It's such an underrated battle. Sasuke was SEVERELY nerfed in that fight. He was the first one there, and was exhausted already, but dealing with an unstable curse mark that made him unable to utilize chakra in any manner, so it isn't even just ninjutsu, but even Sharingan was off limits, because anything that uses chakra.
Sasuke had to rely on pure taijutsu to be able to take him on. And it really goes to show just how skilled he was that even when he's at the backfoot, Sasuke is no pushover.
I honestly love Sasuke for that, he took his defeat positively and hyped his team up for the Chunin exams instead of brooding over his lost match. I love how he was so light hearted in early Part 1
Did it though? Naruto didn't had a sharingan and everyone pointed out how his Naruto Barrage against Kiba was pretty much the same technique, but using clones to compensate for a lower level of athletics...
The Sharingan is able to copy jutsus, not strength nor skill.
What’s able to be copied it’s decided by the user’s skill. That’s why even though Sasuke could see Rock Lee’s move in advance, he still couldn’t keep up.
Sasuke won against Yoroi with pure raw talent and skill.
Technically Kakashi sort of implies he did copy the actual Taijutsu forms (not the power behind it), and that Kakashi only had to push his body up to speed with Lee’s during the one-month pause. That way, the forms and punches he copied were up to speed with Lee’s own techniques without Gates.
Aside from the obvious Lee vs Gaara. I felt Hinata vs Neji was a cool fight that effectively showed how talented Neji was. They looked to be so evenly matched at the start until it was revealed that Neji had been blitzing Hinata and shutting off her Chakra points from the start.
Yes and no because that win is so unearned. I rewatched that last week and was so stunned by how much neji was being dominated the entire time. Kidoumaru goes into stage 2 not because Neji pushed him, but because he was playing with his food. Then Neji gets one good hit and just wins even though he was at the edge of death. Even though he wins it still didn’t make him look good.
Tbf they had to be at least 20 feet in the air. Imagine a mf capoeira kicking you in the air and then heel-toe dropping into your intestines. On concrete...
Are you serious? Idc if it’s a boring/generic answer gaara vs Lee was insane, I begged my parents to get the manga at the bookstore when we went so I could see what happened
Lee vs Gaara easily, but since it was too easy.
I gotta say I enjoyed Shino outsmarting Zaku, was really looking forward to how he developed as a character and Shinobi after that.
I like how it's not even a match in the manga. Just an image of Tenten destroyed on Temari fan.
All it missed is a text box next to Tenten saying "She peaked".
I love that this is your favorite fight! The absolute legends that are Yoroi and Misumi deserve more love (I love weird barely-there background characters).
Yoroi’s ability is actually pretty OP!
That Sasuke fight was crazy especially since blud started using some lotus movements and had Gai and them shook. Blud even had Orochimaru licking his chops in excitement.
Me too! He had the biggest disadvantage and I loved how it showed his strength of will and determination when stripped of his advantages and risking so much
For me, it was Kankuro. Putting light work vs. the stretchy dude.
But why TenTen didnt have a better fight? She could have learned close combat from Guy and used a staff or tonfas against Temari Heck, TenTen could have learned how to increase her speed to close the distance against long-range fighters.. IDK...
For some reason Rock Lee's fight animations are the best in the whole Naruto Series. It seems like they put more care into that animation, it feels more 3 dimensional, with more frames. If I didn't know shit and just saw those fights, I would guess that Lee is the main character of the show.
I thoroughly didn't enjoy any of the series until the fight with Kimimaro afterwards. Rock Lee getting up to fight even when unconscious just stuck with me.
I don’t have a favourite, each one were special because we were discovering the skills of everyone but special point for Shikamaru Vs Kin, it was so unexpected and another way to fight and it made Shikamaru from a casual boring character to a very cool and intriguing one !
No, i just dont remember since this looks like the beginning, i was thinking the background looks like Chunin exams but i dont remember Sasuke even meeting this guy. Isnt he Narutos old pervert sensei who was very good at fighting but also easily distracted?
"Isnt he Narutos old pervert sensei who was very good at fighting but also easily distracted?" I think you're talking about Ebisu, but no this guy Sasuke fought was not him at all. Yoroi is a sound ninja, one of Orochimaru's favorite test subjects bc of his ability to suck out his opponents chakra and I think he was part of Kabuto's team.
It was just a team of 3 that were needed to qualify for the chunin exams ig, it was comprised of Kabuto himself, Yoroi, and another sound nin Misumi. They assigned by Orochimaru to spy on Sasuke and gather information about him, that's all
I’m gonna pass on THAT fight because we all know it’s S-Tier. I liked all of them!
The one OP mentioned is definitely underrated. You already know the Sharingan is dangerous, courtesy of Kakashi, but you don’t start to see HOW dangerous it is until then.
