When Naruto ended, plenty of fans were sad to say goodbye to the characters. Luckily, many of those characters returned for the sequel series Boruto, with a whole new generation of ninjas in training. While the new series focuses on the title character, plenty of other members of the new generation appear. The children of Naruto’s friends and teammates have become Boruto’s classmates. Sarada Uchiha is, of course, one of them.
Though the series began with Sarada not thinking of herself as Boruto’s friend, she became a strong ally. The two, along with teammate Mitsuki, developed their skills to become a formidable group. They are all already more powerful as a group at this stage in their story compared to their parents. Along with all of those skills, fans have learned quite a bit about just why Sarada is the way she is. Her design is no accident, with aspects of her calling to mind both Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, and a lot of work went into bringing her to the new story.
Updated on January 19th, 2022 by Amanda Bruce: When the Boruto anime first began, plenty of fans of the series saw Sarada Uchiha as a bit of a know-it-all and a carbon copy of her mother because of the way she interacted with Boruto Uzumaki. As the series has continued, however, she's become a much more fleshed out character who has inherited a lot of characteristics from both of her parents while still evolving into her own person.
Sarada Has Type O Blood
Fans of the anime might not realize that there are an awful lot of stats and fun facts about the Boruto characters in the manga that don't always make it into the anime. One of those stats is blood types. Sarada Uchiha has Type O blood.
That might not seem significant to some members of the audience, but there is a pop culture phenomenon in Japanese culture that sees a lot of fictional characters and celebrities have their blood type listed in their biographies as blood type is thought to have an influence on personality. Type O is considered a natural leader, someone who is often optimistic, and someone who adapts to change quickly.
Sarada Can Restart Someone’s Heart
Medical ninjutsu typically takes a lot of training to master. In fact, Sakura spent years training under Fifth Hokage Lady Tsunade to gain the skills she has. Sarada seems to have inherited some of her mother’s aptitude for it.
It’s likely that what Sarada has actually inherited is her mother’s predilection for very precise chakra control. While Sarada doesn’t have quite as much knowledge as her mother, she can focus her chakra on a specific point. In fact, the novel School Trip Bloodwind Records revealed that Sarada is able to focus her chakra so intensely that she can actually restart someone’s heart with it. As Sarada reaches adulthood, her control will only become more precise.
Sarada Can Fly
Sarada can’t fly on her own. At least, she can’t do that yet. In a world where shinobi learn magical skills, maybe one day she will. With the help of her teammates, she has been known to launch into the air. During Team 7’s first official mission to help another village plagued by “robbers” who were really rival shinobi, the audience got to see Sarada fly.
During the course of a fight, Sarada realized that their opponent wasn’t dodging attacks, just blocking them. To make it more difficult, Boruto and Mitsuki combined their Wind Release power to launch Sarada at him. Sarada was able to read their opponent’s hand signs midair and take him on.
She Can See Through Genjutsu
If her mother was seen as a “genjutsu type” in Naruto despite never actually casting it, then fans already know that Sarada would have likely inherited that from Sakura. Sarada is actually even better at detecting genjutsu than Sakura was.
Sarada can spot a genjutsu very quickly, but with the aid of her Sharingan, she can do a little more. She can actually see through the genjutsu before she dispels it, giving her a bit of an edge over her teammates. In addition to being able to quickly identify it, Sarada is proficient in casting genjutsu as well. She was even able to catch her sensei in it during the Chunin Exams.
Sarada Is The Last Of The Uchiha Bloodline
Fans frequently like to cite Sasuke as the last of the Uchihas. They are technically correct that he is the last “pure” Uchiha, but he isn’t the last of the bloodline. Sarada Uchiha, despite not having a member of the clan as her mother, demonstrates that she’s an Uchiha through and through.
So far, she’s shown she can handle every bit of Uchiha inheritance thrown her way. Not only does that include a bad attitude when she doesn’t get her way, but it also includes a knack for a lot of the same jutsu as her father. She’s got even more power than he did at her age.
