Kabuto vs. Kakashi: Who Is Stronger & Who Would Win in a Fight?

As you probably know by now, the world of Naruto has provided us with a series of brilliant fights that became – some of them, at least – trademark moments of the whole show. It is a known fact that the characters of the Naruto franchise are excellent and powerful fighters, and even though not all of them faced each other, we can still speculate and analyze potential match-ups. In this article, we will talk about a match-up involving Kakashi Hatake and Kabuto Yakushi, a character that has consistently been a supportive nuisance throughout the series. In this article, you’ll find out who the more powerful character is and who would win in a fight.

At full power, Kakashi Hatake would be able to defeat Kabuto, although it would be a very close call. Kabuto is not only skilled, but he also has amazing stamina, something that Kakashi does not posses. Be that as it may, with both of them being at the peak of their abilities, the fact that Kakashi has more experience and knows more techniques would be enough to subdue Kabuto, although it would be a tight one.

Now that you have the short version of the answer, the rest of the article will be divided into three sections, with the first two introducing the characters, their powers, and their abilities. In the end, we will give our final verdict and explain why Kakashi would ultimately be able to defeat Kabuto Yakushi in a direct fight.

Chakra and Physical Prowess

Kabuto has proven to be very skilled and cunning despite being a young ninja. His abilities are high enough to stand up to Kakashi Hatake on several occasions, and Jiraiya even mentioned that he was on the same level as him. Orochimaru also reaffirmed this, who mentioned that he was strong, albeit on Kakashi’s and not Jiraiya’s level. This would later be confirmed by Kakashi himself, who was impressed by his abilities upon having an encounter with him and stated that his level back then was not enough to defeat Kabuto.

He has taken on ANBU members with relative ease and even after defeating an entire squad without issue. But it is during the Fourth Shinobi World War that he demonstrates an unimaginable increase in power, becoming one of the most powerful characters in the entire series. His Chakra reserves have increased drastically after being implanted with Orochimaru’s DNA. His reserves are large enough to enter Sage Mode.

Kakashi is a natural genius, evidenced by the fact that he graduated from the Ninja Academy at age five, became a Chūnin at six and a Jonin at thirteen, and had a long career as ANBU. During his career as a ninja, he has learned more than a thousand techniques (mainly by copying them through the Sharingan), being a Konoha expert in said field. His chakra level experiences a large increase between the first and second parts, increasing the number of times he can use Raikiri per day (six times), with the addition that he has enough Chakra left to use his Mangekyō Sharingan. He is frequently entrusted with important tasks (such as keeping an eye on Naruto in case the Nine-Tailed Fox’s seal begins to fail), eventually rising to assume the position of Hokage.

This is actually a category in which Kabuto managed to surpass Kakashi over time. Kakashi was stronger initially, but since he has very low stamina, we cannot actually give him the point against Kabuto at his peak.

Points: Kabuto 1, Kakashi 0

Ninjutsu

Despite his young age, Kabuto demonstrated extraordinary talents in medical ninjutsu and great ingenuity, allowing him to innovate in this field. Thanks to his extensive knowledge of the human body, he can adapt his body to all kinds of injuries (when he is unable to heal them) and inflict terrible bodily damage on his enemies. He has developed the unique ability to regenerate his dead cells.

He is also good at manipulating corpses. Kabuto can create chakra scalpels at his hands, capable of slicing through wood and flesh with ease, and he can apply the Mystic Palm from a distance. Pushing his taste for the macabre even further, Kabuto learns, after the death of his master, to perform Edo Tensei, the resurrection of the dead, a technique that only Orochimaru and Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage, have mastered. He also claims to surpass his two predecessors, reviving five bodies simultaneously.

Kakashi relies heavily on his mastery of Ninjutsu, of which he has a vast arsenal due to his Sharingan, of which Kakashi has been said to have copied a thousand techniques. With this arsenal, he can attack or defend against his opponents in numerous ways. He has also shown to have impressive skills in Genjutsu.

