7 Most Disappointing Naruto Fights, Ranked

Naruto has been following the ninja world for decades, with the latest entry, Boruto: Two Blue Vortex, passing off the torch from the Seventh Hokage to his son. Unfortunately, despite being known as one of the greatest shonen franchises of all time, this doesn’t mean that the Hidden Leaf can dodge some truly disappointing fights during its decades-long story. Bearing this in mind, we worked our way through the original Naruto and Naruto Shippuden to find some of the most disappointing battles that took place for Konoha and its opponents, ranking them to make sure we got the worst of the worst.

7.) Rock Lee Vs. Kimimaro

Unfortunately, Rock Lee’s fight against Kimimaro was always destined to be disappointing. Seeing Lee hilariously employ his drunken fighting technique against one of Orochimaru’s strongest lieutenants was a major moment for the fisticuffs fighter, but it simply never could have lived up to the same heights as its predecessor. The Rock Lee/Gaara fight isn’t just routinely thought of as one of the best fights of the shonen franchise, but it is routinely thought of as one of the greatest anime battles of all time. Lee’s fight against the bone-manipulating villain has some hilarious moments, but it simply was unable to live up to Lee’s initial Chunin exam brawl and thus made its way onto this list.

6.) Kakashi Vs. Sasuke

Following Sasuke’s betrayal of Team 7 at the end of the original Naruto anime, Naruto: Shippuden mostly focused on the final member of the Uchiha Clan seeking revenge by any means necessary. Once the Uchiha defeated Orochimaru, he formed a team of his own and fans waited to see some of Konoha’s finest fight against their former ally. Unfortunately, the fight between teacher and student didn’t live up to the high expectations that many had. Kakashi taking the war to Sasuke directly should have been a watershed moment for the shonen franchise, but instead, felt like something of an afterthought. While anime viewers did eventually get a major fight between Naruto and Sasuke, Kakashi and his former student never got the chance to trade blows in a significant way.

5.) Sakura Vs. Ino

Sakura simply never got a fair shake in the Naruto franchise, too often seen as someone whose entire personality was just obsessing over Sasuke, especially in the early days. Her rivalry with Ino, which was over Sasuke, could have helped give her a watershed moment in her ninja career, but the confrontation between the two at the Chunin Exams didn’t do either combatant their rightful due. The battle itself took Sakura out of the Chunin Exams, never giving her the chance to truly show what she was capable of and it remains a missed opportunity for both of these young rivals.

4.) Naruto Vs. Kiba

Naruto making his way to the Chunin Exam was no easy feat, especially when it came to surviving the opening trials that saw many of the young ninjas fighting for their lives against one another and Orochimaru in a wooded landscape. When Naruto was placed against Kiba during his one-on-one match in the exams, anime viewers might have thought this would help to truly show off the titular character’s resourcefulness. Unfortunately, this battle comes across as almost nothing more than a joke, as the future Seventh Hokage manages to score a win thanks to an inadvertent release of bodily functions, overwhelming Kiba’s senses. While it’s arguable that Naruto’s next fight against Neji was just as disappointing, at least that one wasn’t tantamount to a parody.

3.) Tsunade Vs. Kabuto

One of the first fights that featured the Fifth Hokage did a serious disservice to the legendary Senin. While it might be understandable that Tsunade would go through some past trauma, said trauma had her effectively losing the fight against Kabuto, when it should have been nothing more than a “one and done” battle to show off the Hokage’s prowess. Effectively, Tsunade nearly lost, if not for some major saves from Naruto, but ultimately, it felt like the future leader of Konoha at the time wasn’t worthy of that title from this fight and it could have gone so much differently to help get her on the right foot.

2.) Sasuke Vs. Orochimaru

This fight is akin to the Shippuden battle mentioned earlier between Sasuke and Kakashi, but this battle needed to be that much more impactful and certainly longer. Orochimaru had effectively been the biggest bad of the original series, only to be almost dispatched in a heartbeat by Sasuke. While this went a long way to showing how powerful the Uchiha had become, it made Orochimaru feel like something of an afterthought for the events of Naruto: Shippuden moving forward. There certainly was some catharsis in seeing Sasuke strike down the villain, but it needed to be a longer and more emotional confrontation to help highlight the Uchiha’s rise and Orochimaru’s fall.

1.) Kaguya Vs. Team 7

Not only did we know that this Naruto: Shippuden fight would make the list, but we knew for sure that it would be the number one most disappointing fight on the list. Following the earth-shattering confrontation between Might Guy and Madara Uchiha, Kaguya enters the picture as the biggest bad of Shippuden, though she does so in such a way that it left many simply scratching their heads. After cementing her place as the strongest villain by wiping out Madara herself, Kaguya didn’t have the menace or standing that Sasuke’s relative had. Luckily, Shippuden ended with an amazing battle between Naruto and Sasuke, though it almost didn’t recover from Team 7’s underwhelming fight against Kagus that was meant to be such a major lynchpin for the shonen franchise.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

5 Things About the Naruto Anime That Don’t Make Sense (No. 1 Still Disappoints Fans)