Naruto and ninjas

[Don]

There's a conversation between Orochimaru and Jiraiya at some point about the definition of ninja. Jiraiya says a ninja is one who endures (nin as in 'endure'), and Orochimaru says a ninja is one who uses ninjitsu (nin as in ninjitsu). Of course if you know the origin of the word ninja, Jiraiya's definition of ninja is the correct one since the real life origin counterpart can't learn how to throw fireballs or split into many copies. Also endure here doesn't mean the ability to endure fireballs or punches. It means the ability to endure the environmental conditions until the opportunity presents itself, since ninjas are supposed to be assassins operating in secret.

Well there's no way Naruto endures anything in any sense of that word. At best he's good at enduring fireballs but a ninja isn't supposed to be a tank. He may be a hero but he sure isn't a ninja, and yet he is fixitated on becoming the leader of the a group of ninjas. It seems like Naruto will fit quite well with the samurais, but he is definitely not a ninja. I realize they can't just stick everything to the historical background but if you want to pick a guy who is as far away from a ninja, Naruto is a very good choice. There's nothing stealthy or covert about the way he does anything.

[Zeus]

He sure as shit ain't stealthy or covert but when did those become prerequisites for enduring?

[Don]

He sure as shit ain't stealthy or covert but when did those become prerequisites for enduring?

A ninja's role is supposed to be one of stealth in nature, and enduring refers the ability to endure the harsh environments you'd need to stay undetected to do your job. Even in classicial fiction ninjas sure aren't the guys who barge in from the front door doing whatever they need to do even when armed with the ability to throw fireballs or clone themselves.

The funny thing is that there are samurais in Naruto. I guess he was just born in the wrong village. Rock Lee is another good example of a guy in the wrong profession. Samurais can use chakra in Naruto too, and they seem to be regarded as highly as ninjas, so Naruto should become the leader of the samurais instead. He'd definitely fit with that culture.

The only people who really fit the ninja profile would be the Root guys. Even Akatsuki members charge in from the front door most of the time, despite being wanted dead or alive across the world. I realize it'd be difficult to write about stealth the whole time because if everyone is stealthy and undetected there is no conflict, but stealth isn't even on most people's radar. Most ninjas seem to just make a straight path from point A to B and killing everything they saw in the way, whether they're a good ninja or a bad ninja.

[Shrinweck]

Please, please, please focus your intelligence on something more credible than Naruto.

[SineSwiper]

Please, please, please focus your intelligence on something more credible than Naruto.

Fuck that. Let's talk about how Scott Pilgrim is a totally unrealistic movie.

Why does that door just magically go somewhere? Is is some sort of black hole? What's up with the coins? Was it spontaneous combustion? Wouldn't the coins fuse together? Is Amazon really that fast? How do you get hair color like that without using a wig? Can vegans really do that?

[Don]

There's a lot of things in Naruto that don't make sense, but a lot of those you can dismiss them as typical plot convenience. However it does look like the author sometimes really does think ninja means 'one who uses nijitsu' and most ninjas in Naruto behave more like gladiators than ninjas, real or otherwise. I realize technically no part of the title "Naruto" refers to ninjas but it's hard to talk about Naruto without getting ninjas involved.