Only three cards say "negate" — and just two of them are counters, both of which cost you something afterwards
This article is commentary and analysis by this site. To keep it distinct from official facts, reasoning and speculation are clearly labeled.
In most TCGs, counterspells wear two faces. They are the card that dismantles a plan in one shot, and also the card that does nothing while you hold it up. That is why counters usually come with a heavy string attached.
So what does “negate” look like in the NARUTO Card Game? We searched all 38 cards in our card database — 24 of which have legible effect text — for that single word.
Three hits. And only two of them stop the opponent.
About this article: the tallies below come from the cards registered in our card database. Most were read from the English-version demo cards handed out at Gen Con 2026 (SAMPLE watermark, NOT FOR SALE) or from sample images on the official site. Specifications may change in the retail release, and the official rulebook and card list are still unpublished. Anything speculative is clearly marked as such.
1. The three cards that say “negate”
- Kakashi Hatake (N-009) (Character, cost 1, R)
[Support] Lightning Blade
[Support Activated] Negate that card. After that, reduce your Life by 2. - Shisui Uchiha (N-016) (Character, cost 1, R)
[Support] Kotoamatsukami
[Support Activated] Negate that card. After that, you cannot turn your CHAKRA face-up from this turn until the end phase of your next turn. - Naruto Uzumaki (N-003) (EX Character, SR)
[On Summon] Summon up to 1 [Naruto Uzumaki] from your deck or trash with its effects negated.
The third one uses “negate” in a completely different sense. It does not stop the opponent; it strips the effects off a card you drag out of your own deck or trash — a restriction attached to cheating a card into play, so that a powerful [On Summon] cannot be looped. It has nothing to do with reading your opponent.
So the counters, properly counted, are Kakashi and Shisui — two cards.
2. The two counters are exactly the two [Support Activated] cards
Here is where it gets interesting. Among the 24 cards with legible text, exactly two carry the [Support Activated] trigger — Kakashi and Shisui.
In other words, every [Support Activated] ability revealed so far is a support counter, without exception. The timing “when a support is activated” maps one-to-one onto the role “stop that support.”
And the two share their wording, too.
Negate that card. After that, …
The first half is identical; only what follows “after that” differs. And in both cases, that second half is a drawback for you.
| Kakashi Hatake (N-009) | Shisui Uchiha (N-016) | |
|---|---|---|
| Support name | Lightning Blade | Kotoamatsukami |
| First half | Negate that card | Negate that card |
| “After that” | Reduce your Life by 2 | Cannot turn your CHAKRA face-up until the end phase of your next turn |
| Cost | 1 | 1 |
| Rarity | R | R |
| DMG / POW / HP | 1 / 7 / 4 | 1 / 5 / 6 |
| Traits | Lightning, Hidden Leaf Village, Team 7 | Genjutsu, Uchiha Clan, Hidden Leaf Village |
Same cost, same rarity, and both {Hidden Leaf Village}. They read as a deliberately designed pair.
3. Kakashi’s price — 2 out of 15 Life
Kakashi pays 2 of your own Life. Both revealed leaders (Naruto Uzumaki N-001 and Sasuke Uchiha N-012) have 15 LIFE, so a single counter hands over roughly 13% of your clock.
As covered in the article on Life (Aug 15), only two revealed cards move the Life number at all, and both move your own. One is this Kakashi (−2); the other is Karin (N-010) (+2).
Which means that, in what has been revealed, one Karin exactly cancels the price of one Kakashi counter. Both are reactive cards ([During Your Opponent’s Attack] and [Support Activated]), and both cost 1. Whether that symmetry is intended is not stated officially, but the numbers line up cleanly.
4. Shisui’s price — one [Recovery]
Shisui pays not in numbers but in time on your resources.
You cannot turn your CHAKRA face-up from this turn until the end phase of your next turn.
Recall the [Recovery] ability both revealed leaders share:
[Recovery] If it is the second turn or later, rest this card and flip all of your CHAKRA face-up.
