Many fighting styles and techniques mke up the combat system of Naruto, from dojutsu (eye techniques) to fireballs, summoning scrolls, and even brute-force jutsu such as Naruto's Rasengan varieties. It's tempting to think that good old-fashioned martial arts have been made obsolete, but that's hardly the case.
Practically any ninja can learn adequate taijutsu techniques, or physical arts, and with the right training, the ninja can deliver punches, kicks, or even headbutts to tear apart their foes. Many ninjas combine ninjutsu with taijutsu, and taijutsu can also overlap with the use of weapons, typically swords of all shapes and sizes. In particular scenes in Naruto, the characters proved that taijutsu is a force to be reckoned with, even putting ninjutsu to shame at times.
10 When Sasuke Developed The Lions Barrage
During the Chunin Exams story arc, Sasuke Uchiha had a rough encounter with the rogue ninja Orochimaru and received the terrifying curse seal. Sasuke now had access to incredible power, but using it took a toll on him.
After the Forest of Death sequence, Sasuke tried hard to not use the curse seal, and his opponent, Yoroi Akado, was draining his chakra. But instead of resorting to the curse mark, Sasuke borrowed one of Rock Lee's moves and finished off Yoroi with the newly-minted Lions Barrage. Impressive.
9 When Neji Used 8 Trigrams, 64 Palms On Naruto
In this particular fight, taijutsu was used to incredible effect on both sides. Neji Hyuga went first, combining his taijutsu talents with the power of the Byakugan eye. He struck all of Naruto's chakra points and took no damage in return.
Neji did this with incredible grace and ferocity, and any opponent would have been forced to surrender. As a bonus, this scene showed Naruto's own brilliant use of taijutsu, striking from underground to punch Neji's chin and knock him out of the fight.
8 When Naruto Headbutted Gaara
The Chunin Exams were cut short when Operation Konoha Crush was launched, and Gaara of the Sand used his jinchuriki form to go on a rampage. Naruto responded in kind in a battle of dueling tailed beasts.
They were evenly matched, and then Naruto ended the fight via a fierce and literally hard-headed headbutt that put an end to Gaara's spree of carnage and destruction. At that point, Naruto was able to talk down Gaara at last.
7 When Rock Lee Nearly Defeated Gaara
This was a classic Naruto battle, depicting the thematic fight of talent vs hard work. Rock Lee the taijutsu specialist went up against Gaara's seemingly invincible sand technique, and Rock Lee pushed him incredibly hard.
Kankuro and Temari could hardly believe their eyes, and Rock Lee kept upping the stakes first by removing his leg weights, then using the reverse lotus technique to deliver an incredible blow to Gaara. He ultimately lost, though.
6 When Rock Lee Challenged Kimimaro
During the Sasuke Retrieval arc, the Sound Four squad was reinforced by the mighty kekkei genkai ninja Kimimaro, who was more than able to handle Naruto's shadow clones. So, it fell to Rock Lee to continue the fight.
Rock Lee had fully recovered from his fight with Gaara, and this time, he used the drunken fist to perform aggressive but unpredictable attacks, constantly throwing Kimimaro off his game even when inebriated. Rock Lee couldn't finish the job, but he made a real show of trying.
5 When Naruto & Sakura Stole The Bells
Kakashi Hatake taught Team 7 a lesson with his bell test, and in Naruto Shippuden, Kakashi challenged Naruto and Sakura to a second round. This time, both sides broke even, and they broke it off to consider their next moves.
Naruto realized that Kakashi's weakness was a simple one. He threatened to spoil the ending of Kakashi's favorite book, so Kakashi covered his ears, then his eyes to prevent his Sharingan eye from reading Naruto's lips. Thus, Naruto and Sakura quickly swiped the bells, and no jutsu was required. Now that's some "talk jutsu."
4 When Sakura Became Chiyo's Living Puppet Against Sasori
Sasori of the Red Sand fought with puppet ninjutsu, but so could Chiyo, though Chiyo didn't bring any puppets along with her. Instead, she attached chakra strings to Sakura Haruno, combining puppet jutsu with Sakura's sheer taijutsu.
By this time, Sakura's fighting style was based on medical ninjutsu as well as chakra-enhanced punches, and she and Chiyo got to work smashing apart Sasori's puppet collection, ultimately destroying the insidious Sasori for good.
3 When Killer Bee Used The Acrobat Technique On Sasuke's Team
The concept of taijutsu has some specialized sub-categories, such as kenjutsu, or the way of the sword. Killer Bee liked to use kenjutsu on his enemies, and could even use a handful of swords at once, no jutsu required.
Killer Bee took on the mighty Sasuke Uchiha with this aggressive and unpredictable technique with a dancer's grace, and Sasuke had to use every trick in the book to keep Bee's deadly blades at bay. Clearly, it will be a long time before taijutsu is even close to becoming obsolete.
2 When Might Guy Punched Kisame With The Daytime Tiger Technique
Rock Lee's taijutsu game is impressive already, but his mentor, Might Guy, takes it to the next level. His unofficial rival was Kisame Hoshigaki, another brute-force ninja who used shark-themed water ninjutsu and the Samehada sword.
Later in Shippuden, Might Guy and his allies were taking the fight to Kisame's powerful water jutsu, and Might Guy opened enough Gates to perform the Daytime Tiger move, a pure taijutsu technique, to overwhelm Kisame and claim victory. Not many ninja can punch their way through a jutsu like that.
1 When Madara Uchiha Massacred His United Enemies Barehanded
The infamous Madara Uchiha could use jutsu of all sorts, but he wasn't arrogant enough to skimp on his taijutsu game. He knows that martial arts count for a lot in this world, and when he faced an entire united army, he warmed up with taijutsu.
Madara stunned his enemies and viewers alike with his taijutsu rampage, cutting a bloody swath through the ranks of the united ninja with his punches and kicks. He soon started using his swords as well, then finally began using jutsu such as the fireball jutsu, an Uchiha clan staple.