Sai Yamanaka

**Sai Yamanaka** (山中サイ, *Yamanaka Sai*) is the Anbu Chief of Konohagakure's Yamanaka clan. Prior to this, he was a Root member. As per standard Root training, Sai was conditioned to remove all emotions and as such, had difficulty connecting with others. When he is added to Team Kakashi as a replacement for the rogue Sasuke Uchiha, Sai begins to learn more about people's feelings and tries to develop his personality and identity by forming genuine bonds and rediscovering the emotions he was taught to suppress.

## Sai Yamanaka

* Human
* Part II
* Young

### Relatives

Inojin Yamanaka (Son), Akahiro Yamanaka (Son), Atsuko Yamanaka (Wife)

## Background

Sai was orphaned as a child and recruited into Root, a secret branch of the Anbu under the leadership of Danzō Shimura. There, he was raised and conditioned to have no personality, personal connections, or a name; "Sai" being given to him for the purposes of joining Team Kakashi. Though largely successful in this regard, Sai retained an interest in art. When Shin, an older Root member, discovered Sai's drawing ability, he encouraged Sai's talent and they became very close.

Over time, Sai came to think of Shin as an older brother and looked up to him. Unfortunately, the final step in Root training called for the two to fight to the death to eradicate all remaining emotions. Before that happened, however, Shin died of an unnamed illness and Sai's Root training suppressed most of the memories he had of him. In the anime, Sai and Shin were forced to fight by Danzō but Shin, knowing that he was dying anyway, told Sai to report to Danzō that he had killed him in battle. Before dying, Shin told his brother that he had to suppress his feelings, and to live for the both of them.

Before Shin's death, Sai created a picture book that would depict all the opponents they faced and illustrate the feelings that they shared for each other. Sai organised the book so that his and Shin's portraits would be located at opposite ends of the book, and in the centre pages would be a picture of them holding hands. Some time after the loss of Shin, Sai forgot that this was his intention, and the picture book was left unfinished, though he could never bring it upon himself to discard the book.

During his time in Root, Sai was ordered to eliminate a large number of individuals that posed a threat against Konoha. At the time he was assigned to Team Kakashi, the last assassination he performed was of Unmo Samidare. In the anime, an attempt to gain a powerful fūinjutsu after seeing the Third Hokage sacrifice his life in an attempt to defeat Orochimaru, led Danzō to supervise Sai while he learned how to use the Sealing Technique: Tiger Vision Staring Bullet, noting that it would be dangerous as he would have to use "emotional energy" in order to make the technique stronger. Sai struggled greatly with this endeavour as it conflicted with his training and, consumed by negative emotions, his training was seemingly left incomplete.

## Personality

When first introduced, Sai was distinguished by his total lack of emotion which he often masks either with a blank expression or a small smile. After much mental conditioning and training while in Root, Sai had suppressed almost all of his emotions, laying all of his loyalty to whoever commands him, and thus making it easier for him to accomplish dangerous, unpleasant, or unethical missions. Due to this training and his lack of social experience and personal initiative, Sai has great trouble in understanding how bonds between people can motivate others. He often showcases this confusion after thinking about why Naruto would go so far to save Sasuke, a traitor, even though Naruto had not been ordered to do so.

Sai's social ineptitude tends to get people angry, because he often speaks without considering his words and their effects on people. This was due to his inability to realise the difference between a rude statement and a true statement. For example, Sai had read somewhere in a book that giving somebody a nickname would bring you closer to that person and develop your friendship, this resulted in Sai hurting Sakura Haruno's feelings, because he nicknamed her "Ugly", stating the first character trait that came to his mind. This also nearly led to enraging Chōji, while eating barbecue with Team Asuma and Team Kakashi he nearly called him "Fat" before Naruto covered his mouth before he could finish. Realising he was offending people by saying characteristics that came to his head, Sai decided to take a different approach by saying the opposite of what came into his head. In this way, at the same event, Sai called Ino "Gorgeous" (although he truly meant to call her "Ugly"), much to Ino's surprise, Naruto's relief, and Sakura's outrage.

After spending more time with Team Kakashi, Sai comes to appreciate bonds, particularly the bond that exists between Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, though Sai would come to have serious doubts about Sasuke when he began to commit crimes on an international scale, which Naruto would suffer for, leading him to support assassinating Sasuke. This causes him to break out of his emotionless shell and start to remember the times he had with his own "brother", Shin. In doing so, Sai was able to start giving genuine smiles. Wanting to experience personal bonds for himself, Sai sets out to make as many friends as he can. However, since he is learning most of this out of books and by trial and error, he often accidentally ends up offending people with his nicknames and conversation. He has come to develop a more genuine, pleasant, and thoughtful personality, while also showing signs of more emotion, such as enthusiasm and occasional nervousness. In the anime, it was shown from his Infinite Tsukuyomi dream that his greatest desire is to fully rediscover his emotions and connect with as many people as possible through it.

