Naruto Uzumaki: Abilities

Initially, Naruto didn't display much talent in terms of being a shinobi. He was dead-last in the Academy, struggled with basic ninjutsu and had failed to graduate three times. In fact, while he could not produce a proper Clone Technique, he was able to create the Sexy Technique; an inventive, but entirely useless diversionary technique. However, what Naruto lacked in talent, he made up for in sheer willpower and perseverance, pushing past this stumbling block to learn very difficult and complex techniques as a late bloomer, earning his graduation by mastering the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. Naruto's rapid growth during Part I enabled him to fight on par with noteworthy genuises such as Sasuke Uchiha, as well as master several high-level techniques, usually within the allotted time frame. Several skilled shinobi, including the legendary Sannin, have noted Naruto's great growth potential.^[36]
After his training with Jiraiya for two-and-a-half years and despite still officially a genin, Naruto has improved his abilities to match the S-rank members of Akatsuki. Upon defeating their leader and strongest member Pain, Konoha villagers now believe that Naruto is worthy of earning the Hokage title.^[37] By the Fourth Shinobi World War, Naruto's presence on the battlefield became much like his father's; with his unique skill set, he could dramatically change the outcome of the battle even against several Kage-level shinobi.^[38]^[39]^[40] By wars end, he had been acknowledged by others to have surpassed the previous Hokage.^[41]

Life Force and Chakra Prowess

Naturally, Naruto possesses a massive amount of charka, estimated to be at least four times greater than Kakashi's.^[42] Like his mother, Naruto's chakra is special, which was part of the reason why he was able to become Kurama's jinchūriki.^[43] Early in his career, he had very little chakra control causing him to waste more chakra than necessary, however his natural reserves made up for this flaw.^[44] Over time, once this issue was pointed out to him Naruto learned greater chakra control allowing him to not waste chakra unnecessarily. This chakra control allowed him to balance his chakra with natural energy, leading him to learn Sage Mode, and later when taught the principles of transferring chakra like a tailed beast Naruto was able to share his chakra with the entire Shinobi Alliance by matching his chakra with everyone around with just a touch.
Due to his Uzumaki lineage, Naruto has a much greater longevity than most humans, along with a considerably strong life force and physical energy. From this, he could survive the extraction of a tailed beast (albeit he was rendered unconscious and in a critical state).^[45] Naruto is also known for his greatly accelerated healing which has been attributed to Kurama.^[46] Part of his power stems from being a reincarnation of his ancestor, Asura.^[47]

Jinchūriki Transformations

Main articles: Jinchūriki Forms and Nine-Tails Chakra Mode

Combined with his already massive chakra reserves, being Kurama's jinchūriki gives Naruto a reserve a hundred times greater than Kakashi's.^[42] This is due to the fact that Naruto had been Kurama's jinchūriki his entire life and because of he inherited his mother's special chakra, Naruto's chakra was more effectively mixed with the fox's.^[48] Because of this, Naruto can perform very chakra-taxing techniques in quick succession without feeling fatigued, supplementing his own chakra for the fox's when the need arises. Early on, Naruto could only access Kurama's power when he was enraged, which let the fox's influence seep through the seal and influence the boy. But after training, Naruto was able to access the chakra by consciously requesting for help.
When he falls into a rage, Naruto is able to utilize Version 1 transformations, though he only have the briefest of control of his own actions. If he loses control, Naruto slips into Version 2, losing himself to Kurama's influence and goes berserk, requiring outside help to suppress the fox's chakra.^[49] Because of these drawbacks, Naruto wouldn't make use of Kurama's chakra until he was given the means of controlling the chakra completely.

After his battle with Pain, Naruto realised he could no longer avoid using Kurama's power and sought Killer B, the jinchūriki of Gyūki to learn how to control it. With B and his mother's help, Naruto was able to take control of Kurama's chakra giving him access to his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, forming a new seal to keep Kurama under control. In this state, Naruto's speed, power, and chakra increase massively, giving him access to Kurama's ability to sense negative emotions, something sensor type-ninja cannot do.^[50]^[51]