Sarada Originally Had Long Hair
Like her mother before her, Sarada was initially designed with very long hair. Masashi Kishimoto designed her with “long, sweeping,” hair according to the Japanese movie book Naruto Secret: Scroll of Country. That decision didn’t last, though. Sakura might have dramatically cut her hair during a fight in her youth, but Sarada’s was chopped off before the character even made it into the manga.
Kishimoto decided that the hair design wouldn’t work with Sarada’s serious focus on becoming a powerful shinobi (though that didn’t stop female characters in the past). He changed her hairstyle to a short cropped one instead.
Sarada Is A Fire Release Chakra Type
This might not come as a surprise to long time Naruto fans, but Sarada’s natural chakra inclination is for Fire Release. All of the Uchiha’s have a natural affinity for fire. The Nature Types of chakra can be classified into five groups in the world created by Masashi Kishimoto. There’s the Fire Release, Lightning Release, Wind Release, Water Release, and Earth Release. Though shinobi can show an affinity for more than one type of natural chakra, they are usually dominant in one.
Considering that the Uchiha clan had a right of passage that involved creating a fireball, it’s no surprise the last Uchiha is a Fire type.
Sarada Shares A Voice With Boruto
Many of the characters in the franchise have more than one voice artist bringing them to life. This doesn’t simply apply to the Japanese to English translations of the series either. Some of the characters that get more screen time in the Boruto animated series were actually introduced in the end of The Last: Naruto The Movie. One of those is Boruto himself. Boruto and his little sister Himawari were both revealed.
Boruto’s voice actress in the original Japanese language movie is Kokoro Kikuchi. Kikuchi voiced a much younger Boruto than we see in the newer series. She also happens to be the voice of Sarada in the current series.
Sarada Was Not Born In The Leaf Village
Unlike the majority of the young shinobi Sarada attended the Academy with, she wasn’t actually born in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Instead, she was born in an undisclosed location in the countryside. One of Sarada’s major story arcs involved her doubting her parentage for this very reason.
The hospital in Konoha had no record of Sarada’s birth, making her suspicious since her own mother is a medical ninja. As it turned out, Sakura accompanied Sasuke on a trip while she was pregnant. She ended up giving birth to Sarada in one of Orochimaru’s abandoned hideouts with the aid of Sasuke’s old teammate Karin.
Meeting Sasuke Awakened Sarada's Sharingan
The Sharingan is exclusive to the Uchiha clan. A unique power, it gives shinobi the ability to see faster than the normal human eye and copy the jutsu it observes. When fans first met Sarada, she didn’t have the Sharingan. Instead, she had been concentrating on the jutsu learned by Academy students as well as hand-to-hand combat.
For the Sharingan to awaken, a strong emotion has to occur in the shinobi. Unlike it’s Mangekyo variety, it doesn’t have to be sadness. When Sarada went to meet her father for the first time, she was so excited that the Sharingan opened to her. For a family that usually has tragedy awaken abilities, it was a nice change.
Sarada's Sharingan Is Exhausting
Like any powerful shinobi ability, the Sharingan requires practice to perfect control. Unfortunately for Sarada, she isn’t yet strong enough to use her power for an extended amount of time. While sparring with Chouchou after first awakening the Sharingan, it was almost too much for her. The two friends had to stop their match when Sarada was on the verge of fainting.
Likewise, Sarada has been forced to use it to give her friends an edge in a fight. After using it for too long, she’s had to be carried because her chakra levels are too low for her to walk. With time, this will likely change, and an adult Sarada will likely rival her father for ability to wield the Sharingan.
Sarada Was Cut From The Boruto Movie
When making movies, studios try to fit their story into a specific time constraint. With animated movies especially, shorter seems to be better. As a result, some planned stories get left on the cutting room floor.
