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All Orochimaru's people are wearing a purple color rope belt. What is the
purpose of it? Why Sasuke is wearing it even after killing Orochimaru? Does it
offer any power?

![It's Sasuke!](https://i.stack.imgur.com/aYw8W.png)


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naruto
What is the purpose of purple rope belt that Sasuke wears?


No, it doesn't really offer him great power.  
He just uses it as a holder for his sword. Normally all the swordsmen have a
rope around their waist to keep their swords.  

According to the Wiki -

> He was first shown wearing a white long-sleeved shirt, similar in appearance
> to the lavender long-sleeved shirt worn by Kimimaro and which was open at
> the torso, with a smaller version of the Uchiha crest on his collar. He wore
> dark blue pants with a blue cloth hanging from halfway up his stomach to his
> knees. He also wore black arm guards that covered his forearms and stretched
> up to reach his upper biceps. _ **He also wore a purple rope belt around his
> waist, tied in a bow, in which he carries his sword._**


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The purple rope is like an [Obi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obi_%28sash%29),
a garment worn with the traditional Japanese kimono. Besides that, and holding
his clothes together, the only real purpose it serves is to hold his sword.
You don't want to be always carrying a sword in one hand, especially during
fights. Sasuke started carrying a sword after the timeskip, so that might
explain why he changed his attire to include that purple rope.

Orochimaru used to carry the Kusanagi sword, and the other characters might be
doing it to show their loyalty to Orochimaru.


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While the belt maybe refered to as an "obi," (sash) the style of the belt
holds a greater significance in Shinto culture. The particular style of obi is
probably what's referred to as a
[obijime](http://www.immortalgeisha.com/wiki/index.php?title=Obijime), which
basically is a decorated rope sash in order to tie an obi firmly. The braided
rope is what you would call a
[shimenawa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimenawa).

Much like how trees are considered sacred have a shimenawa tied around their
trunk. The Yokozuna (grand champions in sumo) wear a shimenawa around their
waist, designating them to be of special quality (if they have a
[gohei](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gohei) attached, there is a sacred
bearing to it).

Perhaps the idea of the author wanted to give for Sasuke with his clothes was
that he's special and or someone to be revered. The rope sash is probably
there to keep that skirt/kilt/cloak thing he has over his pants in place.


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The purple "rope" is called an obi (type of sash/belt for kimonos). I think
they just wear it just to represent that they are all in clan, or as a symbol
to represent Orochimaru. Just like how all the Akatsuki wear black coats, but
it really doesn't offer any power and one thing is that orochimaru's followers
are usually swordsmen.


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Okay. the other answers offer good info except ONE thing: the Buddhist tale of
the snake and the rope. It is an analogy about the fear you have before
learning you have no set or stone "self" that the "self" is everchanging.
Letting go of the concept of "self" is to become enlightened. Almost all
people in Japan are Shinto Buddhists (predominantly Zen ). So they would have
been raised knowing the famous story. When you think of this story applied to
the characters Uchiha Sasuke and his shisho Orichimaru it becomes a brilliant
addition as an obi. Orichimaru wanted to find immortality and remain in his
current incarnation then of course Orochimaru abd snakes are intertwined both
visually and litteraly. I am glad that the anime did show that snakes are not
seen as evil and in fact they are a good sign outside christianity. Sasuke
wore it when he was much to full of himself and was stuck seeing himself only
one way as one part of who he actually is which led him to darkness: an
advenger. Plus they are both aloof and can be thought selfish though that is
not necessarily the truth. For them and for the others wearing a rope obi one
more noticeable symbolism connection to the snake and the rope story is that
they are always caught in the fear the instant you glance at a rope in the
woods by your feet and think it a snake. When you realize it's just a rope
that is the same as the feeling of being free of self- laughing at the fact we
were so scared for that second: enlightened. All except Sasuke wore it so it
stuck up behind them which would cause these glimpses of it. And it was AWAYS
with them which is why I think it doesn't just symbolize a snake (because of
Orichimaru). The story itself was written not by any Buddha but The Buddha,
Shakyamuni Buddha (originally Sidartha Guatama) and is found in one of
Buddhism's sacred scrolls or Sutras. I'm a symbolist painter as well as a
Buddhist and I instantly made this connection when watching the Naruto
series's and movies. It got me thinking that Western watchers of Anime (me
included) should read more of the common knowledge stories and mythology that
far eastern kids grow up with because Anime is rife with symbolism and motifs
derived from them. In fact, Japanese culture is incredibly full of visual
symbolism. The western world has nothing I know like it. One other (among
many) examples of the symbolism in anime is The Third Hokage's summoning
animal which is a monkey with an amazing growing staff. This is based directly
on one of the most well known myths in the Far East: Journey to the west. The
anime Saiyuki is based entirely on it and I believe that "saiyuki" is the
actual or similar title of the HUGE myth. On a side note check out the book
"Monkey" which takes excerpts from Journey to the west and combines them into
a wonderful and easily accessible book that gives you a good understanding of
what the whole thing is all about and tells some of the stories the author
and/or editor and/or translator (name to be added) thought most poignant. I'm
actually very tired right now and will come back and edit this so that it has
more info and the name of the author. The book itself is about the same thing
as the full version: the story of a journey to bring Sacred Scrolls (Sutras)
like the one with The Snake and The Rope in it back from India (to China where
the myth originated). Monkey is not long and has a red cover with spirals on
it I believe which, along with the sutra reference, brings me full circle back
to Naruto (you know what that name means... At least I hope you do!)


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Firstly, the size of the belt means that the author wants the viewers to
notice it.don't quote me on this but I think that in Japanese martial arts, it
is said to control or rather 'subdue' the strength of its user If you ever
played street fighter,you will notice that akuma who wields great strength
wears the same belt(much thinner).


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I know that Red is a color that can repel bad stuff(like magic and evil
forces) ''Vermilion red is considered an amulet against evil forces, and is
used in many ancient palaces, shrines and temples.'' (source:
<http://inari.jp/en/faq/> )

So I thought I just googled if the color Purple had any meaning behind it. And
when I googled it this is what I found: Purple, the color of the upper class,
ruling people Apparently the color purple was kinda rare during the Nara
era(710-784)and only the important people like high-level officials and the
Imperial family could wear purple clothing and back then they made it so that
purple clothing was really expensive and only rich people were able to afford
it. (source: <http://tadaimajp.com/2015/05/purple/> )

Sorry that I replied on a very old thread, but I was curious about this topic
and when I found the answer I thought I should share it with you guys ;P


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