As a long-running anime and a classic amongst shonen titles, Naruto has featured countless characters who have helped shape the ninja world for better or worse. Many of these characters came with big personalities and even bigger moments that have become forever iconic, such as the epic showdown between Rock Lee and Gaara in the Chunin Exams.
However, these memorable characters have outshined and overshadowed the hidden ninjas we tend to forget about. Whether they've always failed to stand out or suddenly disappeared along the way, each and every ninja deserves some recognition. Let's take a moment to refresh our memories with Naruto's most forgettable characters.
10 Tenten
In the Konoha 11, which consists of many of Naruto's peers in Team Seven, Team Eight, Team Ten, and Team Guy, there are ninjas like Rock Lee who excel in taijutsu as well as ninjas who are considered geniuses like Shikamaru and Neji. There is one ninja among the eleven, however, who definitely falls short of the spotlight--Tenten.
While Tenten was introduced as a character who specializes in ninja tools and weapons, there is little that we know about her clan and background. Even in her most well-known battle against Temari during the Chunin Exams, she was practically defeated before anyone had a chance to see her true fighting abilities.
9 Zetsu
Before he shocked the entire Naruto fandom as one of the masterminds behind the events leading up to the resurrection of Kaguya at the end of the series, Zetsu was an extremely lowkey member of the Akatsuki who was never really seen as a big threat in the group.
For most of the series, Zetsu's role within the Akatsuki was not to fight, but rather, to take care of business behind the scenes. He often witnessed important battles from the shadows and passed along secret intel to his fellow Akatsuki members. He was so sneaky that everyone forgot about him until the end of the war.
8 Kurenai
For the most part, Konoha's most notable jonins have been through many memorable life-or-death battles. Kakashi has clashed with the likes of Zabuza and Obito, Guy nearly defeated Madara by opening all Eight Gates, and Asuma had one of the saddest deaths as a result of his intense battle with Hidan. The only jonin teacher who failed to have at least one memorable battle is Kurenai.
Even in her brief encounter with Itachi, Kurenai's most redeeming factor, her genjutsu, proved to be useless against the Uchiha's Mangekyo Sharingan. Even since that one underwhelming exchange, Kurenai became pregnant and disappeared from the battlefield for the rest of the series.
7 Anko
The Chunin Exams proved to be a memorable and fan-favorite arc in the series with intense trials to test the limits of Naruto and his fellow ninja peers. One of the exam proctors, Anko, made a big entrance as she introduced the genins to the Forest of Death but lost a lot of momentum after that.
When her connection with the mysterious new villain, Orochimaru, was first revealed, it seemed like Anko would play a much larger role with Orochimaru's Curse Seal shenanigans in retrieving Sasuke. However, after the incidents in the Forest of Death, Anko's character lost its importance even though Orochimaru was still on the loose.
6 Yahiko
The name "Yahiko" might not sound familiar, but his face definitely brings back memories of the infamous Pain arc. While "Pain" was technically Nagato's alias and the leader of the Akatsuki, the Deva Path of Pain used the face of Nagato's fallen and often forgotten comrade, Yahiko.
Before the modern criminalized Akatsuki formed with the likes of Itachi and Kisame, the original Akatsuki was formed and led by Yahiko with his closest allies, Nagato and Konan, for the sake of peace. After Yahiko's sacrificial death, Nagato created the Deva Path with Yahiko's body in hopes that his friend's leadership and ideals would not be lost.
5 Genma
After the sudden murder of Hayate, one of the proctors of the Chunin Exams, a random new character, Genma, stepped up to proctor the final battles between Neji and Naruto, Shikamaru and Temari, and Gaara and Sasuke. Due to all of the chaos that ensued with Gaara's rampage and the Third Hokage's assassination, Genma's presence pretty much went unnoticed.
But despite his seemingly irrelevant role in the series, Genma actually comes with a backstory of starting his ninja career in a squad with Ebisu and Guy, as well as serving as the Hokage's bodyguard. It's a shame that he never had the opportunity to really make his presence known.
4 Kakuzu
The Akatsuki was infamous for its wrath and destruction by the ninja world's strongest criminals. The likes of Itachi and Tobi were prominent forces not only within the Akatsuki but also throughout the entire series. Other Akatsuki members like the money-obsessed Kakuzu were far less memorable.
Partnered with the more memorable Hidan, Kakuzu possessed an immortal status with five replaceable hearts to extend his life force. That being said, he was perhaps overshadowed by Hidan, who was also coincidentally immortal. While they both played a role in Asuma's death, Hidan was the one who dealt the fatal blow while Kakuzu only assisted.
3 Shizune
When Tsunade entered the series as a potential candidate to be the next Hokage, she was followed by her close assistant, Shizune. Since Tsunade proved to play a consistent and important role as the leader of Konohagakure, there were many opportunities for Shizune to do something useful as well.
However, rather than doing anything major herself, Shizune tended to leave all of the important battles to the much stronger and capable Tsunade. For that reason, Shizune always remained in the shadow of her mentor and is only as memorable as Tsunade's pig, Tonton.
2 Ebisu
In preparation for his upcoming Chunin Exam match against Neji, Naruto was supposed to receive training from Ebisu, the uptight tutor of Konohamaru. However, Ebisu's teaching came to an abrupt end when Jiraiya took the spotlight and replaced Ebisu as Naruto's mentor.
While Jiraiya's mentorship over Naruto led to him becoming one of the most beloved characters of the series, Ebisu's character role was practically tossed aside and forgotten. Everything that Ebisu did, whether it was training Naruto or something perverted, Jiraiya could also do but on a whole different level.
1 Yamato
Seeing how pivotal of a role Kakashi played as the leader of Team Seven with Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, there were high expectations for Yamato when he temporarily filled Kakashi's leadership position with the new Team Seven.
As a former Anbu who shares the same wood-style technique as the First Hokage, Yamato had a mysterious aura about him in an attempt to spark curiosity amongst fans. However, after Kabuto captured him and Kakashi reclaimed leadership over Team Seven, Yamato disappeared into the abyss and was left as a character without any agency.