All 9 Characters Who Beat Naruto, Ranked

Throughout the Naruto series, Naruto has battled and won against many strong opponents, most of whom were ninja. However, he’s also experienced defeats. While some of these losses were lighthearted, others were incredibly dangerous, and Naruto wouldn’t have survived without help from others.

The characters who managed to defeat Naruto were generally very powerful, often at the level of a Kage (leader of a hidden village). Some were exceptionally unique – one was an alien, and another was essentially a host for an even more powerful entity. While many of these defeats happened when Naruto was still a young ninja in training, he also lost fights later in life, even after becoming Hokage and being considered one of the greatest ninja ever.

9. Rock Lee

Naruto and Rock Lee are now close friends, but they didn’t get along at first. They met before the Chunin Exams, and Naruto immediately challenged Lee to a fight. Naruto was annoyed that Lee had boldly challenged Sasuke and felt jealous when Lee admitted he liked Sakura. The fight didn’t go well for Naruto—he lost quickly and easily.

Rock Lee can’t use ninja techniques like illusions or stealth, but he’s incredibly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, even mastering the powerful Eight Gates technique – a rare ability in the world of Naruto. Interestingly, he didn’t even need to use the Gates when fighting Naruto. Instead, he easily deflected Naruto’s punch and quickly swept his leg, sending Naruto hilariously tumbling into a wall. Luckily, Naruto’s own fighting skills with his body improved throughout the series.

8. Tsunade

Tsunade is a renowned ninja from the Leaf Village, celebrated as one of the Three Legendary Sanin. When Naruto met her, she was widely considered the most skilled medical ninja in the world. She’s incredibly strong and has an amazing ability to heal, which makes her nearly invincible in battle. After encountering Naruto, Tsunade became the Fifth Hokage. However, before achieving this prestigious position, she was critical and dismissive of the past Hokage and the sacrifices they had made.

Naruto was annoyed by her behavior and demanded a fight. Tsunade accepted, promising to defeat him with just one finger. She effortlessly avoided his attacks and sent him flying with a simple flick to the forehead. Naruto attempted to use his Rasengan, but Tsunade ended the battle by slamming her finger into the ground. The Rasengan bounced back, and Naruto fell into the crack created by her finger.

7. Kakashi Hatake

Kakashi was an incredibly gifted ninja, earning the rank of Jonin at the young age of 12. He’s one of the most respected teachers in anime, having mentored Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura – all of whom became powerful leaders. After the Fourth Great Ninja War, Kakashi became the Sixth Hokage, and even without his Sharingan, he continued to grow stronger, capable of battling other top-level shinobi.

During the bell test, Kakashi gave Naruto his first, and most humiliating, loss. Naruto rushed at Kakashi, who was casually reading a romance novel, Make-Out Paradise. Kakashi effortlessly blocked Naruto’s attack and quickly moved behind him, using the Thousand Years of Death technique. Naruto then tried to use multiple Shadow Clones, but Kakashi cleverly made him accidentally hit himself. The fight ended with Naruto comically getting caught in a simple trap.

6. Orochimaru

I’m a huge fan of Orochimaru – seriously, he’s one of the most powerful ninja ever! He was definitely a contender for Hokage back in the Leaf Village. It’s wild to think about when Naruto first met him; Orochimaru was disguised as a newbie Genin from the Hidden Grass Village! They actually fought a little bit in the Forest of Death during the Chunin Exams. Naruto was just starting to tap into the Nine-Tails’ power then, so it was a pretty intense encounter!

Naruto briefly overpowered one of Orochimaru’s massive snakes using the Tailed Beast’s energy, then used Kunai to prevent it from attacking Sasuke. However, Orochimaru quickly wrapped his tongue around Naruto, pulling him close. Orochimaru then attempted to seal the Nine-Tails’ power using a special seal, which immediately knocked Naruto unconscious. He was thrown aside, and would have been killed by the fall if Sakura hadn’t caught him.

5. Sasuke Uchiha

Naruto and Sasuke shared a brotherly bond, yet they also had one of the most iconic rivalries in anime history. Throughout the series, they clashed multiple times, often ending in a stalemate. However, their initial fight in the Valley of the End resulted in a victory for Sasuke. This battle, before the timeskip, was arguably the best of the series, culminating in a powerful showdown between Sasuke’s Chidori, boosted by his Curse Mark, and Naruto’s Rasengan, amplified by the Nine-Tails’ power.

