Hashirama vs. Naruto: Who Wins the Fight and How?

Naruto has had some epic fights in the Naruto manga (and anime), created by Masashi Kishimoto. Some of them are, of course, more famous than others, but in the end, there are only a few that could be described as defining battles, those that helped shape Naruto as a character, and also the storyline of the manga. In this article, though, we are going to analyze a hypothetical battle in which Naruto Uzumaki would fight his greatest predecessor in the position of Hogake, Hashirama Senju, and one of the greatest fighters in Naruto in general. In this article, you will find out who would win in this clash.

Hashirama Senju is considered to be the strongest Hogake in the history of the series and from that aspect, he surpasses Naruto Uzumaki in terms of powers and abilities. Sure, Naruto has come close to his level, but Hashirama was able to beat Madara who used both Kurama and Susanoo, which Naruto probably couldn’t do. Also, Naruto is currently without Kurama, which would be a significant issue in this duel.

Now that you have the short version of the answer, we are going to provide you with a detailed category-by-category analysis of the issue, presenting the characters in questions to you and giving you a point-by-point analysis that is going to help you understand why Hashirama Senju is actually stronger than Naruto Uzumaki.

Chakra and Physical Prowess

Hashirama possessed overwhelming chakra, even by Senju standards, as well as powerful life force and physical stamina to be able to fight for a full twenty-four hours and still stand to deliver the final blow to his enemy. Part of these abilities are due to him being an Asura Transmigrant Ōtsutsuki, inheriting the powerful Chakra from them. This power was so big, that he could destroy the Uchiha hideout just by raising his chakra. He also intimidated his brother, Tobirama, the Second Hokage, and totally surprised Minato, the Fourth Hokage.

His powerful chakra is so great, that he is able to break free from the restriction of Summoning: Impure World just by raising it. He could carry out a large number of techniques and had knowledge of the entire ninja world. During his battle against his former student, Hiruzen showed considerable Taijutsu skill, connecting with a strong kick that knocked him out of the air and almost knocked him out. In addition, the Third Hokage found it difficult to maintain combat against him. In the manga, he also displayed great prowess in genjutsu.

Hashirama possessed one of the greatest regeneration abilities in all of history since it was inherent in his own cells and allowed him to heal his wounds in a matter of seconds. This was to such an extent that Madara Uchiha and Tsunade herself, who is considered the world benchmark in Medical Ninjutsu, admitted that Hashirama’s regenerative abilities were on another level than hers.

Being a descendant of the Uzumaki Clan, Naruto boasts incredible stamina and vitality, he won’t even age as much as others. It has been noted on several occasions that Naruto possesses a chakra capacity of exceptional proportions, thanks to his being a Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, making his amounts of chakra four times greater than those of a Jōnin level ninja like Kakashi, after his training with Jiraiya.

He also possesses a very accelerated regeneration (partly thanks to Kurama’s power) allowing him to recover from minor or serious injuries in a matter of seconds or days respectively.

It was basically impossible for us to properly determine the winner in this category because Hashirama was a historical character. We knew that both of them boasted amazing Chakra reserves, and while Naruto might have a slightly bigger reserve, we still opted for a draw here.

Points: Hashirama 1, Naruto 1

Senjutsu / Dōjutsu

Hashirama, at some point, was training in the art of Senjutsu, which is why he was able to use Sage Mode. His dominance over it was demonstrated by being able to enter this form instantly, when normally, for Senjutsu users, it is almost impossible to use it in the middle of a battle. This transformation granted him enhanced physical abilities such as speed, stamina, etc. Similarly, her Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and perhaps his Genjutsu were greatly increased. Proof of this is the magnitude of his Sage Art Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands, which loomed in size, even surpassing Kurama’s.

Upon entering it, a series of red marks (black in the anime) form on his face: a circle on his forehead surrounded by a ring, the characteristic dark circles of Sage Mode, and two lines that reach his eyes, which turn yellow and then go down diagonally. In this mode, Hashirama is also a powerful Fūinjutsu user, going so far as to use a sealing technique, strong enough to momentarily immobilize the Ten-Tails. Also, he is a user of Barrier Ninjutsu creating, along with three other Hokages, an incredibly large and strong barrier to withstand the full-scale attacks of the Ten-Tails.

After Jiraiya’s death at the hands of Nagato, Naruto began training with Fukasaku on Mount Myōboku to learn Senjutsu and how to enter Sage Mode. To achieve this, Naruto had to learn to detect and control the Natural Energy around him. Once mastered, Naruto was able to perfect the Rasen Shuriken, so he could cast it, and learn the Kata of the Toads, the style of Taijutsu that uses natural energy around the user to improve the range and power of his attacks. In Sage Mode, overall Naruto’s physical capabilities are dramatically enhanced to the point that he could launch entities much larger than himself with little to no effort, such as the Animal Path Giant Rhinoceros and Kurama.

This is a category where Hashirama’s skills come to the forefront. Sure, Naruto’s skills in this category cannot be denied, but he is really no match for Hashirama’s amazing achievements that helped him become the most powerful Shinobi of all time.

