ANBU

Biodata

Organization and Command

Hokage’s ANBU and Root

• Although Root personnel are repeatedly called “ANBU” or “Danzō’s ANBU,” Tsunade explicitly distinguishes Lin Chuan and Terai’s Root affiliation from ordinary ANBU membership 44.
• ANBU generally undertake missions in teams of two or four. Larger deployments include Leopard’s border reinforcement force 45 91.
• Mission information can be compartmentalized: ANBU sent to the Uchiha District learn only upon arrival that their assignment is to seal it off 25.

Known Personnel

Recruitment and Training

Root Recruitment

Danzō recruits gifted children from ninja clans, ordinary families, and orphanages. His demands are coercive: Shibi Aburame struggles to resist the recruitment of Shino, while Lin Chuan’s father is treated as having no meaningful right to refuse 25 26.

Torune Aburame volunteers in Shino’s place. Terai, a talented Shimura clan child, is an exception to the unwilling recruits: he applies voluntarily because he believes ANBU training will temper his abilities 25 35.

• Lin Chuan’s intake gathers more than thirty children at an underground training ground 28.
• Recognized trainees include Fū Yamanaka, Torune Aburame, Sai, Shin, Terai, and Lin Chuan 28 35.
• Ryūma announces an elimination rate approaching 90%, describing the survivors as obedient tools without independent emotion or will 28.

Documented Selection Stages

Abilities and Operational Skills

Surveillance and Intelligence

• ANBU monitor Naruto and investigate people who approach him, including Lin Chuan’s family history and training progress 12 13.
• Reports reach the Hokage through intelligence scrolls and direct briefings 13 15.
• Their observations contribute to assessments of ninja strength; Lin Chuan’s graduation file includes a possible Tokubetsu Jonin-level evaluation 81.

Infiltration and Disguise

• Root’s curriculum includes infiltration, disguise, tracking, and intelligence gathering 28.
• Lin Chuan and Terai conceal their conspicuous uniforms and pose as beggars while observing a rogue ninja in Tanzaku Town 42.
• Training teaches operatives to hide among populated areas and use storerooms or low-traffic buildings for temporary shelter 62.

Assassination and Combat

• Silent assassination, extreme ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu training are explicit parts of Root’s curriculum 28.
• Border trainees use coordinated Body Flicker attacks to kill looting samurai before they can react 45 46.
• The assassination test emphasizes reconnaissance, civilian cover, and attacks on vulnerable targets rather than direct confrontation 47.

Protective Intervention

• ANBU use genjutsu to divert Naruto away from Lin Chuan’s confrontation with the Uchiha while continuing to observe the fight 15.
• Tsunade assigns Shadow to protect Shikamaru’s retrieval squad covertly, rather than tasking him with intercepting Sasuke himself 105.

Rules and Secrecy

Root Discipline

• Recruits are told to abandon names, personal histories, emotions, and family bonds 28.
• Danzō’s orders take precedence over everything else; Ryūma declares missions more important than life and failure punishable by death 28.
• Defection brings pursuit by fellow trainees, backed by Root’s surveillance network 42.

Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal

• Developed by Danzō and placed on Root members’ tongues to prevent intelligence leaks 28.
• Attempts to disclose forbidden information about Root or Danzō trigger paralysis and suppress speech or action 29.
• The seal is linked to Danzō’s life and is automatically removed only after his death 29.

No-Corpse Rule

• ANBU must not leave bodies for enemies to recover, because a corpse can expose a ninja’s secrets 28 106.
• Lin Chuan and Terai burn their executed target’s body after beheading it 44.
• Lin Chuan ultimately burns his own body when escape from Orochimaru appears impossible. Kakashi recognizes the ashes, mask, and blade as the result of the no-corpse rule 106.

Equipment and Facilities

• Masks — Conceal identities and distinguish operatives visually; Lin Chuan initially chooses a white mask with black facial markings 28.
• Protective equipment — Standard vests and arm guards fitted to recruits’ height and weight 28.
• Weapons — Short blades, kunai, and shuriken issued through logistics 28.
• Mission supplies — Ninja tool pouches, Soldier Pills, and medical supplies; border outposts replenish deployment provisions 28 42 45.
• Root facilities — Two-person dormitories, an underground training ground, logistics and sealing departments, and underground passages 27 28 30.
• Forest of Death — Used as a Root training ground, sealed off from outsiders during the wilderness exercise 30.

History and Major Operations

ANBU Outside Konoha

Kusagakure

• Kusagakure deploys ANBU alongside tracking teams to pursue Lin Chuan after his killings and escape 59 61.
• Two pursuing ANBU request reinforcements by Messenger Hawk after witnessing casualties far beyond what they expect from a newly graduated Genin 61.
• They initially believe Lin Chuan is a Kusagakure missing-nin, not a foreign infiltrator 61.
• At the Land of Fire border, they stop rather than cross, eventually reporting that the Water Release user vanished into the sea 62.

Impersonation

• Before formally joining Tsunade’s ANBU, Lin Chuan uses his old mask and uniform to intimidate enemies. At a border outpost, he explicitly identifies himself as not currently ANBU 91 94.
• The reincarnated Kabuto disguises himself as ANBU during the Chunin Exams finals to approach Lin Chuan’s Shadow Clone and attack it 104.