Archive of Our Own

Disclosure:

Hello everyone! This is a post I wanted to share and see what the thoughts are regarding this, as it specifically does not seem addressed. it was hard as shit to answer lol because:

1. I could not legit find a single reddit post dedicated just to the breakdown by breakdown of the Jutsu. Usually it's discussions around it, maybe a paragraph at best trying to explain it, but that's it. So I literally ended up having to trek through unknown waters. Googling stuff and checking manga chapters and summaries again and trying to find anything related to it. As a side note I did not know someone already attempted this. Here is a lovely post you can check here for reference Hiraishin's Madness - KyuremKing - Naruto [Archive of Our Own]. For full disclosure, I was NOT aware of this post as I mainly focused trying to find a resource on reddit. This is my first time seeing it. Shout out to the author here, and I recommend checking's theirs's out too for more head canons on this technique!

2. Trying to explain the FTG was the easier part ironically. It was the elephant in the room saying "address me," regarding Minato and tobirama, which shall be explained later on down below.

Introduction:

Alright, so for full disclosure, I am not sober typing this all out, so forgive me if the text seems...not all there lol.

This is something I thought about before. Now to be honest, I have different head canons regarding specifically how it all came to be. I even made a whole clan and background and lore for all of that because how the jutsu is presented in canon, how it was learned (or not). Which among many other things of science and mathematics, makes me question quite a lot of things, but that is a story for another day.

So, the goal is to do three-fold.

1. Try to mechanically explain how the jutsu would work in an in-universe sense, for example if you had to re-create it.

2. Build a plausible, in-universe explanation for the Flying Raijin that respects the complexity of it, without inventing new lore or head canons from scratch (I've already done this. I'm more interested in the challenge of just using the source material to explain shit).

3. Explain why it is often not seen in the world.

The scale of knowing the jutsu.

First, we need to establish something very quickly. Teleportation, as in the real-world field of it, is a highly complicated, scientific, and mathematical endeavor. I want you to look (or skim) all of these topics below just to get a sense of how intense this all is:

Linear Algebra
Functional Analysis
Differential Geometry
Topology
Complex Analysis
Probability Theory
physics
Astrophysics
quantum mechanics
Wavefunctions & Hilbert spaces
Quantum entanglement
Measurement theory
Bell’s theorem
No-cloning theorem (which forbids copying quantum states)
Decoherence
Quantum Field Theory
General Relativity
Quantum Gravity
Thermodynamics
Special Relativity

...As you can see, it is a lot. And don't worry I'm not gonna get into the super technical shit of all of this as that will get boring very fast but just keep in mind the sheer scale of what we are talking about just for the subject matter of teleportation as both a theoretical and practical endeavor.

And as always with any science-based fiction speculation, yes, I will be stretching concepts or reaching for straws perhaps. The point is to try and explain the mechanics of something that the usual explanations are usually "it just does" or "summoning jutsu" without further explanations. Which to be fair they are not wrong. The manga did not extrapolate or explain further either.

Part 1: A Systems-Based Deconstruction of the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Now we can get into the good stuff. For context I am assuming the physics of the world of Naruto is still relatively coherent enough that what I am gonna say makes sense. 2+2 should not equal fish there.

The common fandom explanation often times consists of calling the Flying Thunder God (Hiraishin) a "self-reverse-summon". But to this me is just a label, and not an actual explanation to the technique itself.

I think it is better not to treat it as just a single jutsu, but as an intersecting technique of both the so-called "magic" system of Naruto, and a sort of chakra science.

Now in my mind, the flying thunder god is not a derivative of the summoning jutsu. In my mind they are parallel to each other. A very simple umbrella that can encompass both, as a term, could be something like "Fuinjutsu-based Space-Time Manipulation."

The process of the flying thunder god:

1. Foundational principles.

The formula for the jutsu, what is actually written on to the kunai or when placed on someone, is not just a beacon or a teleportation marker in the traditional sense. Think of it like an anchor, an extremely complex piece of code, that is...well anchored into space-time itself.

The analogy is like so. Reality is like a big invisible grid. A person can move in the X and Y axis of the world. But the Hiraishin formula is a piece of code that creates a "Z-axis coordinate", which is a point that exists outside of normal space but is anchored to a specific physical location. The code then isn't just calligraphy (the symbols or actual written part), but also an applied form of topological mathematics. It describes a specific curvature of space-time. Writing the formula is the equivalent of solving a complex differential equation that defines a stable wormhole's entry/exit point. In other words, you are practically setting up a point you will want to teleport to and or from.

