Ranking Naruto's Strongest Opponents in the Anime (2024)

The long-running Naruto shonen franchise starred protagonist Naruto Uzumaki, an underdog ninja who strove to become Hokage and prove himself a great hero. Over the course of a few years, Naruto Uzumaki fought a handful of powerful, deadly villains and antagonists of all kinds, and not just to prove his own worth, either. Naruto had self-centered goals in mind, but he was also an idealistic ninja who fought these dangerous villains to protect his home village and indeed, the entire world.

In early Naruto anime episodes, Naruto and the rest of Team 7 fought relatively tame villains like Zabuza and Haku, then moved on to gifted ninjas who wanted nothing more than to rule the world or destroy everything with their immense power. That was especially true in Naruto Shippuden, when the power levels and stakes were higher than ever before. Naruto Uzumaki personally fought and defeated many of those mighty villains, and crossed paths with a few others during his adventures. The strongest foes all thought they could take down a loud, goofy ninja like Naruto Uzumaki — and they were wrong.

10 Kakuzu Didn't Last Long Against Naruto's Windmill Rasengan

Kakuzu was one of the first new villains whom Naruto Uzumaki properly fought in the Naruto Shippuden anime. Kakuzu was introduced alongside Hidan to form an immortal pair, two villainous ninjas who used bizarre jutsu to cheat death and keep fighting across the long years. But while Hidan used his cult's power to become unkillable, Kakuzu sustained himself with a collection of hearts.

With those multiple hearts, Kakuzu could use a variety of elemental releases, so he was like an entire team of ninjas in one person. He could also extend his body with black tendrils and had extensive battlefield experience to make him that much deadlier. Kakuzu was a serious threat to the heroes, but in the end, he thoroughly lost to Naruto's Windmill Rasengan, and such a defeat marks Kakuzu as the weakest of Naruto Uzumaki's ten strongest villains.

9 Kimimaro Kaguya Had a Bone-Based Kekkei Genkai

Even though most characters in the Naruto Shippuden anime eclipsed those found in the original Naruto anime, the antagonist Kimimaro Kaguya still manages to outshine a handful of Shippuden villains to earn a place among Naruto's ten strongest foes. Fans should note that no one actually defeated Kimimaro, so it's unclear what exactly it takes to defeat him. He merely died of his illness, sparing Rock Lee and Gaara a brutal death.

Kimimaro was the penultimate boss battle of the Sasuke Retrieval story arc and was stronger than the members of the Sound Four. He combined his bone-based kekkei genkai with his curse seal to become a ferocious fighter, and not even Rock Lee's best taijutsu and Gaara's sand jutsu could hold him off for long. In stage 2, Kimimaro was a total beast, complete with a tail, and he was stronger than Gaara at the time, which is saying a lot.

8 Gaara of the Sand Was the Monster of the Chunin Exam Story Arc

Later in the anime, Gaara of the Sand was outclassed by the series' best ninjas, but he still remained a formidable fighter who commanded a great deal of respect. During the Chunin Exam arc, in particular, Gaara was the strongest genin by far thanks to his incredible sand jutsu and the power of the One-Tailed Shukaku inside him. He was a jinchuriki, like Naruto Uzumaki, but in a twisted way.

Gaara only got stronger from there, achieving full mastery over his sand powers to the point he could shield the entire Hidden Sand Village from harm by himself. Gaara's immense power and authority as Kazaekage also made him a major leader of the united shinobi coalition, a testament to his abilities as a villain turned hero.

For a time, Orochimaru loomed over the story of Naruto as the single deadliest and scariest shinobi of all. At first, Orochimaru had no interest in Naruto Uzumaki and easily fended Naruto off in the Forest of Death, but in later arcs, the two of them became proper enemies. Naruto wanted to help his mentor Jiraiya recruit Tsunade, and Naruto wouldn't let Orochimaru get in the way.

Over the span of many episodes, Naruto fans saw the full extent of Orochimaru's many powers. Orochimaru made a serious attempt to learn all jutsu in the world, meaning he had a vast inventory of ninjutsu and other traits in various battles. He kept finding ways to cheat death and adapt to gain new powers, which served him well, but in the end, Sasuke disposed of him, preventing Orochimaru from becoming the strongest ninja of all time.

6 The Six Paths of Pain Killed Jiraiya and Almost Captured Naruto

At first, Naruto fans only saw the eerie hologram silhouette of Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki organization. Then, Pain finally stepped out of the shadows as the next great villain for the heroes to fight. Pain defeated and killed Jiraiya in the Hidden Rain Village, then proceeded to the Hidden Leaf Village and laid waste to it to show the world the meaning of pain and loss.

Pain defeated a variety of ninjas until Naruto himself arrived, Sage Mode at the ready. But even with Sage Mode and Rasengan, Naruto was in for the fight of a lifetime, and he might have lost if it weren't for Hinata Hyuga interfering and buying him time. The being known as Pain wasn't just one ninja, either; it was six people linked by the Rinnegan, remotely controlled by Nagato. The face of Pain was Yahiko's corpse, who used the Almighty Push and Almighty Pull techniques to devastating effect.

