Naruto Series: Kabuto Yakushi (ENFJ)

This is one of the our last two Naruto articles that we have sitting in our drafts. Kabuto was actually very tricky. At one point, we were pegging him as an Se aux. We flipped around between ISFP and ISTP… and then we pegged him as an INFJ. I even wrote the article! It sat in the drafts for two months, ready to be posted. I’m glad it wasn’t though, cause otherwise you’d be reading a retraction. I know it may seem weird calling him an ENFJ, but hear us out.

“I can sympathize with Itachi. I understand his choice, because honestly, I’m just like him.”

“Kabuto, when I look at you, it’s like looking at my former self, and that’s the reason you will lose.” – Itachi

Fe:

“And so I decided that I would try to be like you… I’m going to use what I absorbed of Orochimaru to become a better, stronger Kabuto Yakushi… I will find a new identity, and you’ve given me a clue as to how. That’s why I’m so grateful to you, Naruto.”

“Make no mistake, Kabuto. I hate you. However, I also understand you. We both lived as spies, as liars, presenting a false front to the world. I didn’t know who I was at one point either…” – Itachi

Kabuto from the Naruto series excels at getting people to like and trust him. You see this time and time again during his undercover roles. Kabuto typically preferred to act friendly and kind, which played to his natural Fe strength. When working with Naruto and the rest his team in the Chunin Exams, Kabuto takes on a helpful, care giving type role. He basically takes them under his wing, gives them information, and looks out for them. If you take a look at Kabuto as a child, he’s shown just wanting to help out the orphanage, and only agrees to become a Shinobi in order to protect them. Note that while having a similar background to Itachi, Kabuto takes on a persona that appears far more extraverted than that of Itachi.  When he finally reverts back to a more healthy state at the end of the series, he begins running an orphanage of his own, which would be another indication of Fe’s desire to focus on others.

His style of manipulation is very Fe in nature, as opposed to Te. He convinces people to do what he wants them to, without ever telling them directly. For instance, he gets Kimimaro to volunteer to go help bring in Sasuke before it’s too late for Lord Orochimaru. He also attempts to turn Sasuke and Itachi on each other and provoke distrust. Kabuto tells Sasuke that he could be a big brother to him, and a better one than Itachi was. In general, Kabuto is a smooth talker, and excellent at getting people to trust him and work with him.

Ultimately, Kabuto desires validation from others, and he builds his identity around other people, but more on that in the inferior Ti section.

Ni:

“You guess very well, so well that it’s a bit creepy, in fact.” – Orochimaru

“Lord Orochimaru is a symbol of renewal. He will live inside me as a reminder of what I must overcome.”

“Look, I’m not on the sidelines anymore. I’m not just a player. I’m a central figure. I own this war. I had the A’katsuki twisted around my little finger, manipulated the war to my advantage, and cornered the Uchiha brothers.”

Kabuto is a manipulator, and known for being both subtle and sneaky. His indirect way of convincing people to do things is indicative of Ni in combination with Fe. In addition, Orochimaru marvels on several occasions about how good Kabuto is at guessing, which is another thing that high Ni users are known for. Kabuto is shown to be the type of person to always have a hidden plan, strategy, or another hand to play. He also demonstrates a classic Ni weakness, by failing to consider the possibility that the reincarnation jutsu could be defied. This suggests Ni > Ne.

Along with this, Kabuto displays the detached nature of Ni users. While he is proficient in straightforward combat and doesn’t struggle to throw himself in the center of situations, he’s also shown controlling people and large scale battles from the shadows. While hiding out in a cave during the final great ninja war in Naruto Shippuden, you can see Kabuto doing the classic chessboard strategizing that high Ni users are known for. From his hiding spot, he manipulates an innumerable amount of revived Shinobi like puppets, while keeping himself far from any actual combat. He also initially speaks to Madara through a reanimation, preferring not to confront him directly.

Se:

“Do you think I’d saunter in here without a plan?”

“I elected not take any further risks and brought him back. This way’s better for you.”

Originally, when I wrote this article with Kabuto as an INFJ, I stated that Kabuto demonstrates a clear preference toward manipulating from a distance and remaining detached from physical combat when it’s an option, which is a sign of inferior Se. However, I now realize that that statement doesn’t actually apply well to Kabuto. Kabuto is typically not shown manipulating from afar. The only example of him really doing this is with the reanimation jutsu, which in a sense, requires it. As a whole, Kabuto does prefer to avoid walking into situations without a plan, which merely indicates a low Se (or Ne) function.

However, Kabuto doesn’t struggle with being the center of physical combat. Additionally, while he oftentimes appears to have some kind of underlying scheme, Kabuto doesn’t appear so planned and structured that he’s never spontaneous. In fact, Kabuto gives the appearance that he doesn’t struggle with split-second improvisation, which can in part be attributed to his training. Generally speaking, his Se appears well-developed and healthy.

Ti:

For the NFJs, Ti serves as their way of introspecting, their identity function, essentially. Kabuto struggles greatly witha lack of identity and losing sense of self, which is the biggest indication that he is an ENFJ. Initially in the series, he defines himself around his master, Orochimaru. He fails to look internally, and instead becomes dependent on Orochimaru. He attempts to adopt Orochimaru’s ideals and identity, keeping his entire sense of self wrapped up in Orochimaru. As a result, Orochimaru’s death initially throws him into a state of confusion because he feels like he has lost his identity. He then latches onto this idea that in order to discover who he actually is, he has to physically enhance his own body via experimentation. This could be seen as an Se-Ti combination, physical features to enhance identity. Ultimately, it is an example of incredibly bad Ti logic and introspection.