Naruto Uzumaki of Naruto has achieved quite a lot of feats throughout his journey of becoming the Hokage, and it hasn’t been easy convincing both friends and enemies too, as he always says, believe it. However, Naruto wasn’t the only character in the series that tried beating the odds and ensuring they achieved their dreams.
In fact, some fan-favorite Naruto characters cemented their place in the fandom by standing up and staring death in the face as they worked their way for what they’ve come for. Aside from Naruto, just which members of the Naruto cast were fearless right till the very end?
10 Itachi Uchiha
Itachi Uchiha garnered a reputation of being one of the fiercest shinobi to ever live, particularly for killing everyone in his clan save for Sasuke and his defection to the Akatsuki. However, it’s soon revealed that his membership into the group was a ruse to spy for Konoha, and his betrayal of his family came as a result of avoiding an all-out coup in the Village.
Although Itachi eventually earns his redemption, being the object of Konoha’s hatred and living through the fact that his little brother wanted to kill him should take a lot of bravery on his part. This is compounded by the fact that Itachi was suffering from a debilitating disease throughout his membership in the Akatsuki, and he still managed to keep up his deception for the sake of the Village.
9 Rock Lee
Rock Lee was the definition of perseverance throughout the Naruto series, especially due to the fact that Lee had nothing but his Taijutsu to use in a fight. While he can’t use Genjutsu or Ninjutsu, Lee persevered and conditioned his body to become a Taijutsu Master - beating even a prodigy like Sasuke and challenging Gaara’s supposed-impenetrable defense.
Alongside his hard work and perseverance comes a lot of bravery. Lee recommended Neji to accompany Naruto to retrieve Sasuke from Otogakure as he had to have a spine operation later during the day. However, it’s only days later that Lee himself went to the frontlines to assist the team, posing a challenge to the deadly Kimimaro despite his fresh wounds and knowing he could well die in the process.
8 Might Guy
Rock Lee doesn’t make it painfully difficult for anyone to know that he looks at Might Guy for inspiration as a shinobi, and Might Guy finally demonstrates why in the Fourth Shinobi World War. With a Rinnegan-empowered Madara Uchiha having absorbed the Ten-Tails’ power, it doesn’t seem anyone could stand up to his terror. However, with the knowledge that Taijutsu may be able to fight this powerful form, Might Guy didn’t hesitate to take the lead.
However, Madara would immediately prove that Guy was no match for his abilities. This forces Guy to activate all of his Eight Gates, knowing full well this would cost his life. Unfortunately, this effort would only bring Madara almost on the verge of death, but not fully. Madara acknowledges the dying Guy as the world’s strongest Taijutsu user.
7 Sakura Haruno
One can’t deny that Sakura was more of a late bloomer in terms of her calling as a kunoichi - but she consistently serves as the moral compass to Team 7’s more impulsive and more powerful shinobi, Naruto and Sasuke. Despite her lack of impressive Sharingan eyes or a Tailed Beast, Sakura’s hard work and natural intelligence helped her become one of the best medical-nin of all time.
However, her potential is seen as early as Part 1, in part due to her bravery. When a rampaging One-Tails took control of Gaara’s body, a powerless Sakura didn’t hesitate to arm herself with a kunai and stand between Gaara and her unconscious teammates. Staring down the One-Tails, Gaara was seemingly impressed by Sakura’s determination and simply knocked her unconscious instead of outright killing her.
6 Neji Hyuga
Naruto took particular attention to Neji Hyuga and his ideology of sealing one’s fate. After all, Neji’s membership in the branch house meant his life would involve servitude under the Hyuga main house despite his prodigious talents. However, a defeat at the hands of Naruto, whom he deemed worthless, changed Neji’s outlook on life - one where everyone has the freedom to choose their own fate.
His ultimate act of fearlessness came when he didn’t hesitate to protect Hinata and Naruto from the Ten-Tails, taking a blow from a massive wooden projectile meant to kill Naruto. What particularly sets Neji apart from the rest wasn’t the fact that his act of bravery cost him his life, but rather in that fact he didn’t hesitate to protect a friend he knew had the power to help everyone see they can choose their own fate.
