If you’ve been following the anime series Naruto Shippuuden you will have noticed that, aside from getting to see how much (or little) some of the rookie nine have changed during the 2 year time span, there has been the addition of two new characters that will play essential roles in Team Kakashi. One of these characters made his first appearance, and subsequently became my favorite character of the series, in chapter 281 of the manga. He made his first, and long awaited, appearance in the anime during the end of episode 32. We haven’t had the chance to see too much of him, and yet he already is the primary forcus of the third Shippuuden ending and has some good screen time during the opening. Naturally I’m talking about Sai!

Now I will warn you here and now, if you’ve only been following the anime you’re in for a few spoilers ahead. That said, let’s continue.

As you have seen from the latest Shippuuden episode, number 34, Sai is an ANBU member, but specifically, he is a Root ANBU. The root ANBU are a division of the ANBU squads under Danzou’s command. Danzou strongly disagreed with the Sandaime’s political policies and felt a strong, militaristic approach was necessary to keep Konoha from crumbling to the ground. Hence the name, Root ANBU. The Root are those who live solely for Konoha and support the village. Although, officially the division was disbanded and Danzou lost a lot of political power, there is no question that it still exists.

For a better understanding of who Root are and what their beliefs are take a look at their motto:

根”には…名前は無い、感情は無い …
過去は無い…未来は無い。あるのは任務…
木ノ葉という大木を目に見えぬ地の中より支える、我々 “根”の意志

In Root… there are no names. There are no feelings…
There is no past… there is no future. There is only the mission…
The will of us Roots supports this great tree called Konoha, invisible, from within the earth.

Very noble sounding, but also very scary. When we first see “Sai” he is a nameless shinobi who has been given the name of “Sai” for the sake of this mission. He has no past, lives only for the mission, and as a result of the training he has undergone in service to Root, he has no emotions. That is not to say that he is a complete and utter robot, but rather he is unaccustomed to feeling and expressing himself and believes himself to be without emotions. As you can imagine, going on a mission with people like Naruto and Sakura, two people who have no problem letting others know how they feel, is going to be very educational for all parties involved.

In his first confrontation with Naruto, Sai call Naruto a pussy (yes, he has a very vulgar mouth) and asks whether Naruto even has a dick. No doubt some people were wondering if that was a translation error…it wasn’t, and believe me it get’s worse…for Naruto that is. Sai has quite the obsession with Naruto’s penis, so much so that there are times I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sai pull out some bulk cable from his ever present backpack, tie Naruto up, and have his wicked way with him.

Initially Sai, Naruto, and Sakura, as you can guess from the new ending theme, rub each other all the wrong way. Sai’s habit of speaking bluntly (and truthfully too) has the ability to annoy Sakura in such a manner that Sai meets her fist numerable times. In a short period of time he rivals Naruto for number of Sakura-induced flying lessons. And of course his comments about Naruto’s penis, and comparing his penis, doesn’t win him any brownie points with Naruto either.

Under the crude exterior though there is a character waiting to be explored. Initially he is sent with the new Team Kakashi in order to locate Sasuke, but not to bring him back. Danzou has ordered Sai to get on Orochimaru’s good side and assassinate Sasuke before he can become a threat to Konoha. After listening to Naruto explain why he’s fighting so hard to bring Sasuke back, because he views Sasuke as a brother, someone who is precious to him, Sai decides to abandon his mission and do whatever is necessary to protect the precious bond of friendship between Naruto and Sasuke.

At one point Sai had someone close to him who was like a brother to him. Pay attention to the book Sai draws in! But during Root training his friend was killed. Naruto wakes up those old feelings and memories invoking in Sai the desire to become human and to understand emotions. At one point he even reads in a book that giving people nicknames based on their characters is essential to building friendship. Given the fact that he’s prone to being blunt, he gifts Sakura with a less than pleasant nickname that results in his reintroduction to her fist. Later, when he runs into Ino, he decides to avoid a repeat by calling her the opposite of what he thinks is a good nickname, hence he calls her beautiful. This of course earns him Sakura’s wrath yet again. Learning is dangerous.

It is highly ironic that a person who has so much trouble understanding and letting himself feel emotions is a talented artist-nin. Sai’s two signature attacks are Choujou Giga, which allows him to bring the animals he draws to life, which he can then use to attack with or fly on, Sumi Bunshin, which allows him to make durable clones of himself akin to kage bunshin. He is also proficient in taijutsu and weapons, which is to be expected of an ANBU member. Sai is a character I strongly advise you keep an eye on.

For more information about Sai, why not visit the fanlisting and fansite dedicated to him and Naruto, entitled Bonds of Friendship? Shameless plug.

EDIT: I was unable to acquire any screencaps of Sai from the anime since I only have the subtitled version of the series in .rmvb format. If someone could take some screen caps for me of Sai and Naruto I would be very appreciative!

Last 5 issues of FAnime Friday:

• Issue #18, November 2, 2007: Doujin Work
• Issue #17, October 26, 2007: Bamboo Blade
• Issue #16, October 19, 2007: Reacting to Lengthy Delays
• Issue #15, October 12, 2007: New Series to Look Out For
• Issue #14, October 5, 2007: Perfect Girl Evolution

Read the rest of the FAnime Friday issues on the FAnime Friday page! ^_^