The Sword of Totsuka, also known as the Sakegari Longsword (酒刈太刀, Sakegari no Tachi, literally meaning: Sake Cutter Longsword), is a variant of the Sword of Kusanagi. Being a spirit sword sheathed in a sake jar, its blade is unlike any other — rather than a conventional form, it is actually the liquid inside the gourd that is released and shaped into a blade.[2][1]
Overview
The Totsuka Sword is an ethereal weapon whose blade, emerging from a sake jar, is enchanted with a sealing jutsu. Those stabbed by the sword are swiftly drawn into the jar and trapped in a genjutsu-like "world of drunken dreams" for all eternity. Itachi was able to use the sword to completely remove the Cursed Seal of Heaven from Sasuke Uchiha when he extracted Orochimaru from Sasuke's body and sealed him in the jar, and was also able to remove Nagato's soul from his body after Kabuto used the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation to control him.[1][2]
The sword can also cut through matter like a normal blade, thus granting a deal of versatility in how the blade is used. Being a variant of the Sword of Kusanagi, the sword can cut through almost anything, as seen when Itachi easily decapitated seven of the eight heads of Orochimaru's giant snake form.[3] Zetsu stated that Orochimaru sought the sword for all his life but could never find it.[2]
Along with the Yata Mirror, the Sword of Totsuka is a weapon wielded by Itachi's Susanoo, with the gourd being held by a second hand growing from its right forearm, while the actual blade is wielded by its right, foremost hand. Black Zetsu claimed that, together, these two weapons made Itachi's Susanoo invincible.[4]
Influence
- Totsuka no Tsurugi (十拳剣／十束剣, literally meaning: Sword of Ten Fists/Handbreadths) is a descriptive noun given to many generic swords said to be 10 hands long, including in Japanese myth. Example are the Ame-no-Ohabari (the sword used by Izanagi to kill his newborn son, Kagutsuchi) as well as the Ame-no-Habakiri (the sword used by the god Susanoo to slay the eight-headed and eight-tailed snake monster, Yamata-no-Orochi).
Trivia
- The sword has been popularly mistranslated as a "perfect counter to the Kusanagi".
- In the manga, the sword appears as an ethereal blade composed of liquid, but in the anime, it has a fiery appearance.[5]
- Itachi's Susanoo carries the Sword of Totsuka in a gourd. An ethereal weapon inside a gourd could be a reference to the hyōtan-kozō, a gourd spirit from Japanese folklore. This may also be a reference to how Susanoo used sake to get the Yamata-no-Orochi drunk before killing it with the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi.
- In the anime, the final form of Sasuke's Susanoo was erroneously depicted with a gourd in its secondary right hand.[6]
- Itachi's complete Susanoo was shown wielding a dagger in the manga, while in the anime it looked like the Sword of Totsuka complete with the gourd.[7]
- In Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, where Itachi gains the game-exclusive Complete Body — Susanoo form, the Sword of Totsuka also changes into a solid broadsword.