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General Info With the manga over and the anime following shortly after, as well as the news of the upcoming generation, I decided to do some research into the last generation to see what we may have missed or miss-understood. Reading over the manga and data-books, I found the section that regards to Itachi's Yata Mirror and its power. Now this shield isn't the only reason, but its a big factor in the fanbase's choice to dub him a god. Now I here to channel some information and debate as to why this power is far from great, and why it is even further from being anything near God level. My research started with what Black Zetsu said during the fight between Itachi and Sasuke, and he stated the following; While this statement was somewhat correct, the Data-book says something that is slightly different, though still can be translate in the same manner. (Hence why the original meaning was most likely lost in translation.) Now I cannot provide a scan of the page in the Data-book that regards this point, but what I can do is to write the entire text as stated in the data-book and provide an image of a physical copy of the Data-book. So here goes; Previously we assumed that the power of the Yata Mirror was the ability to completely reflect or deflect all Ninjutsu and physical attacks used against it. Though from those few lines in the Data-book, we know that isn't the case and we also see that in the manga. Why did I research? Now in all honesty, I started to research this again after a debate (that is still going on) over at Disqus and I know that some here already were aware of this, but I cannot remember ever seeing a thread like this over the past years. Going in-depth by why and what the Yata Mirror really is and what powers it had. For those that wonder, the debate was; Which is the best defense? The Yata Mirror or the Truth-seeker Balls? Now I stuck by with the last choice out of those two, and went on and dug up all information I could about the Yata Mirror. Coming to a very simple conclusion, most of the fanbase has greatly overestimated the power and capabilities of the Yata Mirror. Unto the summary and explanation then. Summary & Explanation The Data-book states that the Yata Mirror's real ability is to alter its own attributes to match that of the attacks, rendering the attack inefficient. In a sense, it beats fire with fire. However it never states that this ability is automatically or something the user has to input manually, and I think it is the last part. Now this part is mostly explanation, and me trying to explain what the Data-book means, but listen for a second. The Yata Mirror works by altering its attributes. So say Itachi was going to block a fire-based attack, he would need to know the basis of the attack and how its built up and apply that to the Yata Mirror in order to change the shield's attributes and deflect the attack. If this input has to be manual then that means that this shield can only block attacks that the user either know or the ones that are painfully obvious what they are. (Like Sasuke stating that the Kirin was pure lightning and it was obvious from the look of it.) If the user doesn't know this (such as in a Hidden Jutsu or a Kekkai Genkai) then the shield wouldn't be able to block the attack and the attack would pass right through. The reason I say pass right through is that the Data-book states that it has no physical form in its original form until it changes attributes to fit that of the attack. Now that only counts if the input has to be manually, and the reason why I am sticking with that idea is that if it was automatically then Itachi would have used it more. Now before you go ahead and start a debate that Itachi didn't use it more because of the strain it put on his body, think in his Edo Shape. Instead of using the Yata Mirror to defend Sasuke from Kabuto, he used a hand, most likely because he didn't know the exact attributes of Kabuto's attacks, which would render the Mirror inefficient. (That or the Yata Mirror is capable of blocking people without the right input.) This also means that the more complicated the attack, the smaller the chance is that Yata Mirror would be capable of blocking it. Lets say you want to block "Water Style", you change the attributes to match that of water and the same goes for Earth, while also applying the basis of chakra (Yin-Yang). Now lets say you want to block Mokuton, you would require to know the exact build-up of this, which is first Water and Earth, then mixed together. The list goes on like that. This means that yes, against basic Ninjutsu and Kekkai Genkai known to Itachi, the shield can block anything, but aside from that, it most likely cannot. Previous it was believed that the Yata Mirror also possessed the ability to reflect or at least deflect any Ninjutsu based attack thrown at it, as well as physical ones. We know that it doesn't reflect it, but it can deflect it as seen with the Kirin. The Kirin did hit the Yata Mirror, but the shield blocked it, deflecting the the Lightning into the mountain and causing massive damage regardless. |
