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A former spy, Kabuto became the right-hand man of Orochimaru, one of the most wicked antagonists in Naruto. A talented medical ninja and assassin, Kabuto resolved that he could never understand his true self as long as he kept serving others. Thus, he decided to seek power for himself.
With this aim, Kabuto seized the peculiar techniques and abilities of Orochimaru, Juugo, Suigetsu, Karin, and the Sound Five. He also learned the White Sage Mode. These upgrades made him powerful enough to fight Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan Sasuke and the reincarnated Itachi in a 1v2 battle.
Furthermore, Kabuto could potentially use the Impure World Reincarnation to summon some of the strongest dead fighters at his service. Follow along the thread to see five Naruto characters Kabuto can definitely beat and five more he would likely lose against. The characters have been ranked on the basis of their overall strength.
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Disclaimer: This article reflects the writer's personal views.
Five powerful Naruto characters who Sage Mode Kabuto would win against
5) Tsunade
Owing to her insane physical strength and perfect chakra control, Tsunade deals devastating blows. An exceptional medical ninja, she can store her chakra and release it to instantly heal her injuries. In their fight in Naruto's Part 1, Kabuto used his superior agility to avoid Tsunade's hits and strike her with disabling techniques.
Smartly taking advantage of Tsunade's fear of blood, he inflicted a humiliating defeat on her. Upon fixing her mental health issues, the Fifth Hokage improved her combat effectiveness, but she would stand no chance against Sage Mode Kabuto, who is much stronger than his Part 1 self.
With his enhanced reflexes, Kabuto would easily dodge Tsunade's blows. He can trap her in Tayuya's genjutsu and then cut her in half with a senjutsu-enhanced chakra scalpel. Kabuto can also use the Impure World Resurrection to evoke powerful undead ninjas who can crush Tsunade even on their own. She has no jutsu fast enough to stop the summoning.
4) Orochimaru
One of the Three Legendary Ninjas, Orochimaru went on learning several forbidden techniques with the aim to become immortal and understand the truth of the world. He altered his body like that of a snake, becoming near impossible to kill as well as able to perform lethal attacks.
In his quest to become a perfect being, Kabuto surpassed Orochimaru, perfecting all the skills that the latter could not, including the White Snake Sage Mode. Kabuto literally turned himself into Orochimaru, but stronger in all possible ways - from his techniques to his physical capabilities.
Unsurprisingly, Orochimaru was no match for Itachi, while Sage Mode Kabuto was able to give significant trouble to the latter and Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan Sasuke despite facing them in a 1v2 battle. In a hypothetical fight, the upgraded Kabuto would overwhelm Orochimaru.
3) Jiraiya
The mentor of the Fourth Hokage Minato and the teacher of the latter's son, Naruto Uzumaki, Jiraiya was offered to become the Hokage more than once, as one of the Three Legendary Ninjas. A powerful shinobi, Jiraiya lost his life fighting Pain, his former student.
While Jiraiya was more or less comparable in strength to Orochimaru, Kabuto eventually surpassed the latter by a landslide. Not even Sage Mode is going to help Jiraiya in the confrontation, as he is an "imperfect sage", who can only enter that mode after specific preparation. Kabuto, meanwhile, has full mastery of it.
Kabuto can blitz Jiraiya with quick and lethal techniques such as Inorganic Reincarnation or White Rage. He can also summon the Impure World Resurrection. In one way or another, he would straight up overpower Jiraiya, not leaving him time to set up Shima and Fukasaku's sound genjutsu.
2) Sasuke Uchiha (Mangekyo Sharingan)
As the series' co-protagonist, Sasuke is a major fighter. During the Kage Summit Arc, despite being rather unexperienced with his Mangekyo Sharingan, he was already strong enough to threaten the Five Kage. He even killed Danzo after a tough battle. However, Sasuke wouldn't be able to beat Sage Mode Kabuto.
The only way for Sasuke to win would be to successfully use Kirin, but Kabuto would kill him before he can set up the move. Beating him at speed and overwhelming him with Sage Mode-enhanced techniques, Kabuto leave Sasuke no chance, and that's not even factoring the Impure World Resurrection.
Sasuke may use Susanoo arrows or Amaterasu to destroy some coffins, but those attacks won't stop Kabuto, who can dodge or counter them. As he was fighting well against a much stronger version of Sasuke, Kabuto he would certainly crush this incarnation of the same character.
1) Itachi Uchiha
A genius Uchiha, Itachi could use Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi as well as enhance his Susanoo with the Yamata Mirror and the Sword of Totsuka. However, he came down with a fatal disease that weakened him, reducing his stamina and his overall combat effectiveness.
As an undead, Itachi fought Sage Mode Kabuto and eventually captured him with a dojutsu called Izanami. Under normal conditions, however, Kabuto is notably stronger than Itachi. In the fight, the Uchiha took advantage of his revived state, which granted him an immortal body with unlimited chakra, allowing him to overcome his normal limitations.
Even so, Kabuto would have killed him several times, had he not been an reincarnated zombie. Itachi fought Kabuto in 2v1 with Sasuke's help, but in a head-to-head battle it would be different. The White Snake Sage Mode completely counters all of Itachi's genjutsu and the techniques of his Mangekyo Sharingan.
