Naruto: 7 Characters Sakura Can Defeat (& 7 She Can’t)

Sakura Haruno is a member of Konoha’s Team 7, and one of the strongest ninjas in the entire Naruto series. Starting her journey with fairly average skill, Sakura has progressed at a formidable speed over the years, thanks to her training under one of the legendary Sannin, Tsunade Senju. Contrary to popular belief, Sakura is an excellent ninja, and she proved her worth in the ninja war, where she healed innumerable shinobi from all the great nations.

She has deservedly made a name for herself as one of the strongest ninjas in the world. In this article, we’ll be going over five characters that Sakura can defeat, and five that she can’t.

Updated on August 30th, 2020 by Josh Davison: Sakura Haruno is easily among the strongest shinobi in the world by the end of Naruto: Shippuden, easily outclassing her own master, Tsunade. Sakura was often derided as a weak and frustrating character near the beginning of Naruto, for reasons both fair and unfair. However, she took the task of being a shinobi far more seriously over time and became a member of Team 7 on par with the immensely powerful Naruto and Sasuke. She became a great character and remains a beloved figure in Boruto. With all of this in mind, let’s dive back into the power of Sakura Haruno and look at another two powerful characters she could beat and another two she couldn’t.

14 CAN BEAT: Kisame Hoshigaki

Kisame Hoshigaki is one of the legendary Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. He has a powerful living sword called the Samehada that can sap the chakra of its victims. Kisame himself resembles a shark-man and can transform into a hulking shark-beast that can propel itself forward at great speeds with water jets. Furthermore, he can flood entire arenas with water and has the debilitating Water Prison Jutsu.

Despite all of this, Sakura Haruno is very strong by the end of Naruto: Shippuden, and she can summon Katsuyu, allowing her to go blow for blow with Kisame’s most powerful techniques. But the real difference-maker is that Sakura is a great tactician. Plus, her medical ninjutsu and Byakugou will allow her great stamina to go the distance in fighting Kisame.

13 CAN’T BEAT: Kakuzu

Kakuzu is a part of the Immortal Duo from the Akatsuki, the other being Hidan. Kakuzu is a creature that has five hearts, which allows him to artificially access all five basic Elemental Releases. He also has tendril-like blood vessels that fill his husk of a body.

This is what would give Kakuzu the advantage over Sakura. She is powerful, resilient, and determined, but Kakuzu can change and shift his tactics with ease. He can also combine elements for increased damage. Worse yet, his peculiar form makes it harder to actually deal serious damage to him. Sakura may be able to punch out one or two of his hearts, but it would take a lot out of her to even get that chance.

12 CAN BEAT: Might Guy

Might Guy is a taijutsu master capable of incredible speed, and he possesses fantastic skill. He can also release his chakra “Gates” to further increase his speed and strength to the point where it looks like Might Guy is teleporting.

All of this would undoubtedly make Might Guy a very tough opponent for Sakura, but her intellect is what gives her the advantage. Sakura’s strength and stamina mean she could keep Guy busy until his chakra runs out, allowing her to make the winning move.

11 CAN’T BEAT: Gaara Of The Desert

For all of Sakura’s strength and durability, it’s hard to win against the very desert itself. So long as he has access to enough sand, Gaara could drown Sakura in sand dunes and rip her apart with a sandstorm.

Even without the power of Shukaku within him, Gaara of the Desert still has the ability to precisely control vast amounts of sand and bring it to bear against Sakura. She may be able to fight back for a time, but Gaara would ultimately overwhelm Sakura.

10 CAN BEAT: Sasori

Sasori was one of the members of the Akatsuki, and an S-ranked wanted criminal. Also known as Sasori of the Red Sand, he hailed from Sunagakure and gained fame during the third great ninja war. Sasori specialized in puppeteering and the usage of toxins. Interestingly, Sasori had already fought Sakura once and lost. Although Sakura had help from Chiyo in the fight, she was not nearly as strong as she became over the following years. Without a doubt, Sakura surpassed his skill by a mile towards the end of the series, and she can make quick work of the former sand shinobi.

9 CAN’T BEAT: Itachi Uchiha

Famous for slaughtering his entire clan in one night, Itachi Uchiha is one of the most powerful characters in the entire series. His skill with the Sharingan is such that even the legendary Sannin can’t hold a candle to him. With his Mangekyo Sharingan, Itachi is more than capable of killing almost anyone who tries crossing him. On top of that, his lethal Susano’o possesses two ethereal weapons, known as the Yata Mirror, and the Totsuka Blade. Against someone like him, Sakura is sure to struggle. Even though Sakura is said to be resistant to genjutsu by adulthood, Itachi is superior to her in almost every other way.

