Kakashi Hatake was a Jonin of Konohagakure throughout most of the Naruto series and an incredibly powerful one at that. Being introduced as the leader of Team 7, Kakashi led the strongest of the Genin in the story through various dangers and in doing so, fought countless powerful enemies.

RELATED: Naruto: 10 Times Sasuke Met His Match (But Won Anyway)

While not the strongest, Kakashi was still a monster in his own right and not many could take him on in battle or surpass him, however, there are some who managed to pull off this feat by the conclusion of the story.

8 Gaara

Naruto_ gaara

Gaara was introduced in Naruto as a Genin from Sunagakure and also one of the most powerful ones from his generation. Within a few years, he ended up becoming the Kazekage of Sunagakure and did an incredible job at it.

By the end of the story, Gaara got even stronger and was powerful enough to take on some of the strongest characters in the Fourth Great Ninja War, such as the former reanimated Kage, to some extent. Kakashi, on the other hand, got weaker towards the end.

7 Killer Bee

Killer Bee squaring off against Sasuke Uchiha and Hebi in the Hidden Cloud Village during Naruto: Shippuden

Killer Bee is the brother of Kumogakure's Fourth Raikage, Ay. Growing up, Bee wasn't all that powerful and during this time, a younger Kakashi would certainly have been stronger than him, given that he was a prodigy.

RELATED: 10 Things You Didn't Know Happened To Naruto After The Series Ended

Within a few years, however, Killer Bee got tremendously powerful as he became the perfect Jinchūriki of the Eight-Tails. His powers were hailed by Minato Namikaze himself during the Third Great Ninja War.

6 Itachi Uchiha

Itachi Uchiha's Massacre in Naruto.

Itachi was one of the most prodigious Uchiha clan members in the entire history of Naruto and a man worthy of being called a genius. Feared as the Clan Killer, Itachi had an incredibly high level of control over his Sharingan and the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Kakashi, while stronger than him at one point, couldn't compare to his talent later on and was defeated by him within a matter of seconds. Even while being extremely ill, Itachi was stronger than Kakashi.

5 Rock Lee

Rock Lee from Boruto.

Unlike most others on this list, Rock Lee is a hard-working ninja who has always believed in training hard to surpass others. At one point, Lee was hardly fit to even be called a shinobi, however, thanks to the training that Guy gave him, he's good enough to be called stronger than Kakashi right now.

By adulthood, Lee is capable of opening all the Eight Inner Gates, which gives one power that is hundreds of times greater than that of the Five Kage.

4 Might Guy

Might Guy Naruto

Kakashi's rival, Might Guy was always considered to be inferior to him in terms of being skilled as a shinobi when they were kids. However, by the time of the Fourth Great Ninja War, Guy had well and truly surpassed him.

RELATED:How Did Naruto Learn Rasengan? & 9 Other Questions About His Jutsu, Answered

Upon opening all the Eight Inner Gates, Guy could even put up a fight against Madara Uchiha, who was the Ten-tails Jinchūriki at the time. Kakashi, while strong, didn't even compare to him at the time. Unfortunately, Guy lost his leg during the war, forcing him to stay on the sidelines for the most part.

3 Obito Uchiha

Obito Facing Naruto & Kakashi Without A Mask

Obito Uchiha was a team-mate of Kakashi Hatake and one of the members of Team Minato. Despite being an Uchiha, Obito possessed no talent at all and was quite clumsy, the exact opposite of Kakashi.

However, after the events of the Third Great Ninja War, Obito became stronger and later, even fought Minato Namikaze, which was nothing short of impressive. What's more, Obito continued to grow stronger and eventually became the Ten-tails Jinchūriki as well, leaving Kakashi behind by quite some distance.

2 Sasuke Uchiha

Sasuke Uchiha Rinnegan

Kakashi's very own student from Team 7, Sasuke is also one of the few who went on to surpass him as a shinobi in the story. Being the reincarnation of Indra, Sasuke had a strong chakra, which got even stronger through rigorous training. By the time of the Fourth Great Ninja War, he had acquired the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and was already much stronger than Kakashi.

Towards the end of the war, Sasuke gained the powers of the Rinnegan as well and became equal to Naruto Uzumaki in terms of power.

1 Naruto Uzumaki

Seventh Hokage Naruto

Another one of Kakashi's students, Naruto was known to be a shinobi with no special talent other than having massive reserves of chakra. Through sheer willpower and the support of those around him, Naruto went on to become a tremendous shinobi worthy of being called the strongest.

By the time of the Fourth Great Ninja War, Naruto had already mastered the power of the Nine-Tails to the fullest and then gained the chakra of all the other Tailed Beasts as well. To top it all off, Hagoromo Otsutsuki granted him with the Six Paths powers which also gave him access to the Six Paths Sage Mode, making him an equal to the likes of Madara Uchiha in battle.

NEXT: Naruto: 10 Most Powerful Sensei, Ranked