Sai, The Artist

Name: Sai
Kanji for Name: サイ
Gender: Male
Debut (Manga): Chapter 281
Debut (Anime): Shippūden Episode 1
Appears In: Anime and Manga
Age: 17
Birthday: November 25
Height: 172.1cm
Weight: 53.3kg
Blood Type: A
Rank: Kage, Formerly
Village: Akatsuki
Jutsu:
• Ink Clone Technique
• Ink Flush Technique
• Ink Mist Technique
• Ink Transport Technique
• Ink Demon Roar
• Ink Whip
• Ink Imitation Picture: Large Sword
• Ink Imitation Picture: Large Spitting Wall
• Ink Imitation Picture: Artistic Wings
• Super Beast Imitation Picture

Bio
Info
Sai (サイ) is a young ninja from the Foundation who specializes in techniques that use ink. He replaces Sasuke in Team Kakashi.

Background
Sai was orphaned as a child and recruited into The Foundation, a secret branch of the ANBU. 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 Foundation 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. Eventually, his "brother" died of an unnamed illness, and Sai's Foundation training suppressed most of the memories he had for his brother. Before Shin's death, Sai was making a picture book that would depict all the opponents that they faced and illustrate the feelings that they shared for each other. Sai's and Shin's portraits are located at opposite ends of the book, and in the center pages would be a picture of both him and his brother holding hands. He had forgotten that this was his intention, but after bonding with Naruto Uzumaki he remembers and is able to complete the book, causing Sai to give the first genuine display of emotion in a long time: a smile.

Sasuke and Sai Arc
Sai was assigned to join Team Kakashi by his superior Danzo to assist in meeting with a spy in Orochimaru's ranks to find out about Sasuke Uchiha. Sai is confrontational with his new teammates, questioning Naruto's manhood and insulting Sasuke. The latter causes Sakura Haruno to punch him in anger. As they continue on to the meeting point, Sai questions why Naruto is loyal to a traitor like Sasuke, to which Naruto said he's not a traitor, but a friend.

Upon reaching the designated meeting place, Yamato went ahead disguised as Sasori so that he could meet the spy. When the spy, Kabuto Yakushi, arrived with Orochimaru to kill Sasori, Sai, Naruto, and Sakura were called in for help. When Naruto and Orochimaru begin fighting, Sai leaves the rest of the team to begin his real mission. He observed Naruto's fight with Orochimaru, unconcerned with the danger he left Yamato and Sakura in, and approaches Orochimaru after he had repelled Naruto with a proposition from Danzo. Orochimaru accepted, and Sai accompanied him and Kabuto back to their hideout.

Once arriving at Orochimaru's hideout, Sai was introduced to Sasuke, who had been training under Orochimaru for the past two-and-a-half years. When Sai mentioned that he might get along better with Sasuke than he did with Naruto, Sasuke fixed him with a stare, startling Sai due to the amount of fear it gave to his emotionless self. He was led to his own room afterwards by Kabuto, who locked Sai in upon leaving. Soon afterwards, Team Kakashi tracked Sai down and confronted him about his real mission. Caught, Sai explained that he had been assigned to ally with Orochimaru on Danzo's behalf so that the two may join forces in destroying Konohagakure.

Disgusted by the ramifications of this plan, Team Kakashi retrained Sai before setting out to find and retrieve Sasuke. Sai, however, doubted their success, stating that Sasuke no longer cared about them. Naruto, in response, stated that he used to hate Sasuke, but over time he had formed a bond with Sasuke through their shared experiences, and as such he would do whatever it took to bring Sasuke home. Naruto's dedication to retrieving Sasuke struck a chord with Sai, who was left without words as a result. When Kabuto arrived and freed Sai, Sai instead helped to capture Kabuto, hoping to accompany Naruto to find out more about bonds.

Naruto and Sai split away from Sakura and Yamato to go looking for Sasuke. They are soon found by Orochimaru, and Naruto distracts him so that Sai can have a chance to scout on ahead. When Orochimaru retreats and Naruto reunites with Sakura and Yamato, Yamato goes through the belongings that Sai left behind. In doing so he discovers Sai's actual mission: to kill Sasuke as a traitor to Konoha. Team Kakashi races through the base to find and stop Sai, but Sai has already found Sasuke. Sai, however, truly has had a change of heart, and tries to capture Sasuke in order to protect his bond with Naruto.

