10 Naruto characters who overstayed their welcome

In the 500+ episodes of Naruto, almost all the characters have had some impact on the hero’s journey, but there are some characters who fans wish would’ve been taken off the script way earlier. Despite Masashi Kishimoto’s expertise in the creation of really memorable characters, some simply fail to make any impact on the viewers.

Starting right from the advent of Naruto to the end of Naruto: Shippuden, the protagonist has crossed paths with innumerable friends and foes. As such, today we will put the spotlight on 10 Naruto characters who have overstayed their welcome in the series.

Disclaimer: The characters in this list are subjective and reflect the author’s views. Some portions also contain spoilers for those who haven’t yet completed the anime.

---

10 characters in Naruto who stayed way longer than their presence was needed

1) Ebisu

Ebisu was the mentor of the grandchild of the Third Hokage, Konohamaru. Apart from his perverse nature and his terrible habit of looking down on Naruto, we don’t see him teaching anything of value to his pupils. His own student Konohamaru even preferred to train under the main protagonist rather than Ebisu, and the latter’s entire role in the anime is unmemorable. This is probably why the character is absent from the current successor of the anime, Boruto.

---

2) Kiba

In the entire series, Kiba is a character that does not show any noticeable development, and his overestimation of his skills is another reason why his presence was way overdone.

Without his dog, Kiba appears to be a knock-off version of Naruto, who consistently keeps on trying to score the same goals as the latter. Even during the Fourth Great Ninja War, Kiba made no commendable contribution. It would have been better if he only appeared as a filler character.

---

3) Shizune

The right-hand of the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, Shizune is another Shinobi who stays in the anime way more than they should have. Despite spending ages assisting one of the Sanins, Shizune failed to learn any valuable skills or increase her intellect. Many fans agree that the character should have died during the White Zetsu infiltration, especially since she was one of the priority targets. The reason why Shizune was kept alive throughout Naruto, apart from being Tsunade’s caretaker, remains a mystery.

---

4) Deidara

Deidara was one of the members of Akatsuki who was hated by the entire Naruto fanbase. Not only was his character irritating due to him always boasting about his art, but his ruthless killing of Gaara made him even more despicable. Although the character did suffer a humiliating defeat by dying from his own jutsu when he fought Sasuke Uchiha, most fans still believe his presence was overstayed. Kakashi’s Kamui taking him out for good would have been the perfect end for Deidara.

---

5) Karin

Karin, a member of Taka, was an avid follower of Sasuke and appeared to love him for saving her the first time they met. However, this love gets a bit too much since she doesn’t play much of a role throughout Naruto: Shippuden apart from being Sasuke’s healer. What made it worse was that Sasuke showed no regard for her until after he matured, making it clear that Karin was nothing more than a character who was meant to support Sasuke throughout his conquests.

---

6) Tenten

Tenten is a kunoichi from Konoha who just fails as a character. Throughout Naruto, all she did was train to master her ability to summon ninja weapons. If Masashi Kishimoto paid this character more attention, she had the potential to be remembered as one of the best females, but all she did was support Neji and Lee from her team. Even her jutsu is not unique to her since we see characters like Sasuke being able to summon weapons using scrolls during his bout with Itachi in Naruto: Shippuden.

---

7) Konohamaru

Like his mentor, even Konohamaru is regarded as nothing more than an annoying brat. He doesn’t seem to have any role apart from following the exact footsteps of Naruto and learning all his jutsus.

What’s even more amazing is that while a strong character like Kakashi almost died facing Pain in Naruto: Shippuden, Konohamaru was able to defeat one Pain's clones using a normal Rasengan, which made a lot of fans rage.

---

8) Kabuto

Kabuto, who initially made his appearance as an apprentice of Orochimaru in Naruto, later became one of the leading antagonists. But all in all, his character seems to be nothing more than a snitch who stayed under the Sanin only to learn his secrets. What made him a terrible antagonist was that his own perfected version of the Reanimation Jutsu backfired when he was defeated by the reanimated Itachi.

---

9) The Konoha Elders

Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado - the two elders who are part of the Konoha council - easily fall among the characters who should have been written off the script way early. Not only did that never happen, but these characters are apparently alive in Boruto as well.

Even though these two were members of team Tobirama, that included Sarutobi Hizuren and Tobirama himself, Koharu and Homura were never shown to make a single decision that would benefit Konoha, and instead supported all the schemes of Danzo.

---

10) Danzo

This list would have been incomplete without the name of one of the most hated characters in Naruto, Danzo Shimura. The character planned the Uchiha genocide, stole and implanted the Sharingans of many into his right arm, plotted to assassinate the Third Hokage, and even tried to usurp the mantle of Kage.

The character eventually suffered a deserving death when Sasuke came to exact his revenge. But to be honest, there is no reason why Hiruzen Sarutobi or the likes of Tsunade would allow such a character to remain in power despite knowing his horrendous deeds. He is a character who should have suffered his death way earlier and written off the script.