Naruto vs Sasuke – Who is Stronger Between Them?
Naruto and Sasuke are two of the main characters of Masashi Kishimoto’s renowned series Naruto. It got an anime adaptation as well and is widely popular all over the world.
Naruto Uzumaki and his rival in the series Sasuke Uchiha are two of the strongest characters of this show. This fact often gives birth to the debate of who is stronger between these two shinobis. They started their journey as teammates who became enemies and then became friends again.
They are said to be one of the best anime duos. The emotional turmoil in the series created a long rift between them due to the different paths they choose. Their rivalry is very intense throughout the series, but the question remains who is stronger?
If we go by the anime series then we have three different set up of this rivalry. The first one is after the Chunin Exams in the Naruto series. The second is when they were 16 years old in the Naruto Shippuden post-war arc. And the last is in Boruto the Next Generation when they have grown up and become brothers in arms.
Narto’s ‘Powers
Naruto Uzumaki, the Jinchuuriki of the Nine tail fox Kurama and the protagonist of the show, is the son of the fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. In his initial days, Naruto wasn’t able to perform a clone Jutsu. However, after being trained by Jiraya and through his hard work, he has achieved everything he wished for.
The Sage Mode/Six path Sage Mode
The Sage mode was the first major power-up that Naruto got after the death of Jiraya and in the Pain arc. Naruto returns to Konoha after mastering the Sage Mode, which enables him to absorb the chakra from nature and enhance his sensitivity to a higher level, like being connected to nature itself. In the Fourth great war arc, Hagoromo shares his chakra with Naruto enabling the Six Paths Sage Mode which lets him fly and cancel out the other’s ninjutsu, and that gives him an ultimate boost to his strength and chakra.
Bijuu Mode
This form of Naruto is also known as the Tailed Beast mode, which enables Naruto to unite with Kurama and manifest an avatar of Kurama to fight huge opponents. Before this, Naruto got the power of Kurama Chakra Mode, which surrounds Naruto with an orange cloak and gives him unbeatable speed, durability, and strength.
Along these, the Arsenal of Naruto is loaded with so many amazing powers, and among them, these are the most effective ones
- Tailed Beast Ball Rasenshuriken – this wind-style Jutsu is so powerful that it could counter Indra’s Arrow, which is one of the strongest attacks of Sasuke. He can destroy anything approaching him with this and can shake up the earth when used. Also, after meeting with other Tailed Beasts, they shared their chakra with Naruto, which allowed him to create Bijuu balls, which is the strongest attack of a tailed beast. After combining their chakra with Raenshuriken, this Jutsu again turned up a notch.
- Amazing Healing powers thanks to which Guy and Kakashi’s eyes were healed.
- Massive amount of Chakra: Fans saw Naruto sharing his chakra with everyone in the war to aid them, and he was still able to fight Madara and Obito during the War.
The strongest quirks and the unmatching unpredictability made Naruto one of the greatest shinobi of all time. Despite being a little thick-headed, his wit in a battle has surprised everyone. For example, during his battle with the Third Raikage, Naruto achieved a lot during the war, which truly made him the Hero of The Leaf.
Sasuke’s Powers
Sasuke Uchiha was the sole survivor of the Uchiha Clan massacre executed by his elder brother Itachi Uchiha. His childhood was somewhat very similar to Naruto though his hatred turned him blind and drove him to the corner. His only aim was to kill his brother, who trapped him in Tsukuyomi and made him watch the death of his parents more than 58,000 times.
After leaving the village and being trained by Orochimaru, Sasuke became strong enough to face Itachi. By that time, he was a full-fledged user of the Cursed seal, and he could even use both Fire and Lighting elements.
After awakening, Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, Sasuke power increased leaps and bounds, and later when the Hagoromo shared his Chakra with Sasuke, he managed to awaken the 6 – tomoe Rinnegan, that made him one of the strongest shinobis of all time.
Indra’s Arrow
After taking Chakra from Naruto through Rinnegan, Sasuke activates this Jutsu which uses the Susano to act as a vessel to circulate high-intensity lighting chakra, creating a humongous bolt of lightning shaped like an arrow. The Jutsu is so strong and destructive that it evenly matched Naruto’s Bijuu Ball Rasenshuriken.
Rinnegan
The right eye of Sasuke helps him move through space and time and gives him the power to steal the chakra of tailed beasts. Rinnegan unlocks several strong Jutsus for Sasuke to perform.
