Naruto treated anime fans to some of the coolest, flashiest, and just plain sickest fighting in all of Shonen. In fact, each of the shonen “big three” delivered badass fights that most of today's shonen titles can only hope to match, with Naruto's badassery flavored with jutsu and jinchuriki. Aside from being some of the most violent and consequential clashes, the baddest fights in Naruto also has the most attitude.
Being a badass is all about stubborn grit and confidence in battle, qualities that make all anime viewers cheer for the hero while saluting WHO that hero is. These brutal fights also have a tough and cool personality, they are built with the most creative or aggressive moves in the entire anime to create an unforgettable showdown. It includes giants like tailed beasts and summoned creatures, along with amazing feats of old fashioned taijutsu or brand new jutsu making their flashy debuts.
Sakura & Chiyo vs Sasori showcased Sakura's Incredible Grit
Taijutsu and Guts overcame the power of puppets
The Naruto fandom is often reluctant to admit Sakura Haruno into the ranks of the most badass or most powerful Naruto characters, but she definitely lived up to Tsunade's expectations when Naruto Shippuden arrived. Everyone then glowed like teenagers, and Sakura packed a ferocious power that surprised even Kakashi. She put that energy to good use with Chiyo's help when she fought against Sasori of the Akatsuki. It also felt like another collision of grit vs talent.
Sasori is not the kind of talent of a Mangekyo Sharingan user or a jinchuriki, but he felt special in a dark way as the master of 298 puppets, including the Third Kazekage's own. Sakura had far less battlefield experience and fewer tricks than Sasori, but she held her ground with astonishing willpower, driving through Sasori's macabre minions with every blow. In the end, it felt so bad and even rewarding for Sakura to beat Sasori's own puppet body to get an underdog win in that cave.
Jiraiya & Tsunade vs Orochimaru was the Sannin showdown everyone was dying for
Three giant monsters also met on the battlefield
When Naruto began introducing the three mighty Sannin, fans were eager to see what would happen if they fought each other. These Sannin are in a class of their own as themed ninjas and old friends who each had an incredible animal summon, they are Gamabunta, Katsuyu and Manda. The Search for Tsunade Arc delivered this highly anticipated battle, and that was it Naruto fans longed for.
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All three Sannin fought to the bitter end, with Naruto and even Kabuto outclassed when the Sannin reached 100%. This was a showdown of legends, and it certainly felt that way when the three giant summons met. More and more often Naruto anime dealt with a wide range of things like tailed beasts, summoned monsters, and even the likes of Susanoo, and Sannin fighting was an early example of this brand of Naruto badassery.
Naruto Uzumaki vs Gaara defined the Operation Konoha Crush Arc
For the first time, two Jinchuriki met in a fight
Before the Sannin ever fought, Naruto The anime got another kaiju mull when two tailed beasts met on the battlefield. Even Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru felt sidelined in their fight as Naruto stepped up to challenge his fellow jinchuriki, Gaara. Granted, Naruto didn't fully awaken Kurama's power, nor did he know how to, but he made do with Gamabunta as a giant badass toad with a sword.
Rearrange the casings in the correct Japanese release order.
Start
Rearrange the casings in the correct Japanese release order.
Light (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)
Naruto's iron-clad determination and his dedication to protecting—or avenging—the Leaf Village made him a true badass in that fight. Naruto had shown grit before, but this clash took it to astounding new heights, and it's still not the best part. For all its bad moments, Naruto's duel with Gaara left a mark with the tender “talk jutsu” at the end. By then, Naruto already knew that if he didn't touch his opponent's soul, nothing would really be resolved. It takes more than fighting to save the world, something Naruto alone understood.
