Naruto boasts a truly impressive cast of characters, many of whom rank among the best anime characters of all time, from strongest to most sympathetic to more subjective concepts such as coolest or weirdest. But it cannot be denied that Naruto is home to some of the coolest, most stylish anime characters around.
Naruto has plenty of cool villains like the mighty Madara Uchiha and the chilling Zabuza Momochi, while there are also more than a few super-cool heroes as well, most of whom hail from the Hidden Leaf Village itself. Counting current Leaf ninjas and former ones alike, it becomes clear which Leaf characters are the coolest in all of Naruto, and why.
10 Asuma Sarutobi Was A Cool Guy
Even if Asuma Sarutobi felt a bit underwhelming as a jonin Leaf Village ninja, there’s no denying that he ranks among the village’s coolest characters. He was like Team 10’s cool dad, a confident, kind-hearted, and mature fellow who always wanted what was best for his genin charges.
Asuma also boasted a neat fighting style based on chakra-infused, bladed brass knuckles, and he could also emit hot embers and ash from his mouth. He is also a habitual smoker, which is also kind of cool in the eyes of some fans, even if it’s bad for his health.
9 Neji Hyuga Is Highly Talented
At first, Naruto fans didn’t like Neji Hyuga that much because he was the jerk who beat up Hinata before mocking Naruto’s dream to become Hokage. Then Neji redeemed himself and became a true hero, making him cool rather than unpleasant.
As a hero, Neji is pretty cool with his calm, confident attitude and expertise in his family’s unique taijutsu-based combat style. He was even cooler in Part 2 with his robe-like attitude, long hair, and mature sophistication as a prodigy jonin.
8 Lady Tsunade Is A Cool Hokage
Like Neji, the fifth Hokage, Tsunade, wasn’t that cool initially. She certainly was impressive as a Sannin taijutsu master and medical ninja, but fans didn’t appreciate how cool she was until she assumed the mantle of Hokage to succeed Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Tsunade was way cool as the lady Hokage, a fearless, bold, and noble fighter, who gladly faced her village’s worst enemies head-on to teach them a lesson about messing with her beloved friends. And, of course, her hard-hitting taijutsu only makes her that much cooler.
7 After A Point, Naruto Uzumaki Was Pretty Rad
Naruto Uzumaki the protagonist is many things, but not always at the same time. He is sometimes pretty uncool as a loudmouthed brat and troublemaker, but in other scenes, he is incredibly cool and impressive as a proper shonen hero. At times, everyone is in awe at the mere sight of him.
Naruto was pretty cool in his later scenes in Shippuden, such as when he fearlessly returned to the Leaf Village atop Gamabunta while in Sage Mode, carrying a scroll on his back while his stylish new cape fluttered behind him. He’s also pretty scary and impressive when he’s in his later Fox modes, too.
6 Shino Aburame Exudes Stone-Cold Confidence
A common way for a real or fictional person to be cool is for them to exude calm, sophisticated confidence, and bravery. Such is the case with the insect-loving Shino Aburame, a member of Team 8 in the larger Konoha 11 group. He’s been pretty cool since the very start.
Shino is quiet, serious, and talented as a master of chakra beetles, and he was pretty cool even in the Chunin Exam arc when he made his debut. He was even cooler in Shippuden when he grew up a little, upgraded his outfit, and pushed his beetle-based hiden jutsu to the next level.
5 Sasuke Uchiha Was Pretty Cool Before He Turned Traitor
Ex-Leaf ninjas like Sasuke aren’t always loyal to their village in Naruto, but Sasuke was certainly born and raised as a Leaf ninja, so he may be counted among the coolest Leaf shinobi in the main series. In fact, he was designed to be the “cool genius” rival for Naruto Uzumaki.
Sasuke has it all, from his sharp-tongued dialogue and dry humor to his incredible talent, fancy jutsu, and cool, unshakable confidence in battle. He learned all kinds of equally cool jutsu like the Sharingan eye, fireball jutsu, and Chidori before he finally betrayed his village for Orochimaru.
4 Shikamaru Nara Is A Cool Genius
Shikamaru Nara is famed for being one of the smartest tacticians in all of shonen anime, being on par with Lelouch Lamperouge from Code Geass and Light Yagami from Death Note. That alone makes him pretty cool, such as when he treats a battle like a complex game of shogi, but that’s not all.
Shikamaru is even cooler because his strategic genius is neatly contrasted with his lazy, easygoing attitude and his amusing complaints about everything being so much work. If handled badly, that would make him annoying, but instead, it makes Shikamaru much cooler and highly memorable.
3 Minato Namikaze Is One Cool Hokage
The deceased Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was one seriously cool shonen character. He appears entirely in flashbacks, but that’s all Naruto fans need to know that he’s an awesome, inspiring, and totally rad Leaf ninja. He’s also the one who trained Kakashi Hatake, which is saying a lot.
Minato was handsome, confident, and friendly as the beloved Hokage, and he showed his foes no mercy in battle, especially when facing the masked Obito Uchiha. But despite that, Minato is charismatic and funny in a fight, and that makes him even cooler still. His teleportation jutsu and Rasengan help round out the coolness of this character.
2 Itachi Uchiha Always Loved His Village
For a time, Naruto fans thought that the terrifying Itachi Uchiha was a total rogue who hated his native village and his family, but the opposite is true. He was terribly saddened by his duty to slay his family, and most of all, he always loved his village, even if it meant making personal sacrifices.
Itachi was a true Leaf ninja, even if he officially went rogue and scratched out his forehead protector’s Leaf symbol. As for his coolness, Itachi has it all from his amazing jutsu and brilliant tactics to his stone-cold confidence to his menacing aura and air of mystery.
1 Kakashi Hatake Is Just Too Cool
Few anime fans would deny that Kakashi Hatake is not just the coolest Leaf Village ninja, but one of Naruto’s coolest characters, period. There is a lot to love about this stylish character, starting with his compelling aura of mystery and cryptic dialogue early on. Fans couldn’t even see his whole face.
Kakashi became even cooler when he became a winning combination of smart, funny, confident, powerful, and creative in battle and daily conversations with everyone around him. It’s not easy to balance all that to make such a cool character, but Masashi Kishimoto pulled it off and created one of the coolest characters of his entire career.
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