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The first arc of Naruto's Part II marks the protagonist's return to the Hidden Leaf Village after two and a half years of training with Jiraiya. As the Akatsuki beat and abducted Gaara, Naruto, Sakura, their master Kakashi Hatake, his rival Might Guy, and other Hidden Leaf ninjas were sent on a mission to rescue the newly-appointed Kazekage.
This thread will rank the ten mightiest individuals featured in the Kazekage Rescue Arc. The list will only include characters who played an active role in the first arc of the series' Part II, rating them by how strong they were at that point in the story.
Disclaimer: This article reflects the writer's personal views.
From Neji Hyuga to Itachi Uchiha, the 10 most powerful characters in Naruto's Kazekage Rescue Arc, ranked weakest to strongest
10) Neji Hyuga & Rock Lee
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Despite belonging to the Hyuga clan's branch house, Neji possessed a particularly powerful Byakugan which strengthened his flawless taijutsu skills, allowing him to perform the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms as well as the Eight Trigrams Palms Rotation.
Owing to his own determination and Might Guy's teachings, Rock Lee became a powerful fighter despite being unable to use ninjutsu and genjutsu. At this point in the series, Lee can open five of the Eight Gates. This boosts his physical prowess and enables him to perform the Front Lotus and the Reverse Lotus.
At the time, Neji and Rock Lee seemed equally strong. Unable to make much contribution to the clash between Kisame's duplicate and Guy, they were later forced to fight copies of themselves. Initially struggling to win against fighters with the same exact skills, Tenten, Neji, Lee, and Guy eventually managed to beat them by pushing past their own limits.
9) Chiyo
Upon hearing that her grandson Sasori was among the culprits for Gaara's abduction, Chiyo joined the battle against Akatsuki, proving herself as a capable fighter despite her old age. Chiyo's Mother and Father, two puppets that she modified to have exceptional combat effectiveness, were able to stand up against Sasori's Third Kazekage human puppet.
She also modified her body, turning her right arm into a mechanical one and providing it with a chakra shield. Chiyo demonstrated her skill by flawlessly using Sakura as a human puppet in the fight against Sasori. Employing her Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets, Chiyo, also helped by Sakura, fended off Sasori's Performance of a Hundred Puppets.
At the end of the arc, Chiyo tried to revive Gaara, aiming to atone for having used the sealing jutsu that made him a jinchuriki many years before. With the help of Naruto's chakra, Chiyo resurrected the young Kazekage, but she had to sacrifice her own life as a cost for performing the technique.
8) Naruto Uzumaki
Seeking the strength needed to forcibly bring back Sasuke Uchiha to the Hidden Leaf, Naruto Uzumaki undertook a long training with Jiraiya. Under the teachings of the famous shinobi, Naruto became able to perform the Big Ball Rasengan, whose destructive power exceeds the original Rasengan.
He also learned how to dispel genjutsu and tried to harness the power of the Nine Tails, which he had sealed in his body since he was born. Jiraiya's training improved Naruto's fundamental skills, including the use of the Shadow Clone Technique, rendering him a much more efficient fighter. However, Naruto still had a long way to go.
7) Gaara
Trained to be the Hidden Sand's ultimate human weapon, Gaara eventually became the Fifth Kazekage. Although he could employ the One Tail Shukaku's power, Gaara preferred not to rely on it. Instead, he used his own sand-manipulating ability to both defend himself and overwhelm his foes.
Using the sand of his personal jar, Gaara was able to crush Deidara's left arm. The Akatsuki member then used the C3, one of his strongest techniques. Gaara's defensive shield of sand managed to protect his village from the ensuing large explosion, but the Kazekage ended up beaten, as Deidara had snuck some small explosives into his sand.
The bombs detonated at extremely close range, causing Gaara to fall defeated. As Deidara took his unconscious body to an Akatsuki lair, the members of the organization extracted the One Tail from Gaara, leaving him dead. The Kazekage was later resurrected by Chiyo's One's Own Life Reincarnation.
6) Sasori
Sasori was able to defeat and kill the Third Kazekage, who, at that point, was the strongest ninja in the Hidden Sand's history. Turning the Kazekage's corpse into a human puppet, Sasori could use his lethal Iron Sand techniques, which he made even deadlier by adding poison.
A testament to his absolute mastery as a puppeteer, Sasori was able to control up to a hundred puppets simultaneously. He also turned himself into a living puppet, making him nearly impossible to kill as the only vital part of his body was his core, which he could still transfer to other puppets to avoid incoming attacks.
Sasori had the upper hand for most of the battle but ended up beaten and killed by Chiyo and Sakura. However, it's strongly implied that he could have avoided Chiyo's last attack and killed her and Sakura, but chose not to. He let himself be hit by Mother and Father as, even though they were only puppets, he wanted to be embraced by his parents one last time.
5) Deidara
Despite his young age, Deidara was a prominent member of Akatsuki. He was able to beat Gaara despite fighting him in the desert, an environment where the Kazekage's strength increases tenfold. Still, it must be noted that playing at home also backfired on Gaara, who had to protect his village.
Owing to his Explosion Release, Deidara can perform destructive moves. While C1 and C2 are fast and deadly, C3 has enough power to obliterate an entire village. With C4, he creates microscopic bombs that disintegrate anyone who inhales them at the cellular level. However, all these techniques are especially weak to Lightning Release.