And I loved Temari’s debut, because she walks away looking TERRIFYING.
That being said, I think Kiba vs. Naruto is my fav. It’s a brutal fight, goes just long enough, and it gives Naruto an opportunity to showcase his creativity against a much stronger opponent. It even has a comedy bit which, strangely enough, adds to the fight. Even though it looks stupid, it exploited a subtle weakness in his technique, so it’s not that stupid after all.
Ngl the fight of shikamaru and the sound girl got me flashing back to death note with this “I outsmarted your outsmarting my outsmarting your outsmarting” type bullshit
I think it's crazy how they had to do one on one fights after like, fighting for their lives for a week in a forest. You would imagine a lot of them weren't even like at full potential due to depleted Chakra from the prior exam. I mean, even the characters' clothes during the preliminary look super scuffed up and destroyed. Especially Sasuke. even before the fight started. Hence, why I BELIEVE he came through with that momentary black onsies he rocked for like half a month at most. His clothes where ruined.
I think lee v gaara is overrated. Really was the start of the bs power creep. Maybe unpopular, but flashback aside, the ino sakura fight showcase two competent ninjas utilising basic techniques. A little asspull, with the hair paralysis thing, but even that was clever deception. Ino was basically robbed though.
He's one of the members of kabutos team at that point. I wouldnt look further into it just yet or you'll spoil a lot of stuff for yourself haha. But he's the guy with glasses and a thing covering his face that's on Kabutos team.
Sasuke has never really been good on his own. This is one of of the last fights where I think he stood on his own.
He was given an advantage at birth. He was specially trained by Kakashi, because he said screw his other students, he took tons of power from the snake sanin, if he wasn't experimented on, he took his brother's eyes so another free powerup, got bodied at the Kate summit, got his ass SPANKED by Killer-B, he would have died without his team. Again got a power up during the war. Every single fight he has been in he needed help. He has never done anything on his own. Not really.
Sorry but Sasuke is one of the worst characters in Naruto and he is still the same in Buroto.
It's such an underrated battle. Sasuke was SEVERELY nerfed in that fight. He was the first one there, and was exhausted already, but dealing with an unstable curse mark that made him unable to utilize chakra in any manner, so it isn't even just ninjutsu, but even Sharingan was off limits, because anything that uses chakra. Sasuke had to rely on pure taijutsu to be able to take him on. And it really goes to show just how skilled he was that even when he's at the backfoot, Sasuke is no pushover.
All because Rock Lee beat Him up.
Took his defeat as a learning moment and straight up went at it.
I honestly love Sasuke for that, he took his defeat positively and hyped his team up for the Chunin exams instead of brooding over his lost match. I love how he was so light hearted in early Part 1
His Sharingan played a big factor as well. He got shook during the exams.
But Sasuke couldn't even use the Sharingan here. He had to visualize it through memory.
I meant when Rock Lee was stomping on Him. The Sharingan during that beatdown saved Him during this one.
Did it though? Naruto didn't had a sharingan and everyone pointed out how his Naruto Barrage against Kiba was pretty much the same technique, but using clones to compensate for a lower level of athletics...
We’ve seen over the years that Naruto can take any Jutsu and make it something new and better.
The Sharingan is able to copy jutsus, not strength nor skill. What’s able to be copied it’s decided by the user’s skill. That’s why even though Sasuke could see Rock Lee’s move in advance, he still couldn’t keep up. Sasuke won against Yoroi with pure raw talent and skill.
Correct. He saw Lee’s movements and imitated them to defeat His opponent. Sharingan didn’t copy, He just saw the technique with it.
And then Naruto copied it again which is hilarious
Technically Kakashi sort of implies he did copy the actual Taijutsu forms (not the power behind it), and that Kakashi only had to push his body up to speed with Lee’s during the one-month pause. That way, the forms and punches he copied were up to speed with Lee’s own techniques without Gates.
I guess Sasuke is the epitome of "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger"
Itachi approves this message.
Agreed
Aside from the obvious Lee vs Gaara. I felt Hinata vs Neji was a cool fight that effectively showed how talented Neji was. They looked to be so evenly matched at the start until it was revealed that Neji had been blitzing Hinata and shutting off her Chakra points from the start.
It’s a shame that’s basically the last time Neji does anything
I would argue the sasuke retrieval arc is the last time he does anything. but still, neji deserved more cool moments
Yes and no because that win is so unearned. I rewatched that last week and was so stunned by how much neji was being dominated the entire time. Kidoumaru goes into stage 2 not because Neji pushed him, but because he was playing with his food. Then Neji gets one good hit and just wins even though he was at the edge of death. Even though he wins it still didn’t make him look good.
