Summary

  • Naruto series features memorable fights with impressive visuals and choreography.
  • Some characters like Kiba, Kurenai, and Tenten fade into irrelevance as the series progresses.
  • Powerful characters like Anko and Jugo become background characters after their initial arcs.

Naruto is a shonen series that fans love to this day. Even after the many years have passed since the original run ended, fans can't stop raving about the brilliance of Kishimoto's creation and how it captured an entire generation of fans.

naruto fights with thematic importance featured image
Most Satisfying Fights In Naruto, Ranked

The satisfying visuals and choreographs of these Naruto fights make them stand out from the rest of the series.

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The series does a great job of flooding the series with numerous characters with unique personalities and character designs. However, as the scope of the series expanded, some characters eventually faded away into the background and didn't do anything notable for most of the story, which is a shame.

8 Kiba Inuzuka

After One Fight With Naruto, His Relevance Falls Off A Cliff

  • Debut: Enter: Naruto Uzumaki! (Episode 1 of Naruto)

There was a time when Naruto's classmates enjoyed their time in the spotlight. Such was the case with Kiba, who engaged in a compelling battle against Naruto and played a significant role during the Sasuke Rescue mission, too.

After the timeskip, he was one of the many victims of redundancy who didn't do a single notable thing in the series. It's a shame, but Kiba's abilities were not compelling enough to give him too much screen time, even if Akamaru had grown to become a fearsome hound.

7 Kurenai Yuhi

Gets Jobbed By Itachi And Essentially Becomes A Background Character After This Point

  • Debut: Sasuke and Sakura: Friends or Foes? (Episode 3 of Naruto)

Fans expected a lot from Kurenai, given how she was a powerful jonin who specialized in genjutsu. However, she couldn't show off her abilities against Itachi and was saved by Kakashi in the nick of time, although he also ended up traumatized by Itachi's ocular prowess.

There was still a lot of time for Kurenai to evolve, but she ultimately faltered as a character and failed to make a notable impact. Her romantic connection with Asuma was highlighted in Shippuden, and it's a shame that she didn't hunt down Hidan and Kakuzu to get her revenge despite having ample motivation to do the same.

6 Tenten

For A Weapon Master, It's Almost Impressive Just How Useless She Is

  • Debut: Identify Yourself: Powerful New Rivals (Episode 21 of Naruto)

Tenten's qualification as a weapons master should've made her a force to be reckoned with, especially given that she was under the tutelage of the powerful Might Guy. Instead, not only is she the weakest member of this squad, but she's also the most disappointing kunoichi in the series.

Naruto: Best Sisters, Ranked
Naruto: Best Sisters, Ranked

The world of Naruto of home some truly incredible sibling relationships; here are the best sisters that fans of the anime can get to know.

After being handily defeated by Temari during the qualification bouts (something that wasn't even shown in the manga), Tenten faded into obscurity not long after. Barring a horrid fight against her clone in the first Shippuden arc, she does nothing notable and is a clear example of wasted potential.

5 Ebisu

Easily The Weakest And Most Pathetic Jonin In The Series

Naruto using his Harem Jutsu on Ebisu
  • Debut: My Name is Konohamaru! (Episode 2 of Naruto)

The rank of jonin is not something to be dished out lightly, which is why Ebisu's status is something fans call into question time and time again. Despite being chosen to tutor the Third Hokage's grandson, Ebisu is a complete joke and is handily defeated by the weakest version of Naruto.

All it takes is a combination of Naruto's Sexy no Jutsu with his Shadow Clones to incapacitate Ebisu. It's an embarrassing display, which is why Ebisu is pushed to the sidelines to cement his irrelevancy in the series.

4 Iruka Umino

Relevant As Naruto's Mentor, But Not All That Important Otherwise

  • Debut: Enter: Naruto Uzumaki! (Episode 1 of Naruto)

This is easily one of the most divisive entries here, given how important Iruka's mentorship was to Naruto's growth. However, there's no denying that he became more of a background character after Naruto graduated and slowly became stronger than ever.

While he gave Naruto a shoulder to lean on whenever his pupil needed support, Iruka was quite useless in a combat scenario. This should take nothing away from his character, but one can't deny that most of his bonding with Naruto happened before the series even started.

