Highlights
- Rock Lee, known for his incredible Taijutsu skills, is one of the fastest characters in Naruto, capable of outpacing most others in the story.
- Izuna Uchiha, the younger brother of Madara, possessed great speed and was renowned for keeping up with Tobirama, although not as fast as him.
- Naruto Uzumaki, particularly in his Baryon Mode, has become the fastest shinobi ever, surpassing even his father Minato and overwhelming opponents like Kaguya and Isshiki with his immense speed.
The world of Naruto is filled with some incredible ninjas who excel at different skills. While some are known for their skill with genjutsu, others are said to be masters of sealing techniques.
In combat, however, some of the most excellent shinobi are those who possess incredible speed. These shinobi have made a great name for themselves thanks to their speed and have, over the years, proved themselves to be tremendous ninjas in Naruto.
Updated on August 4, 2023, by Rei Penber: The world of Naruto has seen the rise and fall of several powerful Shinobi. There are countless who were known for a specific art that they excelled in and, at the same time, there were some, who held godly powers that excelled in almost everything. In both of these cases, there have been Shinobi that have come to be renowned for their speed. Just as some are known for their chakra prowess or their Tailed Beast control, some others excel at speed in combat and make use of this to get an upper hand against their enemies. While this list already goes over the fastest ninjas seen in Naruto, there are some others who certainly deserve to be added to the mix.
17 Rock Lee
Rock Lee is known to be one of the strongest Taijutsu users to ever live in the Naruto world. While Lee couldn't perform Genjutsu or Ninjutsu, his physical attributes were incredible due to the immense training that he underwent.
By the latter half of the story, he was capable of opening up to 6 gates and that alone makes him one of the fastest Naruto characters. Lee could easily outpace most characters in the story, which is nothing short of impressive.
16 Izuna Uchiha
Izuna Uchiha was the younger brother of Madara and, just like him, he was known to be a prodigy. Together, the two rose to the very top of the Uchiha Clan and attained immense power. They were also the very first in their clan to gain the Mangekyo Sharingan. With its powers, Izuna became incredibly difficult to take on and combat.
Just like his brother, he was a complete package and was also incredibly fast. His many duels where he could keep up with Tobirama were proof of that. Izuna possessed great speed, however, it paled in comparison to that of Tobirama, especially when the latter invented the Flying Raijin. Nonetheless, Izuna's speed was nothing to be scoffed at. He was worthy of being compared to Madara and a figure that holds great importance in the history of the Uchiha.
15 Killer Bee
Killer Bee, the Jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails, is quite an extraordinary ninja who excels at almost everything. In the Fourth Great Ninja War, it was revealed that Killer Bee's skill surpassed that of his brother – something that Ay admitted to himself.
Even at Ay's top speed, Bee was able to match him in combat and somewhat keep track of him. While Bee wasn't as fast as him, being able to keep track of his movements and counter them makes him quite fast.
14 Hanzo
Hanzo of the Salamander was a legendary shinobi from Amegakure known to be incredibly powerful in his prime. He is considered to have been one of the most powerful to ever live in ninja history and he single-handedly defeated an entire Konoha unit that included the Legendary Sannin during the Second Great Ninja War.
As for his speed, Hanzo's was said to be unsurpassed when in water. At the same time, he is also to have had tremendous control over the Body Flicker Technique, and just like Shisui, he had advanced its usage to quite some degree. Without a doubt, he ranked among the fastest Naruto shinobi.
13 Itachi Uchiha
While Itachi doesn't stand out as one of the fastest ninjas to ever live, he was easily one of them. Despite battling a life-threatening illness, Itachi was able to match Sasuke Uchiha in combat and even overpower him on occasions. He was able to completely outpace Kakashi Hatake when the two fought and formed hand seals so fast that the latter's Sharingan couldn't even keep track.
Kakashi famously split a lightning bolt in the past, which puts into perspective how fast Itachi was by blitzing him. Furthermore, after being reincarnated, Itachi was able to go toe-to-toe with Naruto Uzumaki in his Bijuu Mode, the speed of which was greater than the top speed of Ay, the Fourth Raikage.
12 Shisui Uchiha
Shisui was an incredibly skilled Jonin of Konohagakure and one of the few ninjas of the village who excelled at high-speed combat.
Although a master of the Sharingan, Shisui was also known for his excellent speed in combat and his travel speed was such that it had earned him the title of "Shisui the Teleporter." That, when coupled with the skill that he possessed with the Sharingan made him almost unbeatable.
11 Third Raikage
The Third Raikage was one of Kumogakure's strongest and he proved this in the Third Great Ninja War, where he fought 10,000 shinobi alone and died. He was also extremely fast and just like his son, a user of the Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
During his fight against Naruto Uzumaki, he was able to dodge a Rasenshuriken at point-blank range, and even keep up with him in his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
10 Fourth Raikage
The son of the Third Raikage, Ay the Unruly was just as incredible a shinobi as him, and possibly slightly better. In the history of Kumogakure, he's certainly the best Kage they've had.
Ay was especially known for his speed as a ninja and in his prime, he was fast enough to be compared to the likes of Minato Namikaze. After Minato's death, he became the fastest shinobi alive, however, several characters surpassed him later on.
