Naruto Uzumaki, the hero of the Hidden Leaf Village, one of the most popular characters in anime and manga, and – perhaps most importantly – Boruto’s dad; is incredibly strong within his franchise and by shonen protagonist standards in general. His rigorous training, mastery of a mystical fighting style, and command over Tailed Beast chakra allows him to battle even the strongest of enemies in the Naruto series. In fact, at this point, it’s more accurate to call him overpowered than anything else. As things currently stand in the sequel series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, there are only a handful of characters who even come close to Naruto in terms of fighting prowess.
Granted, the orange ninja wasn’t always so strong that he can destroy what are basically deities. Like so many other shonen anime and manga protagonists, Naruto started out as an underdog ostracized by most of his community and with the few people who knew him well expecting very little of him. However, this widespread disregard became a source of inspiration for Naruto, and he began training tirelessly so that everyone in the Hidden Leaf Village could not dismiss his skill and power. After more than a decade of watching Naruto strive to obtain a power others could not ignore and making dozens of meaningful relationships in the process, it is undeniable that he has reached his goal – and then some.
Updated on March 21st, 2022 by Amanda Bruce: The audience members for shonen anime can excuse overpowered traits in a lot of their favorite characters. After all, watching the characters grow into strong fighters is part of the fun. Characters like Naruto Uzumaki, however, make a journey from class clown to someone revered as a god in the span of a few short years. Even in the Boruto series, Naruto is revealed to access to some pretty massive power still as the new generation of shinobi grow around him.
Baryon Mode
Introduced in the Boruto series, this particular power-up is something Naruto didn’t initially know he could do. That’s because it comes at a huge cost to the user, and it’s only accessible to the jinchuriki housing Kurama. Baryon Mode fuses Kurama’s chakra with his jinchuriki’s, in this case, Naruto. The fusion creates a whole new form of energy for the two to use as the chakra makes Naruto stronger, faster, and deadlier to an opponent. The cost of using Baryon Mode, however, is incredibly high. Naruto agrees to use it when Kurama warns him it will end in death because he sees no other option. In reality, however, it doesn’t end in the death of the jinchuriki, but the Tailed Beast inside of them.
Rapid Healing
Naruto and the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox Kurama have a kind of symbiotic relationship. As the Tailed-Beast is sealed inside of Naruto, Kurama greatly improves Naruto’s healing abilities because of the harm he might endure if Naruto were to suffer lethal injuries. This healing boost allows Naruto to rapidly recover from most lacerations and puncture wounds in a matter of minutes. While this power doesn’t give Naruto an immunity to poisons or heal quickly enough to nullify damage, it does let him get back into fighting shape much more quickly than most other ninjas.
Flight
Yes, Naruto’s powers include flying. Naruto gains the ability to fly shortly before the conclusion of the original series. When he combines the power he gained from the Sage of the Six Paths with his own abilities, he is able to fly through the air without exerting any effort. This power is pivotal in his final battle against Kaguya, as it allows him to attack the cosmic being from multiple angles and to more easily navigate the many hazardous environments she warps to. Even if this power does not appear very often in the series, and it’s not super clear if Naruto is still capable of flight, it’s an incredibly useful power nonetheless.
Super Strength
Naruto can hit people really, really hard. A general level of superhuman strength is pretty common in anime and the world of Naruto, but Naruto’s physical strength far exceeds most other characters in the series. Especially after learning to control natural energy and convincing Kurama to work with him, Naruto is able to destroy even the strongest structures with his bare hands. While some characters do exceed Naruto’s physical strength and fisticuffs become less of a factor in fights as the series goes on, this orange ninja’s tremendous brute strength is almost unfair.
Inhuman Speed
Like a lot of ninja in the series, Naruto can move incredibly quickly. However, unlike most of the characters who do the infamous Naruto run, Naruto can move so quickly that it almost appears as though he’s teleporting.
After gaining access to Kurama’s vast pool of chakra, Naruto can move so quickly that only the most skilled or gifted of enemies are even able to follow his movements. This enhanced speed allows Naruto to quickly incapacitate even the most renowned ninja in history during the Fourth Great Ninja War and accomplish what hundreds of other ninjas could not.
Sage Mode
After learning how to gather and control natural energy from mystical toads, Naruto became able to enter Sage Mode. This technique greatly enhances all of his physical abilities so he can take on foes that are otherwise far outside of his abilities. He was able to defeat four of the six paths of Pain thanks to Sage Mode, and can combine it with his other transformations to further boost his power. While other characters in the series come to utilize their own version of Sage Mode, Naruto’s use of the transformation along with his other powers make him practically unbeatable.
Enhanced Danger Senses
One of the greatest benefits of Sage Mode is that it allows a user to more easily sense chakra and the danger that hidden or speedy attacks pose to them. Naruto is able to use Sage Mode to track down enemies and easily avoided blindingly fast attacks because he can sense it ahead of time. This lets him defeat the incredibly powerful Third Kazekage and defend against Pain’s coordinated attacks. This power may not be the most offensively useful, but it has tremendous defensive and tracking capabilities, which is terrifically useful in the shadowy world of ninjas.