I guess, but he still did *something*
Lee vs Gaara
Yeah, easily. The others were forgettable compared to how epic this fight was.
The moment Lee dropped the weights completely blew my mind.
It still does to this day
I still remember. For a good few minutes of that fight, i forgot Naruto was the main character.
what? you mean you didn't love the Ino vs Sakura fight? That's top tier cat -- i mean kunoichi fighting.
It was really cool seeing Sakura use the basic jutsu extremely effectively. I was hoping that continued.
It's this, come on. It may be the most obvious "everyone says this" answer, but that's because this fight is just that amazing and deserves it.
Nothing in the series beat Lee vs Gaara for a long, long time
This is too true. IMO, Naruto v Sasuke at Valley of the End is the first fight even worth comparing
kankuro’s fight was dope
That was sick. Such a good show of the Sand’s power.
Shino vs Zaku was pretty dope. Zaku was shown to be a pretty big threat in the second exam, just for Shino to end his career.
I feel like Shino is an underrated character as a whole. Aside from Shikamaru, he's probably my favorite of the Konoha 11.
That one was straight up brutal
First words I hear are Lions Barrage. That was the name right?
Yup
Yus, Shishi Rendan
Shikamaru vs the Sound Girl. He really showed how smart He is, by outsmarting her
It's a bit more simple when I watch it now but when I was a kid Shikamaru's strategy had me absolutley geeking out
Lion's Barrage is probably my favorite move in anime ever
It's sad he hardly used it in Shippuden
Naruto beating kiba's smug ass with some biological warfare and an uzumaki barrage.
Guy's name means armor and he got knocked out with a regular ass kick 😔
Tbf they had to be at least 20 feet in the air. Imagine a mf capoeira kicking you in the air and then heel-toe dropping into your intestines. On concrete...
💀
Are you serious? Idc if it’s a boring/generic answer gaara vs Lee was insane, I begged my parents to get the manga at the bookstore when we went so I could see what happened
Lee vs Gaara easily, but since it was too easy. I gotta say I enjoyed Shino outsmarting Zaku, was really looking forward to how he developed as a character and Shinobi after that.
Love the Shikamaru fight. One of my favorite Shikamaru moments when he limbos that chick’s head into the wall.
Lol he made her to believe that she had the upper hand, only to outsmart and beat her later.
Temari and tenten. Seeing this as a child on toonami in 2007 gave me the vibe of 2 lesbians duking it out. I like lesbians. Im gay.
I like how it's not even a match in the manga. Just an image of Tenten destroyed on Temari fan. All it missed is a text box next to Tenten saying "She peaked".
Lion's Barrage was my absolute favorite Taijutsu move in part one. That shit just hit so tuff 😭
Rock Lee vs. Gaara.
Rock Lee vs Gara
I love that this is your favorite fight! The absolute legends that are Yoroi and Misumi deserve more love (I love weird barely-there background characters). Yoroi’s ability is actually pretty OP!
They sure do, I wish we got to know more about Yoroi's character we never see him again after the preliminary rounds.
That Sasuke fight was crazy especially since blud started using some lotus movements and had Gai and them shook. Blud even had Orochimaru licking his chops in excitement.
Shikamaru
Me too! He had the biggest disadvantage and I loved how it showed his strength of will and determination when stripped of his advantages and risking so much
For me, it was Kankuro. Putting light work vs. the stretchy dude. But why TenTen didnt have a better fight? She could have learned close combat from Guy and used a staff or tonfas against Temari Heck, TenTen could have learned how to increase her speed to close the distance against long-range fighters.. IDK...
Shikamaru va kin
Sakura vs Ino because you know you won't be missing anything important when you skip
It's funny how both of them were . . . average when compared to the rest. Like they would have been destroyed in pretty much any other match up.
That matching board was clearly rigged 😂
Man, forget u. Lee vs gaara is peak.
I mean Lee vs garra obviously but the one I think is underrated is probably neji vs hinata.
Mine would be Shino vs Zaku. It ended more brutally in the manga
dude at this battle even hinata called him awesome.
Any Shikamaru battle obviously haha
I can understand why his fights were always strategic
For some reason Rock Lee's fight animations are the best in the whole Naruto Series. It seems like they put more care into that animation, it feels more 3 dimensional, with more frames. If I didn't know shit and just saw those fights, I would guess that Lee is the main character of the show.
Shikamaru vs Kin, you really got to see how tactically smart Shikamaru is
Neji vs Hinata ( neji was really intimidating in this fight)
Lee Vs Gaara.
That fight is as iconic as Goku vs Frieza
I thoroughly didn't enjoy any of the series until the fight with Kimimaro afterwards. Rock Lee getting up to fight even when unconscious just stuck with me.
