Summary
Narutois a shonen series that fans love to this day. Even after the many years have passed since the original run ended, fans can’t stop raving about the brilliance of Kishimoto’s creation and how it captured an entire generation of fans.
The series does a great job of flooding the series with numerous characters with unique personalities and character designs. However, as the scope of the series expanded, some characters eventually faded away into the background and didn’t do anything notable for most of the story, which is a shame.
8Kiba Inuzuka
After One Fight With Naruto, His Relevance Falls Off A Cliff
There was a time when Naruto’s classmates enjoyed their time in the spotlight. Such was the case with Kiba, who engaged in a compelling battle against Naruto and played a significant role during the Sasuke Rescue mission, too.
After the timeskip, he was one of the many victims of redundancy who didn’t do a single notable thing in the series. It’s a shame, but Kiba’s abilities were not compelling enough to give him too much screen time, even if Akamaru had grown to become a fearsome hound.
7Kurenai Yuhi
Gets Jobbed By Itachi And Essentially Becomes A Background Character After This Point
Fans expected a lot from Kurenai, given how she was a powerful jonin who specialized in genjutsu. However, she couldn’t show off her abilities against Itachi and was saved by Kakashi in the nick of time, although he also ended up traumatized byItachi’s ocular prowess.
There was still a lot of time for Kurenai to evolve, but she ultimately faltered as a character and failed to make a notable impact. Her romantic connection with Asuma was highlighted inShippuden, and it’s a shame that she didn’t hunt down Hidan and Kakuzu to get her revenge despite having ample motivation to do the same.
6Tenten
For A Weapon Master, It’s Almost Impressive Just How Useless She Is
Tenten’s qualification as a weapons master should’ve made her a force to be reckoned with, especially given that she was under the tutelage of the powerful Might Guy. Instead, not only is she the weakest member of this squad, but she’s also the most disappointing kunoichi in the series.
After being handily defeated by Temari during the qualification bouts (something that wasn’t even shown in the manga), Tenten faded into obscurity not long after. Barring a horrid fight against her clone in the first Shippuden arc, she does nothing notable and is a clear example of wasted potential.
5Ebisu
Easily The Weakest And Most Pathetic Jonin In The Series
The rank of jonin is not something to be dished out lightly, which is why Ebisu’s status is something fans call into question time and time again. Despite being chosen to tutorthe Third Hokage’s grandson, Ebisu is a complete joke and is handily defeated by the weakest version of Naruto.
All it takes is a combination of Naruto’s Sexy no Jutsu with his Shadow Clones to incapacitate Ebisu. It’s an embarrassing display, which is why Ebisu is pushed to the sidelines to cement his irrelevancy in the series.
4Iruka Umino
Relevant As Naruto’s Mentor, But Not All That Important Otherwise
This is easily one of the most divisive entries here, givenhow important Iruka’s mentorship was to Naruto’s growth. However, there’s no denying that he became more of a background character after Naruto graduated and slowly became stronger than ever.
While he gave Naruto a shoulder to lean on whenever his pupil needed support, Iruka was quite useless in a combat scenario. This should take nothing away from his character, but one can’t deny that most of his bonding with Naruto happened before the series even started.
3Anko Mitarashi
Her Importance In The Story Tanks After The Chunin Exams
Anko is a promising character introduced during the Chunin Exams. Finding out that she wasone of Orochimaru’s studentswho managed to escape the psychotic villain’s grasp added more intrigue to her character.
Unfortunately, after the Chunin Exams and Konoha Crush arc, Anko’s relevance as a character fell off a cliff. She was barely present in any notable scenes and became background fodder as the story moved on without her.
2Ebizo
Chiyo’s Brother, Who Is Way Past His Prime When He Appears
The Honored Siblings of the Sand Village are two of the most legendary shinobi in Sunagakure. However, whileChiyo gets to show off her skills, the same can’t be said for Ebizo.
Barring his oversized eyebrows, there’s nothing notable about this character. His reaction to his sister’s death is the last time Ebizo gets some meaningful screen time before he becomes yet another forgotten background character.
1Jugo
His Stint With Kara Is The Only Time When Jugo Is Relevant
Sasuke’s Taka(formerly Hebi) is a team comprised of some of the most talented and dangerous shinobi inNaruto. Suigetsu is related to the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and gets his hands on Zabuza’s blade, while Karin’s healing properties are off the charts, and her affiliation with Sasuke helps show the leader’s ruthlessness as he wounds Karin in a bid to kill Danzo.
However, while Jugo shows a ton of potential as a brutalizer who can go berserk at any given moment, he’s fairly irrelevant in the long run. Barring a few fights where he teams up with Taka to take out Sasuke’s targets, there’s not a lot to say about the most forgettable member of Taka.