2. The Mechanism: Coordinate Swapping, Not Travel!

So a person using the jutsu does not travel from point A to point B. Because "travel" implies a movement of space, which will always take time. The jutsu does something else, which is coordinate rewriting. The user's own spatial coordinates are overwritten with the coordinates of the anchored formula.

The process for this:

Remember how I said I'll be saying vague science fiction explanations bs? Here is a big chunk of it lol:

1. Disassociation: The user floods their own chakra network with a specific frequency, momentarily "un-anchoring" their existence from their current spatial coordinates. This is the most dangerous step, requiring immense chakra control and mental fortitude. A slight mistake could cause the user to dissipate into raw energy

2. Target lock: The user's chakra resonates with a specific, chosen formula marker (Think when Minato threw a bunch of them kunai around and also that marker on bee's tail during his fight with the raikage).

3. Re-association: The jutsu executes the "swap." The user's disassociated form is instantly re-anchored to the spatial coordinates defined by the target formula.

...and TA-DA! You are ready to stab or slice a mofo in the throat like a bunch of young genin from iwa. Or hold a kunai above a certain bee's neck! Or Rasengan a guy who you think is Madara into his back!

Part 2: The Barriers to Replication (Why It's So Hard).

1. The Academic Barrier. You must first derive the formula. This isn't something you can just "figure out." It would require decades of research into the foundational principles of fuinjutsu, studying ancient Uzumaki texts (the only known source for this level of theory probably), and essentially inventing a new branch of mathematics. We have academics and PhD candidates and researchers and graduates who dedicate their whole lives just to one branch of mathematics or science and there is still so much unknown out there in the universe. Now the challenge is this, where to find this research for the formula, or notes, or other things? Did other people research this and output it into the world? If they did, surely no hidden village would let their military research be leaked right? Konoha's library might contain fragments of Uzumaki research, but the core principles are likely lost or heavily coded. Someone new to all of this would have to be a codebreaker, a historian, and a theoretical physicist all in one. And that is assuming you are granted access to the research.

2. The Engineering Barrier (The Jutsu Crafter). Once you have the theoretical formula, you must translate it into a functional jutsu. Otherwise, it is all just theoretical. This requires an immense level of shape and nature transformation. Now, the jutsu itself probably needs what I would call virtual chakra nature. This is a perfect blend of Yin (shaping reality from nothing) and Yang (breathing life into the form) Release. The user must be able to generate and control this unique chakra signature with perfect stability. This is the kind of research output for folk like Diddymaru and certified hater of the Uchiha Tobirama.

3. The Practical Barrier (The Combat Shinobi). Let's be honest with each other. Even if you have the formula and the jutsu, you must have the physical and mental capacity to use it in combat. The reaction speed required to use the Hiraishin defensively is insane. You must be able to perceive a threat, select a target marker, and execute the coordinate swap in a fraction of a second. This is the domain of a natural prodigy like Minato, and of course the former Tobirama. Furthermore, the mental strain of constantly disassociating and re-associating your consciousness from reality would probably drive a lesser mind insane. Notice I am implying something, which is that you need mental fortitude and a strong sense of self and will to be able to use it properly.

Part 3: How Tobirama and Minato Did It (Synthesis, Not Invention)

And bruh...Now this is where shit starts to get weird. To be honest trying to explain the FTG is easier than trying to wrap my head around these two and their relation to the jutsu.

1.Tobirama was likely the theorist and engineer. Keep in mind he is the creator and starter of it all. As the founder of many of Konoha's systems and a big jutsu creator later on, this implies throughout his life he had the intellect to decipher some amount of uzumaki fuinjutsu, see other villages (and likely other clans during the warring states period) approach to fuinjutsu, and craft the base jutsu. Keep in mind, his placement and creation of the Uchiha police, Anbu, and later Academy System all show a mind driven to order and structure. Keep in mind, he already had the flying raijin during the warring states. Whatever his intellectual and psychological frame of mind was, the same mind that had before made the jutsu is the same mind that would later on go on to build a lot of what we see in konoha today.