Irritated by Sai's reasons for bothering him, Sasuke attacks Sai, drawing the rest of the team to their location. When they find out what Sai was trying to do, they all team up to restrain Sasuke. Although Sai is able to land a successful attack, Sasuke's abilities are too much for them and he prepares to kill them all. He is stopped by Orochimaru and Kabuto, who convince him to spare the team before leaving. Defeated, Team Kakashi returns home. Sai requests that he be allowed to stay a part of the team and, with Danzo's approval, begins spending time with his new friends.

Fire Temple Arc
In the anime, Team Kakashi is sent on a mission to the Fire Temple. There they learn about one of the Twelve Ninja Guardian corpses being stolen, and are assigned to retrieve three more stolen Ninja Guardian corpses. They follow a trail to a grassy field, only to be ensnared in the enemies' trap, causing the entire terrain to transform into a rocky canyon. After being separated from his team, one of the tomb robbers, Fuen, plants a tracker on Sai and begins targeting him with several traps. Eventually, Sai discovers the tracker and places it on an Ink Clone to deceive Fuen. While failing to defeat Fuen, he managed to shake her long enough to go in search of his teammates.

He later finds Sakura in time to save her from being attacked by a giant spider. Sai's arm is broken in the process, but Sakura is able to heal the major damage. He also showed emotion (most likely for comic relief) when Sakura gave him the antidote for the spider's poison by jabbing a needle into his arm. He was was forced to take a temporary leave until his arm fully healed, and in the meantime was replaced by Sora. Despite his injured status, Sai still proved to be of use; when Asuma was having difficulty battling against Kazuma, Sai snuck up on Kazuma with one of his ink snakes and restrained him. Once he gets better and Sora leaves the team, Sai asks if he can be Sora's friend before he departs.

[edit] Hidan and Kakuzu arcSai begins visiting the Konoha library to read about relationships in the hopes of making some for himself. In the anime, this begins before and continues throughout the Fire Temple arc. When he reads that nicknames are a good way to make friends, Sai makes the mistake of uses nicknames that describe how he actually sees a person. When calling Sakura a "hag" earns him a beating, he concludes that women like to be called the opposite of what is true. To that end, he calls Ino Yamanaka "beautiful", something that receives another beating from Sakura.

Sai and the rest of the team are later sent to provide backup for Team 10 during their battle with Akatsuki. Because Shikamaru Nara was separated from the rest of the group, Sai and Sakura were sent as backup for him, though upon arrival they found that Shikamaru had already defeated his opponent. Sai returned with everyone else to Konoha, having not taken part in the battle. Because Naruto was injured during the battle he has difficulty eating when they get back. Sai, to improve their friendship, feeds Naruto, angering Naruto because he had wanted Sakura to feed him. Neither has their way when Kakashi arrives to feed Naruto instead.

Three Tails Arc
In the anime, Team Kakashi is once again sent to provide backup, this time for Team 8. Because the mission might lead to finding Sasuke, Naruto is not to be told about or take part in the mission. When he meets with Naruto he tries to use what he learned from a book to successfully lie, but to his own shame reveals the truth about the mission. Once they set out, Sai is tasked with finding Team 8. When they arrive at the location, they assist Team 8 in fighting Guren. During the fight, Sai distracts Guren while Naruto rescues Hinata.

The two teams then begin pursuing Guren's forces, only to become distracted by a huge tidal wave. Upon recovering, Sai and and Hinata discover that it is the Three-Tailed Beast. After receiving orders to seal the beast, Sai is assigned to prevent anyone from interfering. When he initially proves unsuccessful in this regard, he uses his ink creations to scout a wide area so that he can have proper warning of a future attack. Though he is soon incapacitated, he is able to alert Kakashi to an impending attack. Once Guren's team is finally dealt with and Sai recovers, he once again helps protect the sealing team.

Hunt for Uchiha Arc
Sai has a diminished role in later arcs. As member of the eight-man squad assigned for the search for Itachi and Sasuke, he just remains as a tracking member team rather than employing any direct action to the mission. He is part of the 8 shinobi that confront Tobi, the weird and cunny Akatsuki member that tried to prevent all of them to intervene in the Uchiha Brother's fight.

