Being the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village, it's not shocking that Gaara has little time for a family or personal life. However, many fans of the series Naruto were pleasantly surprised that the youngest of the sand siblings adopted a son to raise on his own. As a single father, the majority of teaching and nurturing that Shinki receives comes directly from Gaara himself, which resulted in Shinki holding a fierce loyalty to the Kazekage.

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Despite having only one parental figure in his life, Shinki develops his own form of personality, cooperation in battle, and behavior that establishes him as a frontrunner among Sand Village genin.

10 Similar: Powerful Potential

Naruto Boruto Sarada Iron Sand Jutsu Chunin Exams

The strongest Kazekage in history, the Third Kazekage studied the abilities of the Tailed Beast Shukaku. He recreated sand manipulation with his own magnet release style jutsu to create Iron Sand. Shinki possesses the same release type as the Third, which is one of the main reasons that Gaara took in Shinki as a child.

The Fifth Kazekage saw in Shinki a version of his own self as a child, one of powerful potential if trained properly and given a loving family. True to this vision, during the Chunin exams, Shinki displayed his own ability to use the deadly Iron Sand Jutsu in combat, forming different protective appendages on his own body like wings and monstrous arms.

9 Different: Physical Ability

Naruto Boruto Shinki Chunin Exams

One of the reasons that Gaara's fighting style is so defense-based is that he is not a durable fighter. During the Chunin exams, Gaara faced off against the Taijutsu user Rock Lee, who immediately highlighted the difference in relative ability. Gaara hardly interacted at all outside of his sand defense, and was visibly nervous at the raw power Lee was capable of wielding.

Shinki, on the other hand, excels in physical combat. Opponents find it difficult to land a hit on him, despite running around covered in an iron sand cloak. He is seen fighting easily without the use of his sand to augment strength, and is quick to dodge incoming attacks.

8 Similar: Team Leader

Naruto Boruto Shinki Team Chunin Exam

With his power and leadership abilities both in and out of battle, Shinki quickly established a hierarchy among his teammates. This carried over into the Chunin exams. Not only is he powerful in a fight, but Shinki is also extremely loyal to Gaara and the wellbeing of the Sand Village, which is something his teammate's respect.

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During combat, Shinki saves his comrades on multiple occasions and goes out of his way to ensure their safety. Gaara was similar in behavior during the Chunin exams of the Naruto series. His sand ability made him the obvious leader of his team and thus earned the respect of Temari and Kankuro.

7 Different: Prideful Personality

Naruto Boruto Shinki and Boruto

Gaara did initially have some conflict with Naruto during the original Chunin exams in the Naruto series. However, this was more of a grudge rather than based on pride. Shinki has a lot of pride in his own abilities. He prefers to avoid fighting people weaker than him, going as far as to berate those who hold back against him in combat.

For example, when fighting Mitsuki, he becomes irritated that his opponent isn't fighting at full strength and is quickly offended. Boruto clashes with Shinki several times on account of their egos. Shinki has an unflinching loyalty to Gaara and respect for him as Kazekage; however, he expresses disappointment with how soft Naruto is as Hokage.

6 Similar: Family Connection

Naruto Boruto Gaara Shinki Kazekage Sand Village

Often seen as the father-figure of his own team, Shinki takes on a familial role with nearly everyone he encounters, much like Gaara. Additionally, both Shinki and his father place heavy importance on family. They value the bonds between relatives when it comes to their decision-making and behavior.

While a younger Gaara would appear more distant to his siblings, he grew into a dependable Kazekage. He relies heavily on the support and connection between himself and his family, as well as the rest of the Sand Village. Much of this teaching originally comes from Gaara spending time and fighting with Naruto, but the Kazekage has also done a wonderful job instilling the importance of family to his son.

5 Different: Sealing Speciality

Naruto Boruto Shinki Shukaku Tailed Beast

Another ability that Shinki utilizes is Sealing Techniques. Gaara typically relies on his sand or the sealing technique of his brother Kankuro. Meanwhile, Shinki takes his own training seriously and learns powerful sealing abilities to use in battle.

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During the fight against Urashiki, Boruto and Shinki work together against their opponent to get Shukaku to safety. At one point, Shinki manages to temporarily seal Urashiki by using both his skeleton puppet and Iron Sand Jutsu.

4 Similar: Blunt Behavior

Naruto Boruto Chunin Exam Shinki Chocho Ninja

Despite his age, much of Shinki's behavior is extremely serious and adult-like. He appraises situations and people with an earnest observation before stating his opinion. On several occasions, Kankuro has even expressed fear at angering Shinki, which mirrors a younger Gaara in his serious demeanor and dangerous potential.

Shinki's solid support group and loving family keeps him from entering the lonely state Gaara was originally in. Yet, his father clearly has had an effect on Shinki's ability to keep a cool head and edge in any situation.

3 Different: Puppet Master-In-Training

Shinki Boruto Naruto

Mixing the abilities of his uncle and father, Shinki was given a skeleton puppet by Kankuro to use in combat alongside his Iron Sand. After practicing with the two abilities, they eventually merged into one cohesive fighting style. This involves manipulating the puppet and strengthening it with threads of Iron Sand instead of chakra strings.

Gaara himself has no experience with puppets, or proper chakra control to manipulate them. Kankuro, though, was a diligent mentor in allowing Shinki to further add skills to his inventory of ninjutsu.

2 Similar: Defensive Fighting

Naruto Boruto Jutsu Shinki Iron Sand hands

While much of Shinki's ability is authentic to his own personality, he does take many pages from Gaara's book. In many fights, Shinki uses Iron Sand to defend his body from attacks or ninjutsu. Even when using the sand offensively, he mirrors Gaara's ability to keep the majority of the sand around his body, only using minor extensions to do any offensive combat.

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Iron Sand has more offensive capabilities that Shinki can later tap into as he progresses as a ninja. As fans see during the Sasori vs. Sakura and Chiyo fight, Iron Sand can be used offensively with a massive potential for destruction. While the two other sand siblings fight in offensive styles, Gaara's sand technique is inherently defensive. The ways they each use it show how closely Shinki and Gaara resemble one another.

1 Different: Iron Sand Control

Naruto Boruto Shinki Iron Sand Jutsu

Being unique in many ways, the ability to magnetize and control Iron Sand is something specific to Shinki . Gaara himself admitted that he doesn't have the ability or chakra nature to properly maintain or control iron sand particles in the way that the Third Kazekage or Shinki can.

Because of this, there is a likely chance that Shinki will surpass Gaara's power one day and become Kazekage after his father. Iron Sand Jutsu is only available to those with both earth and wind style release jutsu, along with the lightning style Shinki uses during the Chunin exams to empower his iron sand.

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