Tsunade (Naruto)
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| Tsunade | |
|---|---|
| Naruto character | |
 Tsunade by Masashi Kishimoto |
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| First appearance | Naruto manga chapter 148 Naruto anime episode 85 |
| Voiced by | Japanese Masako Katsuki Haruhi Terada (as a child) English Debi Mae West Megan Hollingshead (as a child) Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2) Kari Wahlgren (Naruto: Ninja Council 3) |
| Profile | |
| Age | 51 in Part I[1] |
| Date of birth | August 2[1] |
| Known relatives | First Hokage (Grandfather, deceased) Second Hokage (Great Uncle, deceased) |
| Current rank | Fifth Hokage[1] |
Tsunade (綱手?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto created by Masashi Kishimoto.
Contents |
[edit] Creation and conception
Tsunade's name is taken from the character of the same name from Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari (児雷也豪傑物語, "The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya").[2] The Tsunade in that story excelled in slug magic and was married to Jiraiya. The name "Tsunade" (綱手) means "mooring rope."
[edit] Character outline
[edit] Background
As a child, Tsunade and her former teammates, Orochimaru and Jiraiya, were students of the Third Hokage. Because of the three's exemplary skills, they were given the title "Legendary Three Ninja" (伝説の三忍 Densetsu no Sannin?). Because she is the granddaughter of the First Hokage, the word "Hime" (姫, "Princess") is often attached to her name. In the English anime, it is translated into "Lady Tsunade." Naruto Uzumaki, the series' main protagonist, often tends to call her "Granny Tsunade", due to her age. Tsunade is known for her extremely large breasts, despite the fact that Jiraiya referred to her as "flat-chested Tsunade" during their childhood.
Tsunade's most noticeable possession is a necklace that belonged to her grandfather. It is said to be valuable enough to buy three gold mines and the mountains on top of them. During her youth Tsunade gave the necklace to both her younger brother and lover in turn, hoping that it would help them achieve their dreams of becoming Hokage. Both died in battle soon after receiving the necklace and it returned to her possession, leading Tsunade and many others to believe the necklace to be cursed. After petitioning unsuccessfully to add medical ninja to every team to avoid a repeat of what happened to her loved ones, Tsunade left Konoha with her faith and dreams shattered.
[edit] Personality
At the start of the series, Tsunade is largely pessimistic, lacking faith in the likelihood that the seemingly impossible can become a reality and that dreams are a foolish commodity. Similarly she lacks faith in the title of Hokage, believing that only fools would want such a position that would, as she believed, inevitably require them to give up their lives. After meeting Naruto Uzumaki, whose dream is to someday become Hokage himself, Tsunade begins to have a change of heart. Realizing that what she lacks faith in is what she most admired about her brother and lover, Tsunade brings her self to have faith in another's (Naruto's) dreams. She gives him her grandfather's necklace and takes the position of Hokage until Naruto is old enough to take her place.
Tsunade typically projects a tough demeanor, even when facing great personal difficulty, and rarely compliments or praises people. She readily criticizes others for their faults, such as Naruto for his immaturity or Jiraiya for his perversion, though her habits being rarely better. On occasion, though, Tsunade shows sympathy for others, consoling Shikamaru that while he failed his mission to return Sasuke to Konoha, all of his teammates survived.
In the filler arcs, it is shown that Tsunade often tries to avoid doing work and takes bribes. As a result of doing so, she often overlooks information that would be crucial to Naruto and his teammates, resulting in them accepting seemingly easy missions that turn out to be much harder than they expect or easy missions that sound hard, but actually aren't.
Tsunade is a compulsive gambler who has the unfortunate disadvantage of having terrible luck. As a result, she has been elevated to a comical status as "The Legendary Sucker" (伝説のカモ Densetsu no Kamo?, Viz "The Legendary Loser") for the gross profits others have made off her misfortune and gambling addiction. In the rare instances that Tsunade hits a winning streak, she believes it to be a bad omen, and bad things tend to happen to her afterwards. For example, soon after she had a winning streak at the slots machines, she had a traumatic run-in with her former teammate, Orochimaru. Her luck with bets has occasionally been used for optimistic purposes, such as betting that Jiraiya will die to ensure that he returns home safely. The symbol on the back of her coat, 賭 ("kake"), means "gamble," or "wager," as gambling is one of her favorite pastimes.
