Naruto is filled with interesting and unique characters, and most of them are ninjas. Most of these ninjas are skilled fighters, but there are certain individuals who are extremely powerful. Each of the Five Great Nations is led by a Kage who is considered their village’s strongest ninja, and Hiruzen Sarutobi served as the Leaf Village’s Third Hokage.
When he was in his prime, he was considered the strongest Hokage in history. He died when he was in his late 60s, and he was able to fight Orochimaru and the resurrected 1st and 2nd Hokage at the same time despite his age and diminished chakra reserves. He was so strong that he was hailed as a ninja god, but there are still a few ninja who could beat him.
10 Madara Uchiha
There have been many powerful Uchiha throughout history, but Madara is arguably the strongest. Hashirama Senju was the only ninja alive who could beat Madara while he was in his prime, which is understandable seeing as Madara’s Fire Release could scorch an entire battlefield.
The legendary Uchiha’s skills were on full display during the Fourth Great Ninja War – where he took down countless ninja in hand-to-hand combat. Even if the Third Hokage were to match him in taijutsu and ninjutsu, he would not be able to fight Madara’s perfect Susanoo. One swing of its sword can alter entire landscapes, and the Third Hokage does not possess the means to block it.
9 Deidara
Each member of the Akatsuki served a role, and Deidara served as their explosives expert. He was able to beat and capture Gaara by himself, which proves that he is capable of fighting a Kage-level ninja. It helps that he can use the Explosion Release kekkei genkai, which allows him to mold his explosive chakra into clay.
Deidara’s mobile clay creations are dangerous, but the Third Hokage can defend against them. That being said, he would not be able to survive Deidara’s C4 Garuda. This jutsu involves Deidara creating a colossal clay clone – which creates thousands of microscopic bombs once it detonates. If the Third Hokage breathes in these bombs, they will disintegrate him from the inside.
8 The 3rd Raikage
The Third Raikage is recognized as the strongest ninja that the Cloud Village has ever produced, and he reigned at the same time as the Third Hokage. If they were to fight each other, the Raikage would have an edge because of his Lightning Chakra Mode.
This mode coats the Raikage’s body with Lightning chakra, which significantly enhances all of his physical abilities to superhuman levels. He could fight the Eight-Tails to a stalemate, and he was able to fight 10,000 enemy ninjas by himself for three days before dying. Not only would the Third Hokage not be able to pierce his body, he would not be able to keep up with the Raikage’s lightning speed.
7 Jiraiya
As one of the Legendary Sanin, Jiraiya is one of the Leaf Village’s strongest ninjas, and he was trained by the Third Hokage himself. He was actually offered the Hokage title several times, but he refused because he believed his personality made him unqualified for the position.
Since the Third Hokage taught Jiraiya everything he knows, he should hold the advantage, but Jiraiya has a trump card. Thanks to Sage Mode, his strength, durability, speed, and endurance are all enhanced and It would allow him to sense the Third Hokage’s incoming attacks. He can also turn the natural energy around him into an extension of his body – which would increase the range of his melee attacks.
6 Obito Uchiha
Obito awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan when he witnessed Rin’s death, and he immediately gained access to Kamui. This space-time ninjutsu provides Obito with his own dimension, and he can make himself intangible by sending specific body parts to it.
Basically, none of the Third Hokage’s jutsu would be able to hit Obito, and if he attempts to use taijutsu, Obito can suck him into the Kamui dimension and trap him there. The Third Hokage cannot counter this overpowered ability on his own, and it does not help that Obito was trained by Madara to become a Kage-level ninja.
5 Kisame
Kisame was part of the Mist Village’s Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and he wielded Samehada – a sentient sword that absorbs the chakra of anyone it cuts. This makes Kisame perfect for fighting Jinchuriki and Kage since most of them have large chakra reserves.
Even if the Third Hokage severely injures Kisame, Samehada can fuse with him and use the chakra it has absorbed to heal him. If Kisame uses his Water Prison Shark Dance Technique, he can trap the Third Hokage in a massive dome of water until he drowns. Even if the Third Hokage tries to fight back, Kisame could fully fuse with Samehada to become a shark-hybrid. This would give him full territorial advantage.
4 Might Guy
If Might Guy and the Third Hokage were to fight, the Third Hokage would have the advantage in terms of ninjutsu, but Guy’s taijutsu skills are far superior. Thanks to his training, Guy can open all Eight Gates, and if he were to open them all, he would become stronger than the Five Kage for a short time.
Guy used this technique against Madara during the war and he nearly killed the legendary Uchiha. Madara only survived Guy’s attacks because he possessed superhuman regeneration as the 10-Tails’ Jinchuriki.
3 Pain
Thanks to the Rinnegan, Pain was basically a god. Pain could use six bodies at once, and they all shared a field of vision, which makes hitting them very difficult. The Animal Path can summon powerful creatures, and the Asura Path can create actual ballistic missiles. If the Human Path were to grab the Third Hokage, it could kill him by pulling out his soul.
The Preta Path could absorb all of the Third Hokage’s ninjutsu, and the Naraka Path can heal any body that gets defeated. The Deva Path can manipulate repulsive and attractive forces, and Pain used a repulsive force to destroy the entire Leaf Village.
2 Ohnoki
Ohnoki served as the Stone Village’s 3rd Tsuchikage, and he reigned at the same time as Hiruzen. He held onto the title for decades, which is understandable given his experience and the fact that he was one of only two known ninjas who could use Dust Release.
This incredibly powerful and deadly Nature Transformation allowed Ohnoki to create three-dimensional objects and fire them at his opponent. They travel at incredible speeds and once they reach their target, they rapidly expand. If the Third Hokage were to be caught inside of it, he would be disintegrated. Ohnoki can fly too, which means that it would be hard to hit him with ninjutsu.
1 Itachi Uchiha
Even by Uchiha standards Itachi was considered a prodigy. He awakened his Sharingan when he was eight, and his Mangekyo came a few years later. It gave him access to Amaterasu – which are intense black flames that the Third Hokage would not be able to avoid or extinguish.
Itachi could use the Susanoo, but unlike other versions, his is said to be invincible. It wields the Yata Mirror – which is an ethereal shield that can negate all of the Third Hokage’s attacks. It also has the Totsuka blade – which can pierce anything and trap an individual inside a genjutsu world.