2. Minato was probably the master practitioner of it. He didn't invent the math of it perhaps, or maybe he did his own subfield, but he was the first person with the natural reflexes, tactical genius, and chakra control to take Tobirama's jutsu and turn it to something more than just "throw kunai at person, teleport, swing sword." It is shown however at the fight with Juubito, Tobirama was able to place a teleporting seal on him (chapter 641). As well as other interesting feats. This raises the question in terms of how much and how far Tobirama took FTG, when he learned certain applications of the jutsu (like placing an anchor), and also the...implications of knowing such an ability to place a seal to teleport to, and so on with the flying thunder god, and how much farther Minato took it. Whether by a lot, or only a little, I don't know

FYI: Also, I will be addressing later on a sort of debate I've seen floating around regarding who is better at FTG, and where the issues stem from that, as even here as you can read, there is some muddiness of the waters in terms of who is "better".

Conclusion:

Recreating the Flying Raijin is like trying to build a computer from scratch, with all that entails. Like seriously, everything from scratch. Motherboard, CPU, Ram, GPU, and so on. You can't just be a good programmer, and you'd be surprised that yes, there are programmers who would fail putting together a pc without setting it all on fire. You also need to be a physicist who understands quantum mechanics (Computers are built on logic gates, and logic gates work using quantum mechanics. For more information in a casual discussion find here), an engineer who can design a microprocessor, and a manufacturer who can assemble it all together. The reason it's so rare in-universe perhaps is that it requires a singular individual to possess the genius-level skills of three different, highly specialized fields and subfields within those fields.

Sources to be noted so far:

The Teleportation of External Mass (Engineering Barrier)

Naruto Chapter 502. Minato teleports the entirety of Kurama's Tailed Beast Ball away from the village. This feat is arguably one of the most impressive and coolest in the entire series. Minato doesn't just teleport himself. He teleports a colossal, hyper-dense sphere of energy, a tailed beast bomb. The chakra control and the sheer power required to disassociate and re-associate that much mass/energy without it detonating in his face is genuinely impressive. It proves the jutsu isn't just a personal mobility tool then. it's capable of manipulating fundamental forces on a massive scale. This act alone requires a mastery of shape and nature transformation that is borderline insane to have to begin with.

This is a post regarding tobirama that I will reference a bit. It clearly is a post showing, with good evidence mind you (sadly most deleted), that simply saying minato was better at FTG than Tobirama might not be right at all

Post thoughts. On Minato and Tobirama, and the insane mental requirements for the jutsu

This section will shift gears, but I want to highlight it because this is something kind of needing to be pointed out. I don't want to present anything here as an answer, but just a series of questions and observations that makes me wonder.

1. Chapter 631.

So this is the chapter where you often see people say that tobirama says Minato is better than he is for teleportation. The anime too. The problem here is one of the original words. Tobirama specifically uses the word "Shunshin (瞬身)", which is often used for the Body Flicker Technique. He does not use the word "Hiraishin". So to summarize again:

• Shunshin (Body Flicker): High-speed physical movement powered by chakra. It is "super speed," not teleportation.

• Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God): Actual Space-Time Ninjutsu that instantly transports the user across dimensions to a marked seal. 

• Reframing the scene: Because Tobirama specifically praised Minato's Shunshin, I've seen many argue that he was only complimenting Minato’s physical reaction speed or chakra activation speed, rather than his skill with the Flying Thunder God technique itself. 

• The "Speed" Argument: Since the Flying Thunder God is instantaneous (teleportation takes 0 seconds), it is impossible to be "faster" than teleportation itself (unless you're the flash from DC universe, in which case, go crazy!). Therefore, Minato being "better" implies he can activate the jutsu faster or physically move faster to place his tags, or has a better application.

• The "Arrival" Context: Minato arrived on the battlefield well before the other Hokage. Since they all had to travel from the Leaf Village to the battlefield, Minato likely used a combination of Shunshin (running fast) and Hiraishin (teleporting to forward markers) to outpace Tobirama, although again it is possible it was just Shunshin that minato was using here.

One again, this post further goes into it.

2. Minato's seal disappearing.

Later on in the war arc, chapters 638-642 I think, we see that after obito becomes the ten tails Jinchūriki, the teleportation anchor disappears (Chapter 640 first page if I am not mistaken as Minato stated it). As one can see, Obito's transformation into the Jinchūriki was not a simple power-up given the changes to his being. it was a fundamental change of his physical and spiritual existence leading to the transformation.

Now we get the curious case of Tobirama. During the same battle later on, Tobirama reveals he can still teleport to Obito. He explains that during their brief initial clash, he managed to physically touch Obito and apply his own Hiraishin formula. Tobirama's seal, applied after the transformation, worked perfectly.

