Marvel has revealed a new detail about the Naruto. For decades, the Penance Stare has been described to reflect every sinful action and the pain one has caused others upon themselves. The victim’s pain is the penance for their sins. But this lore expansion reveals that the Penance Stare is more akin to Itachi Uchiha’s Tsukuyomi.

In Spirits of Vengeance #6 - by Sabir Pirzada, Paul Davidson, Sean Damien Hill, & José Luis Soares - Johnny Cage has learned that his old flame, Linda Littletrees, was the last victim of the Spirit of Violence.

Having been too late to save Linda’s life, Johnny uses the Penance Stare to extend a single moment into a lifetime. It’s shown that the Penance Stare isn’t a mirror, it’s an entire world. Just like Itachi’s Tsukuyomi, the Penance Stare creates an illusion the wielder controls the details of. Inside both abilities, the victim endures lifetimes of real-time torture when caught by a reality-warping gaze.

Itachi Uchiha and The Ghost Riders Have The Same Power

Spirits of Vengeance #6 - Written by Sabir Pizada; Art by Paul Davidson, Sean Damien Hill, & José Luis Soares; Inking by Jonas Trindade, Jay Leisten, Scott Hanna, & John Livesay; Color by Andrew Dalhouse & Matthew Milla; Lettering by VC’s Travis Lanham

While it may be a niche detail, this addition to the lore expands a Ghost Rider’s powerset exponentially. But using the previous definition that the Penance Stare merely reflects a person’s sins, it means the Ghost Rider has no control over the “illusion.” But what’s seen in this issue is that the Penance Stare does create an effective pocket dimension. The power creates a real-time world that the Ghost Rider can manipulate as they see fit. While inside the Penance Stare, Johnny and Linda are able to spend countless hours together before Linda's sins were ravaged by the iconic ability.

Itachi Uchiha’s Tsukuyomi ability is identical to this power. After witnessing the death of his best friend, Itachi unlocked his clan’s ultimate power, the Mangekyō Sharingan. While the power manifests differently in all Uchiha’s, Itachi gained a powerful genjutsu said to represent the “spiritual world.” When someone makes eye with Itachi’s Mangekyō Sharingan, they are pulled into an illusion where one moment lasts lifetimes. Here, Itachi inflicts centuries of real-time torture upon his victims. In some instances, Itachi will force his victims to endure traumatic moments or memories over and over.

Johnny Blaze Isn't Using the Full Power of The Penance Stare

The Ghost Rider's Power Is More Than a Mirror

While the comparison is fun, it does have one significant meaning within the comics. The Penance Stare might be able to do more than just reflect sin and pain. It’s long been established that a Spirit of Vengeance has potentially limitless power. The original Spirits of Vengeance are rumored to be vestiges of God’s will. The only thing that holds back its power is the Spirit’s host. Spirits of Vengeance like Zarathos are somewhat “artificially” created by Mephisto to mimic the original Spirits. And Johnny Blaze’s Ghost Rider powers are secondarily limited by Zarathos, too.

If Johnny and Zarathos could set aside their expectations, their most iconic power would get a serious upgrade.

Both souls guide their divine power, so if they are both convinced that the Penance Stare is only a mirror, then that’s all the power will be able to do. But inside the Penance Stare, we see that the ability is more expansive than at first thought. If Johnny and Zarathos could set aside their expectations, their most iconic power would get a serious upgrade. Few souls can resist the Penance Stare, mainly psychopaths like Thanos or Deadpool. But by acknowledging the Ghost RIder’s full potential, only creativity stands in the way of pure torturous penance for all sinners.

Spirits of Vengeance #6 is now available from Marvel Comics.

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  Ghost Rider

  Created by

  Roy Thomas, Gary Friedrich, Mike Ploog

  First Film

  Ghost Rider

  Latest Film

  Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

  Cast

  Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Wes Bentley, Sam Elliott, Ciarán Hinds, Idris Elba, Gabriel Luna, Peter Fonda, Violante Placido

  Movie(s)

  Ghost Rider, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

  Character(s)

  Johnny Blaze, Roxanne Simpson, Carter Slade, Mephistopheles, Blackheart, Robbie Reyes, Moreau (Ghost Rider), Nadya

  The Ghost Rider franchise revolves around the Marvel Comics character Ghost Rider, a supernatural anti-hero who gains the ability to transform into a flaming skeletal figure and ride a hellfire-fueled motorcycle. The most famous Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze, is a stunt motorcyclist who makes a deal with the demon Mephistopheles, transforming him into the Ghost Rider to battle evil spirits. The franchise includes two films starring Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze, exploring his fight against demonic forces and his internal struggle with the curse.

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  Naruto

  First Film

  Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow

  Latest Film

  Boruto: Naruto the Movie

  First TV Show

  Naruto

  Latest TV Show

  Boruto: Naruto Next Generations

  First Episode Air Date

  October 3, 2002

  Cast

  Junko Takeuchi, Maile Flanagan, Noriaki Sugiyama, Chie Nakamura, Kazuhiko Inoue, Nana Mizuki, Hideo Ishikawa, Yûko Sanpei

  Naruto is a franchise spawned from the manga series penned by Masashi Kishimoto that began in 1999. Generating several tv series, games, movies, and more, Naruto follows the exploits of a young outcast ninja harboring the spirit of a demon fox who seeks to become the Hokage, the leader of his ninja village, to break the stigma against him. Upon the conclusion of the initial series, Naruto expanded into Boruto, following many series protagonists' children and returning faces.

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