In the Naruto series, the Kekkei Genkai is a special type of ability that allows wielders to possess and use unique techniques. It is often passed through bloodlines or within specific families orclans in the series.
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The abilities that come with the kekkei genkai are usually powerful and can define the strengths and status of its user or an entire clan. Moreover, there are times when the backstories of certain characters intertwine with their powers, and there are times when it is just a separate entity.
Here is a list of the strongest users of kekkei genkai that have great backstories in the Naruto series.
Kekkei Genkai: Ice Release
Haku was born in a war-torn Land of Water, where the Kekkei Genkai was regarded as a curse. He was rejected by his father and the village. When his father eventually killed his mother, Haku had no choice but to kill his father to protect himself.
Zabuza Momochi found Haku broken, with nothing but a longing for a place to belong. Zabuza offered him a purpose and showed Haku that his Kekkei Genkai, Ice Release, was a powerful gift.
Haku’s ice release combines wind and water release to form ice, and he can also use it to create ice mirrors that he can travel through.
Kekkei Genkai: Magnet Release
When we think about Gaara’s story in Naruto, it is hard not to feel both sympathy and admiration for him. His father, Rasa, made him a jinchuriki so he could be used as a weapon for the Sand Village.
Rasa’s choice led Gaara to a life of pain and loneliness. He often used his power to kill those who challenged or mocked him, because he was born for the purpose of violence rather than love.
Gaara changed and became a true shinobi after Naruto helped him see life differently. With his strong kekkei genkai, the magnet release, he became a Kazekage who protected the Sand Village and ledthe Allied Shinobi Forcein the Fourth Great Ninja War. Gaara’s magnet release allowed him to mix wind and control sand, creating a signature move such as the sand coffin.
8Neji Hyuga
Kekkei Genkai: Byakugan
The byakugan is a special eye ability that gives the user a 360-degree vision, sees chakra flow, and looks through solid things. Neji learned to use this power well when he was young, just as he masteredthe gentle first technique.
However, Neji’s story in Naruto is more than just his mastery of the Byakugan. He was born into the Branch Family of the Hyuga clan, which is lower than the Main Family.
He was taught that he had to serve the Main Family and could not rise above his station in life. His father, Hiashi Hyuga, died, serving the Main Family, which made Neji filled with resentment for the Main Family.
Naruto eventually changed his belief that his fate was not sealed in stones, which shaped his future and growth into a true shinobi.
Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan And Rinnegan
Obito’s descent into villainy in Naruto is tragic because he was a ninja, full of hope, with the dream of becoming a hokage. However, after a mission went wrong, he lost his love interest, Rin Ohara. His world shattered, and this sent him down a dark path.
Moreover, Obito’s path to becoming one of the most powerful Uchiha started with the awakening of the sharingan, and it evolved into the mangekyo sharingan, which unlocked a jutsu called Kamui. His eventual acquisition of another kekkei genkai, the rinnegan, during the Fourth Great Ninja War elevated his abilities to a god-like status, and he used the kekkei genkai as a tool to realize his twisted vision of peace.
Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan
The Uchiha prodigy, Itachi, is one of the most complex characters in the series, and his journey from the village’s prodigy to a tragic hero is compelling. At the age of 13, Itachi was ordered to wipe out his entire clan to prevent the Uchiha clan coup against the village.
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Itachi decided to massacre his entire clan for the greater good, specifically to protect his younger brother, Sasuke. Moreover, Itachi’s mastery of his kekkei genkai, the sharingan, and its latent power, the mangekyo sharingan, was unparalleled, and his techniques, such as Tsukuyomi (a powerful genjutsu), Amaterasu (inextinguishable black flame), and Susano (the ultimate defense), were among the strongest in the series.
5Negato (Pain)
Kekkei Genkai: Rinnegan
Negato’s power over the rinnegan gave him access to the six paths technique and control over life and death. He revived and utilized six lifeless bodies, each with different abilities, such as manipulating gravity, absorbing chakra, reviving the dead, and fighting for him while staying at a distant location.
However, the most captivating aspect of Negato is not just his power, but his sad past and what shaped his paths. At a young age, Negato lost his parents to war, and during this tumultuous time, he met Yahiko and Konan, who both shared his dream of a peaceful shinobi world.
The three young children ventured on the path to make the shinobi world peaceful, but the death of Yahiko at the hands of Hanzo scarred Negato and pushed him towards his eventual transformation into Pain and the leader ofthe Akatsuki group.
4Sasuke Uchiha
The sharinganis one of the most feared kekkei genkai in Naruto, and Sasuke awakened it at a young age. What makes Sasuke power compelling is not just his sharingan, but the journey he took to unlock the mangekyo sharingan, which is a devastating component of the sharingan.
When his older brother Itachi killed their entire clan, Sasuke lived with the pain of his brother’s betrayal, and his life spiraled into a path of vengeance. His obsession with power pushed him towards a dark path, but they all played a key role in unlocking his latent powers.
The moment Sasuke obtained the mangekyo sharingan and gained the rinnegan during the Fourth Great Ninja War, he unlocked a new realm of abilities.
3Naruto Uzumaki
Kekkei Genkai: Lava, Magnet And Boil Release
The titular character, Naruto, has one of the saddest backstories of the series. As a child, he was rejected by the village because the nine-tailed fox of destruction was sealed inside him.
However, despite the isolation and rejection, he learned to embrace the past and never gave up on others or himself, and this defined his strength and path to becoming one of the strongest characters in the series. Naruto was not born with the kekkei genkai, but achieved it during his journey of personal growth in the series.
Naruto possesses three kekkei genkai: the boil release from the five tails, Kokuo; the magnet release from one tail, Shukaku; and the lava release from the four tails, Son Goku.
2Madara Uchiha
Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan, Rinnegan, Wood Release And Storm Release
Madara was born into the Uchiha clan and his early years were shaped by a sense of superiority and expectation for his clan to rise to greatness. He found Konoha village with Hashirama Senju, but the growing isolation and discrimination against his clan set the stage forhis eventual falloutfrom the village.
Madara believed that he was the only one capable of bringing true peace; hence, he ventured on the path to gain true power. Like every other Uchiha, he has the kekkei genkai, the sharingan, which manifested into the powerful mangekyo sharingan.
After years of planning, he also acquired the rinnegan during the Fourth Great Ninja War, and he could also use the wood release because he infused Hashirama cells with his body. Even though wood release was not his original ability, he mastered it quickly and seamlessly.
Another intriguing aspect of the kekkei genkai he possesses is the storm release, which allows him to combine water and lightning.
1Hashirama Senju
Kekkei Genkai: Wood Release
Hashirama’s kekkei genkai, the wood release, is one of the most formidable and rarest in the Naruto series. He can combine earth and water releases to give birth to wood elements.
He is regarded as the god of shinobi, and this is not a mere title because his kekkei genkai is so powerful that even Orochimaru tries to replicate it many times. Hashirama’s backstory sheds light on the birth of Konoha Village and how he played a critical role in uniting the warring clans of the village, especially between the Uchiha and Senju.
However, even his ideals of peace were not realized because the Uchiha clan felt iced out of the political roles of the village, and this was a burden he carried as the first hokage.
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