Highlights
- Growing up in the shinobi world of Naruto exposes characters to pain, death, and destruction, leading to cynicism and struggling to form real bonds.
- Characters like Shikamaru, Tobirama, and Nagato show varying degrees of cynicism and coldness due to their harsh experiences in war and betrayal.
- However, redemption is possible, as shown by characters like Sasuke, Zabuza, Obito, and Kakuzu who find a chance for change and a different path.
The horrors of growing up in the shinobi world of Naruto are sure to leave a mark on anyone, where pain, death, and destruction are an accepted part of life even before adolescence. Shinobi in hidden villages often begin their journey at a very early age, spending much of their childhood honing their combat skills to effectively perform missions that require the use of deadly force.
Naruto: Who Was The Strongest Kage In The War Arc?
Chosen to lead their villages into battle against the Akatsuki's Eye of the Moon Plan, who among the five was the strongest?
As a result, most ninja in Naruto are exposed to the darkness of their world as children, with some even having to fight in wars before reaching adulthood. It is not uncommon for such individuals to grow hateful and disillusioned towards the system they belong to after undergoing such harsh experiences, which makes them struggle to form real bonds with others. Hence, there are quite a few characters in the series whose personalities are partly, if not completely defined by a sense of cynicism, with some embodying this trait more than others.
10 Shikamaru Nara
The lazy genius who always thinks multiple steps ahead, Shikamaru's demeanor towards those around him may not be inherently volatile, and he has an intense sense of loyalty and concern for his allies. However, his incredible strategic acumen and ability to outwit his opponents have led to him developing a more cold and ruthless side.
It is important to note that these choices are not made out of malice, but rather, Shikamaru's drive to safeguard his village pushes him to take every threat seriously while being cautious of letting down his guard too soon.
9 Tobirama Senju
Despite having laid the foundation for some of Konohagakure's most important institutions such as its Academy and the Military Police Force, Tobirama Senju did have a cutthroat side to him. This was in direct contrast to his brother Hashirama, who was exceedingly optimistic, forcing Tobirama to be the voice of reason on many occasions. His blunt, unfiltered pragmatism was the product of having grown up in a time of war, where death and betrayal were prevalent at every turn.
Never one to shy away from making difficult decisions, Tobirama's forceful methods did earn him some deal of notoriety among the Uchiha, but he also had a huge hand in building Konohagakure into one of the strongest hidden villages in the Five Great Shinobi Countries.
8 Nagato
Even after being orphaned at a young age with his home rendered a desolate battlefield, Nagato did not lose his optimism and soon found allies who shared his dream of peace in the form of Yahiko and Konan. After being taught by Jiraiya, the trio formed the Akatsuki to solve regional disputes through negotiation.
Naruto: The Fall Of The Akatsuki
As one of the biggest forces that drove Naruto's storyline, the Akatsuki had a tragic past which saw it transform into a shadow of its former self.
Unfortunately, the betrayal he endured at Hanzo and Danzo's hands, along with Yahiko's death, twisted his morality to make him believe that the shinobi world would never accept peace and that it was only possible to end war with force. Taking on a new identity as Pain, Nagato resolved to achieve peace through fear, until Naruto showed him the error of his ways.
7 Sasuke Uchiha
As the sole survivor of the Uchiha Clan Downfall — a massacre enacted by his brother Itachi — Sasuke grew up believing solely in his own strength. Driven by a desire to avenge his clan, he succumbed to the Curse of Hatred, becoming enemies with Konohagakure, the Five Kage, and the entire shinobi world after learning of the horrific sacrifice that Itachi was forced to make.
This led him to betray Naruto and subjugate all the tailed beasts after the Fourth Shinobi World War, in a bid to take on the entire world's hatred while ruling from the shadows as a common enemy to unite rival shinobi villages. All this changed when Naruto redeemed him after their fight at the Valley of the End, with Sasuke going on to support Naruto in his role as the Seventh Hokage.
6 Zabuza Momochi
Once a charismatic and gifted shinobi who was part of Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Zabuza Momochi lived through the era of the "Village of the Bloody Mist." Despite not being an Academy student himself, Zabuza killed over a hundred students from Kirigakure's Academy, leading to the discontinuation of the village's violent graduation exam.
