Highlights

• Naruto Uzumaki is one of the strongest characters in the Naruto series, even rivaling Sasuke Uchiha in strength and power.
• Naruto has shown his superiority over Sasuke in various instances, such as when he learned the Shadow Clone Technique and tied up Sasuke, proving he was smarter and stronger.
• In battles against formidable opponents like Haku, Gaara, Pain, and Obito, Naruto consistently demonstrated greater strength and power compared to Sasuke.

Naruto Uzumaki is one of the strongest known characters in the Naruto series, along with Sasuke Uchiha. From a very young age, Naruto and Sasuke have competed against each other and when they were placed in the same ninja team, this competition grew into an even bigger rivalry.

Over the years, the two have rivaled each other and even fought against the other on several occasions. Having always been close in strength, the two have often topped one another and there have been many times when Naruto Uzumaki pulled ahead of Sasuke.

Updated on October 17, 2023, by Rei Penber: Naruto Uzumaki is the strongest ninja to have ever lived in Kishimoto's story. He's an incredibly powerful shinobi, strong enough to contend even with alien gods, such as the Otsutsuki. No Shinobi in the world of ninja can contend with Naruto Uzumaki, other than Sasuke. These two have had a rivalry for quite a long time and, at different times, one has pulled ahead of the other. There are plenty of instances where Naruto has proven himself to be stronger than Sasuke and this list already goes over the vast majority of them. However, with Boruto continuing, Naruto has received plenty of chances to assert his dominance over Sasuke in terms of power once again. With that said, this list has now been updated.

18 When Naruto Learned The Shadow Clone Technique

Naruto was deemed to be a failure in his Academy days. Sasuke was far stronger than him at this point in time, however, when Naruto learned the Multi-shadow Clone Technique, it was quite clear to see that Sasuke did not have it in him to match Naruto in combat. While Sasuke certainly had more grace and skill when it comes to ninja techniques, in terms of brute strength and overall power, Naruto was superior.

He could produce thousands upon thousands of clones at the time while Sasuke could not even tap into the power of the Sharingan. What's more, Naruto had quite a lot of chakra inside him so he could continuously keep fighting while Sasuke did not have enough to keep up with him. If, by any miracle, Sasuke managed to weaken Naruto a bit, his Nine Tails Chakra would start showing up and this would then make the battle even harder for his enemy. At this point, Naruto was certainly stronger. A competition between these two would have been interesting but Naruto would certainly have emerged on top.

17 When He Attacked And Tied Up Sasuke

While Naruto and Sasuke have had many great fights, they had one small scuffle where Naruto assaulted Sasuke and tied him up, and then proceeded to use a transformation jutsu to take his form and talk to Sakura. In this Naruto vs Sasuke fight, Naruto showed that he was smarter and stronger than Sasuke. The latter got completely outclassed by him and, not just defeated, but also tied up. While this isn't a significant battle, it still goes to show that Naruto had enough in him to plan this out and execute it to perfection. Undoubtedly, this goes to show that Naruto was, at the time, stronger than Sasuke.

16 Naruto Vs. Haku

The Land of Waves arc saw Naruto and Sasuke take on Haku all alone and as expected, the two were severely outclassed by him.

When Sasuke lost to Haku by using his body to shield Naruto, Naruto tapped into the power of the Nine-Tails and absolutely overpowered the shinobi. At that particular time, Naruto was far stronger than Sasuke and could even give Haku a run for his money.

15 Naruto Vs. Gaara

The Chunin Exams arc of Naruto saw several powerful ninjas assemble in Konohagakure, and Gaara was easily the strongest of the lot. As expected, Sasuke had his eyes on him and the two fought during the Chunin Exams.

While Sasuke did extremely well against Gaara, he wasn't able to defeat him. In the end, it was none other than Naruto who, using his clever strategies and the Nine-Tails chakra, was able to take on Gaara and defeat him in an all-out battle.

14 When He Learned The Rasengan

The Rasengan was taught to Naruto by Jiraiya, his mentor. At the same time, Sasuke learned to use the Chidori from Kakashi.

While both jutsu are powerful in their own right, when the two clashed on the rooftop, it was Naruto whose jutsu appeared to have done more damage. In fact, this frustrated Sasuke quite a bit and forced him to seek even greater power later on in the story.

13 When He Went Berserk

The Nine-Tails within Naruto Uzumaki wasn't always his friend. Whenever Naruto relied on its power, he was hurt considerably, or he hurt those around him. In some instances, the Tailed Beast succeeded in taking over his body and harming all those around him.

At the same time, however, it also granted Naruto tremendous power. When Naruto unlocked four tails for the first time, he was much stronger than Orochimaru and would've even given Sasuke a run for his money. In fact, even if Sasuke managed to push him into a corner, Naruto could still increase the number of tails and get even stronger. Without a doubt, when he lost control, Naruto was stronger than Sasuke initially in the story.

12 Naruto Vs. Pain

To protect Konohagakure and avenge Jiraiya, Naruto learned the usage of Sage Mode under Fukasaku of Mount Myoboku. After quite a lot of harsh training, Naruto was able to master Sage Mode. Soon after, he clashed against Pain in Konohagakure and managed to defeat him.

At this point in time, Naruto was much stronger than Sasuke who, although had the Mangekyo Sharingan, had no idea about how to use its true powers. Sasuke simply lacked the chakra and strength to take him down.

11 Naruto Vs. Reanimated Kage

The Fourth Great Ninja War saw Naruto take the stage when the war had already begun but once he did, he made his presence known. Using his shadow clones, Naruto spread to every corner of the battlefield and fought the reanimated Kage.

