Sasuke Uchiha had had quite a journey in Naruto and in the process, he's developed into one of the strongest shinobi to have ever existed. Right from the very beginning, Sasuke has been in a fierce rivalry with his best friend, Naruto Uzumaki.
The two have pushed each other to their limits, improving themselves in the process. Unlike Naruto, Sasuke has walked the path of both dark and light, which means he's done some stuff that he wouldn't want to look back upon, and other that he is absolutely proud of. Here are 5 times when Sasuke Uchiha proved that he was better than Naruto Uzumaki, and five others when he showed he was worse.
Updated on October 16th, 2020 by Josh Davison: The dynamic between Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto is among the more interesting ones in anime. While it would be easy to compare them to Son Goku and Vegeta of Dragon Ball, there is a vast difference between these two rivalries. Chief among these differences is that Vegeta's endgame was always a bit more transparent, even when he was still somewhat antagonistic towards Goku. Sasuke seems to make rash and sometimes destructive decisions at a whim without his intentions being clear to any of his allies, enemies, or the audience. Sasuke Uchiha is an interesting figure in Naruto and Boruto, and, despite the moral ambiguity, he is sometimes a better hero than Naruto Uzumaki himself. That's why, today, we are going to dive back into the Naruto and Sasuke dynamic by adding an additional two times that Sasuke proved better than Naruto — and two more times where he was worse.
14 BETTER: Killed Danzo
While you could argue that Naruto had no way of knowing the threat posed by Danzo Shimura and that Sasuke didn't kill Danzo for moral reasons, you can't deny that Sasuke took out a potential tyrant when he killed Danzo at the Five Kage Summit.
Who knows the kind of chaos and violence that the Hokage Danzo regime could have unleashed had the leader of the Anbu gotten his way. All of that was swept off the table when he encountered Sasuke and was slain. Whether he intended to be one or not, Sasuke was an unsung hero of Konohagakure in this instance — even if Karin understandably didn't really see it that way.
13 WORSE: Being Cold Towards Sakura For Most Of The Series
One of the harder to swallow pills in all of Naruto and Boruto is that Sasuke had any romantic feelings towards Sakura Haruno. Sakura (and Ino at certain points) pined over Sasuke Uchiha for most of her childhood, but Sasuke always treated Sakura like dirt.
Suddenly, at the end of Naruto Shippuden, Sasuke suddenly reveals that he loves Sakura, and the two have a child by the time of Boruto. That said, this entry isn't dedicated to the believability of the Sakura/Sasuke relationship — it's about how Sasuke always treated Sakura with contempt while Naruto, even when he understood that Sakura would never feel the same way about him, still treated his friend with the respect and kindness she deserved.
12 BETTER: Learned Chidori Before Naruto Learned Rasengan
This may be a petty point, but Sasuke did learn how to use the Chidori before Naruto was able to use the Rasengan. These are their signature jutsu throughout the show, and Sasuke crossed the finish line first. This isn't to say that Chidori is innately better than Rasengan, and it is worth mentioning that Naruto stuck with the Rasengan as his primary ninjutsu and created more variations with the Rasengan.
Chidori doesn't seem as significant for Sasuke anymore, especially since he got his Mangekyo Sharingan and later his Rinnegan. Susano'o, Amaterasu, and various Genjutsu seem to be more relevant in his repertoire these days, but Sasuke still goes back to variations on the Chidori from time to time. Plus, it was one of his primary moves during the Fourth Great Shinobi War.
11 WORSE: Being Cool With Orochimaru For So Long
Abandoning Konoha and joining with terrorist/mad scientist/generally violent and cruel individual Orochimaru was arguably the first great sin committed by Sasuke, and it was pretty bad. He left his friends and comrades to be potentially hurt or killed by the Sound Five, he tried to kill Naruto at the Valley of the End, he stuck with Orochimaru through years, and witnessed untold atrocities performed upon unwilling test subjects.
Sasuke does eventually betray and try to kill Orochimaru, but that wasn't for any moral reason. Sasuke simply got tired of being personally used by Orochimaru and wanted to make good on his promise to kill Itachi. Jiraiya may have his flaws, but he wasn't anywhere near as morally bankrupt a teacher as Orochimaru.
10 BETTER: Roams The World To Trace Otsutsuki Threat
Sasuke Uchiha is one of the most important shinobi in the world of Naruto and it is easy to see why that is the case. Sasuke has been assigned the task to trace down the remains of Kaguya Otsutsuki and her clan since he is the only one who can achieve such a feat, thanks to his Rinnegan.
Not even someone like Naruto Uzumaki, a man who is Sasuke's equal in terms of power can pull it off and that's something staggering, to say the least. Sasuke not only protects Konohagakure from the shadows but also does more than enough to protect the entire shinobi world.
9 WORSE: Tried To Kill Naruto
As mentioned above, Sasuke's journey in Naruto has been filled with ups and downs. At times, he's sought power to kill his brother and avenge his clan, while at others, he's used his powers to save Konoha. What's even worse is the fact that Sasuke has gone as far as trying to eliminate his only friend in the entire world to sever all the bonds that he had on multiple occasions.
