Kakashi Hatake is one of the most prodigious ninjas to have ever emerged out of Konoha's academy in Naruto. Famed throughout the world of shinobi as the 'Copy Ninja', Kakashi has great fighting skills and is undoubtedly one of the strongest characters in the series. He once wielded the Sharingan as well, and as his moniker suggests, he has gone on to copy over a thousand Jutsu.
As a student of the Fourth Hokage, it is no surprise that Kakashi went on to become the Hokage in the future. True to his reputation, Kakashi stands above most characters in the series when it comes to strength, however, there are still some who surpass him. Here's a list of five characters Kakashi can defeat, and five that he can't.
Updated August 3rd, 2020 by Josh Davison: Since the publication of this list, we here at CBR have put more thought into what characters from Naruto and Boruto who would or wouldn't stand a chance against the great Copy Ninja Kakashi. As such, we've added some additional character entries to this list of some of the greatest Shinobi from across both series that Kakashi could beat, and some that he couldn't. The ninja world of Naruto and Boruto is teeming with ultra-powerful shinobi on par with Kakashi Hatake, and it's fun to think about which characters could or couldn't take him on.
14 CAN BEAT: Pain
Pain killed Kakashi during his attack on the Hidden Leaf Village, but that was before a lot of training and the addition of the second Mangekyou Sharingan eye.
With that enhanced power, Kakashi would be able to slay even the likes of Pain/Nagato. His enhanced Kamui would likely tear through the six bodies of Pain and bring down the famed Rinnegan wielder. While Pain's Planetary Devastation and Almighty Push are more-or-less extinction-level events wrapped up in a jutsu, Kakashi's Kamui could literally erase those attacks from existence.
13 CAN'T BEAT: Itachi Uchiha
Despite that, Itachi Uchiha has long been rumored to be the strongest shinobi in the entire Naruto saga. Whether or not that is true, he already wielded the power of the two Mangekyou Sharingan eyes.
He is also a master of illusory genjutsu and would likely be able to keep Kakashi guessing until Itachi could make his winning stroke. Plus, Itachi's own Susano'o is immensely powerful and would certainly be a match for Kakashi's.
12 CAN BEAT: Jiraiya
Jiraiya was among the trio of famed Sannin shinobi alongside Tsunade and Orochimaru, and he is the one who taught Naruto Uzumaki the powerful Rasengan ninjutsu. He unfortunately also fell before Pain, his own pupil. While Jiraiya has incredible power over ninjutsu and can summon powerful allies like Gamabunta, he would prove no match for Kakashi with the twin Mangekyou Sharingan.
It's worth mentioning that some of Kakashi's most powerful jutsu can strike at Jiraiya from afar, while many of Jiraiya's jutsu are close-range.
11 CAN'T BEAT: Madara Uchiha
Madara Uchiha is among the most powerful shinobi to have ever lived, and his power only increased when he attained the power of the Sage of the Six Paths. He was able to fend off both Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha for a time in this form, and Kakashi Hatake would likely be unable to subdue Madara on his own.
Madara was also incredibly fast in this form, and he has more experience with the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan than even Kakashi.
10 CAN BEAT: Tsunade Senju
The Fifth Hokage of Konoha, Tsunade Senju, is the greatest medical ninja in the verse. Tsunade uses chakra to amplify her strength to incredible heights, and one punch from her is enough to incapacitate even the strongest of fighters. Despite this, she pales in comparison to Kakashi Hatake.
Kakashi is a very fast, and shrewd shinobi, so for him to let Tsunade hit him in the head is preposterous. Furthermore, Kakashi's offensive powers, such as Kamui, far surpass that of Tsunade's. If the two ever fight, Kakashi would emerge as the victor.
9 CAN'T BEAT: Kaguya Otsutsuki
Quite possibly the strongest person in the entire naruto-verse, Kaguya is an alien being who is from the Otsutsuki clan. She's the progenitor of chakra, and her own reserves are huge in comparison to Kakashi's. When it comes to power, Kaguya possesses enough to simply blow away a star with her expansive truth-seeking ball.
Even if Kakashi uses his Six Paths enhanced Susano'o, there's no way he can defeat Kaguya Otsutsuki alone. When the two fought in the ninja war, Kakashi had help from Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, and that's the only reason he emerged victorious. On his own, Kakashi would get obliterated by her.
8 CAN BEAT: Might Guy
Might Guy is a jonin from Konoha who excels in hand-to-hand combat. He's taken this skill of his to the highest level, even earning praise from Madara Uchiha himself. Using the Eight Inner Gates technique, Might Guy can defeat almost any foe at the cost of his own life. However, Kakashi isn't one of them.
