If you weren’t doing the Naruto hand signs when you were a kid to dunk on the other kids on the playground, you were seriously missing out. Like, we grew up on those sick looking hand movements, thinking we could just walk up trees and create Rasengans using Chakra. But at some point, I think the characters in Naruto stopped using hand signs altogether. 

So, why did Naruto characters stop using hand signs in the first place? I mean, it was so iconic and such an integral part of the Narutoverse lore. But the easiest explanation is that everyone simply grew out of using hand signs as they got more experienced. It’s clear that hand signs were taught to children and inexperienced Genins in a way to feel out their chakra pathways using physical memory. But once you gained prowess in controlling said chakra and chakra pathways? Yeah, Chunins and Jonins had no need for that. 

This happens to be a better reasoning than I initially imagined, which was just that animating the hand signs was too much effort for a long running Shonen series. But this does end up making more sense. Hand signs were a signature to the world building of Naruto, and it’s not like we don’t see it at all anymore. Still, let’s discuss how hand signs are assumed to work and why they stopped being used in another round of Lore Analysis!

Seals: What Are Hand Signs In Naruto?

So, I know we’re calling them hand signs, but they are actually known officially as ‘Seals’. The purpose of Hand Seals was to basically execute any ninjutsu, genjutsu and the like. The Hand Seals help Shinobi basically shape and direct the Chakra in a way that allows them to perform a number of Jutsus. 

They are represented by the animals that appear on the Chinese Zodiac, so think Snake, Boar, Dragon, Bird and so on. And usually, the animal seal you end with is specific to the element of the Jutsu you’re performing, like Snake being used for Wood Release Jutsus and Tiger being conducive for Fire Release.  

We started out seeing younger, more inexperienced Shinobi do complicated hand seal patterns for most Jutsus. However, the better one gets at controlling their Chakra and doing Jutsus, the less Hand Seals are required. Some people can even do famously complex Jutsus with just a single Hand Seal,using one hand. But the most talented ones are those Shinobi that require no Hand Seals whatsoever. 

So, Why Did Everyone Stop Doing Hand Signs?

If hand signs were so important, why did the Naruto characters stop doing them? Well, it’s because the main cast we were following grew up into being some of the best Shinobi the world had ever seen. And as stated before, the best don’t really need to use hand signs anymore to do Jutsus. 

A famous example of this is Sasuke Uchiha, who was able to light up his Chidori attack with nary a hand seal in sight. It almost feels like he can do it on pure whim. However, with other Fire Release Jutsus, he can manage with just one hand sign. Again, we know this isn’t a unique case because Tobirama Senju, who was the Second Hokage, was known for being able to do the same thing. 

And as other characters started gaining more power, they too ditched the long winded hand seal parade for a single sign to activate the Jutsus. It just became practice because, well, these were highly qualified Ninjas truly trained in their craft. Even disabled with only one limb, they were hard to beat and their Jutsus were second nature to them. 

Speaking about being one handed, the truly interesting thing through those who did still use Hand Seals was that if you needed to do a Jutsu that required two hands, both arms didn’t necessarily have to belong to you. I mean, Naruto Uzumaki managed to pull that one off with Sasuke, using their collective remaining limbs to make a hand sign that ended up dispeling the Infinite Tsukiyomi cast by Madara Uchiha. 

But hand signs in general? They have fallen out of style in Naruto and were pretty limited in the spin off, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations too. Still, they are a fundamental tool of the Shinobi World and something that every Naruto fan remembers fondly.