666 Satan, also titled the less popular “O-Parts Hunter”, is not a relatively new manga series, having been published monthly in the Monthly Shonen Gangan under Square Enix in 2001 (at that time known simply as Enix), and its author has published a few manga series' since its conclusion in 2007. However, not only is this one of my favorite manga of all time, this work also serves especially well to draw a parallel. To what, you might ask? Well, no doubt you have heard of the works of Masashi Kishimoto, the author of the popular manga/anime series Naruto. Most people don't know, however, that Masashi has a twin brother, Seishi Kishimoto, and also wouldn't have guessed that his twin brother makes manga like himself. 666 Satan is not only the manga that Seishi is most known for, but as it was published just a few years after the initial release of the Naruto manga.
If you hadn't known of Seishi or the series before, seeing the artwork you might jump to the conclusion that it is drawn by Masashi Kishimoto. Nobody can deny the fact that if nothing else, their art styles are similar. Not only that, but as you read through 666 Satan, you will see a number of similarities in the characters and stories as well. Due to this and the fact that this work was published after Naruto got popular, Seishi was oftentimes, and still is to an extent, accused of copying his older brother. While Seishi has said on multiple occasions that they merely had similar influences as they grew up and that they used to always draw together as children, this wasn't enough for most fanboys. Thankfully, Masashi himself has flat out denied that his brother is a copycat. What, though, other than the obvious, was the cause of all of the commotion? I'll point out specific reasons as I go.
O-Parts Hunter tells a story that follows the adventures and trials of Jio Freed, a young boy with a style design that one might compare to someone's OC due to the black and white split motif, as well as Ruby Cresent, an adventurous young girl who looks very slightly similar to Sakura when not shown in color. It all starts off with Ruby falling over a sleeping Jio when being chased by a giant monster in the wild. Jio completely ignores the monster, instead complaining about being woken up, even while being swallowed whole by the beast. He escapes through its nostril simply enough and brings it to submission in a single blow, only to continue berating the now bewildered Ruby. Despite this, Ruby considering him to be a very kind person and offers her friendship. Jio replies by telling her he doesn't trust humans, and that the only things he really trusts in life are himself and money, as well mentioning his goal, despite his appearance, is to “become ruler of the world” or “to conquer the world”, which he states much in the same way as Naruto does his dream to become Hokage.
And that's basically how it works.
Ruby explains her own dream of becoming an archeologist like her father, wishing to recover and research mystical and ancient objects known as O-Parts left behind by a much more advanced civilization, so advanced in fact that even modern-day technology couldn't replicate the functions of their relics. Each O-Part has a magical ability locked inside of it, but it seems that not everyone can use them. It takes a special person, known as an OPT (O-Part Technician) to activate their “spirit” and release the effects of the O-Part by infusing said spirit into the object. To cite an example of the power of O-Parts, Ruby mentions a famous story where a man simply known as “Satan” with the number 666 on his forehead murdered an entire village by turning the inhabitant's O-Parts against them. Jio seems to be disturbed by this story more than a regular person might be, and we soon learn about the reason why Jio doesn't trust humans any longer.
As it turns out, when Jio was young, he was oftentimes teased, bullied, and beaten by the other children who would call him cursed. One boy, Jin, would defend him each time, until one day when Jio called for him, Jin would confront him with fury and accused Jio of murdering his parents “like he had his own”. A dark voice deep inside of him begins telling him to lose trust in humanity, that money won't betray him, and nobody will ever love him. The stigma placed upon Jio is not unlike that placed upon Naruto at the beginning of the series, though unlike Naruto, Jio's one and only person he could rely upon betrays him and sends him deeper into darkness.
Ruby isn't just an ordinary girl, herself, being the daughter of a famous archeologist who was said to be murdered by Satan, and is soon kidnapped by a man claiming to be the same Satan to help him recover more powerful O-Parts. Despite Jio telling Ruby he wouldn't be her bodyguard because she had no money, he finds himself unable to stop himself from saving her, even when offered by the gang a large sum of money to leave.
This is when the power of O-Parts is first revealed, Satan revealing himself to be an OPT and attacking Jio. It would seem like he was going to lose when “Satan” uses his O-Part's power to cover Jio's head in a giant ball of water and begins to drown him, but Jio surprises them all by simply swallowing the water in a single gulp and claiming to also be an OPT, wielding a boomerang with an effect that amplified his power. “Lord Satan” discovers another O-Part during their short scuffle to follow, using its power of electricity out of nowhere to seemingly defeat Jio in a single attack. However, during his gloating, “Satan” fails to notice that Jio still stands. A strange aura starts to fill the air, terrifying everyone as Jio's hair changes color and some familiar symbols begin to appear upon his forehead.
Technically it still says "666".
Miraculously, it seems that Jio had absorbed the powers of the man's O-Part, and he claims to be the true Satan, defeating the imposter with a swift combination of attacks before attempting to turn on everyone else, Ruby included. Thankfully, Jio is somehow able to return to his regular self, but has no recollection of what happened.