He took down the Third Raikage and even defeated Mu, the Second Tsuchikage. Furthermore, he also stopped Madara's assault on the Shinobi Alliance with Wood Release and saved everyone. At this point, Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan wasn't ready and he was much weaker.

10 Naruto Fought Longer In The War

Naruto's contribution in the Fourth Great Ninja War was immense as he helped out across the battlefield to stop the Akatsuki from killing people. While Sasuke also joined the war, he did so quite late and was thus fresh.

Naruto, on the other hand, was fighting for days and had expended quite a lot more energy than Sasuke did. Despite everything, he was able to be equal to Sasuke and even get the better of him on occasions.

9 When Naruto Fought Obito

Naruto Uzumaki clashed against Obito during the 4th Great Ninja War. When Obito became the 10 Tails Jinchuriki, both Naruto and Sasuke combined their forces to fight against him. However, Naruto held a significant edge over Sasuke during this time. This was down to the fact that Naruto could utilize Senjutsu Chakra in order to hurt Obito.

Sasuke did not have access to this energy and had to, thus, rely on the Cursed Mark powers that Jugo supplied to him. Whereas Naruto was completely self-sufficient, Sasuke had to rely on someone else to be able to match the power of his rival. This is another indication of the fact that Naruto had already pulled ahead of Sasuke at that point in time.

8 He Shared Chakra With Everyone

Not only did Naruto fight against the Akatsuki and the reanimated Kage in the Fourth Great Ninja War but he also boosted the other shinobi.

Using Kurama's power, Naruto was able to share great amounts of chakra with people and make them stronger. This drained him quite a bit, however, he still put up a display just as good as Sasuke, which just goes to show that he was stronger than Sasuke.

7 When He Combined Kurama Chakra Mode And Sage Mode

Kurama Chakra Mode was one of Naruto's greatest powers in the story that he received in the Fourth Great Ninja War after befriending Kurama. Immediately after doing so, he gained enough power to overwhelm five Tailed Beasts at once, which is something Sasuke would surely have struggled with.

If that's not enough, Naruto also got even stronger by combining the power of Sage Mode with his Kurama Chakra Mode. Sasuke, on the other hand, didn't have any Senjutsu boost and had to rely on Jugo's Cursed Seal powers instead. Evidently, Naruto was stronger than Sasuke at this point in the story as well.

6 When He Received Hashirama's Prosthetic Arm

Naruto ended the Fourth Great Ninja War being much stronger than Sasuke as not only did Sasuke lose the power of the Tailed Beasts but Naruto also received the other half of Kurama, giving him even more strength and chakra.

What's more, Naruto also ended up receiving a prosthetic arm made of Hashirama's cells which naturally helped his chakra levels even further. Sasuke, on the other hand, chose to not take the prosthetic arm because he considered giving his arm up as atonement for his crimes against the village.

5 Naruto Vs.Sasuke With Half His Power

Naruto vs. Sasuke happened at the Valley of the End for the last time towards the end of the Naruto series.

While Sasuke had the power of the Rinnegan, along with nine Tailed Beasts that he had captured, Naruto had just half of Kurama within him. Despite that, he was able to keep up with Sasuke and even defeat him eventually, as evident from when Sasuke admitted to having lost to him in the end.

4 During The Last: Naruto The Movie

During the time of The Last: Naruto the Movie, Naruto Uzumaki was certainly stronger than Sasuke. These two had fought shortly before, towards the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War. After the war, Naruto received the second half of Kurama and this took his powers to an entirely different level.

Even without relying on his Six Paths Sage Mode, Naruto was able to defeat Toneri, which goes to show that he was strong enough to fight Otsutsuki-level threats without even tapping into his full power. He was even able to tank an attack that sliced the entire moon in half and not just counter it but also power through it and defeat his enemy. The same cannot be said for Sasuke at that time.

3 Naruto Fought Momoshiki Far From Full Power

Naruto and Sasuke had to put quite a lot of effort into stopping Momoshiki, however, they were both far from their full strength. While Sasuke had to transport eight people to Momoshiki's dimension using his Rinnegan, Naruto had half his chakra drained by Momoshiki.

However, the fight was even more difficult for Naruto as he had absorbed an attack strong enough to wipe out an entire village shortly prior to this battle yet he still did just as good as Sasuke, if not better.

2 When Naruto and Sasuke Fought Jigen

Naruto and Sasuke fought against Jigen in a very deadly battle. Together, these two expected to be more than enough to take him down, however, the truth was completely different. Naruto and Sasuke fell way short of what was required to defeat him. They were completely outclassed in this fight together, however, Sasuke was in a much worse condition than Naruto.

In fact, when both of them were completely skewered with black rods, Naruto still had enough in him to produce shadow clones while Sasuke could not do anything. Naruto wanted to continue fighting but Sasuke convinced him to not resist. In the end, Naruto had enough in him to allow Sasuke a chance to leave and that, once again, shows that he was superior at the time.

1 When Naruto Used Baryon Mode

The Baryon Mode was the biggest of all the power-ups of Naruto and it was equally dangerous. It was used against Isshiki Otsutsuki by using Naruto and Kurama's chakra as raw materials to give rise to a greater power.

This power far surpassed that of Isshiki and allowed Naruto to overwhelm him in combat. Sasuke openly admitted that Naruto was much stronger than Isshiki in this state and it goes without saying that at this point, he was far stronger than Sasuke as well.

MORE: Naruto: The Strongest Ninja Tools In The Series, Ranked