After leading a failed coup d'état against the Fourth Mizukage, Zabuza became resentful and cynical, believing the world to be a place characterized by users and the used. Henceforth, he began to treat people based on their level of utility to his ambitions. Abandoning his morals, Zabuza decided to achieve his goal of taking control of Kirigakure by any means necessary.
5 Obito Uchiha
Having harbored dreams of becoming Hokage in his youth, Obito was kind, loyal, and selfless, but this soon changed with the onset of the Third Shinobi World War. After being saved from certain death by an elderly Madara Uchiha, Obito was forced to watch as his childhood love, Rin Nohara, died at the hand of his teammate and rival Kakashi, although unbeknownst to him, Rin had willingly sacrificed her own life.
This was a turning point for Obito, whose youthful idealism was destroyed by this incident, leading him to lose his faith in reality. He returned to Madara's side and was trained by him to become his successor, inheriting his desire to execute the Eye of the Moon Plan and cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
4 Kakuzu
Among the Akatsuki, Kakuzu was known for his immense greed and money-minded outlook on the shinobi world, as he only lent his talents to the highest bidder. Perpetually preoccupied with monetary gain, Kakuzu believed that money was the only thing that could be trusted in the shinobi world, where deception, betrayal, and death were rampant. Kakuzu also had a volatile temper that would flare up unexpectedly, which led to him killing many of his partners in the Akatsuki until the arrival of the immortal Hidan.
Naruto: Summoning Jutsu, Explained
Counted among the most frequently used techniques in the series, the Summoning Jutsu is an essential part of a shinobi's arsenal.
Lastly, Kakuzu also held a deep hatred towards his village of Takigakure, as he was ostracized after failing a mission to kill the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. As a result, he left the village after breaking out of prison, stealing its most valuable kinjutsu, and killing all of its elders.
3 Kisame Hoshigaki
The wielder of Samehada and a former member of Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Kisame was brutal and sadistic in combat, possessing a monstrous amount of chakra that was beyond human. After being betrayed by his superior Fuguki Suikazan, who was the former wielder of Samehada, Kisame grew disillusioned with the world, felt that he had no place in it, and did not know who he really was — a consequence of having grown up around treachery and violence.
He was also quite nihilistic and believed that his fate was to die a meaningless death due to his practice of killing his comrades in his past, which saw him become a rogue ninja who was banished from his village for plotting to overthrow the Land of Water's government alongside his involvement in numerous high profile assassinations. The only redeeming aspect of his identity was his close bond with Itachi Uchiha, to whom he displayed an unwavering sense of loyalty.
2 Madara Uchiha
Growing up during the Warring States Period, Madara Uchiha was an incredibly powerful shinobi in his time, second only to the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. While his friendship with Hashirama and bond with his younger brother Izuna initially helped him stave off the Curse of Hatred, Izuna's death led Madara to embrace his hatred and wage war against the Senju. He was able to find solace for a time with his adopted family in Konohagakure — a village he helped to create — but the Uchiha clan's ostracization led him to defect from the village and create the Eye of the Moon Plan to end all war.
Madara could be quite cruel and merciless, but he firmly believed that his actions were for the greater good of Konoha and the shinobi world. Believing that the cycle of war and hatred was endless and that reality was built on a foundation of winners and losers, Madara sought to cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi and create a new reality.
1 Danzo Shimura
Known as the "Shinobi of Darkness," Danzo was the leader of Root, a covert organization within Konohagakure's Anbu which executed covert unsanctioned operations within and outside the village. Calculating, treacherous, ruthless, and manipulative, Danzo was indirectly or directly responsible for some of the worst tragedies in the shinobi world, such as the Uchiha Clan Massacre, the creation of Pain, and Orochimaru's illegal human experimentation, among others.
His extremism, militarism, and draconian methods earned the ire of the Third Hokage on many occasions, but he was repeatedly shown leniency, even after a failed assassination attempt against Hiruzen. Danzo prioritized the good of the village above ethics and morals, but was also a cowardly individual for most of his life, treating his subordinates as sacrificial pawns to do his dirty work while he preserved his well-being and standing in the village.