Speed has been a decisive factor in many shinobi battles throughout Naruto, with examples such as Minato's victory over Obito during the Nine-Tails attack on Konohagakure attesting to this. Many shinobi have laid claim to being the fastest of all time, but few among them can really live up to this much desired title. Of those whose speed has earned them praise in the world of Naruto, there a select few usual suspects who crop up in contest to determine the fastest of all time. Figures such as Minato Namikaze, Tobirama Senju, Might Guy, the Third and Fourth Raikages, as well as Naruto and Sasuke belong to this elite group of shinobi, whose speed leaves opponents utterly helpless and unable to even comprehend what hit them.
A number of the most powerful ninjas of their generation, with quite a few Kage among them, have also relied primarily on their speed and agility in combat, rising above the rest on the basis of this virtue. Moving at incredibly fast rates gives adversaries little time to analyze a shinobi's strengths and weaknesses to devise countermeasures, making it nigh on impossible to defend against. Minato's exploits during the Battle of Kannabi Bridge are a prime example of this, where the future Fourth Hokage was able to almost single-handedly take on a small army and score a decisive victory for Konohagakure. While Minato attained his speed through space-time ninjutsu, others gained it either by channeling extremely high amounts of chakra into their movements, or even through more esoteric means. With this in mind, here are a few avenues by which shinobi can boost their speed to levels that go beyond superhuman, in vying for the title of the fastest of all time.
What Power Ups Can Enhance Speed?
From among the hordes of shinobi who have been introduced in the world of Naruto, several have focused on their speed and agility as the foundation of their fighting style. In this regard, while some use their speed to take on swarms of opponents in one-man-army style encounters, others use it to amplify their standard attacks or in short bursts to gain the upper hand against strong enemies or overwhelming numbers. For instance, the Flying Thunder God jutsu used by Tobirama Senju and later perfected by Minato Namikaze allows its users to instantly teleport between locations that are marked with a seal. While Tobirama's use of it was rather straightforward, Minato expanded the scope of the technique by making use of his branded kunai, which he would spread out across the battlefield. This permitted him to rapidly teleport between spots in quick succession, to evade large groups of opponents and take them down in a matter of seconds.
Sasuke's Amenotejikara follows a similar principle, although it requires a great deal more chakra and has a limited range. This technique granted to him by the power of the Rinnegan, mainly allows him to swap places with individuals or objects through space-time ninjutsu. On the other hand, the Body Flicker Technique, which allows rapid movements over short distances relies on a user's physical prowess to enhance speed, as in the case of Shisui Uchiha who was famed for his use of it to create multiple after images. Jutsu such as the Third and Fourth Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode augment the user's base speed to superhuman levels. They are also able to perform a Lightning Release Body Flicker Technique, where they are able to dodge attacks such as Amaterasu and move fast enough to avoid being tracked by the Sharingan. A similar case has been seen in Naruto's use of his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, and later in his Kurama Mode, Six Paths Sage Mode, and Baryon Mode, which boost his base speed to levels beyond those of the Lightning Release Chakra Mode. Finally, highly risky jutsu such as the Eight Gates Released Formation, allow the user to move at speeds so high that they appear to bend space-time itself.
Who Is The Fastest Shinobi Of All Time?
Ranking each of these techniques, and by extension, their users in terms of their overall speed does take a fair degree of analysis, since many of the contenders have not been pitted directly against one another. Ideally, comparisons of this nature should look into whether a shinobi can trigger and maintain such levels of speed for extended periods of time, either in short bursts or as an overall boost to their base abilities. With this in mind, it might be safe to eliminate Might Guy's Eight Gates Released Formation since the power it confers is very short-lived and will almost inevitably drain the life of the user, even if the speed it grants is enough to equal the likes of Madara as the Ten-Tails jinchuriki. Techniques such as the Body Flicker and Tobirama's use of the Flying Thunder God can also be discounted as they have been depicted to be much slower than some of the other contenders.
The Lightning Release Chakra Mode has consistently been shown to be slower than both Minato's Flying Thunder God and Naruto's Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. In this regard, the only three contenders remaining are Naruto in his Six Paths Sage Mode and Baryon Mode, Sasuke and his Amenotejikara, and finally, Minato's Flying Thunder God. Although Sasuke has been able to match Naruto at every step along their journey, the latter still possessed far larger reserves of chakra when Kurama was still sealed within him. Now, when considering movement over short distances, it is quite likely that Naruto will come out the gates faster due to the insane levels of chakra and raw power he has access to. Conversely, over longer distances, Minato's teleportation is a much faster method of travel, allowing him to instantly move between branded locations or objects. This might have changed with the introduction of Baryon Mode, boosting Naruto's power to unseen levels. Hence, it might be safe to say that the Seventh Hokage is now the undisputed fastest shinobi of all time.