Invasion of Pain
During the invasion of Pain, he is away with Yamato and Anko, tracking down Kabuto Yakushi. He seemed to use a special tracking jutsu to not be noticed by Kabuto, even Anko congrats him for that. They stopped the search just after a surprised Yamato tells the group that Naruto has reached the 6-tailed form of the demon fox

Sasuke and 6th Hokage Arc
After learning that his master was appointed to become the Sixth Hokage, Sai immediately went to Danzo for new instructions. After being ordered to watch Naruto carefully, Sai hesitantly asked Danzo his plans for Naruto, worrying about his friend's well-being. This did not go unnoticed by Danzo. Later, Sai was confronted by Naruto and Sakura.

The two asked Sai to reveal all he knew about Danzo. Unfortunately, Sai revealed he was unable to talk about such things because of the Cursed Seal Danzo placed on all members of the Foundation. He did however reveal to be surprised and dissatisfied with Danzo's decision to kill Sasuke. Quickly afterwards, Sai and his friends were attacked by two of the three Kumogakure ninja sent by the Raikage. They ordered for information on Sasuke, who they revealed to now be a member of Akatsuki. This greatly shocked Sai and his friends.

Abilities
Sai's most notable talent is his skill as an artist, and he has claimed to have drawn thousands of pictures. Despite the great quantity and magnitude of the things he has drawn, he has never given one of his works a name, his lack of emotion making it impossible for him to form a significant enough attachment to his art to give titles. Even so, Sai's drawing ability is also the source of his jutsu, known as Super Beasts Imitation Picture. By infusing his chakra into the ink beforehand and drawing objects with a brush on his scroll (something he can do very quickly), he is able to bring his creations to life by animating the ink directly off the page. These creations grow to life-size once they have been brought to life--similar to Deidara's Exploding Clay constructs.

Sai typically creates giant birds for long range transport, and lion-like monsters for attack, or objects like umbrellas for everyday use. He can also make copies of himself for reconnaissance and transport himself to other locations by surrounding himself in ink. 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. Sai is otherwise skilled in close-quarters combat.

Jutsu
Ink Clone Technique (墨瞬身の術, Sumi Bunshin no Jutsu; English TV "Ink Clone Jutsu")
Type: C-Rank, Supplementary[1]
User: Sai
Debut (Anime): Shippūden Episode 44
Debut (Manga): Chapter 297
This clone, made from a small amount of ink, carrying chakra, is different from the ordinary Clone Technique in that it has actual substance and mass, making it difficult to see through. As a member of the Foundation, Sai is able to make use of the clone for missions involving surprise attacks, infiltration, and assassinations. However, experienced ninjas such as Orochimaru are able to see through this technique.

Ink Flush Technique (Sumi Furasshu)
Type: Unknown rank, Supplementary, Short to mid-range (0-10m)
User: Sai
Debut (Anime): Shippūden Episode 104
By pouring some of his special ink into the ground, Sai can summon several ink snakes to strike from underground and restrain his opponents. Should the opponent prove strong enough to break the binds, the snakes can reform around the target, making struggling pointless.

Ink Mist Technique (墨霞の術, Sumigasumi no Jutsu)
Type: C-rank, Supplementary[1]
User: Sai
Debut (Anime): Shippūden Episode 34
Debut (Manga): Chapter 284
Using ink from his scroll, Sai releases a special Ink Mist from around him to swirl and surround him. Sai can control the mist in formations around him, Transforming it into a thick black mist which surrounds him and the target, concealing his position. With the ink mist, Sai can create Super Beast Imitation from the mist.

Ink Transport Technique (English TV "Ink Transport Jutsu")
Type: Unknown rank, Offensive, Supplementary, Short range (0-5m)
User: Sai
Debut (Anime): Shippūden Episode
Sai takes out a small piece of paper (that is extremely sticky on the back, like a post-it) and writes "transport" on it. Sai then places it on his opponent. By concentrating a small amount of chakra, Sai can transport to his opponent's location to either silently attack them or to reveal to his comrades the enemy's location

Super Beasts Imitation Picture (超獣偽画, Chōjū Giga; Viz "Art of Cartoon Beast Mimicry", English TV "Ninja Art: Beast Scroll Replicas")
Type: B-rank, Offensive, Supplementary, All ranges[1]
User: Sai
Debut (Anime): Shippūden Episode 33
Debut (Manga): Chapter 283
By infusing his chakra into the ink beforehand, Sai can draw objects with a brush on his scroll (something he can do very quickly) to animate the ink directly off of the page. These creations grow to life-size once they have been brought to life--similar to Deidara's Exploding Clay constructs. Sai typically creates giant birds for long range transport, lion-like monsters for attack, or objects like umbrellas for everyday use. 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.