Sai first shows genuine anger when explaining to Sakura about Naruto's feelings for her. This is further on display after he encounters his reincarnated brother. When Shin is used as a living bomb by Deidara, Sai became truly enraged for the first time and attacked Sasori and Deidara mercilessly, showing genuine rage on his face. Sai also displayed genuine sadness, shedding tears when his brother was freed from the technique and disappears.

Sai is very observant, and is always focused on his missions. He pays a lot of attention to detail, allowing him to quickly notice if something is not as it appears, as shown from how he easily sees through Yamato's tricks. This awareness spans beyond the trials of duty, as Sai was later quick to understand the nature of Naruto's inner suffering without Naruto even telling him. What he failed to understand, however, was that Naruto was not trying to save Sasuke just for Sakura, something he mentions is due to his still lacklustre understanding of both his Team 7 teammates and emotions in general and he would come to regret when it lead to Sakura's suicidal attempt to stop Sasuke, feeling that as if he was a true friend, he should've found another way that didn't put his teammates at risk. Sai holds Naruto in high regard and tries to assist Naruto whenever he's going through hardships however he can.

This bond with Naruto led Sai to start to understand camaraderie, and by the Fourth Shinobi World War, he realised he understood it as he, Rock Lee, and various others went to assist Naruto as he fought against Tobi. Growing up over the following the years, Sai came to truly understand compassion and love, forming a closer bond with Ino, showing more forwardness in such acts as asking her on a date and holding her hand affectionately. This ultimately led to them forming a family. Through all this, Sai has completely come to reject the teachings of Root, accepting that Danzō's actions, while genuine to protect the village, were misguided and only led to more suffering.

Sai is shown to care greatly for his family, as he has begun training his son in his artistic-ninjutsu, finding humour in Inojin's cruder drawing. Sai also has developed strong parenting skills, being the one who's reprimanding Naruto for not holding back enough when he tried to counter Boruto's shadow clone with his own. His compassion for his son's happiness was also shown from not wanting to hurt any of his friends, regardless of the circumstances. He also believes in an indirect teaching-method, feeling that while people need guidance, they cannot truly grow as people if they don't find the answers themselves.

## Abilities

As a member of Root, Sai is a highly capable shinobi, who is trained in the organisation's kenjutsu. Being said to be strongest Root member of his generation, Danzō had enough faith in Sai's abilities to task him with single-handedly killing Sasuke. By adulthood, his talents led him to become one of Konohagakure's top authorities as the head of Anbu and regular reporting directly to the Seventh Hokage and aiding him in various decisions.

### Ninjutsu

Sai is able to use Earth Release to conceal himself underground without disrupting the surface of the earth. He can also use Fire, Water and Yang Release. In adulthood, since marrying into the Yamanaka clan, Sai appears to have become well-versed (or at least knowledgeable) in their hidden techniques to aid his son's training in them. In the anime, he can also use shadow clones.

#### Ink Techniques

Sai is able to combine ink with the Body Flicker Technique to create a more effective cover up. However, Sai's most notable talent is his skill as an artist, able to create drawings in mere moments. He uses these artistic skills as a source for his Super Beast Imitating Drawing. Using his custom scroll (which contains a compartment for Sai's ink brush and a supply of ink), and applying chakra into the drawings, his creations come to life.

Sai typically creates giant birds to transport himself or others, lion-like monsters for attack, snakes for restraining enemies, and mice to scout an area. Sai can also create ink clones of himself for reconnaissance. For discreet communiques when he is undercover, Sai is able to turn the words he writes into small animals, allowing them to travel to their intended target unnoticed. He has also demonstrated the ability to create large humanoids that resemble the Benevolent Kings (仁王, *Niō*), which possess enough strength to completely destroy Deidara's clay birds. Sai can also produce explosive tags, as seen when he had multiple birds fly down to bombard his enemies with a chain of explosions.

#### Fūinjutsu

As noted by Kakashi, Sai is one of Danzō's prized soldiers and as such, his Root training also included learning fūinjutsu. By animating a large tiger from his scroll, he can use it to grab and seal the target in the painting. Due to the preparation time it would take to paint the tiger, he would need allies to protect him while in battle. In the anime, it is stated that Sai uses "emotional energy" to bolster the technique. This is a double-edged sword as Sai becomes susceptible to his negative emotions.

### Physical Prowess

Despite not being his speciality, Sai has shown to be proficient in taijutsu. He was able to react and block Naruto's attempt to stab him with a kunai very easily with his tantō. He also was able to subdue Kabuto Yakushi very easily and block Sasuke Uchiha's attempt to stab Naruto, with Sasuke commenting that he blocked the attack in the most appropriate manner. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, he was able to break Shin's neck with a flying knee kick in mid-air. Even without the use of his tantō, he has shown great skill with a bladed weapon and was able to fight equally with an opponent wielding a larger weapon. A distinct advantage he has in battle is to perform techniques with a single hand, leaving the other free for enemy counter-attacks.