Although Naruto, too, has been at odds with Sasuke Uchiha at times, he's never ever tried to kill his best friend since he values him too much. Even during their last clash at the Valley of the End, Sasuke Uchiha tried to kill Naruto while the latter tried his best to avoid killing him.
8 BETTER: Saved Team 7 From Infinite Tsukuyomi
Team 7 has hardly ever found themselves in a tough spot, especially when they've fought together. However, when they clashed against Kaguya, they came extremely close to losing. What's more, Team 7 wouldn't even have gotten the chance to fight against Kaguya had it not been for Sasuke.
Thanks to his Rinnegan, Sasuke was successfully able to repel the light cast by the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Furthermore, he used his Susanoo to shield Team 7 from its light, saving Naruto and the others in the process. Even though Sasuke did do a bunch of horrible things, he doesn't get enough credit for saving the world.
7 WORSE: Tried To Execute The Five Kage
Coming back to everything evil that makes Sasuke worse than Naruto, we're looking at the instance where he proudly declared that he would kill the Five Kage. Somehow, Sasuke felt that they were responsible for the current showing of the Shinobi World, and, for that, he felt that they needed to be punished.
While the Infinite Tsukuyomi was cast, Sasuke planned to kill Naruto and then execute all the Kage to avoid such a catastrophe being repeated in the future. Thankfully for the Kage, Naruto lived up to his promise of beating Sasuke and also drilled some sense into his brain while he was at it.
6 BETTER: Abandoned His Family For Peace
As an adult, Sasuke has become an admirable shinobi, to say the least. He now roams the world to protect those who can't afford to do it by themselves. However, what often goes unnoticed is how Sasuke sacrifices his family for the greater good. Sasuke barely ever spends time with his wife, Sakura, and his daughter, Sarada, much to the displeasure of the two.
Although he feels incredibly guilty to put his family through this, he realizes that this is something that needs to be done, no matter what the cost. At the end of the day, everyone in the world, his family included, are safe because Sasuke takes the risk of venturing to places where no other shinobi can go.
5 WORSE: Attempted To Destroy Konoha
Right after his fateful clash with his brother, Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke was given medical assistance by Obito Uchiha. While doing so, Obito made sure to tell Sasuke about everything that Itachi had done for the Hidden Leaf, and for Sasuke himself. After hearing everything and understanding his brother's reasoning, Sasuke awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan and his new goal was to destroy the very village from whence he came.
Although Sasuke's reasoning was understandable, this is certainly something that Naruto would never have done. Sasuke failed to understand that Itachi Uchiha chose to sacrifice himself for the village and would've done it hundreds of times over if he needed to.
4 BETTER: Tactical Awareness
Coming over to fighting prowess, Sasuke is said to be equal to Naruto Uzumaki by adulthood. In fact, some of his skills far surpass that of Naruto Uzumaki by quite a margin and one of them is his tactical awareness. Sasuke Uchiha plans things out quite well in fights and is very perceptive as well.
During the fight against Jigen, the latter admitted that Sasuke was much greater a threat to him than Naruto Uzumaki, simply because he could deduce his weakness with the Rinnegan and the Sharingan of his. Although Sasuke loses to Naruto in terms of chakra and strength, his tactical awareness is superior, no matter which way you look at it.
3 WORSE: Almost Went Against Itachi's Wishes
Once again, before Sasuke Uchiha was redeemed, he did something that he wouldn't be particularly proud of, especially as an adult. Even though Itachi clearly sacrificed himself for the sake of the village to protect the peace and stop a coup from taking place, Sasuke went ahead and declared his plan to destroy the village for good.
Even though that was exactly what Itachi was against, Sasuke declared that he would crush Konoha and those at the top who made Itachi slaughter his clan, not realizing the fact that Itachi himself knew that what he did was necessary and that there was no way around it. Sasuke proved himself to be worse than Naruto, again.
2 BETTER: Ninjutsu Abilities
Coming back to fighting capabilities, Sasuke Uchiha is significantly better than Naruto Uzumaki at Ninjutsu as well. This is something Masashi Kishimoto had depicted right from the beginning of the series. Sasuke was the genius ninja who could perform a bunch of flashy Jutsu while Naruto had to pull through tough situations with sheet determination.
As an adult, Sasuke's ninjutsu prowess has improved quite a lot. Thanks to his Rinnegan, Sasuke has attained even greater skills. In fact, in his own novel, Sasuke's ninjutsu powers are said to be so immense that his nature combination of water and wind release is able to create a pseudo-Ice Release Jutsu, despite it being a bloodline limit.
1 WORSE: Forgot His Daughter
Of all the things that haunt Sasuke about his past, forgetting and nearly killing his own daughter must be close to the top. During the Naruto Gaiden arc, Sasuke met Sarada after quite a long time and the moment of reunion which was supposed to mesmerizing for Sarada was completely spoiled when Sasuke drew his Kusanagi sword to kill his own daughter, fearing she was an enemy.
Seeing this, Sarada was scared, and only then did Sasuke realize what he had done. While this is partially true because he was away on missions for too long, it is embarrassing for the proud Uchiha to forget what his own blood looked like, oh, and also almost killing her.