Kakashi's own double Mangekyo Sharingan power is far superior to Guy's eight gates. Even though Guy almost touches the speed of light, Kakashi's Kamui is instantaneous. He's fast enough to blitz even Kaguya Otsutsuki, and as such, Might Guy stands no chance.
7 CAN'T BEAT: Momoshiki Otsutsuki
One of the few known members of the Otsutsuki clan, Momoshiki came to earth along with his partner Kinshiki in search of potent chakra in Boruto. He was a threat that even Kaguya feared, and one that adult Naruto and Sasuke had to deal with by combining their strength. Even though Kakashi is a genius when it comes to fighting, his skills are limited to ninjutsu.
Both Naruto and Sasuke relied heavily on taijutsu to defeat Momoshiki because ninjutsu simply doesn't work on this godly being. Momoshiki is someone that Kakashi can't hope of beating alone, and it is safe to safe that he's levels below him, in terms of overall power.
6 CAN BEAT: Danzo Shimura
Danzo Shimura was the leader of Konoha's root Anbu and was once a student of Tobirama Senju. Thanks to the surgeries performed on him by Orochimaru, Danzo gained access to both the Sharingan of the Uchiha and the Wood Release of the First Hokage. As such, he possessed strength worthy of being a contender for the Sixth Hokage' spot.
Even though he has this much power, Danzo simply pales in comparison to Kakashi. By the war arc, Kakashi had trained his Mangekyo Sharingan to a level where he could fight most Kage level shinobi. Thus, taking on Danzo shouldn't trouble him at all.
5 CAN'T BEAT: Naruto Uzumaki
By the end of the war arc, Kakashi was around the same level as Naruto Uzumaki, thanks to the Six Paths Powers bestowed upon him by Obito Uchiha. Kakashi's Susano'o would certainly prove strong enough to match Naruto if the two had fought.
But, ever since then, Naruto has grown at a tremendous pace, while Kakashi had already peaked, and thus, lost a lot of his powers down the road. Meanwhile, Naruto went on to become the strongest shinobi in history. Strong as Kakashi is, he doesn't have much chance of beating Konoha's Seventh Hokage.
4 CAN BEAT: Minato Namikaze
The Fourth Hokage of Konoha, Minato Namikaze was the strongest shinobi of his generation and was considered to be the greatest shinobi by the likes of Jiraiya. Minato was a master of three basic nature types, but his forte was the teleportation ninjutsu. Unfortunately for the Yellow Flash, Kakashi also excels at the same Jutsu, and his variant of it is much better than Minato's.
As noted by Minato himself, the Kamui is superior to the Hiraishin in every way. Kakashi' s double Mangekyo variant is multiple times faster and stronger than the Flying Thunder God. So, while Minato is undoubtedly one of the strongest shinobi in history, he'll likely end up losing to the Copy Ninja.
3 CAN'T BEAT: Sasuke Uchiha
Sasuke Uchiha is of the strongest shinobi in the series' history and is known to be the only man capable of matching Naruto Uzumaki in battle. By adulthood, Sasuke is said to have bridged the gap between him and the Seventh Hokage. He's grown strong enough to fight against gods like Kinshiki Otsutsuki, Urashiki, and even Jigen.
Meanwhile, Kakashi can't hope to exchange blows with them with the powers that he currently holds. Knowing how smart Kakashi is, he'll more than likely avoid fighting Sasuke because there's no way he can ensure a victory against the legendary Uchiha.
2 CAN BEAT: Hashirama Senju
The First Hokage of Konoha, also known as the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju was considered to be the strongest ninja of his generation. The only rival he had back then was Madara Uchiha, and it's fair to say that Hashirama was slightly stronger than him. Regardless of how strong he was, Kakashi, with his two Mangekyo Sharingan, is more than capable of defeating Hashirama Senju.
After seeing a display of Obito's power, Hashirama openly declared him to be stronger. Obito passed on the same power to Kakashi Hatake later on. Kakashi's double Kamui, when combined with the Susano'o, is more than enough to defeat the First Hokage fairly comfortably.
1 CAN'T BEAT: Hagoromo Otsutsuki
The Sage of Six Paths' enormous strength in the Naruto series can only be rivaled by his mother. While Kakashi is strong and fast enough to take down most enemies within seconds, he doesn't have nearly enough resources to do the same against Hagoromo. Just half of Hagoromo's power was enough to amplify Naruto Uzumaki to where he is today.
A glimpse of his power was seen when he casually created the moon after the battle against his mother. Hagoromo's true power eclipses that of almost all the other characters in the series, and Kakashi is no exception to that.