original Naruto The anime's canon story featured some of the best story arcs seen in shonen anime. Stories like the Chunin Trials arc helped solidify Naruto's place in the shonen “big three”, containing some of the best fights and personal moments in all of anime. Fans always care about major story beats like Naruto's “talk jutsu” being redeemed by 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 of the cast members continued to grow and perfect their techniques in the original Naruto anime, so endgame superstars like Naruto himself and Sasuke Uchiha aren't among the strongest fighters in the earlier arcs. Instead, it's often the jonin, kage, and jinchuriki who are the strongest fighters in these early arcs. Notably, some of these arc-defining fighters continued to be among the Naruto's most powerful fighters later in the series, while others were left behind in style.
Sasuke Recovery Mission Arc: Kimimaro Kaguya
Kimimaro fought Naruto, Rock Lee, and Gaara without losing to any of them
The Sasuke Recovery Mission Arc raised the stakes and power levels to whole new heights, and that meant the competition was fierce in determining who was top dog. With his one-tailed cloak and Rasengan, Naruto Uzumaki was a strong contender, as was Sasuke who had his cursed seal and the three-tomoe Sharingan, not to mention the wrath of the Chidori. Gaara was also stronger at the time, but one ninja narrowly surpassed them: Kimimaro Kaguya.
Kimimaro was chosen to be Orochimaro's next ship, which speaks volumes for his immense power, and this Sound ninja has also mastered his bony kekkei genkai and Cursed Seal. Above all, Kimimaro's combat record speaks for itself as he easily wipes out Naruto's army of shadow clones without taking any serious damage in return. He also fended off the likes of Rock Lee and Gaara and only lost because his disease eventually claimed his life. Fans will never forget the sight of Kimimaro's bone drill coming within inches of Gaara's eye before the arc's strongest warrior froze as the disease finished him off.
Land of Waves Arc: Kakashi Hatake
Kakashi turned the tables on Zabuza on 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 hero when shonen anime like Naruto begins In those early days when Zabuza and Haku were the toughest villains, Naruto was far from mastering his own anime and even Sasuke had to be wary of the anime's strongest characters. Zabuza was the strongest opponent but Kakashi was the best fighter on screen due to his special tricks.
6 Naruto Characters Who Deserved Better Endings
Some characters in the Naruto universe have been killed off or sidelined without a substantial ending to wrap up their story.
Kakashi didn't have the Mangekyo Sharingan in him yet Narutoearly stage meaning he had no Susanoo or Kamui but 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 a ninja who copied 1,000 jutsu, even performing his signature Lightning Blade during the rematch on Tazuna's bridge. Even Naruto in his one-tailed biju cloak could not compete with Kakashi's vast arsenal of tricks.
Konoha Crush Arc: Gaara
The one-tailed Shukaku dominated the battlefield
When the Chunin Exam Arc gave way to the destructive Konoha Crush Arc, Gaara was able to narrowly surpass Orochimaru as the most powerful ninja on screen at the time. Partly because in the Konoha Crush Arc, Gaara finally unleashed the full power of his tailed beast for the first time. The power of the one tail made Gaara a fearsome fighter with the sand alone, but then Gaara became a proper kaiju as Orochimaru's ultimate weapon in the Konoha Crush Arc. Only another tailed beast, or the Toad King Gamabunta, could even think of facing such power.
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Naruto was almost as strong as Gaara through Gamabunto, but it can be said that Gaara was still stronger, partly because he was more used to his powers at the time. As for Orochimaru, even he couldn't outrun the fully manifested tailed beast in the heat of battle. What's more, the climax of the Konoha Crush Arc saw Orochimaru greatly weakened as Hiruzen rendered Orochimaru's arms useless. Once that happened, Gaara firmly claimed his place as the #1 fighter of the arc, even though Naruto's talking jutsu had already convinced Gaara to stop fighting.
Chunin Trials Arc: Orochimaru
Orochimaru granted Sasuke a cursed seal
Cast Naruto and the battle system exploded in the famous Chunin Trials arc, meaning the competition was much stiffer to determine who was the strongest character at the time. Naruto was definitely stronger and smarter at this point and Sasuke had gotten stronger as well, but once again it was the adults who controlled the battlefield. Not even Gaara could overcome the monstrous Sannin Orochimaru, the surprise villain of the Chunin Trials arc.
Orochimaru showed up in disguise, gave Sasuke a cursed seal, then terrorized Team 7 some more before shuffling away to leave the rest of the work to the Sound Genin. This also means that Orochimaru was the first introduced Sannin Narutoand of course he towered over all the Chunin Exam participants and even outclassed Kakashi and Hiruzen Sarutobi. At the time, Orochimaru could perform such feats as summoning Manda, shedding his skin to avoid injury, and using the Edo Tensei to summon three different Hokages. Orochimaru waited until the arcs came later to actually do most of these things, but he was still capable of jutsu like the chunin trial arc.
Search Tsunade Arc: Itachi Uchiha
Itachi wanted Naruto captured no matter what
In the Search for Tsunade Arc, all three Sannin appeared on screen, with Jiraiya convincing Tsunade to help him and Naruto fight Orochimaru. Together, the three Sannin could defeat anyone at this stage Narutostory, but individually they weren't as powerful as Itachi Uchiha. While some heroes and even some villains were still growing in strength at the time, Itachi was already at or nearing his maximum strength. The same can be said for Kisame Hoshigaki, but Naruto fans generally agree that Itachi is the stronger of the two.
Naruto: How Every Akatsuki Member Died Explained
The Akatsuki were the scariest group in all of Naruto, but most didn't have any major deaths.
During the early episodes of the Finding Tsunade Arc, Itachi toyed with a number of Leaf ninjas without taking any serious damage in return. Seeing Itachi face the likes of Kakashi, Kurenai, Naruto and Jiraiya says a lot. Itachi already had the full power of his Mangekyo Sharingan at the time, meaning he could use Susanoo if he really wanted to. Because of the power scaling, Itachi held back a bit, but Naruto fans can safely say that Itachi could have beaten anyone else in the Search for Tsunade Arc. In fact, he could probably beat anyone in the original Naruto fighting anime
Naruto
- Release date
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2002 – 2007-00-00
- Showrunner
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Masashi Kishimoto
- directors
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Hayato's date
- Writers
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Masashi Kishimoto
