10 Times Naruto Went Too Far

It’s hard to criticize Naruto when almost every risk taken by the shinobi tends to work out. Naruto often gives in to reckless impulses with little forethought, yet that’s what fans love most about him: his ability to put himself in a corner and find a way out of it with some home run of a massive Rasengan or other technique.

However, Naruto has definitely messed up before; if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t be as interesting. In these moments, the loose cannon that is Naruto may have taken things too far — most of the time by accident.

10 Almost Entering Full Tailed Beast Mode

During his fight against Pain, Naruto did what he thought was necessary to save his village, but it was still over the top nonetheless. After releasing most of the Nine-Tails’ chakra, Naruto risked transforming into the Tailed Beast without any hope of returning to himself. In the end, he found a way to revert back, but during his time as the grotesque monster, he would prove to fans that he truly hadn’t mastered the beast yet.

It was a climactic scene: Naruto had completely lost control, decimating anyone and anything that had survived the original attack on the village.

9 Threatening To Kill Pain

Pain was one of the only villains who really challenged Naruto’s beliefs in a way that left him baffled. After Naruto saw the devastated Hidden Leaf Village, he claimed he would kill whoever Pain was, leading into one of the most memorable exchanges in the series, summed up by the antagonist asking, “What about my family, my friends, my village?”

Naruto overstepped in saying he would kill Pain, because in doing so, Naruto gave into the frustration of the situation and essentially went against his code, proving Pain’s point that there is only hatred in the world of shinobi.

8 Losing His Arm

The last major fight in Shippuden is arguably the best in the series, but what makes it so monumental and entertaining is watching both its participants refuse to give up. Not just Naruto, but Sasuke went too far as well, competing in a fight that would take an arm from both of them.

These two characters are supposed to be newfound friends and competitive rivals. They had finally reunited after years of turmoil and disagreements, and they were bound to spar to just see who was stronger. But the brutality the two friends showed in their fight was as grueling to the viewer as it was entertaining.

7 Scarring Jiraiya

During a conversation with Tsunade, Jiraiya showed her what he claimed to be his only scar. It was a massive, twisted mark that resembled the stump of a freshly-cut tree with its roots still anchored in the ground. This mark was made by Naruto after losing control of the Nine-Tails’ chakra, showing he still couldn’t control the monster inside him.

Naruto attacked his teacher, a move that usually wouldn’t go unpunished, but Jiraiya merely saw it as a sign that Naruto still wasn’t ready to wield the Tailed Beast, meaning it was his fault as a teacher as much as Naruto’s.

6 Fighting Sasuke At A Hospital

This is another event that falls on Sasuke as much as Naruto, but Naruto could’ve easily avoided this situation. After being admitted into a hospital for his injuries, Naruto was greeted by a frustrated Sasuke. He wanted to know who was stronger, so the two ninja fought on the roof of a hospital filled with sick and injured people.

Naruto is known to be reckless, but putting the patients in the hospital at risk seems bone-headed even for him. Fortunately, Kakashi stepped in and stopped the brawl before anyone got hurt.

5 Stealing A Forbidden Scroll

Naruto’s childhood was filled with immature acts to gain attention from others in the village. However, stealing the Scroll of Seals containing a plethora of forbidden jutsu seems a little much for a kid seeking attention. In stealing the scroll, not only did he put himself in danger from another Leaf shinobi wishing to attain the scroll for malicious purposes, but he also put his teacher, Iruka, in danger.

Iruka took a massive shuriken to the back to protect Naruto, and while the two of them successfully defended the scroll, Naruto still needlessly put others in danger for something as trivial as attention.

4 Kissing Sasuke

Throughout the show, Naruto kissing Sasuke was constantly teased, but then it actually happened. Some fans found it funny, but others just found it odd. Afterwards, the kiss made things awkward for both the characters and the viewers alike.

Throughout the anime, Naruto had a tendency to get people’s faces while making bold claims or exclamations, but this instance may have gone a bit far for the young protagonist.

3 Painting The Stone Faces

In Naruto, the viewer’s first impression of the young jinchuriki was a yellow-haired delinquent painting the stone faces of the Hokage. It was so early in the anime that it went over the viewers’ heads, since the importance of Hokage Rock and the people who have been carved on it hadn’t yet been made clear. Naruto undoubtedly got off better than he should have for this, but it’s still disgraceful to his people and their culture nonetheless.

Naruto’s constant yearning for attention is made obvious throughout the series, but this is an act that ordinarily wouldn’t be tolerated because of the history behind the rock and its faces, no matter the reason. However, the Third Hokage was looking out for the young protagonist.

2 Almost Killing Haku

In the first major appearance of the Nine-Tails, Naruto lost control after seeing Sasuke fall trying to protect him. Naruto unleashed a portion of the monster in his belly, giving in to its rage and attacking his opponent, Haku. However, Naruto wasn’t fighting as himself, but as a beast smashing his way through Haku’s ice mirrors before pummeling the rogue ninja.

After breaking Haku’s mask, Naruto recognized him and was able to rein himself in before doing too much damage. But if he hadn’t stopped himself, he easily could have killed Haku.

1 Losing Sasuke

Going after Sasuke in the final moments of Naruto was one of the ninja’s only shortcomings to date, and in doing so, he sacrificed much more than he gained. While it’s reasonable for Naruto to want to bring his classmate back home, what about the others who joined him? What about Kiba? Or Shikamaru, Neji, and Choji? All of them were seriously injured in the fight to bring Sasuke home, as was Naruto himself.

After Naruto lost to Sasuke, he would be left with nothing but injuries, suffering allies, and failure after going against the wishes of his superiors. It was an effort that sacrificed too much for nothing as Naruto went too far yet again. But that same tenacity — and impulsiveness — is exactly what most fans love about the character.

NEXT: Naruto: Sasuke’s 5 Greatest Strengths (& His 5 Worst Weaknesses)