Top 10 Strongest Naruto Characters, Ranked by Feats
Ranked strictly on what these characters are actually shown doing, not on dialogue or hype alone. Peak power counts, including temporary transformations and borrowed power, with each entry noting exactly which version is being ranked.
This covers the original Naruto and Shippuden manga only. Boruto-era characters are excluded, since the scale shifts significantly once the Otsutsuki introduced there enter the picture, and that’s a different comparison entirely, covered in the separate Boruto power ranking. One more honest note before the list: feats in this series aren’t perfectly consistent, and reasonable people rank these differently. This is a defensible ordering, not the only possible one.
Here is the full ranking before the reasoning behind each placement.
- Contested slot: Might Guy, Obito, Itachi, or Killer B
- Minato Namikaze
- Nagato, at full health
- Hashirama Senju
- Madara Uchiha, with the Rinnegan
- Madara Uchiha, as the Ten-Tails jinchuriki
- Six Paths Sasuke
- Six Paths Naruto
- Hagoromo Otsutsuki
- Kaguya Otsutsuki
10. Contested slot: Might Guy, Obito, Itachi, or Killer B
This tenth spot is a genuine toss-up, and rather than pretend otherwise, it’s worth naming the real contenders. Might Guy, using the Eighth Gate, produces the single most devastating individual attack in the series, hurting Madara badly, but the technique lasts only moments and costs him his life to use, which is why it earns him a mention here rather than a higher, more permanent slot. Obito, at his strongest with the Ten-Tails’ power, Itachi, whose skill consistently outpaces his own physical condition, and Killer B, master of the Eight-Tails, all have a real claim on this slot too.
9. Minato Namikaze
The Fourth Hokage’s speed, paired with the Flying Raijin technique, makes him one of the hardest characters in the series to actually pin down or land a hit on, which is a real, checkable strength distinct from raw destructive output. Speed of this kind is easy to undervalue in a ranking built around big, flashy feats, but a character nobody can reliably hit is a genuine, structural advantage in any fight.
8. Nagato, at full health
The qualifier matters enormously here. Nagato is far stronger at full health than he ever is during the fights we see him in, where his body is already failing him. Ranked here specifically for what he’s capable of at full strength with the Rinnegan, not for his in-fight showings, which is a distinction worth keeping in mind for any character whose canon condition during their biggest fight was already compromised.
7. Hashirama Senju
Wood Release on a massive scale, and widely regarded as one of the strongest shinobi to have ever lived within the story’s own history. Worth flagging honestly: a fair share of that reputation rests on other characters’ awed statements about him rather than on feats shown directly on the page, which is a real pattern with Hashirama specifically and worth knowing when you weigh his placement here.
6. Madara Uchiha, with the Rinnegan
Even before reaching his absolute peak, Madara operating with the Rinnegan is enough to threaten the combined forces of the entire Allied Shinobi Forces more or less single-handedly, a feat that alone would justify a spot on most versions of this list.
5. Madara Uchiha, as the Ten-Tails jinchuriki
A clear step above his Rinnegan-era self. This version of Madara is powerful enough that Kaguya later takes his power directly from him, which is itself the cleanest evidence of where he sits relative to her.
4. Six Paths Sasuke
Granted a share of Hagoromo’s power alongside Naruto specifically to fight Kaguya. Individually, even at this level, he doesn’t match her, which is exactly why he and Naruto have to fight her together rather than separately.
3. Six Paths Naruto
Same grant of power, same result: enough to help beat Kaguya as part of a team effort, not enough to match her alone. Naruto and Sasuke sit essentially level with each other at this specific power tier, which is part of why so many versus debates between the two of them end up focusing on other stages of the story instead.
2. Hagoromo Otsutsuki
The single strongest legitimate rival for the top spot, and worth being upfront that this is genuinely arguable. He and his brother Hamura sealed Kaguya originally, which sounds decisive, but it took both of them acting together, and he’s never shown fighting at full power within the story’s present timeline.
1. Kaguya Otsutsuki
The full case for her sits in the dedicated post on the strongest character in Naruto. In short, she’s the final antagonist of the series, she casts the Infinite Tsukuyomi over the entire world at once, and defeating her required both Naruto and Sasuke wielding a share of Hagoromo’s power simultaneously, backed by the rest of Team 7, and even then the result was a seal rather than an outright kill.
Who just missed the ten
Worth naming who didn’t make the numbered ten and why. Obito at his peak, Itachi, and Killer B all have real cases for the tenth slot but were edged out by Guy’s single most devastating feat in the series. Sasori, Deidara, and the rest of the Akatsuki‘s stronger members sit meaningfully below this list, formidable within their own tier but not close to competing with the characters above.
Why rankings like this always generate disagreement
Being honest, a list like this can never fully settle the debate it’s trying to answer. Naruto’s power system mixes raw destructive output, speed, technique versatility, and situational tools like sealing into one story, and different fights reward different combinations of those traits.
A character built to win a war of attrition and a character built to win a single decisive exchange aren’t really measuring the same thing, even when both get filed under “strongest.” This ranking weighs peak demonstrated feats above all else, which is a defensible standard, but it’s not the only reasonable one, and a list built around raw destructive capacity alone, or one built around battlefield impact across an entire war, would reasonably shuffle several of these names.
Common questions
Who is the strongest Naruto character overall?
Kaguya Otsutsuki, ranked first here. She casts the Infinite Tsukuyomi over the entire world, travels between dimensions, and absorbs chakra directed at her, and beating her still only produced a seal rather than a kill.
Where does Itachi rank?
He appears in the contested tenth slot rather than higher, and the reason is specific. He is arguably the series’ finest technician, but he fights terminally ill throughout and deliberately loses to Sasuke. Skill at that level is not the same as raw ceiling.
Is Might Guy stronger than Madara?
With the Eighth Gate open he badly hurts Madara, which is the single most devastating individual attack in the series. But it lasts moments and kills the user, so it measures a peak feat rather than sustained strength.
Why are Boruto characters excluded?
Because the scale shifts substantially once the Otsutsuki introduced there enter the picture, and Boruto’s power scaling has kept moving as the story continues. Mixing the two eras would make the ranking less useful rather than more complete.
