The epic shonen story of Naruto spans a handful of canon story arcs, with each arc featuring its own heroes, villains, stakes, and battles. The story started of strongly with the introduction mini-arc and the short but sweet Land of Waves arc, and then Naruto really kicked into high gear with famed arcs like the Chunin Exam story arc, the Pain arc, and more. And, of course, each of these arcs features at least one standout fight that Naruto fans love.
The best fight scenes aren't just an excuse to watch ninjas beat each other up with ninjutsu. The most meaningful battles in the best arcs also embody memorable themes such as self-actualization and the cycle of hatred and violence, and these fights are often personal for the ninjas taking part in them. That, combined with clever jutsu and cool battlefield venues, makes the best Naruto fights that much more memorable, and those fights will give their respective story arcs some structure, too. Such fights are often the payoff for everything else that happened in the arc up to that point.
10 Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha vs Zabuza Momochi Showed a New Level of Teamwork
Pound for pound, the Land of Waves story arc is actually one of the Naruto anime's better arcs. It focused on traditional ninja values of stealth, ambush, and trickry rather than explosive jutsu that can level mountains, and it was Team 7's first taste of real combat and adventure. That included the team's first clash with Zabuza Momochi, a missing-nin.
What made this fight stand out was the fact that Naruto and Sasuke, no matter their shonen-style rivalry, learned to cooperate and didn't even need much verbal communication to mesh their efforts. Together, they actually tricked an experienced jonin with weapons and shadow clones to force Zabuza to release his Water Prison jutsu on Kakashi. Then, Kakashi used his Sharingan eye to copy Zabuza's jutsu and defeat him. The small scale of this fight makes it rank last among the best fights in the best arcs, but it's still worth revisiting from the good old days.
9 Shikamaru Nara vs Hidan Was a Battle of Vengeance and Justice
The Leaf Village's fight against Hidan and Kakuzu wasn't that consequential in the long run, but that fight did have a strong emotional impact and some memorable battles. The immortal ninjas Hidan and Kakuzu burst onto the scene and killed Asuma Sarutobi, prompting the rest of Team 10 to seek vengeance, with Shikamaru taking the lead.
While Kakashi and his allies fought Kakuzu elsewhere, Shikamaru Nara took on Hidan, his mentor's killer, and showed no mercy in that fight. Shikamaru seemingly lost, only to reveal his blood-swap trick and turn the tables on Hidan, who couldn't escape Shikamaru's trap. To defeat and punish Hidan, Shikamaru buried his opponent's severed head deep, then buried it.
8 Sakura Haruno and Chiyo vs Sasori Showed Sakura Blooming on the Battlefield
Early in Naruto Shippuden, the two Akatsuki members Deidara and Sasori invaded the Hidden Sand Village and captured Gaara the jinchuriki, prompting a rescue mission from Gaara's Leaf allies. Among all the fights that ensued, Sakura's and Chiyo's battle against Sasori was the best. For one thing, it was a rare instance of two puppet master jutu users facing off.
Also, this fight showed Sakura finally glowing up and fighting for real on the battlefield with her chakra-infused fists, giving her a fighting chance against an Akatsuki member. At one point, she even allowed Chiyo to use her as a living puppet to push Sakura's taijutsu to the next level. That fight also showed off Sasori's huge collection of deadly puppets, including the Third Kazekage's, complete with iron sand jutsu.
7 Gaara vs Rock Lee Was the Definitive Talent vs Hard Work Battle
During the Chunin Exam story arc, plenty of memorable and exciting fights took place, from Naruto's taijutsu clash against Kiba Inuzuka to Shikamaru's tricky battle against Temari in the final phase. However, most Naruto fans will agree that Rock Lee's fight against Gaara was the best fight of that entire arc.
The entire Naruto anime has a theme of talent vs hard work, and that contrast was clear with Rock Lee using taijutsu alone against Gaara's jinchuriki powers. Rock Lee amazed everyone with his top-tier martial arts and strength as he pushed himself to overcome Gaara's sand defenses, including dropping his heavy ankle weights. Rock Lee may have lost that fight, but he still put on a great show.
6 Naruto Uzumaki vs Gaara Ended With a Tearful Talk Jutsu
The Konoha Crush story arc was Orochimaru's last bid to destroy the entire Hidden Leaf Village, with Orochimaru personally fighting his old mentor, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage. That was an excellent fight with cool jutsu, but the most emotionally resonant fight took place between Naruto Uzumaki and Gaara.