Naruto intentionally aimed for Sasuke’s headband instead of trying to kill him, and Sasuke managed to stop his attack just in time to save Naruto, though he did knock him unconscious. Later, Sasuke became an incredibly powerful ninja, capable of defeating even the strongest opponents like Kaguya Otsutsuki all by himself. With abilities like the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Susanoo, and Rinnegan, Sasuke could single-handedly defeat all the Tailed Beasts and the five Kage if he chose to.

4. Pain

Nagato, also known as Pain, led the Akatsuki organization and was responsible for the destruction of the Hidden Leaf Village while seeking Naruto and the Nine-Tails. He was an incredibly powerful ninja, considered the strongest outside the five major ninja villages, thanks to his mastery of the Rinnegan and its six unique abilities. These abilities allowed him to summon creatures, negate ninjutsu attacks, create powerful weapons, control souls, manipulate life and death, and even control gravity. To manage these powers, Nagato divided them among six different bodies, all linked by a shared visual field.

Naruto initially struggled against Pain, defeating five of his bodies using his Sage Mode, Rasenshuriken, and Rasengan. He even destroyed the Asura Path with one powerful punch. However, Pain’s Deva Path was a major challenge, using its abilities to overwhelm Naruto and ultimately knock him down. Naruto was likely to remain defeated if Pain hadn’t attacked Hinata, which triggered Naruto to unleash the Nine-Tailed Fox’s power and escape. Although Naruto eventually won the battle, he lost their first direct confrontation.

3. Madara Uchiha

Madara Uchiha is widely considered the most powerful Uchiha ever, and likely would have won against Naruto and Sasuke during the Fourth Great Ninja War in his Six Paths Ten-Tails form – a tremendously powerful transformation in the Naruto series. He easily surpassed the Five Kage in strength and single-handedly defeated thousands of ninja with one technique. The only person capable of defeating him was Hashirama Senju, a legendary and incredibly powerful ninja.

Madara and Naruto never had a direct, one-on-one battle, and it’s likely Naruto would have been defeated given Madara’s powerful abilities – he could use the Susanoo, Rinnegan, and Wood Release. Madara did fight Naruto along with all nine Tailed Beasts, and he managed to seal them away inside the Gedo Statue. When the Nine-Tails was extracted from Naruto, he was immediately knocked unconscious and would have died if Sakura hadn’t used her medical ninjutsu to save him.

2. Momoshiki Otsutsuki

Momoshiki belongs to the main branch of the Otsutsuki Clan and aimed to grow a new Chakra Fruit using the Nine-Tails’ power, as Kaguya had previously tried and failed. While Kaguya wasn’t known for her close-combat skills, Momoshiki was a powerful taijutsu fighter who briefly held his own against both adult Naruto and Sasuke before ultimately being defeated.

Momoshiki had two powerful dojutsu: the Byakugan, which gave him almost all-around vision and the ability to target an opponent’s energy pathways, and the Rinnegan, which let him absorb, strengthen, and release incredibly strong ninja techniques. These attacks were devastating enough to destroy a whole village if unchecked. While Naruto could have defeated Momoshiki in a fair fight, he deliberately lost and allowed himself to be captured. He did this to shield his son and minimize damage to the Leaf Village. Even though it was a calculated move, it still resulted in a defeat.

1. Jigen

Jigen led the Kara organization and was their most powerful member, but he wasn’t simply a monk. He was actually a temporary host for Isshiki Otsutsuki, who used to work with Kaguya. When Jigen arrived in the village searching for Kawaki, it quickly became apparent that he was a significant threat, even to Naruto, who was the Seventh Hokage at the time.

Naruto and Sasuke battled Jigen in a different dimension, but were quickly defeated. Jigen effortlessly destroyed dozens of Naruto’s Shadow Clones, even those powered by the Nine-Tails’ chakra. He then shattered Sasuke’s fully formed Susanoo with a single kick. Jigen easily avoided all of Naruto’s attacks in Tailed Beast Mode, dismantling the transformation just as he had Sasuke’s Susanoo. The fight ended with Jigen impaling Naruto with black rods and sealing him away, while Sasuke managed to escape and return to warn the village.

2026-05-25 03:39