襟巻（ERIMAKI）

Fanfiction Manga 

The backstory of Hozuki Mangetsu and Suigetsu is complete🌕💧

🌊 English Novel Version (AO3) 

Read the full story of the Hozuki brothers and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen on AO3: 

✏️ Pencil Sketch Version (Pixiv) 

You can also see the pencil sketch/draft version on my Pixiv:

By Masashi Kishimoto

"You really do talk like you're in charge… Let's make our relationship extremely clear, shall we? Just because you defeated Orochimaru, doesn't put you in charge here… Everyone was after him, someone would have taken him out sooner or later… Orochimaru liked you, otherwise you'd be locked up, not by his side. You simply had more chances to kill him than the rest of us."

I see many parallels between Uchiha Itachi and Hozuki Mangetsu. Given their similarities in the original series, it is highly probable that Mangetsu’s cause of death was the same as Itachi’s: physical collapse due to pushing his body to the absolute limit to protect the village where he was born and raised.

【I’ve imagined a specific scenario for how this might have played out】

Suppose Kirigakure was in the midst of a war, facing an invasion from another village, just as Mangetsu’s body was reaching its breaking point. Imagine if Orochimaru—who coveted the Hozuki clan as experimental subjects—appeared before him and offered a deal:

The Cursed Seal: Orochimaru would grant Mangetsu a Cursed Seal, allowing him to gain the strength necessary to surpass his physical limits and fight on.

Protection for Suigetsu: Even if Kirigakure were to lose the war, Orochimaru would take Suigetsu under his wing and guarantee his survival (albeit as a test subject).

In this scenario, Mangetsu would accept the deal, eventually losing his life to the Cursed Seal for the sake of his village and his younger brother—just as Itachi sacrificed himself for Konoha and Sasuke.

【The Parallel Between the Younger Brothers】

If this were the case, it creates a striking connection between Sasuke and Suigetsu’s backstories:

Sasuke lost his brother due to the circumstances of Konoha. However, following his brother’s death, he was ultimately looked after by the village and eventually dedicated his adult life to serving it.

Suigetsu, in this theory, loses his brother due to Orochimaru’s intervention. Yet, his safety is secured as Orochimaru’s subject, and he continues to work under him into adulthood.

Thought I'd share some model sheets of the seven ninja swordsmen I've been able to gather online. Links to other zabuza model sheets that another user on tumblr upscaled:

anbubox upscale one | anbubox upscale two | anbubox upscale three

“ itachi always kept sasuke at arm's length, never wanted him to be hurt especially not by his own decisions and involvement with shinobi life… even to the bitter end, he did as much as he could to distance sasuke from having to bear the same burdens he bore. but with mangetsu and suigetsu, although we get so very little about their life, it seems evident that mangetsu had a waaay different approach. i mean he practically raised suigetsu. to me, i get the sense that mangetsu kept suigetsu close to protect him. same motive different tactic. for suigetsu, having that close bond is so much more like standing back to back and defending yourself. mangetsu probably would not want to keep suigetsu at arm's length… that would only get his little brother killed. instead, it was much more loving and a wiser decision to keep him close and teach him how to keep himself safe. i feel like this comes from opposing views on the future…. itachi seemed to do this, keeping sasuke at a distance thing because he was so optimistic about the future and believed that one day sasuke would not need to be the strong one because he would live in a time of peace and harmony. and only coming after him to make him stronger when that optimism died. mangetsu on the other hand… the hozukis grew up in the bloody mist. it doesn't get much more pessimistic than that. to them, it would be absolutely stupid to simply believe in the distant future and hold out hope for it so long that you neglect learning the vital survival skills you need to make it to that future, if it ever does come… mangetsu and suigetsu were much more adept at processing stuff like this and coping with it and pushing through (at least in my opinion). they took things more one day at a time ”

the entirety of this really made me sit and look between suigetsu and sasuke and how vastly different they handle certain things/situations that they've been placed into.

sasuke , who was so easily exposed to bloodshed with no mental defensives & suigetsu , who was also exposed to bloodshed but will smear it as he continues to fight for survival. and not that either are comfortable with the idea of bloodshed being that they were both self-raised in two completely different environments but; it evidently boiled down to doing what they had to to live.

Both the Uchiha and Hozuki brothers belong to noble clans that protect their respective villages, and both have older brothers who are geniuses capable of becoming Kage one day. However, I think there are a few key differences between them.

One major difference is how the younger brothers feel toward their older siblings:

Sasuke, during his childhood, harbored a clear sense of jealousy toward Itachi (there’s even a line from Itachi himself that confirms this).

Suigetsu, on the other hand, showed no negative feelings toward Mangetsu. Despite Mangetsu being a master of all seven swords—which could have made him a rival for ownership—Suigetsu speaks of him without a hint of envy. He seemed to idolize him as a hero, just as much as (if not more than) the other Seven Ninja Swordsmen did.

I believe this stems from a difference in what they were trying to achieve as children.

What Sasuke wanted most was to become the "Uchiha Hokage" his father dreamed of. Since there is only one seat for Hokage, he was inevitably in competition with Itachi.

满月&水中月