Sarada found herself not appearing on the big screen quite as much. Boruto director Hiroyuki Yamashita revealed in a 2017 interview that there were more scenes between the young Uchiha and the title character than they were able to use. Interestingly, because the animation doesn’t differ much between the movie and the television series, some frames from the movie that were cut were used in sequences for the show.
Sarada Has Nearly Perfect Aim
In a world where ninjas are trained to be soldiers practically since birth, having good aim isn’t a standout skill. Having perfect aim, though? That’s something. The Uchihas have always had fantastic aim. Aided by their visual jutsu, they can excel in hitting targets that might be difficult for others.
Even without the aid of something like her Sharingan though, Sarada always hits her target. She even spent time training in the manga and managed to hit her target with her eye closed - more than five times in a row. Now, Sarada seems pretty perfect, but we’re sure if she’s having a particularly off day, she’d miss her target.
Sarada Can Copy Her Teammates
Yes, Sarada can copy jutsu with her Sharingan, but she’s also adept at copying the appearance of her teammates. Just like shinobi can perform clone jutsus to make more of themselves, they can also mimic the appearance of others. Some are better at this skill than others, creating passable versions of another person, but forgetting to employ the right mannerisms or give themselves the right scars.
Sarada is so good at copying Boruto that she managed to fool former Hokage Kakashi. Likewise, she tricked several guards into thinking that she was Mitsuki. She clearly knows her teammates well.
A High Fever Damaged Sarada's Vision
In the Naruto franchise, it’s rare to see a shinobi need the aid of glasses. After all, many of them can use jutsu to enhance their vision already. While Sarada could likely study a jutsu to aid her vision in her everyday life, it would be taxing on her chakra since she actually needs those glasses.
When she was very young, Sarada became ill. Her father was away on a mission, but with Sakura and her medical knowledge around, Sarada survived the extremely high fever. The fever damaged Sarada’s vision, and she ended up needing the aid of glasses. Her glasses were a gift from her father’s former teammate Karin.
Karin Has Sarada's Umbilical Cord
There was a brief time in which Sarada wasn’t sure Sakura was actually her mother. In addition to not remembering her own father, Sarada couldn’t get straight answers out of Sakura about him. When she found a picture of Karin with Sasuke, Sarada thought that she might have found her real mother.
This led to the testing of Sarada’s DNA against an umbilical cord in Karin’s possession, which matched. As it turned out, though, the umbilical cord was Sarada’s from Sakura giving birth to her. Karin kept it to feel closer to the family. Given Karin’s obsession with Sasuke a decade earlier, it’s hard to decide if this is creepy or sweet.
Sarada Can Protect Herself With Lightning
Fire Release might be Sarada’s primary Nature Type, but her secondary is Lightning Release. Sarada can do a lot with this particular Nature Type. One of her most powerful uses is turning lightning into armor.
Sarada can actually channel lightning around herself instead of using it as a weapon. The lightning then surrounds her body and acts like a shield. Because of the added electricity, the armor also gives a boost to her speed and electrocutes attackers. This particular brand of defense only occurs in the anime so far. Though the audience has seen villains use it in the original Naruto series, Sarada is the only one in Boruto’s generation to use it.
Sarada Has Characteristics From Both Parents
While it’s clear that she inherited different shinobi abilities from both of her parents, Sarada also inherited many of their physical attributes as well. Many fans are quick to point out that Sarada looks like her father thanks to her dark hair and pale skin. She also happens to have his eyes, but they’re usually not as noticeable because of the glasses she wears.
Masashi Kishimoto didn’t want the character to be a carbon copy of Sasuke. As a result, he drew Sarada with Sakura’s face shape. Like many of the new generation, she’s a perfect blend of her parents.
She Is Sailor Venus
Sarada’s English voice actress for the Boruto movie is Cherami Leigh. Though Leigh has done a lot of voice work in the past, she felt the pressure voicing Sarada, calling her “legendary.”
Leigh voices another legendary character as well. She’s the English voice of Sailor Venus in the new Sailor Moon Crystal series. Leigh is starting to make a habit of playing those legendary anime ladies.
