Powerscaling almost exclusively focuses on singular characters, andNarutois no different.Narutois one of the most iconic anime of all time, with some of the strongest characters to go along with its iconography, and because of that, fans have always had plenty of fun in powerscaling to figure out how the characters measure up against each other.
The individual characters ofNarutoare all plenty strong, but whereNarutotruly shines is with its various teams. AnyNarutofan will know that most ofNaruto’s fights are built around the characters working together in various teams against opponents, and while not every team has a good showing,some of the biggest feats of strength and spectacle inNarutohave undoubtedly come from the standout performances of some of its biggest teams. A few of those teams are especially worth highlighting, and it’s hard to imagineNaruto’s story without even a single one of them.
Due to the ambiguity of what constitutes a team, the following groups are exclusively duos or three-man-teams for the sake of simplicity.
10Team 8
First Appearance: Naruto Chapter 34 And Episode 3
Team 8 was the ninja team consisting of Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame, with Kurenai Yuhi as their Jonin leader. With Hinata’s Byakugan, Shino’s insects, and Kiba’s heightened sense of smell, the team specialized in tracking down targets, and when added to their strengths as fighters, Team 8 was a force to be reckoned with more often than not.
Of the original Genin teams, Team 8 had the least focus and development, so it’s hard to get a measure of their overall power, especially in comparison to teams with more established feats of strength. That being said,Team 8 always did a great job of showing off how strong they were in bothNarutoandNaruto: Shippuden, with the Sasuke Retrieval and Fourth Ninja World War arcs being standout examples, and they rank so low largely due to how effective some of the other teams are.
9Team 10
Naruto’s original Team 10 was the then-current iteration of the Ino-Shika-Cho Trio, consisting of Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi, with Asuma Sarutobi as their Jonin leader. Their three families have been allies since the early days of the Leaf Village, and even inBoruto: Naruto Next Generations, it’s a tradition for each generation of ninja to have a three-man team consisting of one child from each family.
Beyond the traditional element behind Team 10’s existence, the synergy of Ino’s Mind Transfer techniques, Shikamaru’s shadow-based jutsu, and Choji’s Expansion techniques and raw power makes them incredibly powerful, and with Shikamaru’s genius intellect added into the mix,Naruto’s Team 10 has some of the most consistently great performance of any ninja team inNaruto. The fact thatShikamaru would become the eighth Hokagein Naruto’s absence only further supports how great they are, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.
8Team Guy
First Appearance: Naruto Chapter 36 And Episode 21
Team Guy was the genin team consisting of Rock Lee, Neji Hyuga, and Tenten, with Might Guy as their leader. Team Guy specialized in physical combat, with Tenten prioritizing weapons, and Lee and Neji using taijutsu, and with them being a year older than Naruto’s class, they had far more experience than their peers, although that advantage was quickly lost byNaruto: Shippuden.
Team Guy is another team that doesn’t get a lot of focus inNaruto, with Tenten being infamously irrelevant, but not only were Lee and Neji consistently some of the strongest fighters in Naruto’s generation, butGuy’s skill with taijutsu was so great that he almost defeatedNaruto’s greatest villain, Madara Uchiha, and was explicitly called the world’s greatest master of taijutsu. Much of their skill comes from how much stronger some members are than others, but that doesn’t make Team Guy any less formidable.
7Team 7 (Boruto)
First Appearance: Boruto: Naruto The Movie
Following Naruto’s generation passing things on to the new one inBoruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto’s Team 7 was appropriately handed off to his son, Boruto Uzumaki. Joined by his teammates, Sarada Uchiha and Mitsuki, and their teacher, Konohamaru Sarutobi,Boruto and the new Team 7are at the center of most of the major conflicts inBoruto, and even with the team being broken up inBoruto: Two Blue Vortex, that hasn’t changed in the slightest.
While the new Team 7 isn’t anywhere close to the original, they’ve all had tremendous growth in power across the story, and byTwo Blue Vortex, Boruto’s Otsutsuki-enhanced abilities,Sarada’s Mangekyo Sharingan, and Mitsuki’s Sage Mode leaves them all as some of the strongest ninja around.Boruto’s Team 7 is slowly developing into a team even greater than the original, and there’s no telling how far they can go.
6Itachi Uchiha And Kisame Hoshigaki
First Appearance: Naruto Chapter 139 And Episode 80
Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki were the first Akatsuki duo introduced inNaruto, and they were easily the most prominent. Between Sasuke’s quest for revenge against Itachi, Naruto trying to get involved for Sasuke’s sake, and how that all tied into Akatsuki’s mission to gather the Tailed Beasts, Itachi and Kisame showed up more often than anyone, and they always had the power and overall presence to back it up.