There are only five CHAKRA cards, and they turn face-down when spent. The only known way to turn them back face-up is that [Recovery].
Shisui’s restriction runs “until the end phase of your next turn”, so read plainly, your next turn’s [Recovery] does nothing. Put another way, Shisui’s price is roughly “skip one chakra refresh.”
That said, this is a reading of the printed wording. The exact timing of [Recovery] and how it sits within the phase structure await the official rulebook, so nothing here is definitive.
Laying the two prices side by side shows how differently they are built:
- Kakashi — pays with the game itself (Life). Nothing on board changes, so next turn plays out normally
- Shisui — pays with next turn’s actions (chakra). Life is untouched, so it does not shorten your clock
“Lose ground toward defeat but keep moving,” versus “keep your clock but lose the ability to move.” Same counter, opposite resource.
5. How many cards stop, and how many get stopped
Counting the support ecosystem in what has been revealed:
Twelve cards carry [Support], while only two can stop one — a ratio of one to six. This is clearly not a game designed so that you can hold up an answer to every face-down card.
The one card on the protection side is Suigetsu Hozuki (N-021).
[Quick] Choose 1 Character: Summon this card, and the chosen card is unaffected by your opponent’s support effects during this turn.
It never says “negate,” but it is the only known way to shield a character from opposing supports. Given that seven cards are removal and most of them arrive from supports, its role is unambiguous.
One more card stops something: Shikamaru Nara (N-008) “cancels that attack.” But what he cancels is an attack, not a support — and as covered in the attack article (Aug 23), he is the only card that says so.
6. What “negate” does not cover
Conversely, these counters have not turned up at all so far:
- Cards that negate a leader ability — none
- Cards that negate a character’s effect such as [On Summon] — none (EX Naruto’s “with its effects negated” targets your own card)
- Cards that stop an attack using the word “negate” — none (Shikamaru “cancels”)
- Cards that interfere with the opponent’s chakra or hand — none
For now, supports are the only thing that can be stopped. That said, only a small slice of the card pool is public, so this is not evidence that such cards do not exist.
7. What is still unknown
- Kakashi’s and Shisui’s text does not say “your opponent’s.” Whether “negate that card” is limited to opposing supports, or could also target your own, cannot be settled from the wording
- Whether [Support Activated] can interrupt on either player’s turn, and the conditions for activating it (from face-down, or from the field)
- Whether Suigetsu’s protection works against a counter. He shields “the chosen Character,” while Kakashi and Shisui negate “the activated support itself” — whether those interact is not readable from the text
- Whether counters can be stacked on counters (how multiple [Support Activated] abilities chain)
- Whether using [Recovery] under Shisui’s restriction still rests the leader, even if no chakra flips
- Whether Kakashi’s “reduce your Life by 2” is treated the same as Life lost to an attack (i.e. whether anything triggers off it)
All of these wait on the official rulebook.
Summary
- Of 38 registered cards (24 with legible effect text), 3 say “negate”. Only Kakashi (N-009) and Shisui (N-016) are counters against the opponent; the third (EX Naruto N-003) strips effects from your own card
- The two counters are exactly the two [Support Activated] cards, and both read “Negate that card. After that, …” They even share cost 1, rarity R, and {Hidden Leaf Village}
- What follows “after that” is a drawback in both cases — 2 of 15 Life for Kakashi, one [Recovery] for Shisui
- Twelve [Support] cards versus two that stop them, and only one (Suigetsu Hozuki N-021) that protects
- No card negates a leader ability, a character effect, or an attack. Every revealed counter is support-only
Related articles
- All 12 [Support] cards carry a jutsu name — but only one has its Japanese name confirmed on an official card face
- Reading face-down supports — how far public information narrows down what your opponent can do
- Six of the seven removal cards come from face-down supports — cost 1 kills one, cost 2 kills two or more, without exception
- Only two cards touch the 15 Life total, and both target your own — reading the win condition’s numbers
- The Chakra Card explained — how a five-card resource works, and how CP-001 (Gen Con Ver.) differs
Source: www.naruto-cardgame.com