Hand Seals

Hand Seals (印) are used to perform many Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and other secret arts other than Taijutsu. The exact amount of Chakra necessary to perform a jutsu is manipulated through hand seals. There are different sequences of hand seals for every technique, requiring memorization.

While techniques may require a number of hand seals to work, a skilled ninja can use less or even one to perform the same technique. An example of this is the Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique, which requires a total of 44 hand seals to activate. Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage, however, just needed to use one hand seal to complete the technique, a testament to his skill.

Although rare, it is possible for a shinobi to be able to do hand seals with just one hand. The only shinobi so far capable of this are Haku and Guren.

Basic Hand Seals
Here are twelve basic seals, each one named after an animal of the Chinese zodiac.