Itachi constantly lived up to his fearsome reputation with his mastery of the Mangekyo Sharingan, and as for Kisame, with his massive chakra reserves and powerful, yet bizarre water-based jutsu that earned him the nickname of the “Tailless Tailed Beast”, he was more than a match for Itachi.There was never a fight where Itachi and Kisame didn’t prove themselves to be one of Akatsuki’s strongest duos, and it’s easy to see why they’re still held in such high regard.
5The Sannin
First Appearance: Naruto Chapter 139 And Episode 83
The Sannin was a nickname given to the legendary team of Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru. The three of them were once students of the Third Hokage, and following the Second Ninja World War, they all went on to become legendary figures known worldwide; some were good, like Tsunade becoming the fifth Hokage and Jiraiya training Minato and Naruto, but then there was Orochimaru, who became a terrorist and killed the third Hokage in his attempt to destroy the Leaf Village.
Between Tsunade’s super strength and healing, Orochimaru’s wide assortment of jutsu and virtual immortality, and Jiraiya’s raw power being so great that not even Itachi wanted to fight him, the Sannin more than earn their reputation as some ofNaruto’s strongest ninjas.Narutonever failed to emphasize why the Sannin were such a legendary team, and it’s amazing to think about what could have happened if they had stuck together.
4Pain And Konan
First Appearances: Naruto Chapter 363 And Naruto: Shippuden Episode 125; Naruto Chapter 372 And Naruto: Shippuden Episode 128
Pain and Konan were the founders andde factoleaders of Akatsuki, although unbeknownst to most people besides them, Obito secretly controlled things from the shadows. Under their leadership, Akatsuki captured the majority of the Tailed Beasts, and when it came time to take Naruto, Pain single-handedly destroyed the Leaf Village and killed countless villagers just to get to him.
With Pain’s godlike Rinnegan and the wide assortment of abilities it grants him, he gave Naruto one of the toughest battles of his life, and Konan was no slouch, either, as her mastery of paper bombs was so great that she nearly killed Obito. Obito might have secretly been the ones calling the shots, butPain and Konan’s incredible power as a duo made it clear why they were seen as the leaders of Akatsuki for so long.
3Obito Uchiha And Madara Uchiha
First Appearances: Naruto Chapter 239 And Naruto: Shippuden Episode 32; Naruto Chapter 370 & Naruto: Shippuden Episode 130
In one of anime’s most iconic plot twists, Tobi, who initially passed himself off as Madara Uchiha, was secretly Kakashi’s old friend Obito Uchiha, who, in turn, was working with the real Madara. Obito and Madara bonded over their shared hatred of the world, although Obito’s hatred was unknowingly cultivated by Madara, and eventually, the Fourth Ninja World War came down to just the two of them working to activate the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
As two ofNaruto’s final villains, Obito and Madara were appropriately powerful with their Sharingan and Rinnegan abilities, regenerative abilities thanks to Hashirama’s cells, and the incredible power they gained whenever they became a Ten Tails Jinchuriki. Kaguya Otsutsuki might have ended up as the true villain of the story, but overall,Obito and Madara’s power, both as a team and as individuals, was always as impressive as one would expect from major villains such as them.
2Momoshiki Otsutsuki And Kinshiki Otsutsuki
Momoshiki and Kinshiki Otsutsuki were the first two major antagonists ofBoruto: Naruto Next Generations. Momoshiki and Kinshiki came to Earth to restart Kaguya’s mission of converting all life on the planet into a chakra fruit, and while the mission ended in their failure, Momoshiki, at least, survived by injecting his consciousness into Boruto via the Karma technique, with him still being around years later.
As members of the Otsutsuki clan, Momoshiki and Kinshiki are some of the few characters with power comparable to Kaguya, and sure enough,Momoshiki and Kinshiki easily held their own and flat-out overpower Naruto and Sasuke at the peak of their power, with Momoshiki taking things even further after turning Kinshiki into a chakra fruit. Momoshiki still exists inside Boruto, and while the threat of his reincarnation should be gone, there’s no telling whatBorutohas in store for a character as dangerous as him.
1Team 7
First Appearance: Naruto Chapter 3 And Episode 3
Naruto’s original Team 7was the team Naruto Uzumaki found himself on alongside Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, with Kakashi Hatake as their leader. As the main characters of the series, Team 7 was always at the center of every major conflict inNaruto, and by the end of it all, they all became some of the biggest figures in the world in one way or another, especially Naruto, himself.
Team 7’s growth in teamwork and general power far surpasses any other team, and sure enough,Narutoends with Team 7 growing to be some of the strongest characters in the entire setting, an achievement most of them maintain throughout most ofBoruto: Naruto Next Generations, as well. No other ninja team inNarutois as iconic as Team 7, and there’s no team more deserving of the title ofstrongest ninja team in all ofNaruto.
