Raïga Kurosuki : l'épéiste né de l'anime

Raiga Kurosuki: The Swordsman Born in the Anime

1897 words | Reading time: 10 min

A man weeps sincerely as he buries alive the person who crossed him: that is the image on which Raiga Kurosuki makes his entrance, in a mining town held by his gang. Six episodes, then nothing more — and yet this character invented for the anime ended up earning a place in the manga.

Contents

The Anime Caught Up by the Manga

Raiga Kurosuki appears in episode 152 of Naruto, aired in Japan on September 21, 2005, as the opening of a six-episode filler arc, "Kurosuki Family Removal Mission". Nothing set him apart from the filler antagonists written on an assembly line. Then Kishimoto brought him back: a flashback in the manga shows him among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist who corner a Konoha team, saved by Might Duy opening the Eight Inner Gates.

Hence a useful correction: Raiga is an anime-born character who became canon, not a mere filler extra. He is even the only case of its kind. His name betrays that origin: it is the only surname in the group that does not come from a fruit or a vegetable.

Katabami Kinzan and His Funerals

The profiles list him as a jonin of Kirigakure and a former Anbu turned rogue ninja — neither a candidate for the post of Mizukage nor a member of the Akatsuki. He reaches the Land of Rivers, seizes the mining town of Katabami Kinzan and founds the Kurosuki Family there, forcing the inhabitants to mine gold. Those inhabitants were at first relieved to see him overthrow leaders who were crushing them with taxes.

His obsession lies elsewhere: he gives a "funeral" to anyone who displeases him, meaning he buries them alive, weeping sincerely and recounting memories of his victim — people speak better of the dead than of the living, he says. Asked about Zabuza Momochi and Kisame Hoshigaki, he declares that he hates them, and all the swordsmen of the Hidden Mist along with them, without the reason ever being given.

Close-up of a man with long black hair under a hood, in the rain, his face streaming with tears and his smile wide
He sincerely mourns those he buries alive: the "funerals" are a ritual, not a figure of speech.

The Kiba, the Fangs of Thunder

The Kiba (牙, "Fangs") are twin swords infused with lightning, reputed to be the sharpest ever forged. They have nothing to do with Kiba Inuzuka, merely a homonym on the character for "fang". In Raiga's hands, they draw in natural lightning: as long as the storm lasts, he calls down bolts without a single gesture, and one is enough to floor Neji and Naruto.

His dependence on the blades is real: five of his six Lightning Release (Raiton) techniques go through them, and the "Avalanche Technique" is the only Lightning Release technique he ever showed without the Kiba. On the matter of succession, it is better to lay out the readings than to settle them: the attested wielders are Ameyuri Ringo, Mangetsu Hozuki, Raiga and Buntan, but no handover is ever shown. And it is not Raiga who returns through the Edo Tensei (Reanimation Jutsu), it is Ameyuri.

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Two slender swords crackling with blue lightning pin a man with outstretched arms against a rock face, watched by a figure seen from behind in purple clothing
The Kiba are two twin blades charged with lightning: five of Raiga's six Lightning Release techniques go through them.

Ranmaru and the Nameless Dojutsu

Ranmaru exists only in the anime. An orphan from Kirigakure, he cannot walk: his disability is motor, not ocular. His power is indeed a dojutsu coupled with a kekkei genkai, but it has never received an official name: for lack of anything better, the profiles call it "Ranmaru's Kekkei Genkai".

This sight sees and hears over very long distances, passes through obstacles and, above all, perceives life force, where the Byakugan only reads an active chakra network. His "Phantom Chakra Technique" creates decoys endowed with a real chakra network, undetectable even to Neji — hence the title of episode 154, "The Natural Enemy of the Byakugan". Ranmaru supplies eyes and ears, not a tenfold boost of chakra.

Extreme close-up of the face of a child with purple hair cut in a bob, both eyes red and glowing
This sight has never received an official name: the profiles fall back on "Ranmaru's Kekkei Genkai".

Two Falls, a Reversed Ending

The team sent out brings together Naruto and Team Guy without Guy: Rock Lee, Neji Hyuga and Tenten. On site, Sansho's Curry of Life shop serves as a refuge, and the dish provides the arc's running gag: containing alcohol by accident, it leaves Rock Lee drunk while Neji passes out from the spice. This curry is a dish, not a jutsu.

