At times, Naruto fans are reminded why the franchise is a masterpiece and considered one of the big three in the industry. Masashi Kishimoto not only created characters with heartbreaking backstories but also went to the extra length of creating lore that runs deep through the Shinobi world.
In fact, the plot runs so deep that fans come up with theories even years down the road. Just like a recent theory that suggests an Akatsuki knew about Shinigami and the Reaper Death Seal and even had his own version of it!
Which Akatsuki member knew about the Reaper Death Seal in Naruto?
According to a fan theory, Hidan, the Jashin worshipper Akatsuki member, knew about Shinigami and the Death Seal. While he may not have known about the sealing technique in particular, he did develop something very similar to it, and it is because of his Jashin worship.
To understand everything further, let’s delve deeper into the concepts of Shinigami and Jashin. A Shinigami is an entity summoned by the Uzumaki clan that can forcibly extract the souls of the target and summoner to store them in his belly.
Jashin is also an entity worshipped by the cultists who called themselves Jashinists. According to Hidan, Jashin only demands death and destruction. Hidan achieves immortality by sacrificing several people at once. It is possible that Hidan reached immortality because Jashin added the lifetimes of the sacrificed people to his own.
Notice how similar their powers are? It is possible that Jashin and Shinigami are one and the same, or extensions of the same power. If we go by this logic, then Hidan’s immortality might be a variation of the Reaper Death Seal as both of them toy with extracting souls and transferring them.
How did Hidan know about the Reaper Death Seal in Naruto?
The Reaper Death Seal was invented by the Uzumaki, whose village is called the Land of Whirlpools, located on an island off the coast of the Land of Fire. Hidan is from a village called the Land of Hot Water, which shares borders with the Land of Fire. Thus, both villages can interact easily. Thus, it would not be uncommon for sealing techniques to be shared or leaked.
Another curse technique developed by Hidan is the Death Controlling Possessed Blood. He draws the insignia of Jashin with his own blood and ingests the blood of his victim, which then links him to his victim.
This creates a link between Hidan and the victim, and the victim can feel any pain Hidan feels; he basically makes himself a live voodoo doll.
Both techniques are S-ranked and have too many similarities to ignore a connection. However, the technique created by Hidan could be superior due to its multiple usage capacity. The Reaper Death Seal can only be used once.
So did Hidan, the soulless Jashinist, discover Shinigami through utter devotion? Are Jashin and Shinigami two sides of the same coin? Masashi Kishimoto left it upon us to slowly discover the Easter eggs scattered around Naruto.
You can watch Naruto on Crunchyroll and the manga is available to read on Viz Media.