He has shown to be very skilled in Taijutsu, which, combined with his impressive speed, is able to effectively catch his opponents off guard and evade attacks. His Taijutsu skill has great level, thus being able to be on par with Hidan, defending himself only with a Kunai and without receiving a single scratch, knowing that Hidan was a member of Akatsuki, who had Taijutsu as his main form of combat, in addition to the fact that Kakuzu supported him.

From a battle-wise point of view, Kakashi’s ninjutsu skills are far more practical than Kabuto’s. Sure, Kakashi was never that skilled in medical ninjutsu, but he has other skills that are far more useful in battle.

Points: Kabuto 1, Kakashi 1

Senjutsu / Dōjutsu

Kabuto learned the Senjutsu from the White Serpent Sage in Ryūchi Cave. This allowed him to use Sage Mode, and due to his research into Jūgo’s abilities, he was able to use it indefinitely. Upon entering the mode, he changes into a dragon’s snake skin to improve his perceptive ability, thus surpassing Orochimaru, who never managed to become a true Sage.

In addition, he has shown to be proficient with jutsus that involve the energy gained during his Sage Mode, such as the ability to blind and immobilize his opponents with a large dragon that can cause a blinding beam of light and also the ability to bring creatures to life.

Interestingly, Kakashi’s Sharingan is a gift from Obito Uchiha. It allowed him to copy any jutsu, see through any Genjutsu, perform Genjutsu, and predict the opponent’s moves. However, because Kakashi has no Uchiha blood, he cannot deactivate the Dojutsu and loses a large amount of Chakra when using it. For his great mastery, he has received praise from other expert users, such as Obito and Sasuke, who acknowledged that despite being a borrowed power, he has completely mastered it. Kakashi further enhanced his Sharingan by developing his own Mangekyō Sharingan.

Senjutsu and Dōjutsu are not synonyms, but they are similar enough for us to compare them here. This is actually where we have to split the points again because Kabuto really mastered his Senjutsu, whereas Kakashi was able to master the Sharingan without being an Uchiha and despite the fact that his stamina was horrible.

Points: Kabuto 2, Kakashi 2

Taijutsu

Kabuto is not a taijutsu specialist. He claims that himself. However, with army pills and his medical abilities, he becomes as dangerous as Tsunade. Her Mystical Palm technique allows her to do massive internal melee damage that can bend Tsunade herself.

She complimented him on his choices in executing his techniques. In his Sennin Mode, Kabuto’s physical abilities, speed, and reflexes were enhanced to the point that he could both evade and fend off several high-speed attacks from Sasuke and Itachi with relative ease, despite his visual impairment. He was also able to attack Itachi before he had time to retaliate or parry.

Kakashi has shown to be highly skilled in Taijutsu, even considering him better than Rock Lee. His speed has also proven to be impressive, being able to intercept an opponent even from a great distance. His prowess in battle and his speed allowed him to effectively catch his opponents off guard with a quick takedown and easily evade attacks.

He can defeat many shadow clones with his ability, even knowing that their abilities are not very good. Furthermore, he can open at least one of the Eight Gates (in the anime) and use advanced techniques derived from it. His speed was considerably higher than in Part I, where he had difficulty keeping up with Itachi Uchiha’s own speed but later matched the Akatsuki member in Part II.

Kabuto himself has admitted that he is not a Taijutsu master, whereas Kakashi was extremely skilled in this aspect, which is why we have to award him the final point.

Points: Kabuto 2, Kakashi 3

Kakashi and Kabuto are basically on the same level, but Kakashi would probably win

The points have shown it, and we have said at the beginning of the article – Kakashi takes it, but it is a close call in every aspect. Kabuto has better stamina and is physically more powerful than Kakashi, but Kakashi has many skills at his disposal and is, in that aspect, a formidable foe. It would be a very close call, but we call it Kakashi’s way nonetheless.