Susano
The huge embodiment of the chakra and the soul of the Uchiha. It awakens with the Mangekyo Sharingan and evolves with it. The huge avatar allowed him to boost his strength and create strong armor around Sasuke.
Along with these, Sasuke also has some impeccable Jutsus, which helped him to keep on par with Naruto to the last.
- Amenotejikara, the Jutsu, allows Sasuke to teleport objects & people in his vision giving him a huge advantage in battles.
- Amaterasu – the Black Flames that could even burn the fire itself is something that was feared by many because of its previous users like Madara and Itachi Uchiha.
These amazing skills and Sasuke’s talent as an Uchiha made him a formidable opponent for Naruto, though when these powers clashed, we saw an unexpected outcome.
Clashes & Outcomes
Throughout the series, fans have seen Naruto and Sasuke fight five times. Sasuke came out as the winner two times whereas Naruto won only one battle, & the other two battles ended indecisively.
Episode 215
This fight between both of them ends in discussion when they encounter each other after a long time. Sasuke leaves and concludes this bout without any winner.
In Episode 257, Manga Chapter #538
In the memoirs of their childhood fights in the Academy, Naruto, who was still a kid and clumsy without any trait for Jutsus, lost to Sasuke in a duel.
Though these aren’t the major events in the series and only three of them are counted as the most crucial fights.
Naruto, Episode 107, Manga chapter #173
In their first battle after becoming a Genin, Sasuke challenges Naruto to a fight. Sasuke uses his Chidori while Naruto uses the Rasengan, and both charge at each other. After being interrupted by Kakashi, Sasuke finds out that his Chidori is surpassed by Rasengan, which has busted the cylinder inside out from behind where Naruto has collided. On the other hand, Sasuke’s Chidori only created a Hole. This left Sasuke in shock, and he developed a sense of inferiority towards Naruto, which ultimately led him to leave the village to get stronger.
Naruto, Episode 128, Manga chapter #218
In the outskirts of Konoha, Naruto pursues Sasuke to return to the village, but Sasuke refuses, and they both fight. Sasuke unlocks the Cursed Seal level 2 placed by Orochimaru in the Chunin Exam, & Naruto unlocked the One tail Cloak. Sasuke came out as the winner and the battle ended with Sasuke leaving the Village.
Naruto Shippuden, Episode 476, Manga chapter #674
The last and final battle between these two shinobis took place after the Fourth Great Ninja War. It was filled with many emotions and memories. The fight was so intense and thrilling that it made every fan around the world jump on his seat. In this battle, Sasuke fights Naruto to kill him though Naruto wants to save Sasuke from his own hatred and is persistent for Sasuke to return to the village, and hence he doesn’t go all out.
They both have now surpassed any Shinobi alive in the world in terms of strength and became the strongest. After a long battle of deep sentiments and amazing skills, the fight ends in the collision between Sasuke’s Chidori and Naruto’s Rasengan, which ends in both losing their one arm. Injured, tired, and drained, these two lay beside each other, and then Sasuke admitted his defeat.
Conclusion
After all this discussion, we can conclude that Naruto is stronger than Sasuke in many areas, like the longevity of Chakra, the oppression of wind style on Lightning, rapid healing powers & his Senjutsu. On the other hand, using the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan takes too much toll on Sasuke, which greatly affects him, and hence he is a bit weaker than Naruto by the end of Naruto Shippuden. Most of the Uchiha went blind because of awakening Mangekyo Sharingan, but not completing the final form.
In the end, the confession of Sasuke can be taken as a direct indication of Kishimoto confiding the strength of Naruto as the protagonist of the series.
In the sequel of Naruto, Boruto; Naruto’s Next Generation, Naruto’s new power- the Baryon Mode – blew everyone’s mind. This form dominated even a God in Isshiki Otsutsuki, who was earlier suppressing both Sasuke and Naruto. In this form, Naruto was stronger than any other Shinobi, and that included Sasuke Uchiha too. Though the Baryon mode ultimately led to the sacrifice of Kurama. In the same episode, Borushiki stabbed the Rinnegan of Sasuke. These events created a huge loss of power level for both and left them on the same level.
Therefore, if we talk about the present series, then both Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki are equally stronger. But when it comes to Naruto Shippuden, Naruto was stronger. So will there be some more amazing power-ups for these two in the future? Let’s wait and watch!