Deidara declared his inferiority to Sasori, but that was probably a fake claim to divert Kakashi's attention so that he would worry for Chiyo and Sakura. Had he gone to help them, he would have left Naruto alone. Deidara's abilities and feats don't seem any less than Sasori's, and he even challenged the puppeteer to a fight, implying that he doesn't feel inferior to him at all.
4) Kisame Hoshigaki
Hailed as the "Tailed Beast without a Tail" for his immense chakra reserves, Kisame was a major member of Akatsuki. He beat one of his former colleagues in the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and robbed him from Samehada. A sentient weapon, this sword absorbs chakra, allowing Kisame to weaken his opponents.
Samehada can send the stolen chakra to Kisame, healing his wounds. He can even fuse himself with the sword, further amplifying his powers as a fearsome Water Release user. During the Kazekage Rescue Arc, Pain used the Shapeshifting Technique to create duplicates of Kisame and Itachi, who remote-controlled their actions from afar.
As the two clones had 30% of Itachi and Kisame's chakra, they were stronger than about one-third of the original Akatsuki members. Kisame had his duplicate flood the surroundings with Water Release to overwhelm the Hidden Leaf ninjas, but the clone was immediately annihilated as soon as Guy unleashed his Sixth Gate.
3) Kakashi Hatake
Fast in his movements, very smart, and a great taijutsu fighter, Kakashi is a master of ninjutsu, primarily concerning the Lightning Release and the Shadow Clone Technique. Hailed worldwide for his prowess with the Sharingan, after the time skip, Kakashi improved all his skills. Moreover, he started using his Mangekyo Sharingan to perform Kamui, an exceptional jutsu.
By focusing his glance on it, Kakashi can warp any target into another dimension. During the Kazekage Rescue Arc, his mastery of the jutsu was not as perfect as it became later in the story. Still, he was already good enough to beat a ninja of Deidara's caliber. Once caught in the space-time barrier, the Akatsuki member was at Kakashi's mercy, as Kamui can't be stopped in any way.
Despite being fast enough to avoid Gaara's sand, Deidara couldn't dodge even the unmastered version of Kamui. Later, Kakashi used his eye power quickly enough to teleport away a massive explosion within a second. This shows that, even at this point in the story, Kakashi would be able to beat most Akatsuki members and Kage-level ninjas by using Kamui. However, it must be noted that the Mangekyo Sharingan greatly drains his stamina.
2) Might Guy
With the first part of the story only teasing Guy's unreal power, the second portion of Masashi Kishimoto's masterpiece finally delved into the real capabilities of the "Green Beast of the Hidden Leaf". Owing to his strenuous training, Guy became an immensely powerful ninja. He can easily be considered the strongest taijutsu fighter in the entire series.
Releasing the Eight Inner Gates, Guy boosts his speed and physical strength to the point where he can perform unreal feats with just martial arts. With his Eighth Gate, he becomes far stronger than even Hashirama Senju, but at the cost of his own life. The preceding steps, i.e., the Sixth and Seventh Gate, have much lesser aftereffects but still render Guy an extraordinary fighter.
In the Kazekage Rescue Arc, he used the Sixth Gate against Kisame. Later revealed to be a clone with 30% of Kisame's real strength, the foe was immediately overpowered as Guy blitzed him with his speed and destroyed him with an attack called Morning Peacock. Like Naruto and Kakashi, Guy will show even greater capabilities later in the story.
1) Itachi Uchiha
A talented genius from the Uchiha clan, Itachi murdered his entire kin for the future of his younger brother Sasuke and the Hidden Leaf. Extremely skilled with genjutsu, hand seals, and shurikenjutsu, Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan granted him the usage of Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi. He could also use Susanoo and enhance it with the Sword of Totsuka and the Yamata Mirror.
Itachi was able to beat Orochimaru and Deidara with just a Sharingan genjutsu. In Part I of the series, before Kakashi developed his own Mangekyo Sharingan, he used Tsukuyomi to defeat the "Copy Ninja". Unfortunately, the progressive blindness due to the Mangekyo Sharingan's overuse, as well as a fatal disease, started reducing Itachi's combat effectiveness.
As Pain used his Shapeshifting Technique to make body doubles of Kisame and Itachi, with about one-third the strength of the originals, Uchiha remote-controlled his replica to fight Team 7 and Chiyo. During the battle, Kakashi used a Shadow Clone to outsmart Itachi, allowing Naruto to deal the decisive blow to the duplicate.
Final Thoughts
Sakura Haruno, Kankuro, and Temari couldn't make it to this selection of the top ten strongest individuals featured in the arc. Still, they at least deserve an honorable mention among the best fighters involved in this portion of Masashi Kishimoto's story.
Needless to say, Might Guy, Kakashi Hatake, and the franchise's main protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki, are characters who constantly and progressively improve over time, as they train, fight threatening opponents, and either obtain additional power-ups or showcase new abilities. In the subsequent arcs, their feats will surpass even Itachi's.
Widely praised for focusing on the Akatsuki organization, this arc features several unforgettable moments, among which are the clash between Deidara and Gaara, the introduction of Kakashi's Mangekyo Sharingan, Sakura and Chiyo's epic confrontation with Sasori, and more. Undoubtedly, the Kazekage Rescue Arc is an amazing start for Naruto Shippuden.