One wonders here if the seal was stronger, in that it can endure the new state from Juubito. Or if it simply means the transformation itself was the unmaker, so that even if tobirama placed his own seal, the same would have happened.

Assuming, however, that Tobirama's seal does work where Minato's would not, it could imply:

Minato's Formula: Could be a more elegant, refined version optimized for speed and efficiency, but perhaps more "surface-level." It attaches to the target's existing chakra network. This could mean he can teleport more frequently.

Tobirama's Formula: Could be a more archaic, "brute-force" version. Perhaps it doesn't just attach to the chakra network then, as it physically brands a spatial coordinate onto the target's very soul or atomic structure, making it harder to erase through biological and/or spiritual change. This would align with Tobirama's more pragmatic and less elegant personality.

Once again, however, arguments still continue and are made in terms of who is better at teleportation between the two, not in the speed of it, as again you cannot arrive less than at 0 seconds to somewhere, but in the application and usage of it outside of just pointing from point a to point b. Also debates whether either side have the exact same tool kit or not. And also questions regarding the Guiding Thunder jutsu Minato used against Kurama. Is it something he can use whenever and wherever, or does it require significant prep and set up?

3. Shunshin

This is the thing that trips people up, as translations into English often just use "teleport". And again as we have noted, a body flicker does not equal flying thunder god. This is probably where a big bulk of the confusion stems from in terms of when someone used ftg or not.

This particular comment and later debate clearly shows where arguments are made in terms of when body flicker or ftg was used or not, and what the comments are applying to.

Another post talking about it and whether minato is truly better or not at it.

4. Having the brains and time to use it.

This is something I have been hinting at for a while, but it really does need to be said. Now one must wonder, and ask, if these fields exist in the world of naruto. You know the various scientific and mathematical fields I mentioned before. More importantly, how the fuck did tobirama and minato have the respective times to study or learn any of this or could have independently invented multiple, entirely new fields of post-graduate and theoretical science in their spare time? Keep in mind, at the very least with tobirama, homeboy here out here in the warring states period, when in theory it's a slaughter zone. How did he learn it? How did he find the time to learn it? What or who inspired him for this (beyond perhaps beating the sharingan's precognition)? What fields were there? Did he travel to school? How can a child soldier be justified to take the time off to learn the various schools of the sciences and mathematics when he has enemies to beat? Or did he just create these branches by himself in the spare time of cutting up uchiha and being a racist? Minato one could argue perhaps in favor of having the time for it all, but still. He was in the academy. Tobirama had already passed and probably sealed away notes on FTG, but I am sure a stubborn and genius yellow haired person was able to get his way. Still, however, the dude still had to have been busy between missions, duty to the village, kushina shenanigans, life's nonsense, and so on. AND keep in mind, even being a Jonin sensei later on, then hokage, then somewhere during all of this...make rasengan...And keep a nice clean desk in the hokage office.

But yes, the sheer level of intelligence for either one to accomplish what they did in a world that seems honestly hostile to learning is mind boggling (keep in mind all of the villages harboring secrets, your body seen as having vital or state secrets, and the paranoia of the shinobi world, and also how many people seem ignorant of the history of the world. Then again you get moments like when in the Kazekage Rescue Arc, Kakashi tells Chiyo that the very concept of what a Jinchuriki even is, is classified information in Konoha. All for danzo to...leak it. Comment here reminded me of this important information).

Here is something else to ponder on. Just using the FTG isn't about being "smart". Being "smart" or "intelligent" does not grant you access to insane reflexes, processing speed, and so on beyond simple problem solving...or does it? It makes me wonder perhaps if the FTG is also a cognitive enhancement tool. Activating it doesn't just move your body but also amps the mind, for it temporarily elevates a person's mind to a state where such calculations are possible. This reframes the difficulty then for learning it. Learning the Hiraishin isn't just learning it but also learning how to survive having your brain overclocked to god-like speeds without suffering mental collapse or fatigue. Keep in mind Minato himself noting the jutsu is chakra intensive. So you either gotta have large chakra pools or be extremely proficient and efficient in chakra usage.

Now here is something to think about.

Minato vs raikage and bee. This happens in chapter 542 if I remember right

Now I am not going to powerscale here or say who won or whatever or if Minato and Itachi should get married and have each other's babies and have fanfictions of different stuff with them. Powerscaling is something I do not like to touch or talk about and is one of my least favorite things to think about. Which yes i know, sadge, because a lot of naruto is dominated by "haha jutsu go big boom!" Which to be fair I can't blame them. My own neurons activate and I return back to monke when I see a kamehameha in dragon ball.

