Naruto Uzumaki is arguably the most famous anime protagonist in history. As the Jinchūriki host of the Nine-Tailed Fox, Naruto learns to harness and control his tremendous power throughout his titular franchise.
His journey not only sees him become the greatest ninja of his generation, but also earn the mantle of Hokage, his lifelong dream. However, for all his adventures, for all the terrible foes and incredible trials the character faced throughout his journey, longtime fans may be surprised at just how many people Naruto has killed.
Naruto Uzumaki’s kill count is almost nonexistent
Technically speaking, when taking into account the original Naruto series and Naruto Shippuden, non-canon movies aside (more on that later), the titular protagonist has only ever killed one person. Early in the latter series, Naruto embarks on a mission with Kakashi, Sakura, and Chiyo to retrieve Gaara, who was captured by the criminal organization known as Akatsuki.
The Akatsuki, to buy themselves time while they drain the Shukaku (One-Tailed Beast) from Gaara, task Kisame and Itachi Uchiha with distracting the approaching Konoha groups. While Naruto’s group thinks they are fighting Itachi, in reality, they are battling Yūra, an Akatsuki spy from the Sand Village, who, through a powerful Shapeshifting Technique, is used as a sort of vessel to masquerade as a sort of Itachi replica, albeit a much weaker version. Naruto ends the fight with a Big Ball Rasengan, and once the dust settles, everyone is immediately shocked to discover Yūra’s corpse. Believe it or not, this is Naruto’s only canon kill.
While some fans often think Naruto killed Kakuzu later on in Shippuden, technically, that one goes to Kakashi. While Naruto did absolutely destroy Kakuzu at the freaking cellular level with his Rasenshuriken, it was Kakashi who delivered the final blow.
There are some kills Naruto racked up in the non-canon films, such as Dotō Kazahana in Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow. However, again, these are not canon stories. All in all, it’s pretty surprising that in a series that spanned 700 manga chapters, in an anime that spanned over a decade, Naruto Uzumaki only ever killed one enemy. Then again, maybe this was for the best. As brutal as the Shinobi world was, Naruto was always the hopeful protagonist. He was the brash upstart who never gave up. (As Jiraiya noted, whatever the kid lacked in intelligence, he made up for with guts.)
In a bloody world filled with terrible and constant ninja warfare, Naruto and his unwavering optimism always stood out. His not killing as much as the standard ninja enhances his story in a way. Naruto doesn’t need to be the dark assassin type. Leave that to Sasuke.