3 Anko Mitarashi

Her Importance In The Story Tanks After The Chunin Exams

Collage of Anko Mitarashi From Naruto
  • Debut: Identify Yourself: Powerful New Rivals (Episode 21 of Naruto)

Anko is a promising character introduced during the Chunin Exams. Finding out that she was one of Orochimaru's students who managed to escape the psychotic villain's grasp added more intrigue to her character.

Naruto: Strongest Taijutsu Fighters, Ranked
Naruto: 8 Strongest Taijutsu Fighters, Ranked

The world of Naruto is home to an impressive array of Taijutsu fighters, but some manage to stand out from the crowd due to how strong they are.

Unfortunately, after the Chunin Exams and Konoha Crush arc, Anko's relevance as a character fell off a cliff. She was barely present in any notable scenes and became background fodder as the story moved on without her.

2 Ebizo

Chiyo's Brother, Who Is Way Past His Prime When He Appears

Ebizo in Naruto
  • Debut: The Jinchūriki's Tears (Episode 9 of Naruto: Shippuden)

The Honored Siblings of the Sand Village are two of the most legendary shinobi in Sunagakure. However, while Chiyo gets to show off her skills, the same can't be said for Ebizo.

Barring his oversized eyebrows, there's nothing notable about this character. His reaction to his sister's death is the last time Ebizo gets some meaningful screen time before he becomes yet another forgotten background character.

1 Jugo

His Stint With Kara Is The Only Time When Jugo Is Relevant

  • Debut: Guardian of the Iron Wall (Episode 116 of Naruto: Shippuden)

Sasuke's Taka (formerly Hebi) is a team comprised of some of the most talented and dangerous shinobi in Naruto. Suigetsu is related to the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and gets his hands on Zabuza's blade, while Karin's healing properties are off the charts, and her affiliation with Sasuke helps show the leader's ruthlessness as he wounds Karin in a bid to kill Danzo.

However, while Jugo shows a ton of potential as a brutalizer who can go berserk at any given moment, he's fairly irrelevant in the long run. Barring a few fights where he teams up with Taka to take out Sasuke's targets, there's not a lot to say about the most forgettable member of Taka.

  • Rating block community and brand ratings Image
    naruto-2002.jpg
    Naruto
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    Release Date
    2002 - 2007-00-00
    Showrunner
    Masashi Kishimoto
    Directors
    Hayato Date
    Writers
    Masashi Kishimoto
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    • Cast Placeholder Image
      Junko Takeuchi
    • Cast Placeholder Image
      Noriaki Sugiyama

    WHERE TO WATCH

    Streaming
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    Studio
    Pierrot
    Creator
    Masashi Kishimoto
  • Rating block community and brand ratings Image
    0383674_poster_w780.jpg
    Naruto: Shippuden
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    Release Date
    2007 - 2017-00-00
    Network
    TV Tokyo
    Directors
    Masaaki Kumagai, Naoki Horiuchi, Kazunori Mizuno, Yuki Kinoshita, Kazuya Iwata, Hiroyoshi Kishikawa, Yusuke Onoda, Hisashi Ishii, Yoshihiro Sugai, Shu Watanabe, Akitaro Daichi, Takuma Suzuki, Kiyoshi Murayama, Tsuneo Tominaga, Kunitoshi Okajima, Kenichi Nishida, Hideki Takayama, Masaharu Watanabe, Akira Shimizu, Ayataka Tanemura, Hiroaki Nishimura, Atsushi Nakagawa, Kentaro Fujita, Masayuki Matsumoto
    Writers
    Yasuyuki Suzuki, Shin Yoshida, Junki Takegami, Katsuhiko Chiba, Yuka Miyata, Satoru Nishizono, Kento Shimoyama, Daisuke Watanabe, Hideto Tanaka, Masaya Honda
    Display card main info widget end Display card media widget start Display card media widget end
    • Cast Placeholder Image
      Junko Takeuchi
      Naruto Uzumaki (voice)
    • Cast Placeholder Image
      Noriaki Sugiyama
      Sasuke Uchiha (voice)

    WHERE TO WATCH

    Streaming
    Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info
    Studio
    Pierrot
    Creator
    Masashi Kishimoto