Most Naruto fans, at least once, have dreamt of pulling off the iconic jutsus that the ninjas in the series used. While dedicated learners might have acquired proficiency in the use of hand signs, a larger section of these wide eyed admirers might have cast aside their wishes thinking the jutsus from the series are all fictional.

However, it happens that some of these popular techniques and attacks from Naruto are not so fictional.

An interview with a real life Ninja descendent, Hibari, put out by the official website of Naruto anime on March 16, 2023, confirmed the existence of Shadow Clone and other jutsu.

Hibari, who has inherited the Iga-Omi Hattori-Ryū Ninjutsu, also explained the difference between the fictional and real ninjutsu.

According to her, the Shadow Clone Jutsu from Naruto indeed exists in real life. The only difference being one won’t be able to duplicate themself in a magical way, but rather other people dressed like you come out from various directions.

This was a technique used during battles to confuse the enemies, or while stealing something to make it difficult to identify the thief.

Not just this, the Fire Style Jutsu from Naruto is real too! It is used catch your opponent off guard, creating a chance to escape. She went on to explain how it works.

“The method makes use of both the cylinders used in moxibustion and “moxa”, modified to act as a source of ignition. It is believed that you would blow into it and have fire fly out at your enemy,” Hibari explained.

While the prospect of these techniques being real might seem exciting to many, not every jutsu can be carried out in real life, such as Water Style Jutsu.

Water Style Jutsu, according to her, is purely fictional and is an impossible scenario in reality. Hibari was of the opinion that holding the bamboo in the mouth for long would hurt, resulting in drowning from water gushing in through the gaps between your mouth and the bamboo.

She also went on to demonstrate how a shuriken works. Contrary to what most people believe, shuriken is not a weapon that is supposed to be thrown at opponents. Check out Hibrai’s demonstration in the link provided in the source.

Hibari then took the opportunity to clear the misconception regarding the ninja ranking system in Naruto anime. According to her, in real life a ninja born as Genin cannot work their way up to becoming Jonin.

“It is believed that the Genin/Jonin concept existed for ninja in our world as well. But in reality, Jonin were in management positions, and tended to be samurai dispatched by daimyō or the shogunate. They didn’t take on missions as ninja themselves. In addition, due to the class system in place back then, it wasn’t really possible for ninja born as Genin to work their way up to Jonin. Although, the concept of “might makes right” also existed to some extent in that period, so there may have been some exceptions for extremely talented Genin.“

Source: Official Website