The ending has two falls, and that is where summaries go off the rails. The first comes from a Rasengan that leaves Raiga unconscious at the foot of a cliff, before Ranmaru revives him by transferring his own life force. The second comes when Ranmaru begs him to stop killing: Raiga sees it as a betrayal, goes down under the shadow clones, then electrocutes himself in midair to give himself his own funeral. The mirror held up to Zabuza and Haku is deliberate, but Ranmaru survives, walks again and becomes an apprentice cook.

A plate of rice topped with bright red curry, set on a wooden table next to a spoon
The Curry of Life is a dish, not a technique: it is what gets Rock Lee drunk and makes Neji pass out.

Buntan Kurosuki, the Heiress

In the Boruto anime, Buntan Kurosuki, a kunoichi from Kirigakure, turns out to be his daughter. She takes up the Kiba within the "New Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist", and also appears in a novel, but never in the manga. Raiga, for his part, was unaware of her existence his whole life.

The father-daughter relationship is regularly reversed online. It was Buntan's mother who despised Raiga, the one who kept telling her daughter that she was worthless, "just like her father". Buntan, for her part, admires this father she never met and resents Naruto for killing him. Three of her techniques come from him, and Sarada Uchiha copies them in turn.

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A young blonde kunoichi wearing a Kirigakure forehead protector holds a long slender sword in each hand, their guards shaped like fangs
Buntan takes up the Kiba among the New Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, in the Boruto anime and in a novel — never in the manga.

Summary Table

Aspect Details
Identity Raiga Kurosuki (黒鋤雷牙), known as the "Thunder of Kirigakure". Jonin of Kirigakure and former Anbu turned rogue ninja, then head of the Kurosuki Family. 195 cm on record. Lightning Release, plus Water Release in the anime only.
Appearances ANIME: episode 152 of Naruto, "Kurosuki Family Removal Mission" arc, episodes 152 to 157. MANGA: one flashback only, among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist facing Might Duy. Ranmaru, for his part, is one hundred percent anime.
Weapon — the Kiba Twin swords 牙 ("Fangs"), also called 雷刀 ("thunder swords"), handed down since the era of the First Mizukage. Other attested wielders: Ameyuri Ringo, Mangetsu Hozuki, Buntan. Succession disputed.
Ranmaru An orphan from Kirigakure (113 cm) unable to walk, bearer of a kekkei genkai dojutsu with no official name: perception over very long distances, vision of life force, red dust that blinds the Byakugan.
Ending Two falls, the Rasengan then the shadow clones, but it is Raiga who electrocutes himself in midair. Ranmaru survives and becomes an apprentice cook at Sansho's.

FAQ

  • Is Raiga Kurosuki canon or just a filler character?
    Both, in that order. He is born in the anime, in episode 152, at the heart of a filler arc, before Kishimoto brought him back into the manga through a flashback where he appears among the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. He is even the only anime-born character the manga has absorbed.
  • Who really wields the Kiba: Raiga or Ameyuri Ringo?
    Both, but the order remains disputed: Ameyuri Ringo passes for the earliest known wielder, while Raiga is their debut wielder, in the sense of first appearance on screen. The only certainty lies in the list of wielders: Ameyuri, Mangetsu, Raiga, then Buntan.
  • Is Ranmaru's power a Byakugan?
    No. It is indeed a dojutsu coupled with a kekkei genkai, but that power has never received an official name. It perceives life force and therefore tells whether someone is alive or dead, where the Byakugan only reads an active chakra network. The resemblance sometimes noted with the Ketsuryugan concerns only the appearance of the eyes and the strength of the genjutsu.
  • How does Raiga die?
    Naruto does hit him with the Rasengan, but that is not what kills him: that fall leaves him unconscious at the foot of a cliff, and Ranmaru revives him at the cost of his own life force. The second comes when Ranmaru begs him to stop killing: Raiga sees it as a betrayal, goes down under the shadow clones, then electrocutes himself in midair.
  • Does his daughter Buntan hate him?
    It is the opposite of what is often read: it was her mother who despised Raiga, to the point of telling the child over and over that she was worthless. Buntan, a medical ninja from Kirigakure, admires this father she never met and resents Naruto for killing him, when Raiga in fact took his own life.

In summary

Raiga Kurosuki owes his place to an accident of production: designed for a filler arc, he is the character the manga went back for. What remains is a duo written as a reflection of Zabuza and Haku, but whose ending forks: the child survives, walks again, and the man gives himself the funeral he handed out to others.

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