5 Obito Uchiha Wielded Enormous Power During the Fourth Great Shinobi War

Years ago, Obito Uchiha was an idealistic, energetic Leaf genin who dreamed of becoming Hokage, making him similar to Nawaki and Naruto Uzumaki. Then he seemingly died in the Kakashi Gaiden arc, only to return as a supervillain, influenced by Madara Uchiha himself. By then, Obito was a total powerhouse with some of the series' best jutsu at his disposal.

Obito had the Mangekyo Sharingan and the power of Kamui, making him intangible in battle and ensuring that practically no one could touch him. He also wielded the Rinnegan and took control of Ten-Tails during the Fourth Great Shinobi War, making him an incredible threat to Team 7. Fortunately, Obito was convinced to redeem himself and fight alongside his fellow Leaf ninjas. Such power puts Obito in the middle of the pack among Naruto Uzumaki's most powerful enemies of all.

4 Itachi Uchiha Was Always a Prodigy, Villain Or Not

Not long after Hiruzen Sarutobi's tragic death, Sasuke's long-lost brother Itachi Uchiha made his on-screen debut alongside his shark-like partner, Kisame Hoshigaki. Itachi swiftly proved himself a true prodigy on the battlefield, using clever combinations of jutsu and his Sharingan to easily hold off three Leaf jonin without even breaking a sweat. His Tsukuyomi, meanwhile, was enough to take Kakashi out of the fight entirely via illusionary torture.

Itachi could also use potent genjutsu to fool his enemies and escape harm with the famed Shadow Clone Jutsu, which played into his secret theme: pacifism. Despite his villainous antics concerning Naruto Uzumaki, Itachi was not truly Naruto's enemy deep down. He was an anti-villain who disapproved of bloodshed, thus his evasive techniques, such as illusions. Still, if Itachi wanted to fight for real, he could crush practically any foe, especially when using his mighty Susano'o.

3 Sasuke Uchiha Amassed Great Power For His Revenge

For years, Sasuke Uchiha lagged behind his famed prodigy brother Itachi, but in time, Sasuke caught up to his brother, then eclipsed him. Sasuke amassed a remarkable variety of jutsu, techniques, traits, and weapons to become a true powerhouse later in Naruto Shippuden, from the Rinnegan to Zabuza's sword to what remained of Orochimaru. And, of course, he had his trademark Chidori jutsu and used a medium-range variant of it as well.

All that allowed Sasuke to keep pace with his teammate turned enemy Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke could even take on multiple Hokage and make it out alive. Sasuke didn't rely entirely on brute force, however; he was also an incredibly clever ninja who could think on his feet, allowing him to outfox and defeat the likes of Deidara and Danzo Shimura.

2 Madara Uchiha Dominated the Fourth Great Shinobi War

For a time, Madara Uchiha was built up to be the ultimate villain, and he did not disappoint. When Madara finally stepped onto the battlefield in the Fourth Great Shinobi War, he was like a one-man army, fighting off and defeating countless allied shinobi with simple taijutsu. Against stronger foes, Madara could also use Uchiha clan staples like the Susano'o and fireball jutsu, among others.

Madara had other tricks up his sleeve, too, all of them devastating. He absorbed the mighty Ten-Tails to take the fight to Team 7 in a big way, and he even used Hashirama Senju's cells to perform wood release, a rare jutsu type by any measure. Madara could have been the be-all, end-all villain for the anime's heroes, but then one more villain arrived to overshadow him as the anime's strongest.

1 Kaguya Otsutsuki Threatened to Destroy All of Team 7

At the last moment, protagonist Naruto Uzumaki met his true endgame villain: Kaguya Otsutsuki, modeled after the legend of the moon rabbit. Kaguya was in tears at the thought of people harming one another, but she was no pacifist. She intended to destroy everyone and everything, and only Team 7 could stop her by fighting together.

Naruto gave it his all in that final fight, and it was a minor miracle that he survived against techniques like the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack, among others. Kaguya was more akin to a deity than a conventional shinobi, putting even Madara to shame, but Team 7 found a way. Amusingly, Naruto realized that he could briefly use Kaguya's uptight personality against her, distracting his reverse-harem jutsu to make Kaguya pause in bewilderment. That proved to be one of her very few weaknesses, something Sakura Haruno absolutely did not see coming.

Naruto

TV-PG

Action

Adventure

Naruto Uzumaki, a mischievous adolescent ninja, struggles as he searches for recognition and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the village's leader and strongest ninja.

Release Date

September 10, 2002

Creator

Masashi Kishimoto

Cast

Junko Takeuchi , Maile Flanagan , Kate Higgins

Main Genre

Anime

Seasons

1

Production Company

Pierrot, Staralis Film Company

Number of Episodes

220