Back when I first got into anime over a decade ago (has it really been so long?), there were three huge anime that absolutely dominated Shonen Jump; One Piece, Bleach, and Naruto. Three of the classic gateway anime you recommend folks who are looking into getting into anime. You could not go anywhere online without hearing chatter about these three giants. Whether it was self-insert fanfics, cool fanart, or crazy conspiracy theories about what was coming next, you could always hear about the latest news whether you wanted to or not. These days, things are different. The concept of a ‘big three’ is arguably deceased, with One Piece being the only one running and the other two were replaced by My Hero Academia and Love Live in Japan. There isn’t really a big three anymore and anyone who says there still is, is selling something.
Naruto officially ended in 2017 and has since been replaced by Boruto, but that does not mean it has lost fans. The Naruto fanbase is still strong, even though the main series is long gone. The series will always be remembered for its epic battles, cool jutsus, and extended run time. Naruto was the first anime for many fans that lead them to a whole new world of entertainment. Many still cite it as one of their favorite anime and has some cool characters. Sasuke memes even came back for a little bit. However, like many Shonen protagonists, Naruto is notoriously overpowered and here’s why.
25 His Chakra Level Is Over 9000!
In the very early episodes of the first Naruto series, twelve-year-old Naruto displays an enormous amount of ability and skill. He can use the Shadow Clone Jutsu to clone hundreds of himself, which takes a lot of chakra. Some of this power is down to his blood and the beast within, but this is clear evidence that from the beginning Naruto was overpowered. He had more chakra than even Kakashi, an adult Jonin who had trained for a long time.
24 Look At All Of My Victories And Weep
Making your protagonist powerful from the very beginning of the series is a risky move. It has the potential to paint you into a corner as a creator, forcing you down a certain path. By making your protagonist unusually strong from the get-go, you have to create enemies who are even more powerful. Give your protagonist crazy abilities, and you have to give your enemies even stronger and crazier abilities to challenge him; at times, this cycle can become ridiculous. Naruto as a series and a character suffers from this at times.
23 Giant Rasengan Attacks
As any Naruto fan knows, Naruto’s signature move is his Rasengan. During a battle, Naruto often uses the Shadow Clone Jutsu to make a few clones before gathering his chakra energy into a ball and hurling it at his enemies in an awesome energy attack. These Rasengan were often hugely powerful and had the power to win battles and injure foes. While it is possible for any ninja to learn how to do this, Naruto combines it with another difficult technique to avoid fatigue and exposes another overpowered ability.
22 I Summon You, Toad
Naruto has a certain affinity for toads and frogs. They seem to always be connected to him in various ways throughout the series. However, once he hits his Sage Mode, he draws power from the toad chakra of the animals he is bonded to. In fact, he is so powerful that is anyone tries to mess with his toad chakras, they will turn into a frog. Now, if Fullmetal Alchemist has taught me anything, it is that complete transformation is no easy feat.
21 Tailed Beast Powers, 24/7 Availability
Having an all-powerful nine-tailed beast inside you may sound intense but it can be useful. Almost all of Naruto’s power comes from his connection to this mystical being. In exchange, Kurama can borrow Naruto’s body sometimes if it needs to. Not only that, but the tailed beasts can meet with each other using Naruto as the medium no matter where they are. Talk about a wildly OP arrangement that just exists for the sake of the plot.
20 Tailed Beast Bomb
This attack is freaking ridiculous. An absolutely devastating attack that absolutely decimates mountains in its standard form, the tailed beast bomb is no joke. Balancing this heavy attack using the 8:2 ratio of black and white chakra is key to nailing this one. It can be fired as a ball, a wave, or a beam, and can clear distances of multiple miles in a few moments. The fact that Naruto can even do this as a human is crazy, even if he is in his nine tails chakra mode.
19 Frog Kata Technique
Going back to the frog connection, Frog Kata was learned by Naruto through his training with the toads of Mount Myoboku and his mastery of Sage Mode. This technique causes the user’s natural energy while creating the senjutsu chakra to act as an extension of their body unseen to anyone not familiar with the ability. It allows you to decimate enemies with one punch and shatter chakra cloaks – way too crazy.
18 Wind Release: Rasenshuriken
Invented by Naruto after learning the principles of Wind Release: Rasengan, this technique is a powerful and draining one indeed. This technique causes the Rasengan to grow four spikes of wind and will break through most things in its path. If it cannot, then it created a wind vortex that damages the body of anyone trapped in it on a cellular level, meaning they may not be able to use their jutsu ever again. Naruto can usually only do this a handful of times before tiring out. Need I say more?
