It didn’t take long for the popular Shonen anime series Naruto to establish his jutsu-based fighting system. The definition of “jutsu” is broad, as it means “technique,” and there is an impressive variety of techniques in this anime, from summoning jutsu to dojutsu to swordsmanship. Many characters in this anime enjoy learning and using as many jutsu as possible, notable examples being Orochimaru, Kakashi Hatake, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha. Other ninjas, meanwhile, go in the opposite direction.
Some Shinobi characters in Naruto use a limited number of techniques and may even be limited to a single main element or just one weapon. These characters either don’t rely on jinjutsu or genjutsu as often, or they never learned to use jutsu. Notably, some of these characters still proved to be powerful and interesting to watch, even if they used or learned fewer jutsu on average than other main characters. Naruto Sign.
10 Rock Lee never learned Ninjutsu or Genjutsu
Notable Jutsu: N/A
Rock Lee is known for using not just a few jutsu, but none at all. He has a variety of other techniques that could be loosely referred to as jutsu in the area of taijutsu. But when Naruto Fans focus on chakra-based elemental jutsu, but Rock Lee doesn’t mind. In fact, he can’t properly maintain chakra flow, so ninjutsu isn’t an option for him.
Instead, Rock Lee relied entirely on taijutsu, as shown in the Chunin Exam arc when he faced first the Sound Genin and then Gaara. Rock Lee used powerful punches and kicks to break through Gaara’s sand defenses, and if it weren’t for Gaara’s sand clone, Rock Lee might have incapacitated this jinchuriki with his Front Lotus move.
9 The guy knows Jutsu, but prefers martial arts
Notable Jutsu: Summoning Jutsu
Rock Lee’s mentor, the energetic himbo Might Guy, is actually capable of practicing jutsu, but generally prefers not to. Taijutsu suits his tastes better and is his way of expressing the “spring of youth”, so Might Guy limits his jutsu to situations where he desperately needs it. And even then, he tends to use taijutsu, simple weapons, and the Inner Gates to find solutions when he can.
All of this made Might Guy the perfect person to empower Rock Lee and help him master taijutsu without having to worry about anything else. Funnily enough, one of Might Guy’s first and most memorable scenes actually involved jutsu, where he used a summoning jutsu to ride a turtle.
8 Tenten restricts himself to summoning weapons
Notable Jutsu: Summoning Jutsu
Neji Hyuga is the main jutsu user on Team Guy, aided by his notable Byakugan eyes. His companions use little to no jutsu, including Tenten, the ranged specialist on this team. Tenten uses summoning jutsu for a single purpose: to summon countless weapons from thin air with which to attack her enemies.
Tenten often carried around scrolls to perform these summonings, and sometimes she would even strike magical girl-like poses while carrying these long scrolls around her. She would then attack with weapons ranging from kunai knives and shuriken to exploding markers and spiked metal balls. Unfortunately, relying on such weapons meant that Tenten was soon left behind as the power scaling progressed.
7 Haku relies mainly on his Kekkei Genkai
Notable Jutsu: Demonic Reflective Ice Crystals
The renegade ninja Haku could certainly use jutsu, but he didn’t show much variety in his jutsu, and only participated in a single battle in the “Land of Waves” story arc during his life as a mortal. Haku could release water and wind to create ice, which was his signature weapon. More specifically, Haku used his Kekkei Genkai to create a series of ice crystal mirrors to trap first Sasuke and then Naruto.
Once these mirrors were in place, it took nothing more for Haku to pose a serious threat to Team 7, so much so that he seemingly killed Sasuke Uchiha with repeated attacks from his needles. This prompted an enraged Naruto Uzumaki to tap into Kurama’s chakra for the first time on screen and fight back.
6 Shizune has some medical skills, but not on Tsunade’s level
Notable Jutsu: Shadow Clone Jutsu, Medical Jutsu
Shizune is one of those Naruto Characters who seem perfectly content to be someone’s supporter and friend rather than standing on their own two feet. In that regard, Shizune was mostly just a miniature Tsunade, knowing medical jutsu and a few other techniques, but not much else. She rarely made a real difference in battle.