Now this is war. Raikage is in his lightning release chakra mode and shit. Now his combat and travel speed should be good. In the first charge, Minato is able to react to his speed, albeit you can see a small smudge on his nose, page 14 I think? He lands elsewhere, then lands just above the raikage ready to do him in before bee saves him.

Anyways think about it. Like step by step think about what he did in this short span:

1. He was able to perceive that A is moving way too fast to use a shunshin or any other dodging technique. FTG is mandatory here.

2. He was able to analyze the current immediate situation around him to not be confused or feel a sense of vertigo or feel like it's all jarring from the quick one-two teleportation to the tree, then back at A. Keep in mind, the kunai he held in his right hand, he planned to leave it behind A as you can see it in the air, not a mistake. It was a setup for a chain of events.

3. He then had to calculate how fast A was moving to not undershoot or overshoot the teleportation once he was able to land on the tree and see where A was going, then to teleport back in time, and also not overthrow or underthrow the kunai in the heat of a life and death moment, so he could teleport just in time for a seamless transitionless kill on him

4. This arguably is the craziest part. Even when bee screwed up his plan to get the kill on A, he still immediately improvises by placing the seal on bee's tentacle, meaning even when he is committed to a highly complicated and complex plan, he is able to not be tunnel focused so much that he can't use or see other good opportunities.

5. All of this coming away to the actual execution where he is doing this in real time and does not have a pause button nor can he afford to screw up once during this whole sequence and still have an open mind to take an advantage when something doesn't go your way in this complex plan.

6. As a side note, this is a nice feat for killer bee. So, the big thing needed here is perception for him. Either he knew what Minato was going to do and thus was already in the process of saving A, thus explaining the tentacle helping save him. Or Bee genuinely had such insane reaction timing that even without knowing the full setup from Minato, he was able to save A. This could also explain how bee was so cold when Minato then teleported behind him ready to kill him, as he reacted to Minato appearing behind him. Or, he perceived Minato placing the ftg anchor on the tentacle, and he was prepared to reverse uno him, as chapter 543 showed he had the tail behind him, still active. Perhaps a bait? It makes me wonder. And again keep in mind, we are operating under the strict assumption and idea that Minato is not special. No KKG, no famous clan, no special bloodline progenitor shenanigans. Bee being able to react to him, a perfect jinchuriki mind you, just shows how far Minato, a normal guy really, was able to push the heavy hitters of the universe.

In the end, Minato performs a series of complex, multi-variable tactical calculations, makes a decision, and executes a flawless physical maneuver in less time than it takes for a lightning-fast punch to travel some feet. This is not just "fast reflexes." This is a level of cognitive processing and decision-making speed that seems biologically impossible. It implies a mind that operates on a completely different timescale from normal humans. The manga presents these feats as evidence of Minato's "genius." To be honest, him or tobirama for that matter being this intelligent invites its own issues and problems. Perhaps questioning their logic or choices in life, regardless of how fair the questions may be. This is why I wondered if the jutsu, upon activation or when "primed, if it amps their mentals to extreme degrees. And keep in mind, if we wish to use the Minato one shot, then he already had this jutsu before learning rasengan! And as I said before, the manga, really the narrative as a whole is committed to presenting him not as a biological freak of nature. No special clan. No bloodline. No hashirama cells or other enhancements. Not even a "powerful" parent like in Kakashi's case. He did have Jiraiya as a sensei...but Jiraiya never once demonstrated or showed any hint of an idea towards using FTG. Home boy pirated rasengan from his own student mind you. So that whole sensei-student relationship makes me wonder what Jiraiya taught him (besides peeping at bathhouses).

The end

Phew! Man, that was a lot. I'll be honest when I say this probably the hardest head canons I ever try to come up with. Especially because I could not really find a post dedicated just to trying to solve this on reddit. Again the AO3 post I mentioned all the way in the beginning I only saw after making all of this and, out of curisoity really, decided to check on ao3 if someone talked about it. And sure enough someone did! Again, I did not see their post prior to making all of this. On reddit, I mean you have discussions regarding it, but nothing like an attempt to fully break it down and explain how it works. I am just glad someone else did talk about this.

If anyone wants to use my concept for their fanfiction or really likes my answer, I appreciate a shoutout for your local insane man here.

As a side note, this post was in response to another post, here and here.