Naruto and Gaara duked it out as fellow jinchuriki in a titanic clash of Tailed Beasts, including Naruto summoning Gamabunta and Gaara awakening the one-tailed Shukaku. Once Naruto fought Gaara to a standstill, Naruto delivered one of his best talk jutsu of all time, empathizing with Gaara as a fellow outcast and jinchuriki. That lay the foundation for Gaara's later redemption as one of Naruto's best friends and allies.
5 Jiraiya and Tsunade vs Orochimaru Was a Sannin Clash of the Ages
In the Search for Tsunade story arc, Jiraiya the toad sage brought Naruto along to seek a famed ninja named Tsunade, the slug princess who was worthy of becoming Hokage. Along the way, Jiraiya also taught Naruto how to use the Rasengan jutsu, something the Fourth Hokage had invented himself.
Eventually, Orochimaru got involved, along with Kabuto Yakushi, and the Leaf heroes had no choice but to fight them. At first, Naruto and Kabuto took center stage, but then the three Sannin used their best jutsu and summons to fight a titanic battle of slugs, toads, and snakes. In those days, it was rare to see so many Kage-level ninjas active on the battlefield, and that made the fight rank in the middle among the best fights in the best arcs.
4 Team 7 vs Obito and Madara Uchiha Was a Climactic Fight For the World's Future
During the Fourth Great Shinobi War, two particular ninjas arose as the shinobi alliance's most powerful foes of all, those being Madara Uchiha and Obito Uchiha. In the Birth of the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki story arc, in particular, the villainous Uchihas became the Ten-Tails' living vessels, granting them enormous power to make their plans a reality.
Few ninjas could stand up to such power, but at the last moment, the fractured Team 7 finally came back together as Sasuke Uchiha returned. It was exciting to watch the reborn Team 7 fight such a high-stakes battle during one of Naruto Shippuden's greatest story arcs, and Team 7 would remain together long enough to fight other foes later on as well, such as Kaguya Otsutsuki.
3 Naruto Uzumaki vs Sasuke Uchiha Pitted Friend Against Friend as the Original Story Concluded
The Sasuke Retrieval story arc featured plenty of cool ninja battles, such as Neji Hyuga using his Byakugan eyes to fight Kidomaru and Rock Lee and Gaara fighting Kimimaro Kaguya. Meanwhile, that arc's best fight was also its last, featuring Naruto Uzumaki and his friend turned enemy, Sasuke Uchiha. That fight made it grimly clear that their bond was broken, at least in Sasuke's eyes.
Naruto and Sasuke used all their powers and skills at the time to fight one another, with Sasuke completing his Sharingan's tomoe and Naruto using his fox chakra more than ever to keep pace with Sasuke's enormous power. However, the fight also had a theme that no matter who won, the friendship would lose, and sure enough, Sasuke narrowly won and wandered off, leaving a heartbroken Naruto behind.
2 Sasuke Uchiha vs Itachi Uchiha Was the Ultimate Sharingan vs Sharingan Showdown
A few times, family members fought one another in Naruto, such as the cousins Hinata and Neji Hyuga battling one another in the Chunin Exam story arc. Much later, in the Fated Battle Between Brothers story arc, Sasuke finally got his wish: to fight his brother Itachi to the death. Thus began a memorable battle of Mangekyo Sharingan eyes, including the Susano'o's titanic power.
Sasuke gave it his all to overcome Itachi's cunning genjutsu and Mangekyo Sharingan powers, but it wasn't Sasuke's jutsu that finished the fight. Itachi was dying of an illness, and thus allowed himself to lose for his beloved younger brother's sake. At last, Sasuke was starting to realize the truth: that Itachi was a loving brother, not a monster.
1 Naruto Uzumaki vs the Six Paths of Pain Was a Turning Point For Naruto
The Pain story arc is arguably Naruto's best, and fans will nearly all agree that Naruto Uzumaki's climactic battle against the Six Paths of Pain was the arc's #1 fight. Jiraiya died fighting Pain, and then Pain himself arrived in the Hidden Leaf Village to wreak havoc. Only at the last minute did Naruto arrive to save the day, much to Tsunade's relief.
Naruto used every trick he had to fight his strongest foe yet, including his Rasengan, shadow clones, and most of all, Sage Mode. At one point, Naruto seemingly lost, but then his lover Hinata Hyuga intervened to give Naruto another chance, and Naruto pushed himself to finish the fight at last. Better yet, he confronted Nagato and Konan and used a talk jutsu to convince them to undo all the damage.