5 Jiraiya
Despite his reputation for being equal amounts of creep and mischievous, Jiraiya the Toad Sage remains one of Konoha’s best ninja. Much is his skill that Jiraiya has been offered the position of Hokage three times, all of which he would reject. Near the end of Part 1, he took Naruto on his travels and trained him to become a much stronger ninja, giving Naruto much-needed knowledge and wisdom that the latter would eventually use to save the world.
Jiraiya’s final act as a shinobi would prove to be his bravest, having located the mysterious Pain who served as leader of the Akatsuki. In the resulting confrontation, Jiraiya used his imperfect Sage Transformation against the full force of Pain’s Six Paths, costing Jiraiya his life. However, his final act of being able to send a message back to Konoha to help Naruto and the rest discern Pain’s identity and eventually save the village.
4 Konohamaru Sarutobi
Initially introduced as somewhat snotty and annoying, a young Konohamaru Sarutobi instantly admired Naruto when the latter was the only one who called him out on his actions without fear of his status as the Third Hokage’s grandson. Since then, Konohamaru treated Naruto as both his idol and rival, taking after a lot of his admirable qualities. Perhaps the most admirable of those is Naruto’s bravery, as Konohamaru grew up never backing out of any fight.
Testament to this was Pain’s attack on the Leaf Village, where Konohamaru managed to defeat the Naraka Path Pain to stop its assault on innocent bystanders. What’s impressive about this feat was Konohamaru’s quick thinking and successful use of the Rasengan, which he had just learned. As fans recall, even the likes of Hokage Kakashi lost their lives during the Six Paths of Pain’s assault on Konoha. And Konohamaru staring one of the Paths in the face and defeating it is proof that Naruto’s teachings didn’t fall on deaf ears.
3 Hinata Hyuga
While Hinata Hyuga harbored an admiration towards Naruto since their childhood days, she was largely shy and kept to herself, often focusing on her missions as a member of Team 8. However, her remarkable bravery comes during two moments - Naruto facing Pain during Pain’s Assault and fighting the Ten-Tails in the Fourth Shinobi World War.
When Pain’s Deva Path overwhelmed Naruto with its ninjutsu, Hinata didn’t hesitate to fight the Deva Path, despite her lack of power. It’s during this where she confessed her love for him, with the fight almost costing her life. During the World War, Hinata again didn’t hesitate to shield Naruto from a massive wooden projectile from the Ten-Tails. Hinata’s unrelenting desire to protect and aid Naruto isn’t just a testament to her bravery, but also love similar to that of Naruto’s parents - to the point of putting their life on the line to protect him.
2 Iruka Umino
Iruka Umino is a testament that one doesn’t need great power to make a change in the world. Although an ordinary jonin, Iruka Umino had the overwhelming patience to guide a young and mischievous Naruto through his formative years. Iruka was one of the first persons to show an act of fearlessness in the series when he protected Naruto and took the blow from a giant shuriken meant to attack the young trainee.
Despite how “ordinary” this scenario may have been compared to the rest of Naruto, Iruka’s move left a lasting impression on him. While Iruka didn’t have a major role in the series, he’s become one of Naruto’s sources of normalcy in a world of conflict. Much has been his impact that Naruto asked him to represent his parents during his marriage with Hinata. And most importantly, it’s Iruka’s fearless sacrifice that marked him as one of the few people who believed in Naruto’s potential when everyone else at the time shunned him.
1 Sagan
It’s precisely the fact that Sagan is a relatively unknown ninja from Iwagakure that makes his acts of courage one of the most unforgettable throughout the series. An Iwagakure ninja, he’s known for both admiring the Five Kage and their fight against Madara, as well as being one of the few to sense Madara’s chakra build-up and impending assault upon his reawakening.
However, his most impressive act of fearlessness was heading the frontlines to face Madara right after the war chant and proclamation of battle. Understanding that Madara was one of ninja history’s strongest shinobi and still fighting his resurrected form despite lacking any impressive powers was a testament to a level of bravery anyone should admire.