What Is Edo Tensei & How Does It Work? All You Need To Know
Edo Tensei Jutsu was first introduced during the first part of Naruto series, more specifically, during Orochimaru’s attack on Konoha. Orochimaru summoned the First and Second Hokage and presented one of the strongest jutsus in the Naruto series. With the help of Kabuto, his apprentice, they managed to almost perfect the jutsu, and for that, Edo Tensei Jutsu played a huge part in the Fourth Shinobi World War. In this article, we will analyze what is Edo Tensei and how does it work.
Edo Tensei is essentially a summoning jutsu that binds the soul of a deceased person to the living vessel, restoring the individuals in the form they were before they died. To make it work, the user needs to acquire some DNA of the person they want to reincarnate. For them to reincarnate, the person’s soul needs to reside in the Pure Land – a soul that is trapped in the stomach of the Shinigami, cannot be reincarnated. There needs to be a living sacrifice or a vessel for a reincarnated soul to attach to. Ultimately, the DNA needs to be smeared across the special scroll, formed in a special seal with the living person in the middle of it for the jutsu to work.
We will go further into this topic by explaining tiers or forms Edo Tensei was used, if the jutsu was ever broken, the origins of it, and why some reincarnated shinobi were weaker than other, the weaknesses, and so on. If you are interested in this topic, stick with us until the end of the article.
How Did Madara Break Edo Tensei?
To figure out how Madara broke the Edo Tensei Jutsu and became free, we need to understand the basics of it and how is it controlled. We already know that Edo Tensei needs the DNA of the candidate’s corpse, the special scroll that needs to be formed in the special seal, and a living person for sacrifice.
Now, we need to understand how the user controls the bodies of reincarnated. The user can leave control to the reincarnated and let them have more freedom in movement or combat. For example, the user can “deactivate” the Jutsu and transport them wherever they want. Regardless of those facts, the reincarnated can still take over or resist the control the user bestows on them.
In the Naruto series, we saw that when Hashirama Senju was reincarnated – he could break free even before Orochimaru strengthened the bond with Hashirama cells if he chose that option.
To fully control the soul, the user needs to attach a special type of talisman to the back of the vessel’s head. Even though these are steps Kabuto went through when reincarnating Madara, only ignorance of Kabuto and just Madara’s pure genius freed him from the bond.
When he revived him, Kabuto told Madara that he revived him in the strongest form possible, even higher than his prime. Madara questions him immediately and because of his curiosity, Kabuto gives control over Madara so he can demonstrate his abilities.
After Kabuto gave him control, Madara used Edo Tensei seals and freed himself from Kabuto’s control. More specifically, Madara was able to do that because he was in the middle of the so-called “grace period” – that is the time between the soul severing the control of the user and ascending to the afterlife. During that period, a soul can do whatever they want, and Madara used that opportunity to free himself from Edo Tensei.
What is Edo Tensei in Japanese?
According to Naruto Wiki, in Japanese, Edo literally means Dirty Soil is what Japanese Buddhists call the normal world. We, unenlightened people, live here on Dirty Soil, real world. It is like purgatory in Christianity – the world full of people who did not escape from the polluting thoughts like greed, delusion, hatred, and more.
Tensei, on the other hand, means “resurrection”. You could notice that there are two words present when explaining the process of Edo Tensei Jutsu – “resurrection” and “reincarnation”. A reincarnated soul of a shinobi is resurrected from the dead.
What Is the Risk of Edo Tensei?
Interestingly, Madara said himself that “the one risk of the technique” is if the user grants the reincarnated individual full control, they can use the Edo Tensei seals to free themselves of Edo Tensei. As we already mentioned, he did that to free himself which also allowed him to stay in the “impure” world instead of letting his soul go to the “pure land”.
That is the only known risk of Edo Tensei – the Jutsu does not take anything from the user whatsoever.
Why Is Jiraiya Not Revived By Edo Tensei?
When Fourth Shinobi World War started and all deceased characters from the show started showing up thanks to the Edo Tensei, everyone was wondering where is Jiraiya.
We never saw him anywhere and this is the reason why. We know from the Naruto series that Kabuto wanted to resurrect two shinobi – Jiraiya and Uchiha Shisui.
In the case of Jiraiya, who died fighting the Six Paths of Pain and died, his body ended up on the bottom of the ocean, and because of the water pressure, his body was never retrieved. Kabuto knew that and wanted to resurrect one-third of Konoha’s Sannin. Because of the inability to get to his body, Kabuto realized that he just needed blood from Pain’s weapons and the resurrection can commence.
Obito or at that time at least, Tobi, strongly opposed that notion, and said to Kabuto that he is “pushing his luck”.
