Tsunade (Tsunade?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto created by Masashi Kishimoto.

Tsunade’s name comes from the Tsunade of Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari (”The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya”). The Tsunade in this story excelled in snail magic and was married to Jiraiya. The name “Tsunade” () means “mooring rope”.

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 are known as the “Legendary Three Ninja” (Densetsu no Sannin?) or simply the “Sannin”. Because she is the granddaughter of the First Hokage and the grandniece of the Second Hokage, the word “Hime” (”Princess”) is often attached to her name. In the English anime and manga, it is translated into “Lady Tsunade”. Tsunade is well known for her large breasts, despite the fact that Jiraiya referred to her as “flat-chested Tsunade” during their childhood.

One of Tsunade’s noteworthy possessions was an amulet that belonged to her grandfather, which is said to be valuable enough to buy three mountains. On her brother, Nawaki’s, twelfth birthday, Tsunade gave the amulet to him in the hopes that it would help him achieve his dream of becoming Hokage. The next day, Nawaki died as one of the many casualties of the war going on at the time, and the amulet was returned to Tsunade’s possession. Sometime afterwards, Tsunade fell in love with a man named Dan, who also wanted to become Hokage. As a sign of her affection and in the hopes that it would help him achieve his goal, Tsunade gave him the amulet as well. Dan too would go on to die a bloody death during the course of the war, once again returning the amulet to her possession. With her spirit broken, Tsunade left Konoha with Dan’s niece, Shizune, taking the latter in as her apprentice.

Personality

The deaths of Dan and Nawaki greatly changed Tsunade; Dan’s death and her failed attempt to save him gave her a fear of blood, causing her to freeze up whenever seeing it. The amulet’s repeated returns to her also led her and many others to believe that it was cursed, and whoever Tsunade might give it to would die soon after. Similarly, Tsunade came to lose faith in the title of Hokage, believing that only fools would want such a position. While she would maintain these mindsets for many years, meeting Naruto Uzumaki causes Tsunade to reject each of these ideas.

Tsunade is approached by Jiraiya and Naruto with the offer of becoming the next Hokage. She declines the offer, ridiculing it and those who have held its position. Naruto, wanting to one day become Hokage, is enraged that she could do such a thing and tries to attack her with an incomplete Spiraling Sphere. While the attack fails, Tsunade decides to make a bet with him: if he can master the jutsu in a week he will get the First Hokage’s amulet. Naruto accepts, and gets to work on the jutsu’s completion. As the week progresses, Tsunade keeps a careful eye on Naruto’s progress and all the while remembers Dan and Nawaki, both looking much like Naruto and both having the same dreams. When the week comes to an end, Naruto appears to have failed in completing the jutsu, and Tsunade believes the bet to have been impossible.

During her later battle with Orochimaru, Tsunade’s fear of blood leaves her paralyzed and unable to protect herself. Naruto arrives to save her and manages to hit her attacker with a perfected Spiraling Sphere. After he passes out due to his injuries, Tsunade acts on her promise and puts the amulet around his neck, wishing once more for its wearer to become Hokage. When Orochimaru attempts to kill Naruto, Tsunade overcomes her fear of blood for the sole purpose of protecting him, willing to do whatever is necessary to ensure that Naruto becomes Hokage. Finally, Tsunade accepts the title of Fifth Hokage (Godaime Hokage?), Naruto’s influence convincing her that the title her loved ones so dearly desired is something to be valued. Since then, Tsunade has secretly maintained the belief that Naruto will someday become a great Hokage, her entire outlook on life changed because of him.

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” (Densetsu no Kamo?) 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 do tend to happen to her afterwards. The symbol on the back of her coat, 賭 (”kake”), means “gamble,” or “wager,” as gambling is one of her favorite pastimes.

Abilities

Tsunade’s trademark ability is her inhuman strength, which is 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, as seen with her Painful Sky Leg (Tsūtenkyaku?), create a gigantic crater by simply kicking the ground. In addition, Tsunade can convert a small amount of this chakra to electricity for her Important Body Points Disturbance (Ranshinshō?). Once an opponent is struck by this, the electrical flow of signals from their brain to the rest of their body is disrupted, causing their leg to move when they attempt to move their arm, for example.

She is also an extremely talented Medical-nin, and can 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 using Shadow Seal: Release (Infūin: Kai?), Tsunade release the chakra stored inside the seal on her forehead to allow her to use Creation Rebirth (Sōzō Saisei?). Once activated, Creation Rebirth heals any and all of the damage to her body almost instantaneously, and allows her to continue to heal at an accelerated rate for the duration of the jutsu. While an extremely useful technique, the rapid regeneration of cells cuts down on her lifespan, making it a technique to only be used in desperate situations.

Even though she is in her fifties, Tsunade’s Transformation Technique makes it appear as if she were still twenty. Tsunade’s transformation is somewhat different from a normal transformation as it seems to be permanent, not getting dispelled when she is slashed or injured, and she 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.

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