Sasuke Uchiha vs Killer Bee pitted Uchiha talents against a massive tailed Beast
Killer Bee never flinched at Sasuke's Dojutsu
Jump in after the time NarutoSasuke Uchiha was ready and willing to take on incredible challenges, starting with his own mentor Orochimaru and his brother Itachi. Fighting Itachi to the finish was purely personal, while taking on Killer Bee was all business, and somehow that made it even sweeter. Sasuke didn't really have to face Killer Bee, but he safely did, walking straight into the jaws of a jinchuriki's wrath.
For once, Sasuke was the total underdog, considering his exhaustion from fighting Itachi, and even he couldn't take on a jinchuriki's kaiju level chakra. Regardless, Sasuke came right in and refused to back down, with badassery and Sasuke's anti-hero role overlapping perfectly in this phase of Naruto Shippuden. The actual fight was also pretty bad, with Bee showing off Naruto as a legitimate master of a tailed beast while Sasuke desperately fought back with the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Naruto vs Sasuke at the valley of the end was a stubborn and tragic affair
Naruto's wild grit kept up with Sasuke's Sharingan
Naruto and Sasuke fought more times than viewers can count, but one duel still stands out among the rest. This is another argument that pound for pound, the original Naruto the anime was actually stronger and thematically heavier than Naruto Shippuden. The fight fans care about most between these rivals-turned-enemies was the climax of the Sasuke Retrieval Mission storyline, where Naruto finally caught up with his villainous friend in the shadow of Hashirama and Madara's statues.
Badassery continued to rage as Naruto and Sasuke took turns unleashing their power, using everything they had at the time, reinforced with stubborn will. Sasuke enhanced his Sharingan and Curse Seal, while Naruto used Kurama's superhuman chakra and his own Rasengan to keep up. The emotional stakes and brutal length of this fight made it one of them Narutos worst fight of all, without the planet-destroying jutsu defined late Naruto Shippuden fraction. In a way, less was more here.
Naruto Uzumaki vs Pain shook the Ninja world as a war of ideals
Naruto's answer to the problem of pain came in Rasengan form
The Six Paths of Pain still stands as one of them Narutos best villains, if not the very best, in so many ways. He drove the stakes through the roof by killing Jiraiya and destroying Konoha, and he also served as Naruto's dark mirror as a fellow student of Jiraiya. Fans might even say that Pain was to Naruto what Naruto was to Gaara, a fellow fighter who wanted to reach out to help the opponent. But Naruto could not accept this, and the two were destined to fight.
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The emotional tension helped bolster the badass factor of this iconic Naruto Shippuden battle, with Naruto openly rejecting Pain's philosophy while secretly panicking that he had no answers to replace Pain's own. It challenged Naruto in a thoughtful way pushing Naruto to an edge he didn't even know existed. The fight itself delivered 100%, with Naruto showing off his usual kit of tenacity, practical creativity and aggressive taijutsu and offensive jutsu to take the fight to the enemy or die trying.
Rock Lee vs Gaara remains a legend from the early days
Hard work beats almost invincible talent
Again, the one Naruto anime made it clear that the formula was perfected in the first era, with Naruto Shippuden just do the same thing on a larger scale with Dragon Ball Z energy. The Chunin Exam Arc was an early peak too Narutos emotional and combative ways, mainly the battle Rock Lee vs Gaara. This is an anime legend because it is the purest “hard work vs talent” crossover. Naruto's own underdog status felt a little hypocritical in light of Kurama's generous power and Naruto's connection to Asura Otsutsuki, but not Rock Lee.
With only taijutsu and only his stomach, along with Might Guy's encouragement, Rock Lee found himself right into the wrath of Gaara's sandjutsu. Rock Lee's physical feats stunned everyone there, most of all Rock Lee himself, as no one had ever taken taijutsu this far, as no one else needed to or even wanted to. The added layer of thematic force is how after all Rock Lee may have gone too far, refused to back down and suffered nasty injuries as a result. Empowerment can go a long way, but the energy can backfire on the user, but Rock Lee fought on regardless.
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
- Author
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Masashi Kishimoto
