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Ranking Information

Academy Student
Becoming an academy student is the first step to becoming a ninja. Usually children are enrolled in the academy from an adolescent age around nine and remain so until approximately twelve. Though there are exceptions where very talented children graduate from the academy at a much younger age. An academy student does not perform any missions, but trains and demonstrates their mastery of the essential ninja skills and techniques (Basic weapon skills, Substitution, Clone, etc.). The final test for graduating to the next rank is performing one of those techniques. Though even if one completes the final test, only nine academy students can become genins, the rest are forced to return to the academy or drop out.

Genin
Genins are the lowest rank of ninja. Once an academy student becomes a genin, they are assigned a jounin instructor with two of their classmates. This group is taught by their jounin and perform basic jobs commissioned by the village. This typically means that they are required to do remedial, labor-intensive jobs that require little or no combat. Two good examples of genin-ranked missions are finding lost pets, and weeding gardens. A genin's life consists of these missions and training, all to prepare for the Chuunin Selection Exam begins. At this point, genins are put through a three part exam that proves their knowledge, survival skills, and combat ability. During the final combat part of the exam, the genins are evaluated on whether or not they have the needed skills to be promoted to chuunin. However, it is not uncommon to have a very small number of genins selected.

Chuunin
Upon achieving the rank of chuunin, a great deal of responsibility is placed upon the ninja. A chuunin is no longer an apprentice, but a leader. They can command a small group and are actively involved in combat situations. A chuunin not only holds their own life in the balance, but those of ninja assigned under them. Chuunin's responsibilities do not only extend to battle, however. They are also teachers of academy students, imparting their experience and abilities onto the next generation. They are in charge of teaching the students all they need to know to begin their journey of becoming ninja, and basic physical training. Becoming a chuunin is a sign of skill of dependence, and is not something easily obtained.

Jounin
Even as achieving chuunin demonstrates proficiency and skill, achieving jounin is a sign of mastery. Jounins are exceptional fighters who operate on a completely different level than their lower ranked counterparts. Because of this, they are given the most dangerous missions. Jounins also are not limited to battle. While chuunins are in charge of teaching academy students, jounins are responsible for trios of genins. A jounin leads the groups through their initial missions and prepares them for the Chuunin Selection Exam. Jounins typically only impart knowledge to their assigned genins, though there are some who take on special students and impart techniques and skills to them as well. Not much is known about the methods of promoting jounins, however.

ANBU
A specific devision of ninjas designed much like the royal guard of the Kage. This group performs assasinations, escorts, and act as body guards as well for the current Kage.

Sannin
They are the closest people to the kage and they are like the kages right hand man. The village Sannin do missions that even the anbu cannot do. They are used basically like the last resort for the village in their time of crisis.

Kage
There are many academy students, there are many genins, many chuunins and many jounins, but there is only one Kage. The Kage is the strongest and most supreme ninja of all ninjas in their respective villages. Despite what some may assume because of appearances, they are immensely powerful and hold a number of powerful techniques that can even control nature itself. Becoming Kage is the ultimate level of mastery and skill. Each of the hidden villages have their own Kage, with a different name.


Requirements

Genin:
A chuunin teacher must take you through the steps below and show you how to do them when testing, judging you with each and every detail. Some teachers aren't as nice as others so please try your best. You don't need a ninja headband yet, only by the time you reach the jounin rank. Remember though, no god modding.

Chuunin
A jounin will be assigned to take you under their wing and help you through these difficult tasks. Also some information from earlier concerning that teachers are different; some are nice, some are worse. As usual no god modding, as mentioned in the rules. A jounin will be assigned three Genin and will train them to take the chuunin exam at them same time, though it isn't required to take the chunnin exam at any time. Have fun!

1.) Must know what "Chakra" is and how it's used in combat and in other situations.
2.) Must take a quiz on hand seals. (explain what hand seals are, defining what they stand for, and how they are used.)
3.) Must take a transformation test. I don't care what form you take. (with detail)
4.) Must make at least one illusionary copy. (with detail)
5.) A tournament will be held with only Genin peers. A ninja doesn't need to win to be promoted, advancement will be based on if you show the qualities of a chuunin.