As conquering Kurama was not the same as cooperating with it, Naruto at the time couldn't use the complete output of the fox's power and had to exercise caution when using Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, as it could cost him his life. Eventually however, realising its own respect for Naruto after all he had endured in his life and the type of person he has become, Kurama decides to accept his friendship. With this new unity, Kurama freely gives Naruto its chakra and also the ability to enter Tailed Beast Mode giving him full access to Kurama's power, which was yet another increase in physical strength, speed, and the ability to use the Tailed Beast Ball. Unlike other Tailed Beast Modes, which become physical copies of their beasts, Naruto's chakra is transparent, allowing others to enter the chakra, granting them a bit of Naruto's power while inside the cloak. For example; Naruto had the other members of the Konoha 11 jump into the chakra which gave them each a chakra mantel similar to the one Naruto wore along with a Rasengan for each to wield, even Rock Lee whom could not perform ninjutsu on his own.^[52]

After befriending the other eight tailed beasts and having a portion of their chakra sealed within him, Naruto was shown has been given the ability to use their unique abilities and console with them, despite not truly being sealed within him. Shukaku gave Naruto access to its Magnet Release along with its natural curse seal formula and manifest sand, Matatabi's blue Fire Release, Isobu's Water Release, Son Gokū's Lava Release, Kokuō's steam-based capabilities, Saiken's acid capabilities and Gyūki's ink creation. In his Six Paths Sage Technique, Naruto was able to add his wind-nature to his Tailed Beast Balls to create Tailed Beast Ball Rasenshurikens. By using clones, Naruto is able to use all these abilities at once.

Taijutsu

While a short-range fighter by nature, Naruto's taijutsu skill was not that skilful or organised, making up for this with unpredictable attacks to throw off guard specialists like Kiba Inuzuka and Neji Hyūga. Later, his two-and-a-half year training with Jiraiya significantly improved his skills, enabling him to hold his own against skilled taijutsu users such as Nagato's Deva Path, Karui and Omoi simultaneously, and even fend off one of the Ten-Tails' clones.^[53]^[54]^[55] Naruto's preferred tactic is fighting in unison with his shadow clones to help him. From this method, he has created techniques like the Naruto Uzumaki Combo, its larger-scale version and an even larger-scale version after gaining half of Hagoromo's power, where he and his clones pummel the enemy with a powerful barrage of punches and kicks.^[56]^[57]

Ninjutsu

Naruto's massive reserves of chakra allow him to make use of various chakra-taxing techniques. However, his initial mediocre chakra control left him barely able to perform basic techniques, which caused him to fail three times in the Academy. Over time, with his chakra control steadily improving, Naruto's arsenal expanded with it.
Under his training with Jiraiya, Naruto continued to rapidly improve his skills, mastering various advanced techniques and forms to expand his repertoire. Eventually, he surpassed his former sensei, Kakashi, in sheer ninjutsu prowess as seen with his mastery of the Rasengan and the creation of its many variants. Once he met Hagoromo and gained some of his power, as well as the chakra of all the other tailed beasts, Naruto gained access to a large array of new and unique abilities.

Shadow Clone Technique

Naruto's first trademark in battle is the Shadow Clone Technique. Whereas most ninja must be careful with this technique as to not deplete their chakra reserves, Naruto's immense reserves can handle creating thousands of clones and retain a decent amount of chakra in each of them.^[58] This lets him overwhelm opponents with sheer numbers or carry out multiple tasks at once. Upon receiving Hagoromo's power, Naruto's clones are able to fly and were able to equally combat with Madara's corporeal shadows.
While originally Naruto relied on his shadow clones only for overwhelming numbers in battle, during Part II, Naruto came to be more tactical with them, overall making him waste less chakra in battle. As seen in his second bell test, he could use his shadow clones to manoeuvre him in mid-air and transform them into weapons to conserve his normal supply. After learning that all knowledge and experiences shadow clones gain will be transferred back to the user once they disperse, Naruto would frequently employ this to complete years' worth of training in days. In combat, it also lets him scout an area or test an opponent's abilities.^[59] Naruto's constant usage of shadow clones combined with his great chakra reserves has given him great mastery of the technique that, according to Kakashi, is far superior to that of his own and even Minato's, even noting that only Naruto can apply shadow clones to catalyse the learning, usage, and mastery of complex techniques.

Summoning Technique

To encourage improved control over Kurama's chakra, Jiraiya taught Naruto the Summoning Technique. By offering a certain amount of chakra, Naruto can summon the toads of Mount Myōboku as allies. He was initially restricted to tadpoles and small toads such as then-young Gamakichi or Gamatatsu due to his poor chakra control. During Part I, he could only summon larger toads when accessing Kurama's chakra, but by Part II, Naruto's skills with the summoning technique improved as he becomes capable of summoning Gamabunta and the likes whenever he desired.