She Can Channel Chakra Into Punches
Like her mother before her, Sarada has great chakra control. That means that she can do some pretty impressive feats without any weapons. Chakra is the energy that shinobi use to perform their different jutsu. They can also channel it into specific areas, like body parts or weapons, but it requires intense focus of their chakra. A lot of shinobi can channel their chakra into their weapons, but not, for example, into the tip of their finger.
Sarada can channel her own chakra and focus it through her fist, giving her one heck of a punch. In fact, she bested her opponent in her Chunin Exam in less than 30 seconds because she beat them with one punch.
She Can Carry Her Sensei
She might not be quite as advanced as her mother just yet when it comes to chakra control, but Sarada is certainly on her way to having Sakura’s super strength. In addition to being able to land one serious punch, Sarada can also lift much more weight than is normal for a girl of twelve.
During the “Ao” story arc in the manga, Team Konohamaru found themselves in a tussle with an antagonist named Ao. When Konohamaru found himself injured in the fight, his students kept going, but not before getting him to safety. In fact, the preteen Sarada carried their twenty-something sensei to safety.
Sarada Is Left-Handed
Just like in the real world, the dominant hand in the shinobi world appears to be the right hand. Most characters are drawn performing their jutsu with the help of the right hand. However, Sarada is a little bit different.
Studies estimate that 10% of people in the world are left-handed. In the fictional world of the shinobi, Sarada is one of them. Interestingly, while Sakura isn’t left-handed, Sasuke is. Even though she didn’t spend the bulk of her childhood training with her father, she appears to still pick up his habits.
Sarada Can Perform Cherry Blossom Impact
Cherry Blossom Impact is a particularly impressive feat of strength and chakra control. Much like Sarada being able to defeat an enemy with one punch, this method requires the user to focus their chakra in one hand. It also involves one swift hit.
The move gets its name from the type of damage it does. Once the shinobi strikes a target, small pieces of debris rise from the surface that look like flower petals, leaving cracks behind on the floor or wall that is hit. Only three shinobi in the franchise, that we know of, can perform this task. One is Sarada, and another is her mother. In the world of video games, the third is Tsunade.
A Team-Up Creates Lightning Ball Shuriken
Sarada is half of the only pair fans have seen use this “improvised secret technique.” Only occurring in the Boruto anime series so far, it involves Sarada teaming up with Boruto and using their secondary Lightning Release nature type chakra.
While both characters have different dominant chakra types (Fire and Wind), they’re able to tap into Lightning Release to infuse weapons with a little bit of a charge. In this case, they’re able to do it twice over. To perform this cooperation ninjutsu, Sarada first has to create balls of lightning from her own chakra. Then, Boruto infuses those spheres with the further lightning charged shuriken to create one big hit.
She Inspired Chouchou
Over the years, the Naruto franchise has been criticized for the way the creative team handled its female characters. With the focus predominantly on Naruto and Sasuke, and later on Boruto, Masashi Kishimoto isn’t known for creating fleshed out females in the universe.
The Boruto series sought to change that. Though Kishimoto isn’t always involved in the day-to-day writing, he is responsible for creating the initial characters as well as penning the original movie. To help make Sarada better than his female characters in the past, he actually did research into how to write and draw female characters better. According to an interview, though, he gave many of the characteristics he researched to Chouchou instead.
Sarada Looks Different In The Manga
Designs change as one artist takes over for another. That much is obvious from decades of comic book panels. Sarada’s case is a bit different, however. Designed as a child for the Naruto ending, her look evolved for the time skip before Boruto. There is still a big difference between her look in the manga and in the anime - even in the exact same storylines.
The manga features Sarada with clothing that hugs her figure, a short skirt, and heels, making Sarada look older than 12. The anime does the opposite, not trying to make her look like an adult just yet. The difference in portrayal has caused some controversy, as outlined by ComicBook.com.