Frog Kata
Another benefit of Sage Mode is the Frog Kata fighting style. This technique greatly enhances the range of Naruto’s physical attacks, by creating a mass of chakra around it. This means that he is able to strike an opponent even if they dodge his punch, because the energy surrounding his fist is dense enough to also inflict damage. This is a tremendously overpowered ability considering the speed of Naruto’s attacks and that most of his opponents are only able to dodge it by a hair’s breadth anyway. These invisible attacks make Naruto way tougher to fight than the vast majority of other ninjas.
Nine Tails Chakra Mode
After defeating the Demon Fox Kurama and then later forming a friendly relationship with him, Naruto is able to enter the Nine Tails Chakra Mode. This transformation coats Naruto in a golden aura, greatly enhances his physical abilities, and allows him to manipulate an inhumane amount of extremely powerful chakra. Gaining this transformation instantly made Naruto one of the strongest characters in the entire series, and allows him to take on even the most dangerous of enemies at only a fraction of his full strength. Considering that he is one of the few people in the series with access to this kind of ability, it is the definition of overpowered.
The Rasengan
The Rasengan is an extremely powerful attack that Naruto learned from his father’s teacher, Jiraiya. By rotating chakra gathered on his palm at an incredible speed, the Rasengan allows Naruto to inflict an incredible amount of damage onto an opponent in an incredibly short amount of time. The concentrated destructive force of the Rasengan is almost unrivaled in Naruto, and it allows the titular ninja to defeat powerful opponents in spaces where he could not perform his large-scale attacks. This technique is one of Naruto’s most well-known for a reason, and it is nothing short of one of the most powerful jutsu in the series.
The Tailed Beast Ball
The Tailed Beast Ball is a powerful technique that can level entire landscapes and is the signature attack of the various Tailed Beasts in the series. Naruto is able to perform this technique after he earns Kurama’s trust, and the Demon Fox begins to willingly lend his chakra to the young ninja.
This attack allows Naruto to fight other Tailed Beasts, which usually requires an entire army of ninja. The Tailed Beast Ball literally places a power on par with that of a natural disaster at his fingertips and is easily one of Naruto’s most overpowered abilities.
Summoning Giant Toads
Summoning giant toads at will was one of Naruto’s first overpowered abilities. After learning how to better control his chakra, Naruto gained the ability to summon intelligent toads the size of skyscrapers. By forming a contract with the toads of Mount Myoboku, Naruto can summon a variate of giant toads to aid him in battle. These summoned creatures are particularly useful when battling large monsters, as seen when Naruto summons Gamabunta to help him fight Gaara when the latter transforms his sand into an avatar of the One-Tailed chakra beast.
Unbreakable Sealing Techniques
Naruto is able to use some of the strongest sealing techniques in the series, thanks to the Sage of Six Paths granting Naruto some of his power. When Naruto and Sasuke fight Kaguya, they are able to seal her within a newly formed moon in her core dimension. This is nothing short of the most powerful sealing technique in the series, as anything short of the ultimate lock would eventually fade away before Kaguya’s incredible power and immortality. This sealing technique is ridiculously overpowered and the only way to defeat the equally overpowered Kaguya.
He Can Spray Acid
This ability of Naruto’s is pretty understated, but also incredible and bizarre. After he receives chakra from each of the Tailed Beasts, he is able to use each of their unique abilities in battle. This includes that of the Six-Tailed giant slug Saiken, which had the ability to create acidic bubbles and other corrosive materials. This means that Naruto can secrete acid and add a melting effect to any of his attacks whenever he wants. It’s understandable that this power doesn’t appear often considering Naruto’s other techniques, but it is still incredibly weird and overpowered.
Chakra Arms
After gaining the Nine Tails Chakra Mode, Naruto quickly learned how to transform his chakra cloak into extendable arms. These chakra arms allow Naruto to mold multiple Rasengan at once, grab enemies at a distance, grab falling objects many times bigger than him.
This power comes with a fantastic level of utility and Naruto incorporates these chakra arms into his other attacks for more creative techniques. As a ninja has to defeat a Tailed-Beast sealed within themselves to use this powerful technique, Naruto is one of only a handful of characters able to utilize this overpowered ability.
Chakra Transfer
Naruto is able to transfer Kurama’s chakra to other ninja and improve their physical abilities in a way that’s similar to when Naruto first tapped into Kurama’s chakra. He uses this power to help wounded ninja recover from their injuries by increasing their healing ability, while also magnifying the strength of those still in fighting shape. This power allows Naruto to single-handedly increase the overall fighting ability of the entire Allied Shinobi Forces during their confrontation against the monstrous Ten-Tails. While Hinata is able to share specialized chakra with Naruto at one point, no other character in Naruto can perform a technique like this on a similar scale. It makes Naruto an even more pivotal member of the multinational army.
