Almost every character in Naruto had a depth to them. Even the villains, who were there momentarily just to get wrecked, had a backstory. This made the anime more relatable and grounded in spite of its many fantastical elements. But there is also a downside to that: It's hard to keep up with all those characters.

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Masashi Kishimoto created a series that had villains built up from the start and it was all connected. But he also missed some plotlines. The total screen time of some characters was mere minutes, and fans never got to see them at their full potential.

10 Zabuza And Haku

Reanimated Zabuza and Haku fighting Kakashi and Guy in Naruto.

The first serious villains introduced in Naruto were Zabuza and Haku. Zabuza was a rogue ninja and one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. He wielded the Kubikiribōcho sword and had a subordinate named Haku. They pushed Kakashi to use his Sharingan and even held him down after he used it. But in the end, Kakashi outsmarted them.

Even after they were reincarnated, they couldn't score a significant win. Zabuza's life was a failure and when he realized what he had done, it was too late.

9 Kimimaro

Kimimaro's bone jutsu in Naruto.

Kimimaro was a survivor of the Kaguya clan, who were bloodthirsty barbarians wiped out during the clan wars. He inherited Kaguya's Kekkai Genkai to manipulate his bones and swore allegiance to Orochimaru. That's why he helped Sasuke escape from the village.

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He was a strong warrior and held his own against Rock Lee and Gaara, and would've won as well. But his disease got in the way and he died on the spot. He had the potential, but time was not on his side.

8 Kurenai

Kurenai Yuhi Naruto

Every sensei in Naruto has a super-strong ability hidden up their sleeves. Gai could use the Eight Gates, which destroyed the Ten-tails jinchuriki Madara. While Kakashi was a former ANBU, a wielder of Sharingan, and extremely intelligent in combat situations.

Kurenai also possessed a pretty cool ability: Genjutsu. There was one time she was seen in the field and it was against Itachi, probably the worst match for her. Itachi countered her Genjutsu without any effort.

7 Kabuto

Kabuto injecting Orochimaru's blood in himself.

Kabuto achieved what Orochimaru could not, perfecting his Sage Mode and reincarnating some of the strongest shinobi. It took two god-level shinobi, Itachi and Sasuke, to bring him down. From all these feats, it's proved that he's strong.

He's almost on the level of a Hokage, but what use there is of his power when he couldn't even win a single meaningful fight? He was Rasenganed by Naruto, mauled by Sasuke, and almost died in the war. He's always the bad guy who the heroes defeat.

6 Madara

Madara using his Sharingan.

To be clear, Madara is no loser. He was a pioneer and reached the heights no shinobi had never reached before. Even now, only Sasuke can rival him. He planned everything from his death to his revival. But at the end of the day, Madara's ideology was bound to fail. He accepted it in his final words.

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He was defeated by Hashirama every time, and was merely a puppet for Kaguya's revival. But the fact remains, he was the greatest shinobi/villain that ever lived. No villain, even Kaguya, can take his place.

5 Kaguya

Kaguya Otsutsuki Facing Team 7 during the events of Naruto: Shippuden

She came to Earth, gave chakra to its people, and had children. Kaguya lived a happy life while devising her master plan to harvest the Chakra Fruit that would help her in her fight with Momoshiki and Kinshiki. She had good intentions but became corrupted and a chakra hoarder after she ate the fruit.

Her sons rebelled and sealed her away. What's worse than her own sons defeating her? Well, her descendants, Naruto and Sasuke, also sealing her away. She failed both times. Naruto and Sasuke defeated Momoshiki and Kinshiki in their own epic way.

4 Konan

Konan using Shinigami Paper Dance Technique in Naruto Shippuden.

Konan, Nagato, and Yahiko had it most rough. They were born in a time of war and famine. They stuck together and learned to survive, then Jiraiya took them under his wing and taught them for a while. But he went away, and it all started going downhill after that.

Konan got kidnapped, Yahiko died, and Nagato became depressed. Yahiko fought Jiraiya when he first appeared and almost got defeated had it not been for Nagato's intervention. Then, in her final battle with Obito, she tried her best, but to no avail— though her failure was definitely an honorable one.

3 Black Zetsu

Black Zetsu

Naruto preaches the message that no one was born evil and everyone has their own reasons for committing evil crimes. Black Zetsu was in the same boat. He was just a son trying to revive his mother, who the whole of humanity hates. He lived his life as a weakling just to make his plan successful.

Ultimately, he was just a tag-along, never getting into the real action. It was certainly a loss for him when Kaguya got sealed again.

2 Anko Mitarashi

Kabuto vs anko in Naruto

She was the only survivor of 12 subjects who received Orochimaru's curse mark. She adapted to it and Orochimaru was happy with the results. Her life had the same value as a lab rat, though she eventually overcame her fear and ran away. She got into a brawl with Orochimaru but it led to nowhere.

Anko Mitarashi now teaches students in the Hidden Leaf Village. She put violence behind her and lives a peaceful life, leaving the fighting for others. She never fought many villains, so her win count is a goose egg.

1 Danzo

Danzo and orochimaru naruto

A villain like Madara was loved by the fans because of his demeanor and resolve, but Danzo is a character who has been hated by the other characters as well as the viewers. He was a coward who ruined Itachi's life and made others do his dirty work, trying to weakly justify it by saying he's doing it for the village.

The Second Hokage did not choose him as his successor for a reason. He lost against Hiruzen and then died at the hands of Sasuke, which he deserved whole-heartedly.

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