Let’s learn Japanese with Nartuo’s quote from NARUTO (ナルト).
CONTENTS
Video
Naruto’s Quote
Japanese: 火影になる奴に近道はねぇし、なった奴に逃げ道はねぇよ！
Romaji: hokage ni naru yatsu ni chikamichi wa nē shi, natta yatsu ni nigemichi wa nē yo!
English: There are no shortcuts to becoming Hokage and there is no way out once you become one!
Analysis
The sentence is a bit long but the structure is quite simple. It’s one sentence that consists of two clauses connected with the conjunction particle し meaning “and”. And both clauses have the grammar “Noun A に Noun B はない”. ねぇ is the broken version of ない meaning “nonexistent” so it means “A has no B”.
So the structure of this sentence is simply “A has no B and C has no D”.
火影になる奴に近道はねぇ
Noun A: 火影になる奴
火影 literally means Fire Shadow which is a word that only exists in the Naruto world. It’s the highest class of ninja and often the strongest, representing the Konoha village.
Something になる means “to become something”. So 火影になる means “become Hokage” and it modifies the following noun 奴 which is a rough way of saying 人 meaning “a person”.
So 火影になる奴 can be translated as “One who becomes Hokage”.
Noun B: 近道
Each kanji means “close” and “path” so it means “shortcut”.
So the first clause 火影になる奴に近道はねぇ means “One who becomes Hokage has no shortcut”.
なった奴に逃げ道はねぇ
Noun C: なった奴
なった is the ta-form of なる and it modifies the following noun 奴 so it means “one who has become”. 火影に is omitted this time to avoid redundancy.
Noun D: 逃げ道
It literally means “runaway” “path” so it means “way out”.
So the second clause なった奴に逃げ道はねぇ means “One who has become (Hokage) has no way out”.
よ is the sentence ending particle used to make the listener become aware of what the speaker says.
Notice that a verb ta-form is often used to express the past tense but in this case, it doesn’t mean he’s talking about the past. The form of a verb can also express if an action is incomplete or complete at a certain point of time.
So there is a point in time where someone becomes Hokage and 火影になる奴 indicates the one before that point where the action is incomplete, whereas 火影になった奴 indicates the one after that point where the action is complete.
So he’s simply saying that until you become Hokage there are no shortcuts, and once you’ve become Hokage, there’s no way out.
Examples
A に B はない (A has no B)
お前に拒否する権利はない。
omae ni kyohi suru kenri wa nai.
You have no right to refuse.
愛に国境はない。
ai ni kokkyō wa nai.
Love has no borders.
戦わない者に勝利はない。
tatakawanai mono ni shōri wa nai.
There is no victory for those who do not fight.
You can also say A には B がない.
The difference between them is what is the topic and what is emphasised in the sentence.
- A に B はない – [B] is the topic and the emphasis is placed on [ない] (There is NO B for A)
- A には B がない – [Aに] is the topic and the emphasis is placed on [Bがない] (as for A, THERE IS NO B)
In this quote, Obito mentions “shortcuts” (近道) and Naruto responds to the word, so 近道 is the topic of the sentence and Naruto is emphasising there is NO (ない) such thing (strong negation).
If they are talking about one who becomes Hokage, and Naruto only gives Obito information about it, it could be 火影になる奴には近道がない (火影になる奴に = topic, 近道がない = information).
Clause + し + Clause (and)
ハーブティーを飲むと体が温まるし、リラックスできる。
hābutī o nomu to karada ga atatamaru shi, rirakkusu dekiru.
When I drink herb tea, my body gets warm and I can relax.
このホテルはサービスがいいし、食事もおいしいので、よく泊まります。
kono hoteru wa sābisu ga ii shi, shokuji mo oishii node, yoku tomarimasu.
This hotel provides good service and the food is also good, so I stay here often.
うちのおばあちゃんはすごく元気だ。よく食べるし、よく寝るし、よく笑う。
uchi no obāchan wa sugoku genki da. yoku taberu shi, yoku neru shi, yoku warau.
My grandma is super healthy. She eats a lot, sleeps a lot, and laughs a lot.
し can also be used as a sentence ending particle to imply that there are unstated conclusions.
買い物に行きたいけど、外は暑いし。
kaimono ni ikitai kedo, soto wa atsui shi.
I want to go shopping but it’s hot outside (so I’m not going).
なんで制服着てるの？今日、日曜日だし！
nande seifuku kiteru no? kyō nichi-yōbi dashi!
Why are you wearing your school uniform? Today is Sunday (so you don’t have to)!
In this case, you can also use から instead of し, but し expresses indirect causal connection and implies there are other unstated reasons whereas から expresses direct causal connection and doesn’t have any implications.
Ta-Form for Complete Actions
疲れた時は、お風呂に入って早く寝ます。
tsukareta toki wa, ofuro ni haitte hayaku nemasu.
When I’m tired, I have a bath and go to bed early.
この仕事が終わったら帰ります。
kono shigoto ga owatta ra, kaerimasu.
Once I finish this work, I will go home.
買ったお肉はすぐに冷蔵庫に入れてください。
katta oniku wa sugu ni reizōko ni irete kudasai.
Once you buy meat, please put it in the fridge quickly.
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