Instead, Shizune was there to act as a mediator when Naruto and Jiraiya met with Tsunade during her mission to recruit Tsunade as the Fifth Hokage. Shizune understood Tsunade’s position, but she also wanted the best for everyone, so Shizune helped everyone meet in the middle and work things out, no jutsu required.
5 Misumi Tsurugi concentrates on bending his soft body
Notable Jutsu: Gentle Body Modification
Misumi Tsurugi is one of many small Naruto Characters that simply weren’t important enough to get serious screen time or expand their list of jutsu and weapons very much. Misumi was part of Kabuto’s team in the Chunin Exams along with Yoroi, with Misumi and Yoroi only serving to help Sasuke and Kankuro prove their skills.
Yoroi lost to Sasuke’s Lion Fire, while Misumi faced Kankuro and his puppet. Misumi attempted to capture Kankuro with his Soft Physique Modification and threaten to break his bones, but Kankuro escaped with a puppet swap. Instead, Misumi was captured and lost quickly, partly because he had no other jutsu to fall back on.
4 Hayate attacked Baki with a sword
Notable Jutsu: Shadow Clone Jutsu
Hayate Gekko was a proctor and referee for the Chunin Exam, meaning his job was to oversee the genin fights without fighting himself. Hayate was perfectly comfortable in this role, but one night he decided to take on a mission that no genin could complete. He smelled trouble and found it when he came face to face with Baki.
Hayate used his limited jutsu to attack Baki, but it was useless. Even when Baki complimented him, Hayate had no chance and Baki killed him with a close-range wind jutsu. Thus, it fell to another shinobi to oversee the final phase of the Chunin Exams. Fans might suspect that even if Hayate had known more jutsu, he would have lost to Baki, as his death served a narrative purpose: to increase the tension about the looming, mysterious danger during the exams.
3 Karui prefers her blade to most jutsu in combat
Notable Jutsu: Lightning Release
Looking back, it is clear that Karui’s role in the Naruto Anime wasn’t meant to be a powerful fighter, but to help expand the roster of Cloud ninjas and provide comedic interludes. On a more serious note, Karui and Omoi helped heighten the emotional impact of Killer Bee’s capture by Sasuke, as Karui and Omoi both looked up to Bee/B as a beloved mentor.
Therefore, despite her minimal jutsu and mediocre kenjutsu, Karui confronted Team 7 shortly after Pain’s demise. Karui even began beating up Naruto to get answers about Sasuke, but Sai intervened. Not long after, Karui and her fellow Cloud ninjas became loose allies of the Leaf ninjas, although Karui did not prove much on the battlefield.
2 Karin supports Sasuke with her strong life force
Notable Jutsu: Adamanine Seal Chains
Karin is a ninja who has remarkable abilities and techniques, but not many proper jutsu. She served merely as a support figure for Sasuke’s team of anti-heroes, and it helped that Karin was a member of the Uzumaki clan. This meant that she had a strong life force that was helpful in healing Sasuke after fights.
Karin was also a human lie detector who could sense the disruption of people’s chakra when they lie. However, this was only useful sometimes. Karin’s true story was one of one-sided infatuation and betrayal, because like Sakura Haruno before her, Karin admired Sasuke and was only brutally betrayed in return. Karin also noticed that Naruto’s chakra was so light and warm compared to Sasuke’s.
1 Jugo transforms into an animal in battle, no jutsu required
Notable Jutsu: Sage Mode
Even though Jugo can use Sage Mode like Jiraiya and Naruto, he is still rather weak in the use of jutsu and other special techniques and is one of the most straightforward fighters in the entire series. Jugo’s most notable fighting style was making full use of the curse seal and becoming a beastly berserker in battle.
Jugo has a certain thematic depth as a relatively good-hearted guy who doesn’t really like fighting and has few ambitions. He would rather live in peace with animals in an almost druidic existence, and he certainly wouldn’t need jutsu for that. Unfortunately, Jugo’s natural abilities proved useful for Orochimaru’s experiments, so he was eventually drawn into the world of ninja warfare.
