Over the duration of the Naruto television series, the wildly popular anime that launched in 2002, audiences have been introduced to plenty of extremely powerful characters. Traditionally, the strongest ninja of each village is said to be the Kage, and while these village heads are strong, towards the conclusion of the show we get a much clearer idea of how their strength compares to many of the other characters in the show.
In this list, we’ll be breaking down our picks for the strongest characters in Naruto. Each choice will be decided from their most powerful form that is either shown or referred to in the series. There were plenty of other ninjas that just missed out on making it into the top ten. And that’s because these are most definitely the top tier of Ninja in the show.
The 15 most powerful characters in Naruto
15) Might Guy
While his true strength doesn’t come to light until right at the end of the main Naruto series, Might Guy is one of its most powerful shinobi. Specializing in Taijutsu, Guy uses hand-to-hand combat as his main weapon unleashing the inner gates to bolster his power.
In his final feat, Guy unleashes all eight gates to land a massive blow to Madara Uchiha, something that few other characters managed to do at all during the great ninja war. With this action alone, Guy instantly moved himself into our top 15 strongest characters.
14) Kabuto
While Kabuto starts off the series as one of its weaker antagonists, by the time we reach the end he has drastically leveled up. Using DNA from his mentor Orochimaru, Kabuto modifies his body to become more closer to the great white snake. With this power, all of the shinobi’s attacks are bolstered. He also gains new abilities like a hydrificiation technique to become liquid and avoid capture. Kabuto at his strongest can enter Sage mode and absorb natural energy gaining access to another long list of new powerful skills. While his means for getting on this list might be disgusting, Kabuto has surely earned his place.
13) Hiruzen Sarutobi
The third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi had a short run in the original Naruto series before returning re-animated for its final arc, but his mastery of Jutsu alone is enough to land him a spot on our list. Sarutobi’s strongest powers come as part of his Nature Transformation mastery. He is one of the few characters in the series that mastered all five basic transformations and using these abilities he’s able to neutralize any nature attacks coming his way. The addition of Sarutobi to this list shouldn’t be any surprise as he was a Hokage after all.
12) Tobirama Senju
Tobirama Senju might just be the most influential Hokage ever thanks to his development of many of the Jutsu used by other characters on this list. On top of that, the second Hokage was able to bring stability to the village during his reign. Taking over from Hashirama after his passing.
As you might expect from someone who created many techniques, Tobirama was also a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield as we see once he is re-animated later in the series.
11) Minato Namikaze
For the first part of the series we are only told stories of Minato Namikaze, the Leaf Villages fourth Hokage. In Shippuden, however, we get a first-hand look at his strength in battle. While Minato is extremely powerful in his base form, having a plethora of jutsu to draw from including the fabled flying thunder god jutsu as well as the Rasengan, Minato is at his strongest during the fourth shinobi world war when it is revealed he has half of the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed within him.
With his mastery of technique, skill in combat, and nine tails chakra, Minato is most definitely one of the more powerful characters in Naruto.
10) Itachi Uchiha
A fan favorite, when we first meet Itachi his immense power is clear. In this encounter, Itachi takes on three Jonin level ninja include Kakashi Hatake himself, and has little to no trouble. Throughout the rest of the show, Itachi’s power is explained further showcasing his mastery of technique alongside the Uchiha clan’s Kekkei Genkai, the Sharingan. With his eternal Mangekyo Sharingan Itachi is able to weave powerful genjustu that can distort its target’s reality as well as use the devastating Susanoo ability to create a massive armor-like suit around his person. He also wields the Tosca blade, a weapon that will seal away anything it touches.
Although Itachi is shown to be ill in the latter portion of the show, at his peak Itachi could easily take on most ninja in the series.
9) Nagato
A member of the Akatsuki alongside Itachi, Nagato is able to control a small group of soldiers referred to as the “six paths of pain” using his Rennegan. These paths are Nagato’s ultimate weapon and each boasts its own unique abiltiies. Working together in combination, it is almost impossible to take out each of these paths one-by-one, especially as the Naraka path has the ability to restore any other path that is taken out in combat.
While Nagato himself is severely injured and incapable of moving or fighting himself, these six paths at his control make him still one of the most dangerous and powerful ninjas in the show.