On the other hand, when Kabuto expressed the desire to resurrect Uchiha Shisui, again like in the case of Jiraiya, Tobi strongly disagreed. Uchiha Shisui’s body was never recovered from the river, and after Kabuto suggested that he could retrieve one of the Shisui’s crushed eyes from Danzo Shimura’s corpse, Tobi, once again, strongly disagreed.
After the ending of the Naruto series, we now know why. Obito was close with both Jiraiya and Shisui – the first one was Minato-sensei sensei and another one was an Uchiha and a person who sacrificed himself for the betterment of the village. So yes, this is the reason why Jiraiya was never resurrected – or at least not in the Naruto series.
Who Is the Strongest Edo Tensei?
The obvious answer is Madara Uchiha. Kabuto himself said that he resurrected the best and strongest version of Madara. His strength overshadowed everyone involved in the Fourth Shinobi World War. Because of the special resurrection technique, Kabuto used on him, Madara’s body was not affected when struck with ninjutsu and when the shinobi struck him with taijutsu he was able to regenerate faster.
Only Might Guy managed to inflict damage on him, but unfortunately for allied forces, Guy’s Eight Gates could not finish him and deal more damage. If Black Zetsu did not betray him and used him as a vessel to awaken Kaguya, who knows what would happen.
Why Was Resurrected Hashirama Weak?
Well, we do know that Edo Tensei’s are naturally weaker than their living counterparts, that is logical, but is that explaining why Hashirama was so weak against Madara as Edo Tensei? Probably yes. In their youth, Hashirama was considered the strongest shinobi ever and called the “God of Shinobi”. He would always beat Madara, his rival, in their fights and that is why Hashirama was the strongest shinobi in the world in his time.
Hashirama was resurrected weak because Kabuto did not use the same technique and Edo Tensei as he used on Madara. Moreover, Madara did plan everything from the beginning – the help of Black Zetsu, taking over the world, and using everyone else to do his dirty work.
That is why Madara beat him so easily, because his body was enhanced post-mortem by Kabuto, and Hashirama wasn’t.
What Is the Weakness of Edo Tensei?
There are three ways to end Edo Tensei. The first one is to remove the soul from the reincarnated body like Dead Demon Consuming Seal. The second weakness can be if the user is under the influence of a strong genjutsu which prompts them to cancel the Jutsu. The third weakness is the strong emotional effect that can affect the reincarnated individual and ultimately, releases their soul from the Dirty Soil and ascend to the “pure land”.
The last technique or rather weakness of the Jutsu is less reliable but possible. We saw it multiple times in the Naruto series.
Who Is the Leader of Team Taka?
Team Taka is the team Uchiha Sasuke created with the motivation to find Itachi and kill him to avenge his clan. With the help of Karin, Suigetsu, and Jugo, Team Taka provided Sasuke with protection. After the truth about Itachi came out, Sasuke and Team Taka decided to destroy Konoha, and during that “mission”, Sasuke killed Danzo.
His former mission of destroying Konoha was abandoned after a talk with Edo Tensei Itachi and Hashirama Senju. Team Taka later helped in the Fourth Shinobi World War. So, yes, the leader of Team Taka is Sasuke.
Why Did Tobirama Create Edo Tensei?
When Tobirama Senju became Hokage, there were a lot of conflicts. Knowing that he needed to decrease the number of casualties, Tobirama created Edo Tensei to use the bodies of already fallen shinobi to fight for the cause. That was actually a smart decision, however, he quickly realized how dangerous Edo Tensei was, especially in the wrong hands, and ultimately announced it as a Forbidden Jutsu or Kinjutsu.
Can Itachi Break Edo Tensei?
Yes, Itachi actually did break Edo Tensei, and here is how. When Shisui died, Itachi awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan and his dear friend have him his eye before he fell into his death. Shisui was unbelievably strong with his genjutsu and his Kotoamatsukami dōjutsu casts subtle but powerful mind-controlling genjutsu on the opponent. Before dying, Itachi implanted a crow in Naruto as a fail-safe and used it for genjutsu to free himself from Kabuto’s control.
Do You Need the Body For Edo Tensei?
For the resurrection of the individual, a user needs to have their DNA and a live human being to sacrifice for the soul of the deceased to attach to its vessel. Edo Tensei cannot be completed without an alive human being and reincarnated individuals’ DNA.
Does Edo Tensei Have Unlimited Chakra?
Just like Edo Tensei individuals regenerate their bodies at a faster speed, that is why chakra seems to be unlimited for Edo Tensei reincarnates. Only Madara had unlimited chakra because he was ultimately immortal.