Tsunade once had a fear of blood until her fight with Orochimaru, when he laughed at her for protecting Naruto. She told him she was protecting her home by protecting him. He scorned her for trying, for she was trembling all over. Then, after listening to Orochimaru,she conquered her fear and helped Jiraya fight Orochimaru. She also has a very short temper which sometimes results in beating people or fighting.
[edit] Abilities
Tsunade's trademark ability is her superhuman strength derived from her excellent chakra control. By storing chakra and releasing it at the point of contact, she can enhance her strength to the point where she can break through boulders with her bare hands or create a gigantic crater by simply kicking the ground. In addition, Tsunade can convert a small amount of this chakra into electricity for her Important Body Points Disturbance (乱身衝 Ranshinshō?). Once opponents are struck by this technique, the electrical flow of signals from their brain to the rest of their body is disrupted, such as causing their leg to move when they attempt to move their arm. This does not totally incapacitate the victim, however, as a person with enough physical control can work the system out (re-learning to move their limbs with the disrupted signals,) and continue fighting with only a delay in reaction times. Kabuto surprises Tsunade with this, and fights until he is hit with Naruto's Rasengan.
She is also an extremely talented and is Konoha's best Medical-ninja, and can use medical jutsus to heal wounds that most others would consider impossible. As a result of her chakra control and her medical abilities, Tsunade has created a form of regeneration. By releasing the seal on her forehead, she can access the chakra stored inside to allow her to use Creation Rebirth (創造再生 Sōzō Saisei?, English TV: "Mitotic Regeneration"). Once activated, her chakra is immensely increased and her strength also is increased, Creation Rebirth heals any and all damage to her body instantaneously and continue to heal at an accelerated rate for the duration of the jutsu. While an extremely powerful healing technique, the rapid regeneration of cells cuts down on her lifespan, making it a technique to only be used in desperate situations. It also uses up her chakra reserves, leaving her unable to fight once the jutsu ends.
Additionally, Tsunade can summon Katsuyu (カツユ), a giant slug that is very loyal to her. Katsuyu is able to perform a number of jutsu for which Tsunade does not seem to have her own equivalent, such as spitting acid and replicating herself, making her useful for accomplishing tasks Tsunade cannot.
Even though she is in her fifties, Tsunade's Transformation Technique allows her to appear at almost any age she wants, although she prefers a default form in her 20s. She often uses this ability to escape those who have lent her money, changing the age of her appearance to avoid being recognized. Tsunade's transformation is somewhat different from a normal transformation as it seems to be permanent, not getting dispelled when she is injured and apparently does not need to exert any effort to stay transformed. The transformation does rely on chakra in order to be maintained, and after exerting all of her chakra she reverts to her actual older form.[3]
[edit] Plot overview
After his failed invasion of Konoha, Orochimaru approaches Tsunade to persuade her to heal his arms, an injury received from the Third Hokage. Though Tsunade prepares to kill him to avenge her teacher, she is stopped by his offer to revive her brother and lover. She is left a week to consider the matter, during which time she meets Naruto Uzumaki. Though seriously considering accepting Orochimaru's offer, Naruto's embodiment of her loved one's dreams leaves her unable to do so knowing that Orochimaru would only use his restored strength to destroy Konoha. She joins forces with Jiraiya in an attempt to kill Orochimaru and keep Konoha safe from his future plans, but he is able to escape.
Tsunade accepts the title of Fifth Hokage (五代目火影 Godaime Hokage?) to protect the village should he strike again. Since then, Tsunade has primarily acted as a source of assignments and mobilizes Konoha's forces when necessary. In addition, Tsunade plays a large role in healing the more severe injuries that befall upon ninja she sends on missions. However, during Part II, her decisions begin to conflict with the views of Konoha's elders, and she is forced to form compromises before her plans can proceed. Despite being needed for the role of Hokage, Tsunade has stated that she would leave Konoha if Jiraiya ever needed her help fighting Akatsuki. At the end of Part I, Sakura Haruno becomes Tsunade's apprentice, and over the time skip, Tsunade teaches her how to use her healing abilities and how to focus chakra and release it at a precise point so it will enable her to have superhuman strength.
[edit] References
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