Water Release in Naruto Shippuden is one of the most creative and adaptable of the five nature transformations.
Water-style techniques are awesome as offensive jutsus, and can either be insidious – like the Hidden Mist Jutsu, or straight up cataclysmic, especially if the user is someone like Tobirama or Kisame.
Techniques like the Water Formation Wall and Pillar Encirclement also make for potent defensive jutsus. I mean, who wants to go up against a hovering tsunami wave?
Let’s check out the top 15 strongest Water Release users in Naruto.
15Chino
Chino is a female ninja belonging to the Chinoike clan and is part of the Lightning Group. She has a Water Release (and Yin Release) nature type, so she naturally excels in Water Release techniques.
She is seen to use the Soap Bubble Ninjutsu, Water Release: Hail, and Water Release: Water Formation Wall. She uses the latter two usefully in battle: Hail makes for a good offensive technique, while the Water Wall is a great defense against oncoming attacks.
Chino also possesses the Ketsuryugan, which is as powerful a dojutsu as the Sharingan. With this, she can manipulate blood (or any liquid rich in iron) and even make targets explode by imbuing them with her chakra.
14Haku
Haku was a mercenary ninja from the Land of Water. Trained under Zabuza, Haku was said to have great potential. He learned a lot of the techniques that Zabuza specialized in, like Silent Killing using the power of the Hidden Mist Technique.
But Haku is better known for his Ice Release, which is a combination of Water and Wind Release. He had the DNA anomaly or Kekkei Genkai that allowed him to perform the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.
He could form mirrors of ice and enter any one; he could also travel between them at the speed of light, so it’s as if he was omnipresent for his target.
He was also able to create ice spikes and ice domes. As for Water Release, we saw Haku perform the Secret Jutsu: A Thousand Needles of Death, which he used against Sasuke.
13Kakashi Hatake
In terms of strength in a 1-on-1 battle, the Sixth Hokage would be pretty high on the list; but since we’re talking strictly about water-style techniques here, Kakashi makes it to #13.
Kakashi can use Water Release without a nearby water source. He was also able to mimic the Water Dragon Bullet Technique from Zabuza during their confrontation in the Land of Waves.
It requires a whole of 44 hand seals to perform, and Kakashi simply observes Zabuza and uses the complex jutsu against him.
His other offensive Water Release techniques include expelling a massive, powerful waterfall, and creating water clones. He also uses the Water Wall to build a decent water-style defense.
12Kabuto Yakushi
Kabuto is best known for his medical ninjutsu. He uses his chakra to accelerate a wounded person’s natural healing abilities. Since he’s a healer, he has excellent knowledge of not just the human body, but the chakra pathway system.
He can replicate jutsus and is seen to perform the trademark Hozuki Hydrification Technique to liquefy himself and avoid capture. Kabuto doesn’t require a nearby water source for his Water Release.
He uses the Great Waterfall Technique to launch water missiles and can also create a giant dragon made of water using the Water Dragon Bullet Technique.
11Juzo Biwa
Juzo has a Water Release nature type. He is a jonin of Kirigakure, and also a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
He is the most powerful when he wields his Executioner’s Blade, the Kubikiribocho, that can instantaneously regenerate from the blood harvested from its victims.
In the anime, he’s seen using two of the most common and effective Water Release techniques – the Water Clone Technique, which creates water doppelgangers of the user, and the Hidden Mist Jutsu, where Juzo produces a thick mist to blind his opponents.
10Zabuza Momochi
Zabuza, aka Demon of the Hidden Mist, was also a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, like Juzo. But no one can beat Zabuza when it comes to assassination, especially the techniques he uses for them.
With the help of the Hidden Mist Technique, he performs the Silent Killing, by stealthily decapitating his victims with his Kubikiribocho. Even though the mist obstructs his vision, he uses any sounds made by the victim to track them down.
He is capable of activating multiple water-style jutsus simultaneously: he keeps Kakashi imprisoned in a water cage and he unleashes several water clones at the same time. He’s also seen using heavy-duty offensive techniques like the Water Dragon Bullet and the Great Waterfall to defeat his opponents.
9Suigetsu Hozuki
Suigetsu, being a part of the Hozuki clan, has a natural affinity to water-style techniques. He is privy to the secret Water Release Hydrification technique, which allows him to liquefy himself at will if his body is hydrated enough.
He can shapeshift grow his limbs easier than you can grow your nails. This increase in size also directly corresponds to an increase in strength.
With the Drowning Water Blob Technique Suigetsu can form a water bubble around his opponent’s head to drown them. What’s also awesome is that he can eavesdrop and gather information through the rain.
8Chojuro
Chojuro the Sixth Mizukage, is a part of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and also the Daimyo Protection Squad.
His kenjutsu and ninjutsu techniques are strong enough that he can face opponents like Black Zetsu and members of the Otsutsuki clan.
On the few occasions that he’s without his Kubikiribocho, he can craft a sword made of water. It is sharp enough to impale any target.
He uses groundwater to demonstrate the Great Waterfall technique, causing a large upsurge of water, sweeping his enemies right off their feet.