17 Nine-Tails Chakra Mode
What a beast (literally)! Nine-Tails Chakra mode allows Naruto to grow additional limbs, turn his body into a flaming chakra, move faster than lightning, form an entire army by spreading his chakra around, and can summon Kurama to act as his chakra avatar. That’s not even touching the augmentations that come from the Six Paths chakra. Once again, I feel like I don’t need to say anything more on this one. You know I’m right on this one.
16 Six Paths Chakra Mode
Speaking of the Six Paths chakra abilities, this chakra gives Naruto the ability to use Truth-Seeking Orbs, which are highly destructive balls of black chakra that can be used as projectiles, sources of healing, or to create tailed beast bombs. As if that was not enough, they also allow Naruto to fly, access the Six Paths, and hold all the powers of all the tailed beasts at once. This crazy teenager is supposed to be human, right?
15 Magnet Release
An ability originally held by Shukaku, magnet release relies on a combination of energy and curse marks to function. Shukaku’s version relied heavily on his curse marks, which create a suction similar to sealing someone. Naruto modified this ability and combined it with his rasengan to create the magnet release, a ball of energy covered in curse marks. This move can injure and incapacitate enemies easily enough in battle and is one to watch on the power scale.
14 Pachinko Technique
In case you aren’t sure, pachinko is a fun cross between a slot machine and pinball. It is a fun and sometimes frustrating game to play and you would not expect this to feature in Naruto, but here we are. This technique was formed by Naruto and Sasuke when they were bound by liquid chakra. The pasty and robust nature of the chakra gave them the idea of using it to deflect and fling away projectiles and attacks, hence the pachinko name.
13 Talk No Jutsu
This one just seems unnecessary, to be honest. The Talk No Jutsu essentially means that Naruto’s silver tongue, charisma, and quick thinking can combine to help him out. When things are tight and he needs to diffuse or get out of a situation, this jutsu can make him talk his way out of almost any situation. It is usually used by Naruto to talk down enemies and stop fights from escalating any further. He basically has speech level 100 when using this ability.
12 Chakra Absorption
After losing his arm in a fight with Sasuke during the Fourth Shinobi World War, Naruto was left a little more vulnerable than usual. When Boruto, the series focusing on his son and the next generation of ninjas, was being written, they had to figure out a way to fix this. In this series, Naruto was given a prosthetic arm that could absorb chakra and attacks without Naruto taking any damage himself. What an overpowered defense item – it’s basically the perfect shield.
11 Tori Seal
When he was a kid, Naruto had a really hard time figuring out how to use sealing techniques. His family, the Uzumaki clan, were notoriously adept at them, but he could not get the hang of it. As an adult, however, Naruto has them in the bag. Once he managed to fully access his fox chakra, he gained the ability to seal and unseal the chakra on his own. This meant that he could take a portion of the chakra to use when he needed it and enter Kurama’s cage and talk to him.
10 Regeneration
A character with powers often comes with some extra fancy additions. For example, Superman has super strength, can fly, and has super stealth in glasses. A common one is also super healing or quick regeneration that kicks in after a character gets really injured. Naruto Uzumaki is one of those characters with this perk. On the brink of passing on after a multiple-episode fight with a ridiculously strong opponent? No problem, man. Some sleep and food will get him back to normal.
9 Ink Creation
This one is a weird one, to be honest. The two most famous people to use this ability besides Naruto are Killer B and Gyuki. Styles differ on how they prefer to wield this odd power; Killer B was a fan of spitting the ink at enemies. It is kind of unclear how Naruto manages to bring the ink into existence, but it does not really matter. The whole chakra system may as well be magic at this point, so I am not going to question it.
8 Lava Release
This is another wildly powerful ability. Tapping into the Son Goku chakra whilst being in Six Paths Sage Mode is the only way for Naruto to make this happen. Lava Release is just his regular Rasenshuriken but merged with actual lava and with sharp steam blades that can cut up enemies in moments with no problem. That is some extra ninja nonsense right there. This is the final evolution of the Rasengan.
7 Chakra Transfer
A person’s chakra is essentially their life force. It is their vitality that allows them to access their inner strength and survive. With that in mind, it seems freaking crazy that anyone would even attempt to transfer their chakra to someone else. If you are going to do a chakra transfer, you had better know what you’re doing and have enough to keep you alive afterward. Luckily for Naruto, his plot armor means that he has the stuff in spades.
6 Chakra Identification
Depending on how strong their chakra is, anyone in the Naruto universe can identify someone’s chakra. For some, they can see specific chakra points on someone’s body and see their weaknesses. Others can see what chakra someone has and what level they are at. Naruto, however, does things a little differently. He subconsciously uses Kurama’s power to sense people’s emotions and identify them based on their personal chakra signature. You cannot do anything near this guy without getting spotted and questioned immediately.