Jounin
Most of the ninja getting to this point and want to continue have come a long way. No one will hold your hand to become a Jounin, no one will teach you from this point, all must make their own way. It will be hard and will require more effort to succeed. No god modding, you WILL get hit. Everything at and past the Chuunin level will be hard, no exceptions. There will be no teachers.

1.) Must have the Steel-plated Ninja Headband or equivilent. (Since it is hard to get the headband if you don't already have it, I suggest either the Radicool headbands from the Barton Boutique or GetaGRIP headbands from the Durem Depot.)
2.) Must have been in the clan for more then twenty days.
3.) Must take a quiz on Chakra. (Testing on all three uses of chakra and how it is used. Including where the chakra is stored and where it goes.)
4.) Must take a quiz on hand seals.
5.) Must make at least six illusional copies.
6.) A tournament will be held, the top two people who have won will become a Jounin.

Medical Nin

Gakunin
Characters indicate one who is learning or studying
This is one who is currently studying and training to achieve the Donin rank. This is the medical nin equivalent of the Academy Student.

Donin
Characters refer to one who is insightful.
This is one who has been given insights into the nature of bio-ether, how life works, and how life ends. This individual has completed the Donin-level examination and received authorization to be placed on low-to-medium level missions in order to further develop skills, and gain experience.

Kinin
Characters refer to one who is healthy.
This is one who specializes in the health and well-being of people and animals. At this point, one begins to study the nature of the Mind and its effects on the body (and vice versa). Because of his or her experience and developed skills, the Kinin is suitable for teaching new medical nin who seek to reach the Donin level, as they can provide context and depth of understanding to the texts.

Jinin
Characters refer to one who "touches the Earth".
This level shows a level of mastery of knowledge and skills that surpases that of the Kinin. The Jinin has gained inexpressible insights into the nature of self, the Mind, and ultimate reality. The Jinin is a very philosophical level where these insights unconsciously improve the efficiency of any treatment applied, but due to the deep insights achieved the Jinin is not suitable for teaching others.

How one becomes a Jinin is not through tests or by any standards that are recognized by more than one body. Jinin are generally recognized through informal consensus from other Kinin, figures of government, and masses of people.

Hand Seal Guide
Hand seals are as important as Chakra in Naruto. All GenJutsu and NinJutsu need hand seals to be performed, but TaiJutsu doesn't because it simply needs no Chakra. The main function of a Hand Seal is similar to that of magic words. Instead of speaking of words to activate a spell, Hand Seals are used to activate the technique, and release all the gathered Chakra. Hand Seals stand out for animals, specifically the animals found in the Oriental Zodiac signs. That's why there are 12 seals, one for each of the 12 years found in Oriental zodiacs.

This is because if the hand seals in a NinJutsu are not performed correctly, the Chakra will be released wrong and a different effect will occur, probably failing the Jutsu. As a result, Hand Seals need a lot of concentration, which is why techniques in Naruto cannot be interrupted, or the technique will definately fail. In the lines below, we have gathered images of all of the most frequent hand seals.

The hand seals in the Naruto series are based off of the Oriental Zodiac system. As you may have heard when someone talks about what year they are born in, they may say year of the Dragon, which means they would have been born in 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976 or 1988. Below we have organized the hand seals in order of when they appear in the Chinese zodiac, from one to twelve.
Hand Seals
Bird, Boar, Dog, Dragon, Ox, Tiger, Serpent, Rat, Horse, Monkey, Hare, Ram


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Genjutsu
The art of illusion. Genjutsu is used to create mass illusions or even hypnotize opponents. Seemingly useful, it isn't seen much throughout the series, which would lead one to believe that it either isn't as useful as Ninjutsu or Taijutsu, or that it's very difficult to master. Genjutsu is a necessity for ninjas that can be used, in some way or another, by almost all.

Taijutsu
Taijutsu is a method of using the body for self defence. Before there was Aikido, Judo, Karate etc, many believe there was the Japanese art of Taijutsu. Actually, Taijutsu is the collective name for any martial art that relies on body dynamics. In some lines of aikido the word taijutsu denotes all aikido work without weapons.