Since they are made of ink, a single blow is usually enough to dispel them. The one exception to this are snakes, which are used as living ropes to apprehend a target; they have been shown to be abnormally difficult to tear.

Ink Whip (Sumiben)
Type: B-rank, Offensive
User: Sai
Using special Ink from his scroll, Sai releases a steady blast of ink from his quilt, turning into a large whip which moves toward the target, striking them hard.

Ink Demon Roar (Sumi Oniga)
Type: A-rank, Offensive, Supplementary
User: Sai
As Sai opens his scroll, He wipes his Special Ink quilt over the paper, making seals for "Open" and "Beast". As his circles the kanji's in a special seal, a heavy buzz comes from the scroll. The seals light up as ink rises up, forming together in a large demonic looking face. Once finishes Sai sends the large demon face toward the target, opening up and clashing with them.

Ink Imitation Picture: Large Sword (Sumi Giga: Taihōkirizan)
Type: Hiden, Supplementary
User: Sai
As sai spills ink onto his hand, Chakra gathers and slowly molds all of the ink into the shape of a large sword. Depending on the chakra used, the sword can variy in sizes of the sword. The sword turns hard as a normal metal sword.

Ink Imitation Picture: Large Spitting Wall (Sumi Giga: Taihōheki no Nento)
Type: Hiden, Defensive
User: Sai
As sai uses his Special Ink on his scroll, forming the seals for "Sheild" on the scroll, Ink spills foward wrapping around him in a thick protective wall.

Ink Imitation Picture: Artistic Wings (Sumi Giga: Geiyoku)
Type: Hiden, Supplementary
User: Sai
Using ink from his scroll, the Ink wraps around his shoulders and unfolds into a large set of wings. With his chakra sai can momentarily and for a short amount of time float in the air.

approved

Summoning: Dragons Second Life (Kuchiyose: Yūnii)
Type: S-rank, Offensive
User: Sai
The beginning of the jutsu is started by a small peice of paper which has summoning seals on it. As all summoning techniques the paper requires blood, which releases a explosion of smoke. From the smoke millions of seal papers scatter through the room, Sai uses chakra trheads to hold the papers together in a large barrel like formation. This summoning and collection uses a large amount of chakra.

As the papers gather into a funnel, A pre-drawn scroll emerges from the seals, summoning a massive scroll. The scroll has special drawings on the inside, each level having more and more parts of the dragon. Once summoned the scroll opens and releases, summoning a large ink dragon head. As this first step is complete the dragons head and shoulders emerge. The second summoning of the dragon moves to his waist, bringing out his wings which can create gust. The wings are around thirteen cm wide on each side. The wings are small but highly dangerous. The third step allows the dragons arms to be released, summoning his hands which can use ink to turn longer and are also covered in a sharp and hard armor. For the final step the scroll is completely opened, summoning his legs. Once the legs are summoned the dragon creation can easily move around, but this takes more then half of Sai's chakra to use the whole dragon.

The dragon can also release ink bullets from its mouth, as well as his tongue is a large spear formation.

Summoning Ink Creation: Dragons Second Life (Kuchiyose Sumi Giga: Yūnii)
Type: S-rank, Offensive
User: Sai
The beginning of the jutsu is started by a small peice of paper which has summoning seals on it. As all summoning techniques the paper requires blood, which releases a explosion of smoke. From the smoke millions of seal papers scatter through the room, Sai uses chakra trheads to hold the papers together in a large barrel like formation. This summoning and collection uses a large amount of chakra.

As the papers gather into a funnel, A pre-drawn scroll emerges from the seals, summoning a massive scroll. The scroll has special drawings on the inside, each level having more and more parts of the dragon. Once summoned the scroll opens and releases, summoning a large ink dragon head. As this first step is complete the dragons head and shoulders emerge. The second summoning of the dragon moves to his waist, bringing out his wings which can create gust. The wings are around thirteen cm wide on each side. The wings are small but highly dangerous. The third step allows the dragons arms to be released, summoning his hands which can use ink to turn longer and are also covered in a sharp and hard armor. For the final step the scroll is completely opened, summoning his legs. Once the legs are summoned the dragon creation can easily move around, but this takes more then half of Sai's chakra to use the whole dragon.

The dragon can also release ink bullets from its mouth, as well as his tongue is a large spear formation.