9 Tobirama Senju
The second Hokage of Konoha, Tobirama was a master of many arts and he certainly excelled in speed as well. In combat, he was known to be very fast, certainly the fastest of his generation. Although Minato certainly surpassed him in every possible way, Tobirama was still very special. He kept on developing several jutsu that could boost his speed and he even invented the ability of Flying Raijin.
Tobirama proved to be faster than the Mangekyo Sharingan-wielding Izuna and managed to wound him lethally in combat, which eventually led to him dying. This is proof enough that Tobirama was extremely fast and that only a handful of Shinobi could keep up with him. In the Fourth Great Ninja War, Tobirama produced moments where he could even overwhelm the likes of Obito in terms of speed. However, he was certainly slower than Minato, something that he ended up admitting himself in the war.
8 Minato Namikaze
Also known as the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze was one of Konohagakure's most incredible ninjas who went on to become the Fourth Hokage of the village. Minato excelled at multiple things, including ninjutsu but speed was certainly his biggest asset.
He was known to be the fastest ninja of his era and he was much faster than the likes of Ay, even in his natural speed. With the Kurama Chakra Mode, he got even faster.
7 Obito Uchiha
Obito Uchiha's Mangekyo Sharingan made him one of the fastest shinobi alive with a transportation ninjutsu known as Kamui. However, Obito didn't hit his peak until the Fourth Great Ninja War.
After becoming the Jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails, Obito's skill was far above the likes of Minato. When the two clashed and Minato wanted to create an opening, Obito easily chopped his arm off even when he tried to use his best speed.
6 Might Guy
One of Konoha's strongest Jonin, Might Guy excelled at taijutsu and his physical attributes were incredible due to all the training that he underwent. As such, it is no surprise to know that Guy was among the very fastest shinobi in Naruto.
With his 8th Gate, he was able to overwhelm Madara Uchiha and at his greatest speed, was able to bend the space around him, which is nothing short of incredible. Guy certainly ranks among the fastest in the story.
5 Madara Uchiha
A legendary figure in the Naruto world, Madara returned to life in the Fourth Great Ninja War and showed everyone why he was a menace. While Madara's greatest asset was certainly not his speed, he was still extremely fast.
Madara was able to keep up with Eight Gates Guy but it must be noted this was Madara far from his best. Following the fight against Guy, Madara absorbed the God Tree and gained further power, on top of regaining his second Rinnegan. He was certainly faster than Guy at his best.
4 Kaguya Otsutsuki
Kaguya Otsutsuki was one the most fearsome villains in Naruto and certainly also among the fastest. According to Naruto and Sasuke, everything about her was exponentially greater than Madara Uchiha and what's even more shocking was that she got even stronger and faster towards the end of their fight.
Kaguya could teleport herself, but her natural speed was just as impressive. She could keep up with both Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha and at her best, even overwhelm them.
3 Kakashi Hatake DMS
Although speed isn't Kakashi's forte generally, after receiving the Six Paths chakra from Obito Uchiha and getting access to his Mangekyo Sharingan, he was easily among the very fastest in the story.
Not only did he manage to blitz someone much stronger than Six Paths Madara Uchiha with his Kamui Raikiri, but he also kept up with her All-Killing Ash Bone with his eyes to transport it away. Sadly, this power-up was temporary.
2 Sasuke Uchiha
Sasuke Uchiha is certainly one of the very fastest ninjas in the world of Naruto. He has continued to excel in terms of speed throughout his life and, by adulthood, he has become a ninja fast enough to keep up with the likes of the Otsutsuki Clan members. Sasuke was already able to keep up with Kaguya when he was a mere teen. Since then, he has grown tremendously and, in the fight against the likes of Momoshiki, he could even keep up with his fused form.
What's more, Sasuke's ability to teleport around makes him exceptionally dangerous. Although it is limited by range, in close-quarters combat, Sasuke is nigh unstoppable and very few Shinobi can claim to be faster than him in this regard. The Six Paths Powers made Sasuke faster than Madara and, since he has trained continuously after that, right now, he is certainly much faster than he was before. In fact, Sasuke was even faster than Naruto until recently, and during their last fight, it was quite clear that he held enough speed to overwhelm the Uzumaki ninja, despite him having enough reflexes that allowed him to dodge attacks at the speed of light.
1 Naruto (Baryon Mode)
Naruto Uzumaki is also an exceptional ninja who excels in nearly every aspect of the Shinobi arts. Naruto is also exceptionally fast and he reached the speeds of his father, Minato, during the 4th Great Ninja War. What's more, after gaining Six Paths Powers, Naruto surpassed his father and reached speeds where even Madara Uchiha couldn't keep up with them. Naruto could easily fight against Kaguya and even overwhelm her with his immense speed. What's more, after the war, he continued to grow stronger and faster.
By adulthood, Naruto is certainly the fastest Shinobi to have ever lived. Furthermore, this skill of his got taken a step above when he accessed Baryon Mode during his fight against Isshiki. While Naruto was unable to even touch him in Six Paths Sage Mode, Baryon Mode saw him overpower and overwhelm Isshiki with tremendous ease. Naruto became so fast that Isshiki could simply not keep up with him anymore. He became much faster than any shinobi seen in the series and that is certainly a title that he will likely hold forever.