8) Hashirama Senju
The first Hokage of the leaf village, Hashirama Senju is one of the most important characters in the history of Naruto. Referred to as the God of Shinobi, Hashirama was able to take out Madara Uchiha while he wielded both the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and the Nine-Tailed Fox. Hashirama’s strength comes both from his mastery of Ninjutsu, his powerful chakra prowess, and life force, and also his ability to use senjutsu to enter sage mode. Within sage mode, Hashirama uses his wood-style techniques for both offense and mobility within a battle. In this mode, he even boasts the ability to seal powerful targets, binding them to a location.
With the names that Hashirama is said to have beaten in his prime as well as the display of power he showcases during the fourth shinobi world war, it is undeniable that Hashirama is a top-ten fighter.
7) Obito Uchiha
Famously remaining a mystery for the majority of the series, Obito Uchiha is in fact the person behind the mask of Tobi, a member of Akatsuki. When his identity is revealed, Obito boasts not only the Sharingan as part of his Uchiha heritage, but also the Rinnegan, which he had taken from the corpse of Nagato. Having this power allowed Obito to use all of the Six Paths techniques. On top of this, Obito’s Sharingan has the unique ability of Kamui which allows him to teleport between dimensions and become invulnerable to attack.
At the peak of the series, Obito seals the Ten-Tailed Beast within himself becoming its Jinchuriki and gaining access to its power. Giving him extremely powerful attacking and healing abilities as well as the ability to fly.
6) Madara Uchiha
While in the early stages of the show, Madara is said to be slightly weaker than Hashirama, thanks to his reanimation and some experimentation with Hashirama’s DNA, Madara is able to gain access to the power of the Rinnegan alongside his already powerful Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Unlike Obito, Mada has this power in both eyes and can use every one of the Six Path’s abilities in uniscent with his Sharingan even creating meteorites to deal devastating damage to the battlefield.
Similarly to Obito, Madara reaches his peak of strength when he absorbs the ten-tails for himself. At this point, he gains complete control over the beast, the ability to fly, and unmatchable speed, even being fast enough to react to Kamui. The ultimate power unleashed by Madara is the Rinne Sharingan, as the name suggests a form where both Kekkei Genkai become one.
5) Hamura Otsutsuki
One of the first wielders of chakra, son of Kaguya Otsutsuki and brother of Hagoromo, while Hamura isn’t featured too often in the show, he is most definitely one of its strongest characters.
An ancestor of the Hyuaga clan, as you’d expect Hamura had access to the Byakugan. Alongside this he also could use the Tenseigan and Six Paths Senjutsu. Using these powers, alongside his brother Hagoromo, Hamura was able to defeat their mother Kaguya many years before the tale of Naruto picks up.
4) Hagoromo Otsutsuki
The Sage of Six Paths himself, Hagoromo Otsutsuki isn’t seen fighting in the show, however, he is most definitely one of its strongest characters. The ancestor of ninja, Hagoromo is the son of Princess Kaguya, who became the ten-tails jinchuriki before he and his brother Hamura defeated her and sealed the beast within themselves.
Many of the characters are regarded as the most powerful in the show and use some of Hagoromo’s powers including Obito, Madara, and Sasuke, so it only makes sense that he take a high place on our list.
3) Sasuke Uchiha
Sasuke Uchiha is at his strongest during the final battle of the series. After the pair take down Kaguya, Sasuke has access to plenty of extremely powerful techniques, including Susanoo and the Rinne Sharingan. During their final battle, Naruto and Sasuke have an extremely close contest so the second place on our list can go either way, but there is no doubting that these are two of the strongest ninja and their efforts during the show’s final act cement that.
2) Naruto Uzumaki
It should come as no surprise that, as the series ends, Naruto Uzumaki is one of the most powerful characters. Boasting both full synergies with the Nine-Tailed Fox and the Six Paths Sage Mode, taking down Naruto is a feat that only a single character could do alone.
As alluded to earlier, there is debate whether Naruto or Sasuke are stronger at the conclusion of the series. It’s more likely they are intended to be an even match and so either character could take second place on our list.
1) Kaguya Otsutsuki
After consuming the fruit of the God Tree, Kaguya Otsustsuki became the first wielder of chakra on earth. After she merged with the Ten-Tails, her children had no choice other than to seal her away. In the final act of the series, the seal is broken as the Ten-Tails reappears and so does she. Kaguya has access to all, including Kekkei Genkai like the Byakugan and Rinne Sharingan. Combined with her tailed beast transformation, she is most definitely the most powerful entity in the Naruto series.
Defeating Kaguya in combat took the combined efforts of Naruto, Sasuke, and fellow team seven-member Sakura. Even in the past, it took the combined efforts of both brothers Hagoromo and Hamura Otsutsuki to seal her away.
