original Naruto The anime's canon story features some of the best story arcs seen in shonen anime. Storylines like the Chunin Exam arc helped cement that NarutoShonen ranks among the “Big Three” featuring some of the best fights and personal moments in all of anime. Fans always care about major story beats like Naruto's “Talk Jutsu” redeeming Gaara and Naruto summoning Gamabunta for the first time. but Naruto Fans also want to know who is the strongest fighter in each arc.
Many cast members were still growing and refining their techniques on the original Naruto anime, so endgame superstars like Naruto himself and Sasuke Uchiha aren't among the strongest fighters in earlier arcs. Instead, it's mostly the jonin, kage, and jinchuriki who are the strongest fighters in those early arcs. Notably, some of these arc-defining fighters remained ranked in the middle NarutoThe most powerful fighters were later in the series, while others were left behind in a big way.
Sasuke Recovery Mission Arc: Kimaro Kaguya
Kimimaro fought Naruto, Rock Lee, and Gaara.
The Sasuke recovery mission arc raised the stakes and power levels to entirely new heights, and that meant the competition to determine who was top dog was fierce. Thanks to his one-tailed cloak and Rasengan, Naruto Uzumaki was a strong contender, and so was Sasuke, who had his Cursed Seal and three-Tomo Sharingan, not to mention Chidori's Wrath. Even Gaara was strong by then, but one ninja slightly topped them all: Kimaro Kaguya.
Kimimaro was chosen to be Orochimaru's next vessel, which speaks volumes for his immense power, and this sound ninja also fully mastered his bony Kekkei Genkai and Cursed Seal. Most of all, Kimimaro's battle record speaks for itself, he easily wipes out Naruto's shadow clone army without taking any serious damage in return. He defeated the likes of Rock Lee and Gaara, and only lost because his illness eventually took his life. Fans won't soon forget the sight of Kimaro's bone drill within an inch of Gaara's eye before the arc's strongest fighter freezes as his illness finishes him.
Land of Waves Arc: Kakashi Hatake
Kakashi turned the tables on Zabuza at Tazuna's bridge
It's not uncommon for mentor types like Kakashi Hatake to be the most powerful character, or at least the most powerful protagonist, when in a shonen anime like this. Naruto begins In those early days when Zabuza and Haku were the toughest villains around, Naruto was far from dominating his anime, and even Sasuke had to be wary of the strongest characters in the anime. Zabuza was the strongest opponent, but Kakashi was the #1 on-screen fighter thanks to his special moves.
6 Naruto Characters Who Deserved Better Endings
Some characters in the Naruto universe are killed off or sidelined without enough endings to wrap up their story.
Kakashi still didn't have the Mangekyo Sharingan inside Narutois an early stage, meaning he had no Susanoo or Kamui, but he didn't need them either. He still had his sharp tactical mind, regular Sharingan eye, and his well-earned combat experience to guide him. Kakashi quickly proved why he was the ninja who copied 1,000 jutsu, and he even showed off his signature lightning blade during a rematch at Tazuna's bridge. Even Naruto in his one tailed bijuu robe couldn't compete with Kakashi's vast arsenal of moves.
Konoha Crush Arc: Gaara
The One-Tailed Shukaku dominated the battlefield
When the Chunin Exam arc gave way to the disastrous Konoha Cross arc, Gaara managed to narrowly surpass Orochimaru as the most powerful on-screen ninja at the time. That's partly because, in the Konoha Crush arc, Gaara finally released the full power of his tailed beast for the first time. One tail's power made Gaara a fearsome fighter alone with Sand, but then Gaara became a suitable kaiju as Orochimaru's ultimate weapon in the Konoha Cross arc. Only another tailed beast, or even Gamabunta, king of the toads, could think of facing such a force.
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Naruto was as strong as Gaara through Gamabunta, but arguably, Gaara was still stronger, partly because he was more used to his powers at the time. As for Orochimaru, he couldn't even outrun a fully revealed tailed beast in the heat of battle. What's more, the climax of the Konoha Cross arc saw Orochimaru greatly weakened after Hiruzen rendered Orochimaru's weapons useless. Once that happened, Gaara firmly claimed his place as the arc's #1 fighter, even though Naruto's Talk Jutsu had already convinced Gaara to stop fighting.
Chunin Exams Arc: Orochimaru
Orochimaru bestowed the cursed seal on Sasuke
Artist of Naruto And the battle system both exploded in the famous Chunin Exam arc, meaning the competition to determine who was the strongest character at the time was very stiff. Naruto was definitely getting stronger and smarter at this point, and so did Sasuke, but once again, it was the adults who dominated the battlefield. Even Gaara couldn't defeat the monstrous Sannin Orochimaru, the surprise villain of the Chunin Exams arc.
Orochimaru appeared in disguise, gave Sasuke the cursed seal, then terrorized Team 7 a bit more before leaving the Sound Genin to do the rest. This also means that Orochimaru was the first sannin NarutoAnd of course, he outclassed all of the chunin exam participants and even outclassed Kakashi and Hiruzen Sarutobi. At the time, Orochimaru could perform actions such as summoning Manda, shedding his skin to avoid harm, and using the Edo Tensei to summon three different Hokages. Orochimaru waited until later arcs to do most of those things, but he was still able to perform jutsu like the chunin exam arc.
Find Tsunade Arc: Itachi Uchiha
Itachi wanted Naruto imprisoned no matter what
While searching for Tsunade's arc, all three sannin appeared on screen, Jiraiya began to convince Tsunade to help him and Naruto fight Orochimaru. Together, the three sannin could beat anyone at that stage NarutoWho's story, but individually, they weren't as powerful as Itachi Uchiha. While some heroes and some villains were still growing in power, Itachi was already at or near maximum power. The same can be said about Kisame Hoshigaki, though Naruto Fans generally agree that Itachi is the stronger of the two.
Naruto: How Every Akatsuki Member Died, Explained
The Akatsuki were the most feared group in all of Naruto, but most of them didn't die big.
While searching for the early episodes of the Tsunade Arc, Itachi toyed with several Leaf Ninjas without taking any serious damage in return. Seeing how Itachi faced the likes of Kakashi, Kurenai, Naruto, and Jiraiya, there was a lot going on. In those days Itachi already had the full power of his Mangekyo Sharingan, meaning he could use Susanoo if he really wanted to. As for power scaling, Itachi held back somewhat, but Naruto Fans can safely say Itachi can beat anyone else in his quest for the Tsunade Arc. In fact, he could probably beat anyone in the original Naruto Anime in a duel.
Naruto
- Release date
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2002 – 2007-00-00
- showrunner
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Masashi Kishimoto
- directors
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Hayato date
- The authors
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Masashi Kishimoto
