CHARACTER POWERS

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CANON

Hissatsu

Literally translating to Killer Techniques, hissatsu are the special powers unique to the Inazuma universe and are prevalent just about everywhere in the series. This power manifests within those who possess strong spirits and great stamina reserves, allowing players to perform incredible feats on the field and even amplifying their speed, strength, and endurance — but just how much of an improvement depends on the individual.

Ultimately, these abilities follow a very simple rule: the stronger your soccer, the stronger your hissatsu. In order to perform successful assists on shoots that pack enough power to tear up the earth or shatter timbers, it's safe to conclude that Sakuma's soccer isn't weak at all.

There are many different types of hissatsu in existence, and given the nature of this type of ability (and the fact it was borne from a Japanese RPG) it isn't impossible to improve upon or evolve existing techniques, or even learn or create entirely new ones. However, even for seasoned players, the creation of an entirely new technique can be very difficult and even dangerous. For example, incorrectly performing any hissatsu can jeopardize not only the user's safety, but that of anyone who might be standing in the direct line of fire, too. In the same vein, any hissatsu that requires more than one person to perform means that the users need to be in perfect (or perfectly imperfect) harmony with each other and, depending upon the technique in question, failure to synchronize could result in serious physical injury. What's more, even techniques that have been successfully mastered by a player still take a toll on them, draining energy reserves and stamina and making their consecutive use something that must be planned for very carefully. Miscalculating this could potentially mean passing out on the field or, similar to failing to perform a technique accurately, it could even result in harm to the player or his teammates.

Hissatsu can be broken down into four main categories: shooting, offense, defense, and catching. As a midfielder, Sakuma's skills lie predominantly within the realm of the first two categories and with making assists.

Listed below are hissatsu that Sakuma has learned and hissatsu that he may learn over time and with a lot of practice. The evolutions accompanying these techniques are marked by a change in their name and imply a steady and natural growth expected of any skill that is constantly worked at. They'll be listed as G2, G3 (etc); V2 or V3; and Kai (Improved) or Shin (True).

Death Zone: 3-person shoot hissatsu

• Evolution chain: Normal (learned) ➝ Kai (unlearned) ➝ Shin (unlearned)
A shoot that is performed by the user and two assisting players when they jump up high into the air with the ball. Perfectly synced aerial rotations form an illusory triangle of purple darkness which in turn permits the players to transfer their energy to the ball, ad when it has accumulated enough energy, the players strike the ball together and shoot for the goal.

There is a second version of this hissatsu known as Death Zone 2 that is essentially the same technique, but instead of relying on perfectly synced team dynamics, successfully performing this version means establishing an imperfect synchronization capable of harnessing unstable energy from 3 players. In this sense, Death Zone 2 is more powerful, but it is also significantly more difficult to perform, and Sakuma himself does not know this version.

Killer Slide: 1-person block hissatsu
• Evolution chain: Normal (learned) ➝ Kai (unlearned) ➝ Shin (unlearned)
A more aggressive tackle that is performed when the user slides across the field on his back so quickly that it appears as if he has many legs, which in turn allows him to steal the ball right out from under his opponent and trip them up in the process.

Kotei Penguin 1gou: 1-person shoot hissatsu
• Evolution chain: Normal (learned) ➝ G2 (unlearned) ➝ G3 (unlearned) ➝ G4 (unlearned) ➝ G5 (unlearned)
• Note: I've included the evolutions of this hissatsu for posterity's sake. They will remain unlearned given Sakuma's history with Kotei Penguin 1gou and his extreme reluctance to ever perform the hissatsu again.
An extremely dangerous shoot that puts an immense level of strain upon the user. Typically, it cannot be safely used more than twice by a player during a match.

The user whistles sharply and summons five angry red penguins that appear from the ground in a spray of ice. Psyching himself up for the impending strain this hissatsu has on the body, the user then kicks back his leg and the penguins rocket backwards and bite down on his calf and ankle. With all the power of the glowing penguins behind him, the user then kicks the ball and transfers the penguins and their energy into his shoot strong enough to embed a ball directly into concrete. Once the hissatsu is completed (regardless of its success or failure) the penguins disappear again.

At first glance, the ability may seem rather silly, but Kotei Penguin and all its variations are modeled off the emperor penguin's incredible endurance and strength. In fact, 1gou being detrimental to its single user (to the point of hospitalizing him if he performs the hissatsu more than twice consecutively) is no doubt a direct reference to penguins being unable to survive the long winter on their own; while 2gou (which Sakuma doesn't know and is a different version of the hissatsu that utilizes 3 people and minimizes the strain on the user's body to the point that consecutive use is no longer a concern) reflects that penguins are stronger together.

Divine Arrow: 1-person shoot hissatsu
• Evolution chain: Normal (unlearned) ➝ Kai (unlearned) ➝ Shin (unlearned)
With a backflip kick that sends the ball up into the air, the user leaps after it and performs a 11 rapidly executed power-up style kicks that then surround the ball with a blue energy from their impact. Finally, spinning around, he back kicks the ball straight towards the goal in a shoot that looks like an arrow made entirely of energy.

Bunshin Feint: 1-person dribble hissatsu
• Evolution chain: Normal (unlearned) ➝ V2 (unlearned) ➝ V3 (unlearned)
By holding up two fingers, the user concentrates his power and summons two clones of himself. Jumping up into the air simultaneously, the user then passes the ball back and forth between his clones confusing his opponent, thus allowing him to pass overhead and behind them. Upon landing, the clones fuse back together with the user and he is free to dribble the ball up the field.

NON-CANON

Emperor's Egg

The ability to summon with the tweet of a whistle (that sounds like a penguin) a soccer ball that is capable of withstanding immense amounts of damage but otherwise possesses no special attributes excluding its unique bright white and vivid red coloring. Its durability allows for it to be infused with energy from the hissatsu techniques listed above, but only for the duration of a single attack or attack + assist combination. Once the ball's rotation is stopped, the energy that has been accumulated immediately disperses and once again renders the ball ordinary. A second tweet of the whistle (red and white and shaped like a penguin) will cancel the summoning and cause the ball to disappear.

This ability cannot be performed without the use of this whistle, but because the power is restricted to the object, it can be used by anyone in possession of it. Due to the nature of the whistle being adhered to Sakuma and his abilities it cannot be broken, but because it is also a physical object, it can be contained and, if Sakuma should die or be Ported out, the whistle will disappear along with him.

Omnipotent Mind's Eye
"The heart to see into the hidden truth."

This is the ability to perceive and interpret the "soul" and "intent" of another person. Essentially, this will allow Sakuma to do things like read people more accurately and identify or translate the things they're most likely to do or say in any given situation, even allowing him to mirror their movements and speech at the same time as them; determine if someone in his immediate vicinity is a threat or not; and once it is more thoroughly trained, it can even be used as a method of lie-detection.

This ability is limited to a radius of 10 meters and cannot be used over the network. It is also subject to a couple of drawbacks: 1) anyone whose aura or intentions are particularly sinister may result in Sakuma's temporary physical paralysis and mental shutdown, and 2) anyone with abilities or even naturally honed skills that allow them to fool a polygraph test might be capable of successfully bypassing Sakuma's power either fooling him into thinking they're telling the truth, or simply rendering him unable to tell one way or the other if they're lying.

It's also important to note that this ability is not actually mind-reading and works on the level of extremely accurate guesswork, and for those who would like to plot with it, I have an opt-in post over here.