When it comes to antagonists, no anime can surpass Naruto. Naruto is not only famous for its emotional and strong story, but also its characters put extra effort to make it rank among the top shonen. Each and every antagonist in Naruto has its own tragedic backstory and its reasons to fight for its existence. Each character had their own goals which they wanted to accomplish. From episode 1 to the final episode, you will witness top-tier villains in the anime.
Naruto is a Japanese manga-based anime written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The manga was adapted into anime by Studio Pierrot. The story revolves around Uzumaki Naruto, the major protagonist of the series who inherited the nine-tailed fox that caused chaos in the village years ago. Villagers used to alienate him and consider him a threat to the village. Despite odd circumstances, Naruto aimed to become the Hokage of the village someday and started his journey on a positive note. As the anime progressed, he found many amazing people who eventually accepted him and his existence.
Here’s the list of the best villains of Naruto and Naruto Shippuden.
10. Deidara
Deidara was a member of Akatsuki and one of the most skilled characters. He was the one who defeated Gaara and abducted him for the Tailed-Beast extraction process. Deidara gained mastery in clay explosions Jutsu and used to consider these explosions as true art. He was accompanied by Sasori to conduct the missions. He used to be an arrogant guy and had too much pride in his art. Thanks to Itachi, he shattered his pride in instance and made him join Akatsuki. Deidara gave a tough fight to Sasuke, but unfortunately, he self-destructed himself with his most powerful jutsu.
9. Kakuzu
Kakuzu is one of the oldest villains in Naruto who even clashed with the god of shinobi, Hashirama Senju. He was the bounty hunter and used to hunt powerful shinobi in exchange for money. He had unique powers and was perhaps the first guy who received Naruto’s own developed technique, Rasenshuriken. He was accompanied by Hidan to conduct his missions. If we talk about his unique powers, he had four hearts which made him live longer than normal humans. He even gave a tough challenge to Kakashi Hatake. Thanks to Naruto, his one Rasenshuriken defeated him in the end.
8. Kisame
Kisame was one of the most loyal and coolest guys in Naruto Shippuden. He was the partner of Itachi Uchiha himself. He was one of the seven swordsmen of the mist and the wielder of the Chakra-Sucking sword, Samehada. He possessed the shark-like traits and was used to being acknowledged as a tailed beast without a tail. He gave a tough challenge to Might Guy but finally, he self-destructed himself after getting a lot of beating from Might Guy in his Seventh Chakra Gate.
7. Kaguya Otsusuki
It is true that Kaguya is the final antagonist of the Naruto Shippuden series, but somewhere, it feels that Kaguya’s character could improve much. She is the character who failed to leave her long-lasting impact like other characters, although she was very powerful and skilled. Kaguya was the one who killed Obito. She was the mother of the Sage of the Six Paths and Hamura. Finally, she got defeated collectively by Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.
6. Haku and Zabuza
Who expected that the first villain itself could make you cry like a child? But Naruto always stands on expectations. Haku and Zabuza are really the best villains out there. They had a purpose, a strong back story, and a wide variety of powers. The arc itself was enough to give anyone a lot of goosebumps. This is the arc when we first saw the Nine-Tailed chakra in Naruto. Sasuke’s sacrifice for Naruto was very heartwarming. Zabuza even blocked Kakashi’s movements from his very special water jutsu. This is the first arc where we first encounter the Kakashi Hatake’s Sharingan. The collective aspects of each and everything made Haku and Zabuza one of the best villains of the series.
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5. Orochimaru
How can we forget Orochimaru to put in our best villains list? Orochimaru is indeed the major antagonist of the original Naruto series. He played a very major role in the progression of the series. He was one of the legendary sanin, just like Jiraya and Tsunade. He was a master in forming new jutsus and wanted to seek immortality. He was the one who killed the Third Hokage and Fourth Kazekage. Thanks to Lord Third, he managed to seal his hands which stopped him from performing jutsus. He was the one who abducted Sasuke for his own greed and ended up making him more powerful than himself. Thanks to Orochimaru’s great tactics and mindset, he is still alive and a father of a laboratory child, Mitsuki.
4. Black Zetsu
We just mentioned above that Kaguya was the major antagonist of the Naruto Shippuden series but is she the only major antagonist of the series? Of course not. Black Zetsu is the most hated villain in all of Naruto Shippuden. He was the main reason behind the never-ending conflicts between the descendants of the Sage of the Six Paths. He created the Uchiha Stone just to brainwash the Uchiha clan. When he saw Indra’s obsession toward his brother Ashura, he brainwashed him and made him hate his brother hence starting the unwanted conflict. Black Zetsu’s sole aim was to revive Kaguya Otsusuki with the help of a divine tree. He gained success in his eternal mission in the final arc of Naruto Shippuden, but Team 7 managed to seal her again by using borrowed power from Sage of the Six Paths.
3. Obito Uchiha
Obito Uchiha is the antagonist later turned protagonist character in the series. Obito used to be a nice and caring guy who trained under the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze himself. He was put in a team with Kakashi and Rin, aka Old Team 7. He started loving Rin and had sweet and sour relations with Kakashi. One day, Stone Village Shinobi abducted Rin. Obito asked Kakashi to help her, but Kakashi turned his sight by saying, those who can’t protect themselves shouldn’t be protected. Obito decided to help her alone and ended up unlocking his Sharingan.
Later, Kakashi also joined him, and together they saved Rin. But unfortunately, the massive rocks of the cave fall on Obito. Obito asks Kakashi and Rin to escape from the scene and gives her Sharingan to Kakashi. Just after this, Madara saved Obito and planned some tragic events for him to brainwash him and make him his pawn until his resurrection. Obito saw Kakashi killing Rin with his Chidori, which made him the worst guy, and he decided to avenge her death from the Hidden Leaf Village. Obito is indeed the best villain of the whole series.
2. Madara Uchiha
Madara Uchiha is indeed the legendary shinobi in Naruto Shippuden after the First Hokage Hashirama. Madara was the rival of the First Hokage. He was also the strongest Uchiha if we compare in raw power. After obtaining both the Rinnegans, he achieved the level of the sage of the six paths himself. He had a strong motive behind his actions. He wanted to create an ideal world of dreams, aka Project Tsukoyomi, where everyone can live peacefully. He brainwashed Obito and made him walk on the paths of hatred until his revival.
Madara explained to Obito about Project Tsukuyomi and planned every single thing for himself later on. He implanted his rinnegan in Nagato’s body as he was a member of the Uzumaki clan and the perfect vessel for the Rinnegan. Obito, on Madara’s behalf, asked Yahiko to form the new organization Akatsuki. If you want to imagine his powers in a nutshell, then let me tell you that Madara alone defeated all the tailed beasts in a fair fight.
1. Itachi Uchiha
Well, we didn’t want to add Itachi Uchiha to the list because he is more like a hero for Konoha. Even after acting as an antagonist, he was the one who sacrificed most of the things for the village. For the sake of the village, he killed his parents and made his younger brother Sasuke his eternal enemy. He used to think like a Hokage even when he was a teenager and wanted to put a full stop to the wars.
He wanted to understand the true meaning of human life and death. He saw his best friend’s death unexpectedly. Itachi was the guy who hid his feelings from the world and acted as a villain. He was the guy who saved the village from Kabuto’s spell even after dying. He made Sasuke hate him because he wanted to die at the hands of his beloved brother. Unfortunately, Itachi was killed by Sasuke Uchiha, his brother himself.
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