7Mangetsu Hozuki
Mangestsu is called the Second Coming of the Demon and is Suigetsu’s elder brother. He can do everything his brother can, only better.
He uses Silent Killing during the battle with the Third Division of the Allied Shinobi Forces. Hidden by the mist he creates, he kills multiple shinobi with his ninjutsu techniques.
Being a Hozuki, he can also manipulate his being into liquid using the Hydrification Technique. Working the Water Gun Jutsu, he compresses water at his fingertips and fires them in the form of bullets with great force.
He too is a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and according to me, the strongest. He’s the last guy standing when the other six are sealed. And he was without a sword, too.
6Utakata
More people are familiar with Utakata’s appearance rather than his name. He’s the bubble guy, who always wears a light blue kimono with bubbles on the back. Well, the bubbles aren’t just for show.
Utakata is an expert in Soap Bubble Ninjutsu, a special kind of Water Release style using soap solution. He manipulates it mainly with his Bubble Pipe. He can also mix acid into the soap solution making them particularly lethal.
By blowing multiple bubbles, he can cause them to surround his opponent. He can also snap his fingers to make them explode simultaneously.
He can also make a bubble dome and use a large bubble to travel around. Wait, did I mention, Utakata is also the jinchuriki of Six-Tails. Yup, and he also awakened Sharingan and Rinnegan post-reincarnation.
5Mei
Any Water Release list without the Fifth Mizukage in its top 5 is incomplete. Before I get into anything else, let’s talk about one of Mei’s two Kekkei Genkai; Boil Release is a mixture of Water and Fire Release.
She can create a caustic vapor that can corrode anything it touches. It can even burn through Sasuke’s Susanoo form! With Water Release, she can create powerful torrents, bullets, and dragons.
I’ve kept the best for the last – Mei is able to extinguish Madara’s flames created by his Fire Release: Great Fire Destruction, one of his most powerful jutsus.
4Yagura
Yagura was the Fourth Mizukage. It was because of his reign that Kirigakure came to be known as the Bloody Mist.
He was the jinchuriki of Three-Tails and in this form, he could even survive the black flames of Amaterasu, the greatest Fire Release jutsu. Yagura also possessed both, the Sharingan and Rinnegan.
Yagura’s greatest Water Release jutsu was the Water Mirror Technique, where he created a perfect pool of water that reflected the target and their attack. He could then hook his club into the mirror and rotate it.
The reflection would materialize and collide with the real attacker, executing the exact same move – the perfect counter-attack.
3Gengetsu Hozuki
Gengetsu is the Second Mizukage of Kirigakure and the greatest shinobi of his time. He once defeated Mu, the Non-Person, or the Second Tsuchikage. Gengetsu can summon the Giant Clam, and use its mist to create mirages.
Being the OG Hozuki, I don’t even have to mention that he can turn into liquid and back at will. He can also create special clones made of a combination of water and oil using Steaming Danger Tyranny.These clones explode infinitely due to the building pressure within them.
He can launch water balloons filled with oil with great speed and force at his enemies. Apart from the oil-like substance, Gengetsu also uses ordinary water to shoot bullets powerful enough to make sand clones crumble.
2Kisame Hoshigaki
Kisame, the Monster of the Hidden Mist, is probably the most destructive water-style user. Kisame was called the “tailless tailed beast” because even though he wasn’t a jinchuriki, his chakra levels were off the charts.
We saw Kisame wield the Samehada, a sentient sword that chose Kisame to be its user. It could slice through Fire Release techniques and be used in conjunction with Water Release. When Kisame fused with Samehada, he became supremely deadly. He grew gills and could breathe underwater.
By creating a kind of prison around his enemies, he could easily drown them. He used this prison technique along with his water clone technique. His Great Shark Bullet Technique is one of the best water-style jutsu till date.
It can absorb the chakra from any attacking jutsu and use it to strengthen itself. Other shark-related jutsus that he uses are theWater Shark Bullet Technique and the Thousand Feeding Sharks Technique.
1Tobirama Senju
The Second Hokage Tobirama Senju is the strongest water user in the Naruto franchise because he can perform powerful Water Release jutsus without a single drop of water nearby. This and his ability to use space-time ninjutsu and the Reanimation kinjutsu, makes him the best.
If Kisame is the Water version of Madara, Tobirama has got to be Sasuke. The guy had enough power to survive Nine-Tails. He is also an Uchicha-killer – he mortally wounds Madara’s brother Izuna.
The fact that Tobirama can generate his own water is awe-inspiring. He can produce jets of steam that can cut through trees, and create needles, bullets, and waves out of water that isn’t even there.
Honorary mentions
I have to give shout-out to Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage and Tobirama’s elder brother. Hashirama could enter Sage Mode instantaneously and augment his Wood Release, which is a combination of Water and Earth Release.
About Naruto
Naruto is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. Its publication began on September 21, 1999, and continued till November 10, 2014, in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump. The manga has collected 72 volumes in tankōbon format.
Naruto Shippuden is Part II of the anime series, which follows an older Naruto as he attempts to save his friend Sasuke while at the same time – addressing the looming threat of the criminal organization – Akatsuki – who are targeting him for their grander scheme.
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