Rasengan

Naruto's second trademark technique is the Rasengan. Originally, because of the very intricate chakra control the Rasengan requires, Naruto struggled to learn it. Although the Rasengan is intended as a one-handed technique, Naruto made up for his poor control by incorporating the assistance of a shadow clone: he provides the chakra while the clone forms it into the spherical shape. Since acquiring the Rasengan, Naruto began expanding on its nature to create variations of it such as the Big Ball Rasengan. In the anime, Naruto also figure out how to throw the Rasengan, thereby using it as a mid-range projectile technique.^[60] To make up for the need for shadow clones, Naruto steadily increases the number Rasengan he uses at a time, with feats like having the shadow clones form a Rasengan in both of his hands or having them make their own Rasengan to bombard the target with.

Through the usage of Kurama's chakra and/or senjutsu, Naruto can create a Rasengan in a single hand while in either power's respective form. With Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, he can use extra hands of his chakra to make new Rasengan, such as the Spiralling Absorption Sphere and the Planetary Rasengan. Because the Rasengan was conceptually based on the Tailed Beast Ball, he attempts to bring it into further parallel with the Tailed Beast Rasengan.^[61] While yet to complete it, Naruto later with Kurama's aid invents the Super Mini-Tailed Beast Ball.^[62] Later, with the aid of each of the nine tailed beasts' chakra within him, Naruto is able to produce a unique Rasengan or Rasenshuriken imbued with the one of the respective demon's special abilities.

Nature Transformation

Naruto's natural elemental affinity in wind. As it works best at short to mid-range, which compliments short-ranged fighters such as himself. Through a lesson given from Asuma Sarutobi, Naruto greatly refined his wind-type control, allowing him to make his weapons more potent by embuing them with his wind-chakra. After completing his Wind Release training, as the Rasengan was originally intended to be combined with a user's nature transformation, Naruto set out to combine his wind affinity with the Rasengan.
Mixing elemental chakra to the Rasengan was a such a difficult task that Minato, the technique's creator, left the technique incomplete by the time of his death. Naruto found his solution to this issue with shadow clones: one clone is used like he normally would to create a Rasengan but adds a second one to combine the wind-chakra. This results in the creation of the Wind Release: Rasengan, and later the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, which cuts the enemy at a cellular level. At first, Naruto could only use it hand-held, causing him to suffer similar damage inflicted on his enemy. After learning Sage Mode, he can throw the Rasenshuriken and increase its speed and cutting power, preventing harm to himself and becoming able to expand it at will.
After obtaining the Six Paths Yang Power seal, Naruto gained the Yang Release, enabling him to stabilise life forces and restore missing organs.

Kekkei Mōra

Upon activating his new Six Paths Sage Technique Naruto can manifest the Truth-Seeking Ball, a Kekkei Mōra technique, being comprised of all five basic nature transformations and Yin–Yang Release.^[63] They form at his back and he can perform various tasks with him, such as molding them into staves or platforms or moving them around between his clones to hide his location.

Collaboration Techniques

In the anime, Jiraiya taught Naruto collaboration techniques, combining his wind affinity with the affinities of summoned toads for a single stronger technique. Working with Gamakichi and Gamatatsu, he can use techniques like the Wind Release: Toad Gun and Wind Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet. Even before he was formally trained, Naruto could performing collaboration techniques with Gamabunta such as performing a Combination Transformation as well as the Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet by using Gamabunta's toad oil and an exploding tag.

Naruto appears to collaborate well with others, as with Yamato they created the Typhoon Water Vortex Technique. He later performs another collaboration with Sasuke, producing the "Scorch Release: Halo Gale Jet Black Arrow Style Zero", which Tobirama Senju notes as requiring a perfect balance between the ratio of the combined techniques and being difficult to achieve.^[64] Alongside Sasuke, Naruto is also able to use the Six Paths Chibaku Tensei technique to seal extraordinarily powerful beings like Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.^[65]

Senjutsu

After Jiraiya's death, Naruto is taught senjutsu, the art of gathering natural energy to augment one's techniques. Naruto quickly showed not only the high chakra levels necessary for senjutsu, but also an aptitude for it greater than Jiraiya. He progresses through the learning steps rapidly, becoming able to sense and then gather the natural energy around him and perfectly balance it with his own chakra. Through further training, Naruto ultimately becomes able to use the highest level of senjutsu in accessing a perfect Sage Mode, symbolised by the orange marks around his eyes. The only issue is that as Sage Mode required the user to be perfectly still to gather the natural energy, it could not be used in battle.
It was at first attempted by Fukasaku, a former teacher of Jiraiya's, to fuse with Naruto and gather the natural energy for him to use while he fought. This ultimately failed as Kurama rejected Fukasaku, refusing to let the toad house Naruto's being alongside it. Naruto found a way somewhat around it by using shadow clones: while he fights, the clones gather natural energy for him and then disperse after Naruto's time limit runs out, transferring their natural energy to him to resume using Sage Mode. While effective, this method limits the maximum number of shadow clones that he can create to five for as long as the clones are gathering natural energy, as anything more would interfere with their focus on regulating the proper amount of chakra and natural energy.

