The ANBU (暗部, ANBU; Viz "Black Ops", English TV "ANBU Black Ops"; Literally meaning "Dark Side" wink is actually short for ANsatsu Senjutsu Tokushu BUtai (暗殺戦術特殊部隊, Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai; Literally meaning "Special Assassination and Tactical Squad" wink . The name is a form of contraction, similar to English acronyms like SWAT, where the two kanji used to abbreviate the group's full name constitute an actual word on their own.