It doesn't take long for Jio's old friend, Jin, to rear his head again either. Not too long after this ordeal he ends up being attacked by Jin who had now become an OPT for hire. He attacks with a large flame-shaped sword that has an effect of flames. However, it seems that Jin's hatred has affected his spirit, and therefore altered the effect of his O-Part, creating black flames that burn eternally. This, of course, resembles the black flames of Amaterasu and how Itachi attempted to make Sasuke stronger through hatred in the Naruto series, but black flames were of course not an invention of Masaski's. Jio once again finds himself in a corner, as Jin proves to be a powerful OPT despite his age. Without warning, Satan reveals himself again and absorbs the black flames, claiming that Jin's flames and his hatred are pathetic in comparison to his own. Jio and Jin end up both falling over the edge as Jio loses consciousness soon after, and realizing now that Jio had no idea what he had done, Jin saves his friend at the expense of falling to his own doom.
From here, we begin to learn about a group known as the Zenom Organization who seems to work as a crime syndicate, hiring thugs to hunt down O-Parts and recruit or kill powerful OPTs. On the other hand, the Stea Republic, opposes them with a similar goal of recovering O-Parts, though they are much less covert. They also employ the powerful of a massive O-Part in the form of an airship used as a mobile command station. Their operations are also led by a young boy named Cross Biancina whose spirit is so powerful that it creates a dense fog when released, and he is capable of commanding multiple O-Parts in the form of rings called Justice. We learn later on that Cross once had an encounter with Satan a few years before, as well.
Shortly after the battle with the false Satan, Jio and Ruby venture into a city that turns out to be overrun with Zenom operatives who plan on unearthing a massive O-Part beneath the city whose power is said to be legendary. After running into a resistance group who claim to be OPTs (but mostly aren't), Jio decides he must become stronger, and it just so happens that there is an urban legend in the town pertaining to a powerful OPT who teaches others who can pass his trials, though nobody had ever survived them before. Jio of course decides to see if he can get this training, but one of the members of the resistance, a boastful and protective boy named Ball, comes with him to likewise receive training.
Their personalities clash, as both Jio and Ball are quite prideful (though Ball doesn't seem to have as much talent to back it up yet) but somehow they manage to make it past the trials, only to be greeted by a childish swordsman by the name of Kirin and his dog who wears human shoes. Kirin in a lot of ways resembles Urahara from Bleach with his mannerisms and appearance, though his training methods are closer to trickery than brutality. It's also interesting to note that despite having expansive knowledge of O-Parts and spirit, he himself is incapable of using O-Parts, though his skill with the sword is beyond normal human capabilities.
Cast out of Soul Society, he now inhabits the worlds of other manga.
I won't spoil too much more of it for you, though. Not too long later into the series it is revealed that Satan is not the only demon possessing a body, but there are 10 in total, as well as 10 angels, all of which are based off of aspects of sin and virtue respectively, loosely based on aspects of sin and virtue respectively. These angels and demons seem to become the main focus of the warring Zenom and Stea Republic later on, as great power is said to be given to the one who can seal either the angels or demons within what are known as the Kabbalah and Reverse Kabbalah (with the Reverse Kabbalah being reserved for demons). This, of course, is a reference to the Jewish Kabbalah intended for teaching virtues and discipline (or related to Jewish Mysticism depending on how you interpret it), 666 Satan's naming and design schemes occasionally influenced by Judaism, though you won't be learning any actual stories or teachings involved with the religion. Jio ends up learning more about Satan's powers as well, as he learns what was happening after all that time, using the demon's power in constructive ways to defeat evil enemies.
As far as other Naruto resemblances go, there is an extremely spoilery occasion near the end of the series where a certain eye technique is shown to exist within a certain clan of humanoids, which when used for extended periods of time, will cause the user's eyes to bleed. However, other than being an ability linked to the eye and this aspect, it is in no way related to Sharingan or the Mangekyou Sharingan in the Naruto series. This seems to be based on something else completely. With this final conclusion, I feel that anyone who has actually read the series could tell without a doubt that it is NOT a copycat's version of Naruto.
My personal opinion of the series when I first read it was that it was exciting and original, though I do admit that when I first saw it when I was younger I thought that it was by Masashi due to the artwork, and the fact that the site I read it on recommended it from Naruto. The fight scenes actually aren't too long—you won't be having many DBZ battles where the main characters duke it out for episodes until later in the series—but they managed to keep me entertained and as time went on they become more unique and interesting. The characters themselves are also somewhat unique, adhering slightly to stereotypes whilst managing to stand out in some way with their quirks. I wouldn't call the story itself deep, and the chapters are very long due to it being a monthly manga, but to me, if you enjoy action, demons, and manga, 666 Satan is perfect for you.
If you happen to wish to check it out at some point, you can find scans fairly easily online, as well as Seishi Kishimoto's other famous work Blazer Drive, which is based on magic-infused stickers. It sounds weird initially, but it seems much less weird by the third chapter!
(In case you were wondering, the art does change a bit with each time skip)
Spoiler
