Whether they be protagonists or antagonists, Naruto features plenty of intriguing characters. Each character has amassed a sizable fan base because of their unique personality and powers. One such enigmatic and complex character that captivated fans in Naruto Shippuden is the Akatsuki member Sasori. Known for his exceptional puppetry skills, abilities, and distinct persona, Sasori is one of the most memorable characters in the series. So, if you are curious to learn more, let’s look at some interesting and lesser-known facts about the Sasori of the Red Sand in the Naruto universe.
Spoiler Warning: This article contains spoilers about Sasori from Naruto. So make sure to watch the anime or read the manga first to avoid ruining your experience.
1. Sasori’s Official Stats from the Naruto Databook
Sasori is one of the strongest members of Akatsuki and if you are wondering how powerful he is in each department, no worries. Sasori’s official stats from Intelligence to Genjutsu were revealed in the Naruto Secret: Scroll of People Character Official Databook. Although he hasn’t got a superhuman level of strength, he has greater scores in all other aspects, which made him one of the best fighters of Akatsuki and in the whole anime.
Stats Intelligence Strength Speed Stamina Hand seals Ninjutsu Taijutsu Genjutsu Total Points 5 3 4.5 5 4 5 4 4 34.5
2. Reason Behind Sasori’s Title of the Red Sand
Sasori has a cool nickname “Sasori of the Red Sand” and many fans are often curious as to why he got this title in the first place. After Sasori mastered the art of puppetry, he quickly rose up to be a powerful character feared by many. Especially during the 3rd shinobi world war, Sasori was able to splatter the blood of his opponents over the sands using his puppets. That is why he became renowned as Sasori of the Red Sand.
3. Sasori Initially Declined the Invitation to Akatsuki
After Sasori left Sunagakure village (twenty years ago), he turned his body into a puppet. And right after this, he was approached by Konan of the Akatsuki. Konan asked him to join their organization to which Sasori surprisingly refused the offer straight up. But Konan challenged him to a fight to which Sasori replied that he will join them if he loses.
After an intense battle, even with all this mastery over puppets, he was defeated by Konan. So, staying true to his words, he joined the evil organization. And that is how Sasori became a member of Akatsuki.
4. He Rose up to the Chunin Rank When He was 8
Sasori was a prodigy right from the start, and it was painful to see him end up on the side of evil. But it is what it is, and well, if that didn’t happen we would not have got a great villain, right? And we wouldn’t have witnessed one of the best and most heartbreaking fights of the series as well.
Sasori graduated from his academy when he was just 7 and became a Chunin right after when he was just 8 years of age. This is really an impressive feat that should not be overlooked. Because we have seen many prodigies like him who climbed up the ranks right from when they were just kids. For example, Kakashi, Itachi, etc.
5. One of the Most Loyal Akatsuki Members
Even though he declined to join Akatsuki at first and joined them after an utter defeat, he remained one of the most loyal members of the organization. There are many records to prove the same.
For instance, Sasori expressed his bitter feeling about Orochimaru leaving Akatsuki. Furthermore, his track record for the total missions he completed for Akatsuki (see last point in this list) also tells a lot about his loyalty. Maybe the void left after the loss of his parents was filled by joining this organization and providing the distraction he needed in his life. Thus, Sasori is quite a complicated character in the Naruto anime and manga.
6. Chiyo Was Sasori’s Teacher in Naruto
After Sasori lost his parents, he was struggling to overcome their loss. That’s when his grandmother Chiyo decided to teach him the art of puppetry as a way to recover him from the tragedy. Over time. Sasori began to master this art as he had a natural talent for this craft from the very beginning.
He came up with brilliant and skillful strategies which were never used before by any puppet master, which made him the strongest of his times. Therefore, Chiyo was the person responsible for nurturing his puppetry skills, which many tend to forget.
7. Unknown Fact About His Human Puppet Collection
The very first human puppet was made out of Sasori’s friend Komushi (anime-only). Komushi accidentally consumed a small amount of Sasori’s poison and died as a result. This completely broke the heart of Komushi’s mother and she requested Sasori to bring him back to life.
Since Sasori couldn’t bring him back to life, he revived him as a human puppet and returned him to his mother. Thus, his one and only best friend got turned into one of his very first human puppets. Later on, after Sasori’s death, Kankurō used his puppet body as one of his human puppets, thus, completing the full circle of his life.