In Sage Mode, Naruto gains sensory abilities to detect and identify other people's chakra even from vast distances.^[66] His sensing abilities can predict the movements of others, able to dodge a direct attack from the fiercely fast Third Raikage.^[67] In Sage Mode, Naruto's overall physical parameters are dramatically enhanced, able to easily stop and throw a massive rhino,^[68] and survive falls from great height unharmed. He is also able to utilise Frog Kata, a taijutsu style that uses the natural energy to enhance the range and the potency of one's attacks. Naruto notes that he can also access Sage Mode at a faster rate when combined with his Tailed Beast Mode.^[69]

Six Paths Sage Technique

After gaining half of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki's power, while the chakra cloak and markings around his eyes disappeared, Naruto's Sage Tailed Beast Mode was enhanced even further, enabling him to become completely immune to the effects of an enemy's Truth-Seeking Ball.^[70] His physical parameters had also increased to the point where Madara, as the jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails, could barely defend against his attacks.^[71] Naruto has also demonstrated the ability to maintain a continuous Sage Mode in this new form.

Through the chakra he received from all nine tailed beasts, Naruto dons a new chakra cloak referred to as Six Paths Sage Technique. Naruto's speed and strength have been increased in this form to the point where he can equal Sasuke's teleportation, evade Kaguya's Space-Time Portals as well as outright blitz her while catching her completely off-guard.^[72]^[73] Naruto has also been granted the ablilty to fly and is also capable of using chakra arms that briefly rivalled those of Kaguya. These chakra arms are also sharp enough to completely sever Kaguya's arm without any trouble.^[74]

Sensory Perception

After mastering Sage Mode, Naruto becomes able to detect the presence of others. With this skill, he can better react against high-speed opponents like the Third Raikage, able to dodge his attack and effectively counter. He also gained the ability to sense negative emotions after taking control of Kurama's chakra. Naruto can also use both of these abilities simultaneously through his senjutsu-enhanced Tailed Beast Mode and the Six Paths Sage Technique respectively. Upon achieving the latter, Naruto is able to sense the other half of Hagoromo's chakra as well as Madara's limbo technique.

Fūinjutsu

Naruto's skills with fūinjutsu have not been explored greatly, but he knew how to use the seal's key after receiving Gerotora, and later resealed Kurama after he separated a majority of chakra from the tailed beast.^[75] When accessing Shukaku's power, Naruto gains the ability to use its natural cursed seal markings to bind targets.^[76] During his meeting with Hagoromo, Naruto was taught the Six Paths Chibaku Tensei fūinjutsu, which is capable of sealing something as powerful as the Ten-Tails and Kaguya.^[77]

Intelligence

While headstrong and often acting without thinking to ultimately come off as somewhat dense, Naruto's years as a prankster acquired a cunning imagination that is useful in battle. He is a remarkable tactile learner, able to learn better through executing a task rather than theorising about it.^[25] Once they see him in action, even the likes of the Second Hokage revise their thoughts about his intellect.^[78]
Naruto is able to formulate multi-step plans and even backups to those plans in the thick of battle.^[79] Naruto's strategies typically involve shadow clones: he may direct his opponent's attentions towards one of his clones to disguise his own movements; he may transform them into objects or other individuals for surprise attacks; he may make himself seem predictable by creating a pattern, just to throw them off by breaking it. He is rather observant, able to notice details others may overlook and subsequently take advantage of it. Even when given new information he can act quickly.^[80]

Other Skills

After the time-skip, Naruto has improved his knowledge of other ninja skills while under Jiraiya's tutelage, such as displaying skill in shurikenjutsu and scroll sealing to store weapons.^[81]^[82] Naruto has also employed cloak-and-dagger tactics like keeping a spring-loaded kunai up his sleeve for quick access.^[83] Though he has no skill in genjutsu, he has learned how to dispel it and avoid falling prey to it.

Naruto Uzumaki

Abilities