The Strongest Naruto Characters, Ranked by the Fans
Arguing about the strongest Naruto characters is a rite of passage for any fan, and the answer shifts depending on whether you weigh raw power, feats, or the moments that stuck with you. So instead of one more personal opinion, this ranking is ordered by the hard numbers: how many fans have favourited each character on AniList, the largest open anime database. It is the closest thing to a community vote we have. Below each name we break down why that character earns the spot on power and feats. Read the list, then jump into the daily Naruto character quiz at the bottom and see how many you can recognise.
#1 Itachi Uchiha
Naruto · 22,572 favourites
Itachi tops nearly every fan poll for a reason: he wiped out his own clan in a single night, held his own against Sasuke while terminally ill and half-blind, and turned out to be the most selfless character in the series. The Sharingan, Susanoo and Izanami make him a tactical nightmare even from beyond the grave.
#2 Kakashi Hatake
Naruto · 22,091 favourites
Kakashi reads opponents faster than they can move. The Copy Ninja learned a thousand jutsu with his transplanted Sharingan, and his Kamui lets him phase attacks into another dimension. As Sixth Hokage he is the benchmark every younger shinobi measures themselves against.
#3 Naruto Uzumaki
Naruto · 19,412 favourites
The title character grows from dead-last prankster to the strongest shinobi alive. Sage Mode, Kurama and the Six Paths chakra stack into raw power nobody else touches, but it is his refusal to give up on anyone that actually wins his fights.
#4 Sasuke Uchiha
Naruto · 13,818 favourites
Sasuke is the only character who fights Naruto to a standstill twice. The Mangekyo Sharingan, Rinnegan and Indra-blessed lightning make him the perfect dark mirror: every gain in power costs him something, which is exactly why fans cannot look away.
#5 Shikamaru Nara
Naruto · 8,725 favourites
Shikamaru never has the strongest jutsu in the room and wins anyway. His Shadow Possession plus an IQ over 200 let him out-think enemies who massively outclass him on paper, including the kill that avenged Asuma.
#6 Gaara
Naruto · 7,854 favourites
Gaara goes from unhinged jinchuriki to the most respected Kazekage in living memory. His absolute sand defence almost never breaks, and his arc from feared monster to trusted leader is one of the cleanest redemptions in the franchise.
#7 Jiraiya
Naruto · 6,601 favourites
Jiraiya is a Sannin, Sage Mode pioneer and the teacher who shaped both Naruto and the Fourth Hokage. He fought Pain to the edge of victory while outnumbered six to one, and his death is the gut punch the whole war arc is built on.
#8 Hinata Hyuuga
Naruto · 6,268 favourites
Hinata pairs the Hyuga Gentle Fist with a courage the early series never gave her credit for. Standing alone in front of Pain to protect Naruto is still one of the bravest moments in the show, and her Byakugan makes her a genuine front-line threat.
#9 Pain
Naruto · 5,438 favourites
As the face of Pain, Nagato flattens the entire Hidden Leaf with the Six Paths and the Almighty Push. The Rinnegan puts him in god tier, and his philosophy on pain and peace gives the series its heaviest argument.
#10 Rock Lee
Naruto · 5,370 favourites
Rock Lee cannot use ninjutsu at all and still earns his spot through pure taijutsu. The Eight Gates turn him into a momentary monster who pushed Gaara to the brink, proof that hard work alone can stand beside genius in this world.
#11 Sakura Haruno
Naruto · 2,963 favourites
Sakura trained under Tsunade into a medical prodigy whose chakra-enhanced strength shatters the ground. By the war she is healing armies and trading blows with goddess-tier enemies, a long way from the genin she started as.
#12 Neji Hyuuga
Naruto · 2,707 favourites
Neji was the Hyuga prodigy who could close every chakra point in your body before you landed a hit. His Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms is iconic, and his final act protecting Naruto and Hinata cements him as more than the rival he began as.
Think the order is wrong? That is the whole fun of it. The popularity data settles who the fandom rallies behind, but power scaling is yours to argue. Either way, the best way to prove you know your Naruto roster is to play.