8. Sasori’s Character Had Six Different Voice Actors
Naturally, for an anime character, two voice actors (English and Japanese) will be assigned to a role. But the situation is totally different in Sasori’s case, as he had a total of six different voice actors lending their voices to bring his character to life.
Adult Sasori was voiced by Takahiro Sakurai, the Child version by Akiko Yajima, and finally, his Hiruko form was voiced by Yutaka Aoyama in the original Japanese version. The English VAs for these roles are Johnny Yong Bosch, Kate Higgins, and J.B. Blanc, respectively. So, he had 6 different voice actors as a result.
9. He Lost his Heart after his Parent’s Death
The primary reason why Sasori turned evil is the loss of his parents. Losing his parents at such a young age created a void inside his heart. He tried filling it by creating puppets of his parents, thereby, eliminating the loneliness he felt as a kid. But that did not work as the puppets cannot provide the parental love he desired.
As a result, he completely became numb to the feeling of love and threw out the puppets. Another interesting thing that many fans might have forgotten is the fact that Sakumo Hatake (Kakshi’s father) killed the parents of Sasori.
10. Had One of the Lengthiest On-screen Fight Scenes
The start of Naruto Shippuden (see Naruto Shippuden filler list here) started with a bang, thanks to the amazing battle between Sakura and Chiyo vs Sasori. It is one of the longest fights we have seen in the show as it aired over 8 episodes. Therefore, it resulted in a total of 3 hours of on-screen time, and it was engaging to witness this marvelous battle.
11. Meaning Behind Sasori’s Name in Naruto
The meaning behind the name Sasori has a connection with his puppets. The literal meaning of Sasori is scorpion and Sasori coming from the sand region ties in with that. Furthermore, in his Hiruku puppet form, you can notice that the body structure of that puppet is the same as that of a scorpion’s body.
Sasori has a lot of references to Scorpion in the story, and that was a genius move from the creator. More on this below.
12. Sasori Shares His Birthday with Naruto’s Creator
Sasori is so lucky to share his birthday with the legendary creator of Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto. Kishimoto was born on November 8th and the reason why he chose the same day for his creation is astounding.
According to Western astrology, November is associated with the Scorpio sign. And well, the literal meaning of Sasori is Scorpion and his astrological sign is also a scorpion. This is indeed a great move by the mangaka or just a coincidence?
13. Sasori Has a Human Core
Around 20 years ago (before he was introduced in the show), Sasori turned his whole body into a puppet. He created a core out of his human flesh, and it’s the only part of him that remained as a human.
By discarding his original human body, the puppet form gave him an eternal youth appearance. That is why even after all the time he lived through, he looked like a young shinobi in his teenage years. Furthermore, this core is the heart of his puppet and his main weakness.
If someone can somehow destroy his core, he will perish. In fact, that is how Granny Chiyo and Sakura emerged as victors in their intense battle against him. Sasori’s favorite saying was “Eternal beauty,” and in keeping with that, he turned himself into a puppet to maintain his youthful appearance.
14. Sasori’s Hobbies and Favorite Food
Sasori’s hobbies must be related to puppetry, as anyone might have readily surmised, and you are correct! Sasori enjoyed tweaking his collection of puppets in his spare time. His love for puppets was indeed never-ending.
And another surprising fact about him being a puppet is that he didn’t need to eat any kind of food, and as a result, his favorite food was never mentioned in the series.
15. Sasori’s Total Mission Count Is Too High
During his working period in Akatsuki, Sasori completed numerous missions that made him a reliable member of the villainous group. He completed an enormous number of 72 official missions over time. If you want a breakdown of the ranked missions, it is as follows:
- S-rank = 10
- A-rank = 29
- B-rank = 16
- C-rank = 12
- D-rank = 5
From this information, we can conclude that Sasori undertook a large number of high-ranked missions in Naruto, and he excelled in that.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sasori turned his whole body into a puppet with a core. That is how he was able to achieve eternal beauty, and as a result, he remained young at all times in Naruto.
Sasori’s best friend is Komushi. But he is confirmed to be an anime-only character in the show.
The loss of his parents created a void inside Sasori’s heart. He couldn’t fill this void with anything, not even with puppets that looked like his parents. Thus, he turned evil and joined the Akatsuki later in his life.
Ajith Kumar