Points: Hashirama 2, Naruto 1

Ninjutsu

Madara himself said that Hashirama was superior in Medical Ninjutsu than his granddaughter, despite the fact that she is recognized worldwide as a genius in this, it was even mentioned that he was able to heal himself without using Hand Seals; Madara surmised that his Medical Ninjutsu was on a completely different level as well. Madara went on to comment that he would have taught him to come back from the dead if he had known that the current shinobi would be so weak, referring to the Kages.

Hashirama is also a powerful user of the Barrier Jutsu, managing to create together with the other Hokages, a barrier big and strong enough to enclose the Jubi and even much stronger than the Battle Camp of the Four Violet Flames, this barrier alone. It can be created by masters of Ninjutsu. He also possessed a great mastery of the Summoning Jutsu; he could summon five immense gates with defensive power formidable enough to deflect one of Kurama’s Tailed Beast Ball, combined with Madara’s Perfect Susanoo sword, which had enough power to cross the sea and destroy an expanse of many kilometers.

In the Academy, the Sexy Technique was the only technique Naruto could successfully perform that had no practical use other than shocking people. Later, he learned more advanced and useful ninjutsu from Jiraiya. These included summoning toads from Mount Myōboku to help him crush his enemies from above. He became adept at shurikenjutsu and was able to throw weapons quickly and accurately. Naruto’s repertoire expanded to fūinjutsu, where he could store his weapons in scrolls. His fūinjutsu was further improved when he obtained Gerotora at the start of the Fourth Shinobi World War.

This is a category where we really couldn’t discern the winner, so we decided to split the points. Naruto has really done a lot in this category, and we simply had to honor it here in this section in a proper way.

Points: Hashitama 3, Naruto 2

Bukijutsu / Taijutsu

Hashirama was also very skilled in the use of weapons, especially Kenjutsu. He used a variety of swords during his lifetime, such as one that had a broad, blade-like blade. He also possessed at least one giant Shuriken. Hashirama carried several large scrolls that were about his height, presumably to store his weapons, which he summoned and could manipulate at the same time, thanks to the branches he created with his Wood Release. He could also crash into Madara Uchiha, another highly skilled weapon user at the same level.

Naruto had always been average in taijutsu, ever since the Academy where he got a B in that category. Throughout Part 1, his taijutsu slowly improved, he first excelled in his battle against Kiba Inuzuka during the Chūnin Exam where he was able to stand up to him and dodge attacks. multiples of Kiba and Akamaru.

Naruto’s taijutsu improved greatly under Jiraiya’s tutelage, and he could hold his own against Sora, Chiyo, Kakashi Hatake, Yamato, and Sai. Throughout the series, his taijutsu continued to improve. He learned the Toad Kata from Fukasaku, which allowed him to defeat Gakidō, and fight hand-to-hand against Tendo. In addition to his taijutsu skills, Naruto exhibited a high level of physical strength.

During the Chūnin Exam, he stopped a giant snake of Orochimaru using Kyūbi’s chakra. During his senjutsu training in Part 2, he was able to move one of the huge statues without using the special oil. After training, he gained extraordinary strength, possibly equal to Tsunade and Sakura Haruno, if not more.

Although these are not completely identical categories, we still found them comparable as in some earlier cases. Ultimately, Hashirama was so skilled in this category that even Naruto’s amazing improvement over the course of the series would not be of much use.

Points: Hashirama 4, Naruto 2

Hashirama Senju vs. Naruto Uzumaki: Who wins?

And now for the most important and interesting section of our article – the analysis. Here, we are going to use what we have found out about these two characters and analyze how all these facts would (or would not) help them in a fight against each other. Let us continue.

This was a pretty clear situation in the end, if you ask us. Sure, most people will state that Naruto has progressed enormously over the years and they will argue that he might have surpassed even Hashirama’s amazing abilities. But, we have to remember two things. The first one is that Hashirama Senju was considered to be the most powerful Shinobi of all time and that he was a role model to everyone. Most Naruto fans will agree that Madara Uchiha was objectively the strongest character in the history of Naruto, especially because he had both Kurama and Susanoo in his possession. And what happened to such a Madara? He lost to Hashirama! Sure, you could say that it was an author’s intervention and that objectively, Madara should have won, but he did not and that automatically put Hashirama above him.

Would Naruto be able to defeat Madara with Kurama and Susanoo? We highly doubt it. Even at his peak, Naruto probably wouldn’t be able to defeat such a Madara, which is something that Hashirama did. And that was the first important fact to remember.

The second is the fact that in Boruto, where Naruto is the Hokage and is, alongside Sasuke, considered to be the most powerful Shinobi, he lost Kurama. We have already written about that here on Fiction Horizon so yes, ultimately, Naruto has lost a big portion of his powers with the loss of Kurama. This is a great handicap for him and although he still remains powerful, this would definitely guarantee Hashirama’s victory in this match-up.

And this is something that the numbers have confirmed as well. Ultimately, Hashirama is the Naruto character to beat and although Naruto would certainly come close, he would not be able to master his predecessor. And that is why Hashirama is rightfully considered to be the strongest Shinobi of all time.