Highlights

Naruto and Hashirama, two of the strongest ninja in history, played critical roles in establishing the current order of the shinobi world.
Both shinobi aspired to foster a lasting peace between rival villages and nations through mutual cooperation, understanding, and diplomacy.
Naruto surpassed Hashirama in terms of speed, physical strength, comprehension of chakra, and overall power, making him the strongest shinobi in history.

Revered as two of the strongest ninja in history, Naruto Uzumaki and Hashirama Senju reached heights of power that few characters could aspire to in Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto. From their high-level mastery of ninjutsu to the monstrous reserves of chakra they could wield, along with their near infinite vitality and endurance, the First Hokage and Seventh Hokage played critical roles in establishing the current order of the shinobi world.

Besides their immense power, both shinobi also aspired to foster a lasting peace between rival villages and nations, through mutual cooperation, understanding, and diplomacy. In their time, Naruto and Hashirama managed to broker brief periods of peace by leading the way as beacons of hope that all shinobi could rally around. Since there was never any real opportunity for the two great ninja to face off against one another in their prime years, there has been a lot of speculation regarding who would be stronger between them, in order to ascertain who was the most powerful shinobi in Naruto.

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The Common Threads Linking Naruto And Hashirama

As distant relatives by virtue of the relationship between the Senju and Uzumaki clans, Naruto and Hashirama inherited the strong life force possessed by Asura Otsutsuki's descendants. The two shinobi were also known for their exuberant and boisterous personalities, allowing them to excel as natural leaders. In terms of their personalities, the only real difference was Hashirama's moody demeanor as opposed to Naruto's unbridled optimism.

Then I will break that curse. If there's such a thing as peace, I will find it. I won't give up!

When it comes to how the two acquired their incredible strength, Hashirama was a natural prodigy beyond any Senju before him, with even Madara Uchiha openly admitting his inferiority to him. Having grown up in the Warring States Period, tales of Hashirama's many feats were regarded as legends, passed down like the story of the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki. From capturing eight of the nine tailed beasts, to defeating Madara Uchiha during every battle they fought, Hashirama's exploits were not matched by anyone for generations.

Conversely, Naruto's growth took a slower, incremental approach, and he began his life as a serial underachiever, with little innate talent save for his massive chakra reserves. However, he proved himself to be a late bloomer through sheer perseverance and grit, eventually becoming acknowledged as the hero of the Hidden Leaf Village after his defeat of Pain. On learning how to utilize the Nine-Tails' Chakra, Naruto's power grew exponentially, and he was the most prominent player in the Fourth Shinobi World War. By the end of the series, Naruto was viewed as one of, if not the strongest shinobi in history, as well as the ninja world's savior.

Carrying On The Will Of Asura Otsutsuki

One common denominator that links both shinobi, is the connection they share to Asura Otsutsuki, son of the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki. As successive reincarnations of Asura who inherited his will, both Naruto and Hashirama endeavored to reconcile with the reincarnation of their estranged brother Indra, whose will was manifested in Sasuke Uchiha and Madara Uchiha respectively.

But one day… In the future… I dream of a time when all shinobi will cooperate with each other… A time when everyone's hearts will be together regardless of their countries. That's my… dream of the future

The two shinobi were driven by a desire to foster peace by ending the cycle of war, hatred, and vengeance that had plagued the shinobi world for centuries. Naruto and Hashirama always prioritized diplomacy over meaningless violence, and only engaged in battle after trying to understand their opponent and reason with them first. That being said, they possessed the tools and skills to take down virtually anyone who opposed them, which was another by-product of being Asura's reincarnates.

The God Of Shinobi Versus The Child Of Prophecy

Naruto and Hashirama were among the few shinobi who were able to use all five chakra natures as well as Yin and Yang Release, possessing a keen understanding of chakra on a foundational level. While this variety in Nature Transformation ninjutsu was a critical aspect of their respective arsenals, both of them generally relied on a set of techniques and their variations that they specialized in when engaging opponents of most power levels.

For instance, Hashirama's signature ability was his unique kekkei genkai Wood Release, which allowed him to create constructs for offense and defense out of plant life, combining the chakra natures of Earth and Water. With this, he could alter the terrain of entire battlefields, launch long and short range attacks, create tangible wood clones of himself, or generate massive avatars of wood that could level mountains.

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Wood Release was also vital to Hashirama's ability to restrain the tailed beasts, where he could form protective barriers to resists Tailed Beast Balls, immobilize them with wood dragons, or absorb their chakra with his constructs. In addition, Hashirama was also highly skilled at taijutsu, sealing jutsu, barrier ninjutsu, and bukijutsu. He was renowned for his ability to heal virtually any injury without hand seals, attesting to his monstrous chakra and vitality.

Finally, Hashirama was also an exceptionally skilled user of Sage Mode, and was able to amass natural energy constantly by riding atop his wood constructs. Senjutsu augmented his Wood Release by astronomical levels, as seen in his Sage Art Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands Technique, which stripped Madara's Susanoo from the Nine-Tails and was responsible for the formation of the Valley of the End.

By comparison, Naruto's arsenal is primarily grounded in his use of shadow clones, the many Rasengan and Rasenshuriken variants he devised, Tailed Beast Balls, and his transformations with Sage Mode, Six Paths Sage Mode, and the Nine-Tails' Chakra. He was also given chakra by each of the tailed beasts, which manifested as the various kekkei genkai that he could infuse into his Rasengan variants, such as Magnet Release, Boil Release, and Lava Release.

Moreover, after being given half of Hagoromo's power, Naruto was able to use Yin-Yang Release and heal injuries by molding chakra in its most fundamental form. On reaching adulthood, Naruto grew even stronger after having both halves of Kurama sealed within him, enhancing his already huge chakra reserves. Acknowledged as the strongest Kage of his time, he became a well-rounded shinobi, and displayed much more restraint in his use of his arsenal of transformations as well as ninjutsu and taijutsu skills. Lastly, he was given a special arm cultivated from Hashirama's own cells, to replace the one he lost during his final battle with Sasuke.

Who Really Is The Strongest Shinobi In History?

Featured Naruto All Natures Naruto Hashirama

For a fair comparison between Naruto and Hashirama in their prime, it is somewhat straightforward to compare their attributes in certain departments, since their fighting styles are not too different. Although Hashirama's arsenal is quite diverse, and he was also more well-versed in sealing techniques, genjutsu, and barrier ninjutsu, he lacked the Six Paths abilities that Naruto gained during the Fourth Shinobi World War, which overwhelmed Madara as the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki.

And my future dream is to be the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody. Somebody important!

Since Hashirama and virtually no other shinobi could not hold a candle to Madara in this form — save for Sasuke and Might Guy in his Eight Gates Released Formation state — it is safe to say that Naruto's speed, physical strength, and comprehension of chakra exceed Hashirama's by some margin, giving him an edge. Both shinobi have comparable chakra reserves, vitality, regenerative powers, and endurance, and it is only these minor differences that could help decide the outcome of a fight between them.

In his prime, Naruto also had another trump card in the form of Baryon Mode, which was used in his fight against Isshiki Otsutsuki in Boruto, allowing him to merge his chakra with Kurama's to gain an explosive increase in speed, strength, endurance, and other physical parameters. Even though the usage of this form will ultimately lead to Kurama's death, it is difficult to imagine Hashirama being able to keep up with Naruto in this state. Hence, by the time he reached adulthood and became Hokage, it is almost certain that Naruto had surpassed Hashirama, going down as the strongest shinobi in history.

Naruto is available to stream on Crunchyroll.