Taijutsu is a martial art which may include strikes, kicks, joint locks, throws and many of the techniques found in the above mentioned (Aikido, Judo, Karate, etc). While most of its aspects appear external, the dedicated student will find many internal aspects as well.

Ninjutsu
The traditional Japanese method of espionage; involves stealthy movements and the use of camouflage.
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Chakra
Chakra is the source of energy used by every Shinobi in the great series of Naruto. In fact, there are two energy sources used by them; Stamina, which could also be called physical energy, and Chakra, which could be called mental energy. As a result, each ninja style uses a different energy source; Taijutsu uses pure stamina, while Ninjutsu and Genjutsu use Chakra. However, chakra has many more uses; it can be concentrated on the user's feet for a boost of speed, or a higher jumping capability. There are also several other things that somebody must acknowledge to fully understand how techniques are executed. First of all, stamina converts to Chakra for many techniques, but not vice versa. This means that once stamina is converted, it cannot be converted back. Also, a hand seal is needed to perform the conversion. One of the toughest parts of using Chakra is controlling it and using it wisely. In this guide, we explain how Chakra should be properly used, and how it is often used improperly.

First of all, everybody only starts out with Stamina. Stamina is the energy we use everyday to run, breath, walk, exercise, even think. Every time we rest, our stamina recovers. Food, rest and fitness are the three most important factors in Stamina capacity and usage. As long as a person sleeps a sufficient amount of time, eats healthy, and exercises daily, there will be no problem with his stamina. This is very important, because stamina creates Chakra; as a result, if there is no stamina, there can be no Chakra, so the shinobi cannot fight. Now as you can see in the above graphic, Taijutsu uses stamina, while ninjutsu and genjutsu use Chakra. You can also see that Naruto has all of his stamina, so he can perform any Tai, Gen, or Nin jutsu he knows.

Naruto is trying to convert his stamina into Chakra, and with a successful result. This needs a lot of training, and it is the part where most of the stamina is lost. That is, because the user needs to know the exact amount of Chakra he needs in order to execute the technique in mind. As a result, if the ninja doesn't know how much Chakra he needs to use, he cannot convert correctly. Besides that, the ninja must also be able to concentrate just enough to convert the Chakra, which is pretty hard to do while in a heated battle. This is why ninjas at disadvantage and rushed are the one that waste most of their Chakra and stamina. However, note that this only applies for Nin and Gen Jutsu, because Taijutsu needs absolutely no conversion.

Naruto as a continuation from the above paragraph. As you know, he has converted 30% of his stamina into Chakra, which leaves him with 70% of stamina left. Now in order to successfully use his Chakra, Naruto must divide it accordingly. As a result, he first wastes 10% of his overall Chakra to do Bunshin no Jutsu. This leaves him with 20% of Chakra left. Now if he was successful, he would use 20% of his remaining Chakra to do Henge no jutsu. However, he uses up only 10%, leaving him with 10% of Chakra left, and thus, wasted.

Now we will explain how a proper and well trained shinobi uses his Chakra. Sakura has always known the best use of Chakra, so she is used in this example. First, she gathers up her Chakra, and converts 30% of her stamina into Chakra. This leaves her with 70% of stamina left. Now, since she can properly use her energy, she has it all calculated. Since her goal is to create 4 Bunshins, she performs the Hand seal, and then focuses her Chakra into creating 3 additional Sakuras, for a total of for. In order to confuse ninjas even more, she equally divides her 30% of Chakra by dividing 10% into each Bunshin, and by that she uses all of her accumulated Chakra, not wasting any energy at all.

Sasuke will be trying to preform a jutsu. First, as with every other technique, he transforms his Stamina into Chakra by using a hand seal. This is where he is weakest at, because instead of creating the necessary amount, he created a bit more of Chakra. Next, he focuses his Chakra , and he successfully creates 4 Bunshins; however, as you can notice, the excess 10% of Chakra is left out, and thus, wasted. This means that even if the ninja knows how much chakra he needs, mistakes such as this one can occur, and the user can transform more Chakra, leaving him weak.