Five Naruto characters who are too strong for Kabuto even with Sage Mode
5) Kakashi Hatake (Mastered Mangekyo Sharingan)
The leader of Team 7, Kakashi was considered for the role of Hokage even before the Fourth Ninja War. A quick and smart fighter with great ninjutsu proficiency, Kakashi is a fearsome wielder of the Mangekyo Sharingan. He can use Kamui, one of the most effective techniques in the Naruto franchise.
With this space-time jutsu, Kakashi can warp away any target into another dimension by focusing his glance on it. By the time of the war, he had mastered this visual power, earning praise from even Madara Uchiha. Considering his feats, Kakashi could perform Kamui faster than even Sage Mode Kabuto's techniques, including the summoning of the Impure World Resurrection.
Kabuto has superior stamina, and his moves may overwhelm Kakashi's, especially if the battle is prolonged. However, the space-time barrier can't be stopped in any way, and Kakashi can warp targets of all dimensions in a split second, from a head-sized object to the arm of the enormous Gedo Mazo. Likely, even Kabuto would fall prey to Kakashi's Kamui.
4) Obito Uchiha (Mangekyo Sharingan plus Rinnegan)
The true leader of Akatsuki, Obito was a fighter strong enough to make short work of a Nine Tails-enhanced Naruto. Enhanced with White Zetsu traits and Hashirama Senju's DNA, Obito perform Izanagi and Wood Release, as well as summon the Gedo Mazo.
Using Kamui, Obito could teleport his body into another dimension, phasing through any attack as if he was intangible. He could also travel nearly instantly and, upon contact, send his foes in the other dimension. Admittedly, Sage Mode Kabuto is dangerous, but he is unlikely to hit Obito before the latter overtakes him.
Owing to Kamui's effectiveness, Obito could hold his own against Naruto, Kakashi, Might Guy, and Killer B simultaneously. At one point, Obito threatened Kabuto to kill him, and the latter relied on summoning Madara rather than using his Sage Mode to defend himself, which may imply that he knows he couldn't win by himself.
3) Naruto Uzumaki (Tailed Beast Mode)
As Kurama acknowledged Naruto's life-long efforts to achieve everyone's respect, the future Seventh Hokage obtained the fox's full power, which resulted in the Tailed Beast Mode. This upgrade greatly enhanced all of Naruto's techniques and physical parameters.
He also became able to unleash a huge chakra avatar, which allowed him to single-handedly overpower five of the other Tailed Beasts. Granted, Sage Mode Kabuto is an outstanding fighter, but he can't compete with this form of Naruto, who can shoot tremendous Tailed Beast Bombs.
In this mode, Kurama would break Naruto free from genjutsu, and the chakra avatar would block all of Kabuto's techniques. Undoubtedly, Naruto would overwhelm Kabuto with sheer superior firepower.
2) Madara Uchiha (Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan)
The legendary leader of the much-feared Uchiha clan, Madara was the only one who, to a certain extent, could compete with Hashirama Senju. As they clashed over the control of the Hidden Leaf Village, Madara ended up defeated and allegedly dead.
In truth, he used Izanagi to rewrite his death and went into hiding to work on his Eye of the Moon Plan. Even before having access to the extraordinary power ups that he gained following his resurrection, Madara was a dreadful individual who could destroy entire mountains with a slash of his Perfect Susanoo.
Sage Mode Kabuto's skillset counters this incarnation of Madara pretty well, as he is immune to the Uchiha's visual genjutsu. If Madara were too arrogant, he could risk being surprised by the deadly Sage Art: White Rage. Otherwise, he would use Perfect Susanoo to steamroll Kabuto.
1) Hashirama Senju
Before the Fourth Ninja War reached its climax, no ninja was as strong as Hashirama Senju, the original user of the Wood Release. Combining that with Sage Mode, he single-handedly overwhelmed Madara who was using both his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and the Nine Tails.
Kabuto is a great physical fighter who has regenerative powers and can dominate the battlefield via senjutsu-enhanced ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu. However, Hashirama holds the same capabilities, and on a more superior level than him.
Everything Kabuto has, Hashirama can do better. Even if the former tried to cast the Impure World Resurrection, most of the undeads are nothing compared to Hashirama, and the latter can use his Wood Release to overwhelm Kabuto before he can control the revived ninjas. Likely, the First Hokage won't need to use his own Sage Mode, which would be overkill.
Final Thoughts
Speculating about hypothetical fights between Naruto characters is not easy, as the result of a battle may vary depending on how ninjas employ their techniques. What's certain is that Sage Mode Kabuto is a fearsome fighter, and that's not even considering he can use Impure World Resurrection to evoke Nagato, Itachi, other Akatsuki members, as well as powerful individuals at his service.
Kabuto's reflexes, body modifications, and regenerative powers, further enhanced by Sage Mode, allow him to dodge most attacks, or heal himself. Techniques like Inorganic Reincarnation, White Rage, and Tayuya's genjutsu (which becomes formidable with senjutsu enhancement), make Kabuto a deadly opponent for most ninjas.
