's also videos that explain it crazy that you found none.

[@Benw8888]

I'll copy a comment I posted elsewhere: The interpretation that makes the most sense to me is that the substitution needs to be set up in advance, and then the log is just placed under an illusion to look like you. And it's less of a teleportation and more of a rapid-shunshin replacement while the opponent is distracted (although the precise mechanism of the swap is not something I can say the exact details of).

[@sleepinggiant3353]

@@Benw8888 Well the video explained the problem Its a very powerful op jutsu that is treated as basic jutsu It largely resembles sasukes rinnegan ability which is portrayed as op Why is anyone even dying or get hit at all in the series, if u can swap places with anything, with minimal chakra use no hand signs and instant effect .... everyone should be spamming substituttion

[@Benw8888]

@@sleepinggiant3353 Under my interpretation, nobody's actually teleporting- they're just shunshining away and leaving a genjutsu'd log. So it can't be used if you're not skilled enough to vanish without the enemy noticing. (Note: the Shunshin jutsu was actually originally translated as the "Teleportation Jutsu" even though no teleportation actually happened. Later on the translation was changed to Body Flicker. This supports my theory that the ninja are not actually teleporting with Substitution) Even if Kishimoto wanted the ninja to actually be teleporting, I think my explanation makes more sense and fixes the plot hole.

[@nicolas._.2294]

​@@sleepinggiant3353omg! Same!

[@HeavyMetalMouse]

Some thoughts: It seems like, as you describe it, the substitution is harder to do against more chakra-intense attacks, when it is done later in the series. The easiest 'fix' for the technique as a whole could simply be some way of expressing that fact that makes sense in-universe - the basic Substitution is so easy to do because it is assumed to be used against 'mundane' attacks (a thrown shuriken, a sword strike, etc); while the technique itself is fairly simple, because it requires being hit with an attack to use, the amount of chakra you need to execute it ends up scaling with what you're being hit with; as the incoming attack increases in speed and power, it takes more chakra to execute the substitution for some established reason (perhaps your own chakra has to 'overcome' the power of the attack enough to function while you're being struck, because the attack's chakra disrupts the flow of your own if you aren't using enough or have enough skill). Likewise, we know that the full handsigns of a technique are not required to pull off a technique; a master of a technique could theoretically do that technique with a single handsign, perhaps at the expense of more chakra. This, combined with the above, could be why we'd so rarely see it used when high-chakra attacks get thrown around - while it is still a fairly trivial amount of chakra to one-sign substitution against a mundane attack, it would quickly become prohibitive to do it even once (let alone more than once) against extreme attacks. Since the technique is both so simple and so ubiquitous, it probably would be a popular technique to try and master to the degree that it could be one-signed, which could easily explain how common it is early-chapters, and why you almost never see anyone prepare it - they usually don't have to. Without the above, this would make it Super Extra Broken, of course, but with the above assumption that it does in fact scale in cost in some fashion with the kinds of attacks you're avoiding with it, then the fact that it falls off quickly becomes a lot more reasonable. Of course, not actually explaining any of this sort of thing leaves us mostly just guessing.

[@izzuddinmnasir4884]

The only logic and underrated substitution jutsu was Kabuto. He uses dead body & puppet to do that, he is well strategized

[@drparadox7833]

5:04 STORM players are saying hello.

[@officialzooz6807]

Truth

[@MsLoquendo20]

I always found weird how is it that people trashed OP shippuden jutsus like the inazagi or izanami, but nobody said antything about the substitution, glad to see that someone finally criticise this technique as i always disliked how it was used to create fake outs easily.

[@redninja3056]

Don't blame Naruto because you don't pay attention and need everything explained to you every step of the way

[@maalikserebryakov]

@@redninja3056 little kid is hurt and crying because his favourite anime is being criticised 🤓🤓 Lol ive seen you cry all over the comments but not once mention the mechanics of substitution jutsu. You are clearly overdosing on *COPIUM* hahahaha

[@maalikserebryakov]

@@redninja3056sub jutsu is clearly incoherent plot device now seethe :)

[@redninja3056]

@@maalikserebryakov I shouldn't have to dumbasses like you should pay attention I shouldn't have to explain basic things to you morons

[@TinNguyen-nw9gb]

@@redninja3056 bro just can't cope with the fact that naruto is a trash show

[@rafaelneumann8365]

I think the real problem is that there is no countermeasure to substitution jutsu, but it could easily have been. For instance, in order to perform it you had to attach a jutsu scroll to the object you're substituting with. That would add a limiting preparation aspect to the jutsu and it could be countered by the opponent tampering with the scroll. So there'd be another layer of strategy to fights where the user has to hide the scroll from the opponent and the opponent has to find both the object and the scroll to nullify the jutsu. Another possibility is having a jutsu substitute attack to counter it, where your attack, if it is a projectile, automatically homes in with the opponent if he uses substitution. Changes place with a log but the enemy shuriken prepared with this jutsu automatically substitutes with you into a pinecone behind you and you get hit

[@MP-vc4nu]

There is 1 - Become so fast that you can keep catching up 2 - Have a way to do massive AOE attack, -> Madara’s fire breathing, Hashirama’s forest techique

[@kuzidas4213]

Counter-substitution! Person A throws a kunai at person B. Person B substitutes, so the kunai actually strikes a log. But person A was also ready, the kunai was actually just a stick. Person B is actually waiting sitting on the tree branches. But ACTUALLY person A is on a higher branch already! Ready to strike again

[@youngthugr]

@@kuzidas4213 except that these logs appear out of nowhere, you dont know if they casted a subsitution jutsu until they use it, and characters in the show have substituted with logs in an open area without trees no counter measaure js a bs plothole spammable teleportation justsu with no counter measure and requires literally 0 chakra basically