Scorch Release: Halo Hurricane Jet Black Arrow Style Zero
Scorch Release: Halo Hurricane Jet Black Arrow Style Zero is an attack that is as powerful as its name is long. This is a combination technique performed by Naruto and Sasuke that allows the two ninjas to greatly enhance their most powerful attacks, the Rasenshuriken and the Amaterasu. This attack completely obliterates anything caught in its blast radius and will greatly injure any creature that manages to escape from its vortex of black flames. This combination technique is borderline unstoppable and a testament to the strength of Naruto and Sasuke when they work together.
Sage Art: Many Ultra-Big Ball Spiraling Serial Spheres
One of Naruto’s strongest techniques is the Sage Art: Many Ultra-Big Ball Spiraling Serial Spheres, as well as one of the most difficult to pronounce. After creating dozens of shadow clones, Naruto has them each create a massive Rasengan that essentially forms a massive wall of clashing vortexes. Naruto used this move to defeat Kurama so he could access more of the fox’s chakra and is one of the few techniques in the series capable of harming a Tailed-Beast. Sure, this technique may be impossible to say three times fast, but it’s also impossible for any character to take the attack head-on.
Every Nature Transformation
After gaining chakra from the Sage of Six Paths, Naruto can utilize every kind of elemental ninjutsu to its fullest extent. This gives Naruto a larger range of attacks than any other character in the series and allows him to counter just about any opponent he faces. Additionally, his access to Yin-Yang release techniques lets him easily heal even the most wounded of allies and even restore missing organs in a matter of seconds. Even if he doesn’t get much time to show off this power, it makes him far stronger than the vast majority of characters in the anime and manga. Many of the Hokages in the series expand their skill sets to use multiple elemental types of ninjutsu, but Naruto has access to everything.
Illusion Immunity
Once he befriends Kurama, Naruto gains an almost total immunity to genjutsu and other techniques that manipulate his various senses. Usually, when a person falls under a genjutsu in Naruto, they can only escape the technique with the help of another person.
Since Kurama is another consciousness living inside of Naruto, the fox can instantly free Naruto from any technique that manipulates his perception of reality. Even if genjutsu mostly sits on the back-burner for the entirety of Naruto, the orange ninja’s immunity to these techniques makes him unfairly powerful.
Truth Seeking Balls
Truth Seeking Balls are powerful spheres of chakra that Naruto can use after meeting the Sage of the Six Paths. These energy balls contain every kind of elemental chakra and can take the shape of whatever weapon is most convenient to the user. Naruto has the Truth Seeking Balls mostly take the appearance of short staves, and uses them to completely neutralize enemy attacks and disintegrate larger hurdles. This technique literally puts Naruto on equal footing with a god and allows the orange ninja to outclass just about every other character in the entire franchise.
Transform Into Anyone Or Anything
It’s kind of understated that characters in Naruto can transform into anyone or anything whenever they want rather easily. Naruto uses the transformation technique at several points in the series to impersonate other people, transform a shadow clone into a weapon, and create a giant fox similar to Kurama. Even if nearly everyone in the series can use the transformation technique, no one uses it as creatively and to as great an effect as Naruto. The usefulness and power of the transformation technique are far too under-appreciated and help Naruto win critical battles in the earlier parts of the series.
Creating Multiple Shadow Clones
Naruto’s signature technique, the Shadow Clone jutsu allows him to create what’s essentially an army of himself and overpower most opponents. While most characters in the series can use this technique, Naruto can create far more clones than most others due to his larger-than-average chakra reserve. This technique became a cornerstone of Naruto’s fighting style and is a part of many of his most powerful attacks. Considering that this technique also allows him to expedite his training process and learn new techniques more quickly, it is by far one of his most overpowered abilities.
Wind Release: Rasenshuriken
Wind Release: Rasenshuriken combines affinity for wind element attacks with the powerful Rasengan technique. This attack requires a mastery of manipulating both the element and shape of chakra, so it makes sense that Naruto is the only character in the franchise who can perform this devastating attack. This technique creates a massive vortex on impact and inflicts a target with cellular damage that renders an opponent almost completely unable to fight. Once Naruto learns how to throw this technique and no longer damages himself whenever he uses it, this becomes one of his strongest attacks and the most powerful wind element jutsu in the franchise.
Sage Art: Super Tailed Beast Rasenshuriken
Sage Art: Super Tailed Beast Rasenshuriken is Naruto’s strongest attack and the most powerful technique in the entire franchise (that he can actually use more than once if needed). This technique combines the shape and nature transformation of the Rasenshuriken technique with the unique chakra of each of the tailed beasts to create a devastating assault that no opponent can hope to guard against. It incorporates nearly every technique Naruto learned over the course of the series and represents the fruits of all of his hard work. No other character in the series can perform this technique and it makes Naruto more overpowered than any of his other attacks or abilities.