Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto series has seen the introduction of quite a lot of incredible characters over the years. Kishimoto has written an impeccable story, giving birth to the legends of a plethora of ninjas, many of whom suffered various setbacks in their lives.

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However, it wasn't the setbacks that defined them. Quite a lot of those who fell came back stronger than ever before and, from those who came back stronger, only a handful of characters stand at the very top in the most significant manner.

8 Orochimaru

Returned In The Fourth Great Ninja War

Orochimaru was a major antagonist in the first part of Naruto and the man responsible for Konoha Crush. He pulled the strings on this assault and led to the death of the Third Hokage. Orochimaru was also responsible for taking Sasuke away from the village. Eventually, he was killed by Sasuke, however, Orochimaru still lived as his chakra was present in many places.

Sasuke was the one who brought him back in the war and, this time, he was stronger than ever before. Over the years, Orochimaru has continued to strengthen himself up and, at the moment, he is among the strongest ninjas.

7 Gaara

Returned As The Fifth Kazekage

Gaara was introduced in Naruto as a villain. He was the Jinchuriki of the One Tail who was to be a part of the Konoha Crush plan. Gaara was used by his village as a means to get what they wanted, however, after he was defeated by Naruto, his soul was touched.

Gaara spent the remainder of his life trying to better himself and, after the timeskip, he returned as the 5th Kazekage, having become an incredible ninja while at it.

6 Sakura

Returned As A Medic After The Timeskip

Sakura was a very talented ninja from the very beginning, however, she lacked both strength and resolve in Naruto Part 1. During the timeskip, she trained with Tsunade and, after that, she returned stronger than ever before.

Sakura was no longer weak and had instead leveled up tremendously as a ninja. She kept gaining more strength and, by the time of the Fourth Great Ninja War, her strength had peaked as a ninja.

5 Minato Namikaze

Returned In The Fourth Great Ninja War

The Fourth Hokage of Konoha, Minato died the day Naruto was born. He was the one who saved the village from Kurama by sealing half of it inside his son, while the other half was sealed inside his own body.

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Minato was brought back in the 4th Great Ninja War and he did so in quite some style, revealing to everyone that he had tamed the powers of Kurama. In doing so, Minato returned stronger than ever before and became a major ally for Naruto and the Shinobi Alliance.

4 Obito Uchiha

Returned As A Villain

Obito is one of the biggest villains in Naruto and also one of the most tragic characters. He was first revealed to the fans in Kakashi's flashback, where it was also clear to see that he was utterly crushed. Before his “death,” He passed on his Sharingan to Kakashi.

Later on in the story, it was revealed that Obito was actually alive and had been taken in by Madara. He raised him to be his successor and the next big threat that the Shinobi world had to face.

3 Madara Uchiha

Returned In The Fourth Great Ninja War

Madara was a legend when Naruto began. Fans only knew of him through stories, however, he returned stronger than ever before in the 4th Great Ninja War. At first, he was brought back using the Reanimation Jutsu.

However, later down the line, he was fully brought back using Rinne Rebirth. Madera then went on to surpass all his limits as he became the Jinchuriki of the 10 Tails. He could have conquered the entire world had Zetsu not betrayed him.

2 Sasuke Uchiha

Returned Stronger After The Timeskip

Sasuke only knew one goal while growing up and that was to avenge his clan by killing his brother. To that end, he sought power in whichever way he could, even abandoning his own friends and his village for the sake of it.

After the timeskip, Sasuke returned stronger than ever before. He had gained so much might that it was believed that he was actually doping himself. Sasuke continued to grow after the timeskip and eventually, became one of the strongest ninjas to have ever lived, rivaled only by Naruto.

1 Naruto Uzumaki

Returned Stronger After The Timeskip

Although Naruto did not have much talent as a ninja at the beginning of his journey, he trained relentlessly and gained significant strength while growing up. Naruto acquired quite a lot of strength in Part 1 of the story, however, when he left on his journey with Jiraiya, that is when he achieved quite a lot of growth.

Naruto returned to the village stronger than ever before and more mature as well. He continued to grow in terms of strength from here onwards, until he became the strongest ninja to have ever lived.

Naruto

Studio

Pierrot

Creator

Masashi Kishimoto

Number of Episodes

220

Streaming Service(s)

Crunchyroll , Hulu , Netflix , YouTube

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