Naruto is unskilled in both converting Stamina into Chakra, and using his Chakra wisely. As told earlier, the average amount of Chakra for these examples is 10%. So, Naruto starts out (wrongly) by transforming 50% of his overall stamina into Chakra. This would mean that he should create 5 Bunshins in total. However, due to his lack of skills, he fails, and as a result only creates 1 Bunshin. This happened because he couldn't control his Chakra and force it into a Bunshin correctly. This results in a loss of 40% of Chakra, which is a rather large amount, considering that only 50% of his stamina would be left. Although this isn't an uncorrectable mistake, training such as wall climbing and water walking can fix this uncontrollability of Chakra.

Rock Lee is an elite Taijutsu user. Since Rock Lee has absolutely no need to convert stamina into Chakra, he can just perform his techniques without concentrating into conversion. This gives Taijutsu users an edge, because they do not have to mold up their Chakra in order to attack. It is also beneficial due to the fact that a Taijutsu ninja has a complete control over his movements and energy. As a result, he just focuses his stamina in his feet and uses his Leaf Spinning wind (Konoha Repuu) He does not have to worry about loosing Chakra into conversion.

As a last note, if a Shinobi cannot create any more Chakra, which means he has 0 stamina, he or she dies, or at least gets knocked out. This posses a great danger, because ninjas unskilled at controlling Chakra can easily get killed if they don?t watch out. This wraps our Guide of Chakra use up
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Chakra Types

Normal chakra
Normal chakra is the type of chakra we see during most of the show, it has a light blue colour to it. This chakra is sort of a LVL.1 chakra. It can be used for most skills, but you need a lot of it if you want to perform higher level ninjutsu.

Healing chakra
Healing chakra is the kind of chakra medical specialist like Tsunade, Sakura and Shizune use for healing-purposes. It's a light green chakra that can heal physical damage on one's body. All we know is that it heals wounds at an accelerated rate, we do not know if every shinobi has, and can mold this type of chakra. It seems that the user focuses this type of chakra to their hands, and then touches the injured spot to begin the healing process. It's unkown if this chakra is actully used for skills.

Gates Chakra
By opening chakra gates (releases the body's limits on muscle usage/chakra flow) your body and muscles will be put on a lot of strain. Altough your attack will be a nearly suicidal attack, you will be able to perform continuous speed and high powered attacks, making this highly devastating to any opponent. This is the chakra Lee and Gai use to perform their lotus-attacks. Apparantly this is a deadly type of chakra that is best used by people advanced (strong) enough in Taijutsu, hopefully being able to bear the heavy strain placed on your whole body. Someone can open up to 8 Chakra gates, some of the user's chakra will turn green and surround him. By opening more chakra gates, your granted power will increase. But in most cases the result is immobility of the user, due to torn muscle fibers.
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Chakra Training

Tree Climbing- This training includes gathering Chakra into the feet and climbing up a tree. It teaches to control Chakra by bringing out the correct amount of Chakra in the proper area. The amount of Chakra needed to climb a tree is minimal, but it has to be perfect. Kakashi said that the bottom of the foot is the hardest area to gather Chakra. By learning to control Chakra, an individual can master any jutsu if they try.

Water Walking
A more advanced training than tree walking. Like tree walking, a user must gather Chakra into the feet and constantly feed the appropriate amount into the water. The release of Chakra must match the weight of the body and the amount necessary to float. It is more difficult to control Chakra since water is not solid and constantly moving. This training is used to teach an individual how to create a specific amount of Chakra into any part of the user's body.

Leaf Concentration
This training requires a person to concentrate all his/her Chakra onto a leaf which is placed on the forehead. It's an effective way of training concentration. By calming the mind and defining a target, one is able to draw upon their maximum power.

Chakra Molding
Molding Chakra can increase the flow of Chakra throughout your body. It helps you do the other 3 trainings well and enables you to access more Chakra when doing jutsu. Molding Chakra can help you gain Chakra to certain part of the body more quickly.