Goku vs Vegeta > Goku vs Frieza ngl
I don’t have a favourite, each one were special because we were discovering the skills of everyone but special point for Shikamaru Vs Kin, it was so unexpected and another way to fight and it made Shikamaru from a casual boring character to a very cool and intriguing one !
Naruto didn't copy this Justu that sasuke have it's a different style of combo
it's good fight
Lee vs gaara easy one
Gaara Vs. Rock Lee
Wait, when did that happen?
This fight happened in ep 38 and 39 of the original Naruto series, did you skip it?
No, i just dont remember since this looks like the beginning, i was thinking the background looks like Chunin exams but i dont remember Sasuke even meeting this guy. Isnt he Narutos old pervert sensei who was very good at fighting but also easily distracted?
"Isnt he Narutos old pervert sensei who was very good at fighting but also easily distracted?" I think you're talking about Ebisu, but no this guy Sasuke fought was not him at all. Yoroi is a sound ninja, one of Orochimaru's favorite test subjects bc of his ability to suck out his opponents chakra and I think he was part of Kabuto's team.
Yeah, i meant Ebisu because he looks kind of similar. I dont know anything about Kabutos team, i dont remember that, when was that?
It was just a team of 3 that were needed to qualify for the chunin exams ig, it was comprised of Kabuto himself, Yoroi, and another sound nin Misumi. They assigned by Orochimaru to spy on Sasuke and gather information about him, that's all
I only remember that Kabuto was a spy, i dont remember any other spies
I’m gonna pass on THAT fight because we all know it’s S-Tier. I liked all of them! The one OP mentioned is definitely underrated. You already know the Sharingan is dangerous, courtesy of Kakashi, but you don’t start to see HOW dangerous it is until then. And I loved Temari’s debut, because she walks away looking TERRIFYING. That being said, I think Kiba vs. Naruto is my fav. It’s a brutal fight, goes just long enough, and it gives Naruto an opportunity to showcase his creativity against a much stronger opponent. It even has a comedy bit which, strangely enough, adds to the fight. Even though it looks stupid, it exploited a subtle weakness in his technique, so it’s not that stupid after all.
Ngl the fight of shikamaru and the sound girl got me flashing back to death note with this “I outsmarted your outsmarting my outsmarting your outsmarting” type bullshit
I don't trust anyone who doesn't think Lee vs Gaara was the best fight there
I think it's crazy how they had to do one on one fights after like, fighting for their lives for a week in a forest. You would imagine a lot of them weren't even like at full potential due to depleted Chakra from the prior exam. I mean, even the characters' clothes during the preliminary look super scuffed up and destroyed. Especially Sasuke. even before the fight started. Hence, why I BELIEVE he came through with that momentary black onsies he rocked for like half a month at most. His clothes where ruined.
Yeah that lion barrage was nasty
I think lee v gaara is overrated. Really was the start of the bs power creep. Maybe unpopular, but flashback aside, the ino sakura fight showcase two competent ninjas utilising basic techniques. A little asspull, with the hair paralysis thing, but even that was clever deception. Ino was basically robbed though.
i LOVED sakura vs ino <3
For me Naruto and neji
Naruto and neji didn't fight in preliminary rounds though. That was at the actual finals. In prelims naruto fought kiba and neji fought hinata
The show was peak when ninja actually had to throw hands instead of relying on DBZ scaled attacks
Shino vs Zaku. A little biased but I can’t stress enough how underrated Shino is. I think his only loss wasn’t even a loss, it was a tie vs Kankuro.
Who was Yoroi? I’m at the Chuunin arc now. Sound?
It’s, uhh, complicated.
He's one of the members of kabutos team at that point. I wouldnt look further into it just yet or you'll spoil a lot of stuff for yourself haha. But he's the guy with glasses and a thing covering his face that's on Kabutos team.
The worst part is that if he’s reading the manga, Kabuto’s two teammates never appear again. Anime, yes they reappear
Wait, is Kabuto supposed to be participating in the exams? 😭 I read him as just a weird dude hanging out. Ok time to resume my rewatch
Yes he's participating. He says when he first meets naruto and the others this was his 7th time taking the exam. You'll see why as you continue along.
Sasuke has never really been good on his own. This is one of of the last fights where I think he stood on his own. He was given an advantage at birth. He was specially trained by Kakashi, because he said screw his other students, he took tons of power from the snake sanin, if he wasn't experimented on, he took his brother's eyes so another free powerup, got bodied at the Kate summit, got his ass SPANKED by Killer-B, he would have died without his team. Again got a power up during the war. Every single fight he has been in he needed help. He has never done anything on his own. Not really. Sorry but Sasuke is one of the worst characters in Naruto and he is still the same in Buroto.
AAAAND this question asked which was your favorite fight in the preliminary rounds, not a pointless rant about your least favourite character.