8 CAN BEAT: Konan

Konan was one of the original members of the Akatsuki, and a student of Master Jiraiya, the legendary Sannin. Konan’s main fighting style sees her use paper-based ninjutsu, which is a surprisingly deadly weapon. Her biggest feats include killing Obito Uchiha in a fight once, and thus forcing him to use Izanagi to return to life.

However, Konan required years of intel to pull this feat off. In a fight against Sakura, she’s is likely to lose. Sakura possesses immense physical strength, and thanks to her Strength of a Hundred Healings seal, she’s almost immortal in battle. Against such an opponent, there is little that Konan can do to win.

7 CAN’T BEAT: Naruto Uzumaki

The Seventh Hokage of Konoha, Naruto Uzumaki, eclipses every shinobi, other than Sasuke, when it comes to fighting abilities. He possesses half the powers of the Sage of Six Paths, and the chakra of the nine-tailed beasts. With years of training, Naruto has become strong enough to go toe-to-toe against gods, like Momoshiki. No doubt, Sakura is powerful, but in comparison to Naruto, her strength is insignificant. Even her temporary immortality can’t help her put up a fight against Naruto, who can obliterate her without using his full power.

6 CAN BEAT: Shin Uchiha

Shin Uchiha was an experiment of Orochimaru, who went on to manifest his own will and ideals over time. He aimed to kill Sasuke Uchiha with his Mangekyo Sharingan abilities and revive the Uchiha clan to its former glory. Shin fought Sakura briefly in Naruto Gaiden but was incapacitated just from receiving one punch from her. When they fought again, later, Shin did fairly well against her. However, Sakura was nowhere near her full-power during this fight. Had Sakura used her Byakugou seal, she would’ve easily dealt with Shin on her own, without any assistance from Sasuke Uchiha.

5 CAN’T BEAT: Sasuke Uchiha

Widely recognized as the strongest Uchiha of all time, Sasuke is the only shinobi in history strong enough to be able to keep up with Naruto. By adulthood, it is said that Sasuke Uchiha is an equal of Naruto Uzumaki. If Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura were to ever fight, there is little to no hope for Sakura to pull off a win.

Sakura’s biggest asset is her monster-strength, and the ability to take a lot of damage. She’s also resistant to genjutsu. However, Sasuke has more than one way to deal with such tenacious foes. His Susano’o is enough to do the trick against her, and if the need arises, he can always rely on his Rinnegan.

4 Can Defeat: Hinata Hyuga

Hinata Hyuga, also known as the Byakugan Princess, is an excellent taijutsu user. True to her clan’s specialty, she excels in the usage of the Juuken, or the gentle-fist technique. Against any foe, this technique will prove to be lethal. However, that doesn’t apply to Sakura, thanks to her Byakugou seal. The Byakugou supplies extra chakra to the user, when released, in such a huge amount that the person can even survive being split in half. If Sakura’s chakra points are hit, she can use the Byakugou as an external source of chakra, and from there, it’ll just take her one hit to put Hinata to rest.

3 CAN’T BEAT: Kakashi Hatake

Kakashi Hatake, also known as the Copy Ninja, is an excellent Sharingan user, and an extraordinary shinobi. Throughout his ninja life, he’s faced countless enemies, and with each fight, he’s gradually improved. By the end of Naruto, Kakashi gained enough power to fight on par against Kaguya Otsutsuki, albeit temporarily. With this power at his disposal, Kakashi can make quick work of almost anyone, and Sakura is no exception. In spite of her great power and massive chakra resources, Sakura won’t stand a chance against Kakashi, thanks to his near-invincibility and godly speed attributed to him by Kamui. To defeat him, Sakura would simply have to train further.

2 CAN BEAT: Tsunade Senju

The Fifth Hokage of Konoha, Tsunade Senju, is one of the legendary Sannin, and once served as Sakura’s teacher. Tsunade’s battle prowess is incredible, and she’s fought multiple wars in her lifetime. She specializes in Chakra Enhanced Strength and the use of Byakugou, just like Sakura. However, it is a known fact that Sakura surpassed Tsunade during the great ninja war. Unlike Tsunade, Sakura isn’t old and doesn’t need chakra to maintain her powers. While Tsunade withers away after using the Byakugou, Sakura has no such restrictions placed on her. If the two ever fight, Sakura would definitely have the upper hand.

1 CAN’T BEAT: Madara Uchiha

Madara Uchiha is a legend who only a few people in the series can hope of defeating. With his Rinnegan, power of the ten-tails, immortality, and five different Kekkei Genkai, it is no surprise that he’s nearly invincible. To defeat such a character, one would have to possess the powers of a God itself. Unfortunately for Sakura, she doesn’t have any such power. Her strength pales in comparison to Madara’s, and so does everything else about her. To someone like Madara, Sakura is barely a threat, and in case they ever come face-to-face, Madara won’t have to stress too much to defeat her.

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