The world of Naruto is filled with some mighty powerful Shinobi who, over the years, came to be renowned for their intellect both in and out of battle. These Shinobi were not necessarily the strongest, however, were simply known to be a step ahead of everyone else when it came to planning.
As such, they ended up becoming an asset to their villages and, at the same time, they went on to etch their names and histories, despite not conquering the era with their physical power but using their intellect instead.
10 Tobirama
Tobirama Senju was the Second Hokage of Konoha and among the strongest to ever live in the world of Naruto. He was an exceptionally strong Kage, however, what he was known for more was his keen intellect.
Tobirama was a very divisive and cunning person. It was he who ostracized the Uchiha Clan and made it so that the Senju had the ruling power in Konoha. During his reign as the Hokage, he established the Academy, the ANBU, the Konoha Police Force, and many other important units. In the First Great Ninja War, he laid down several strategies, however, ended up dying.
9 Orochimaru
Orochimaru was another legendary figure who possessed tremendous strength and was an amazing strategist as well. In the quest for his goals, Orochimaru did everything in his power, ranging from killing his enemies to experimenting on live humans.
He also laid down a clever plan to attain powers with techniques such as the Cursed Seals. He attempted to destroy Konoha as well and his strategies almost bore fruit.
8 Itachi Uchiha
Itachi Uchiha is known to have had the intellect of a Kage at the age of 7. He went on to become only smarter with time. While Itachi made several mistakes in his life, he was also among the very smartest shinobi.
In battle, he was always one step ahead of his enemies and his strategies mostly relied on genjutsu, yet, they were extremely effective. Sadly, Itachi did not get to fight many battles in Naruto, however, whenever he did, his incredible brain was on display every single time.
7 Sasuke Uchiha
Sasuke Uchiha is among the strongest characters in the Naruto series. By the end of the story, Sasuke stood shoulder to shoulder with Naruto as the strongest in the world. However, a very underrated aspect of his character is his keen intellect and the mind of a strategist.
Sasuke is very smart when fighting his enemies. He knows their strengths and weaknesses and analyzes them perfectly with his Sharingan. Sasuke was even able to overcome some of the smartest fighters in the series and he is easily one of the best strategists to ever be written by Kishimoto.
6 Shikamaru
Shikamaru is a genius and had an IQ of over 200 when he was a child. Over the years, he's bound to have gotten even smarter. When it comes to strategies, Shikamaru is certainly one of the very best.
Even elder figures in Naruto seemed to rely on him and even Kage have taken advice from him when he was a mere Chunin. Undoubtedly, Shikamaru's strategies are always impressive, evident from when he planned out the death of Hidan and Kakuzu entirely.
5 Shikaku
Shikaku Nara is the father of Shikamaru and likely the best strategist in the entirety of the Naruto series. Shikaku is known to have been the only person capable of defeating Shikamaru in shogi, which just goes to show that he is a step above his son.
In the Fourth Great Ninja War, his strategic mind shone in incredible ways. Before dying, he was able to subdue the 10 Tails, which is an incredible feat for anyone.
4 Obito Uchiha
Obito is a character renowned for his strength throughout the ninja world, however, an underrated aspect of his character is his incredibly amazing mind. Obito strategizes very well and knows the strengths and weaknesses of all his enemies.
He always plans one step ahead, right from the time he became the apprentice of Madara Uchiha. Obito was primarily responsible for tricking the entire shinobi world into starting the 4th Great Ninja War and his plan to start the Infinite Tsukuyomi was almost perfect.
3 Minato Namikaze
Minato, also known as the Yellow Flash, was the Fourth Hokage of the village. Although he was primarily known for his legendary strength and speed in battle, Minato was also a very smart individual. This is evident from the fact that he decided it would be the smartest decision to sacrifice his life and entrust the future of the world to Naruto.
Just by one glance at his child, he was able to deduce that his son was the Child of Prophecy. Even in combat, he was exceptionally smart. He was able to figure out the weakness of Obito in a matter of a minute and not only did he defeat him but he also managed to separate him from the Nine-Tails in that short span of time.
2 Kakashi Hatake
Kakashi is another all-rounded shinobi that Konoha produced. While he's very powerful, he's also very smart.
He is known to have an intellect greater than that of Shikamaru and it is no surprise that he ended up on becoming the Hokage with a mind li ke his.
Kakashi had laid down several incredible strategies for Team 7 over the years and as the Sixth Hokage, he created an era of peace.
1 Madara Uchiha
Certainly, Madara Uchiha is one of the very best strategists in the world of Naruto. Although he is known to have incredible strength, Madara also has one of the greatest minds. His keen intellect shone brightest during his fight against Hashirama, where he planned to steal a piece of his flesh in order to awaken the Rinnegan.
Even though he died, Madara had a countermeasure for that, thanks to the Izanagi. He manipulated Obito and could foresee the future that Obito would create years before his death. Madara returned to life and, in the war, once again, showed everyone that he was one of the smartest people around.