It is an absolute no-brainer: Minato Namikaze is one of the very few characters in the Naruto anime series who can be matched in intellect, battle IQ, and speed. But what about a group of strong individuals with enough collective power to rattle the Shinobi world? How do you think Minato fares against the infamous black-cloaked group from the series – the Akatsuki?
Without further ado, here’s a list of every Akatsuki member from the Naruto series that the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, can beat, ranked by how difficult the beatdown gets. Please note that this list also includes Sasuke Uchiha and Orochimaru, who were, in fact, part of the Akatsuki, although momentarily and briefly.
TITLENarutoCREATORMasashi KishimotoSTUDIOStudio PierrotIMDb RATING (as of July 17, 2026)8.4/10WHERE TO WATCHCrunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu
12. Zetsu’s Clone Army Melts Away The Second Minato Starts Moving
White Zetsu from Naruto | Credits: Studio Pierrot
White Zetsu exists mainly for scouting and infiltration, grown in huge batches from Hashirama’s cells and built for stealth rather than a straight fight. Individually, they’re fragile, going down to a single solid hit, and their real value comes from swarming numbers rather than raw skill or jutsu variety.
Minato doesn’t even need Hiraishin theatrics here. His base speed alone lets him clear out a whole cluster of clones with a couple of Rasengan strikes before any of them can regroup or sink back into the dirt. This one sits dead last because Zetsu was never designed to win a one-on-one fight, making it the softest matchup Minato faces on this entire list.
11. Kakuzu’s Stolen Hearts Only Buy Him Time, Not An Actual Victory
Kakuzu from Naruto | Credits: Studio Pierrot
Kakuzu‘s whole gimmick is outlasting people. He stole extra hearts from other shinobi so he can shrug off wounds that would kill anyone else, and his mask creatures give him access to four elements plus his own natural affinity.
That’s a nightmare for most jonin, but Minato isn’t fighting a war of attrition. He can pin Kakuzu with Hiraishin markers thrown mid-fight, then destroy the hearts one by one faster than Kakuzu can regenerate or swap masks, turning his durability into a slow-motion loss. He ranks above Zetsu because his durability forces Minato to actually work for the kill, even if the outcome was never really in question.
10. Orochimaru’s Body-Swapping Trick Runs Out Of Time Against Him
Orochimaru from Naruto | Credits: Studio Pierrot
This is the original, pre-defection Orochimaru from his brief early stretch inside Akatsuki, before he abandoned the group to run his own experiments in Otogakure. His main safety net is Living Corpse Reincarnation, letting him hop into a fresh body once his current one wears down, backed by a deep well of forbidden ninjutsu and snake summons.
None of that helps if he never gets the opening to switch. Minato closes the gap with Hiraishin and lands a fatal strike before Orochimaru even realizes the fight has already turned. Orochimaru ranks above Kakuzu because his jutsu library is wider and stranger, though his body-swap escape plan needs time that Minato never actually gives him.
9. Hidan’s Immortality Means Nothing If He Can Never Land A Hit
Hidan from Naruto | Credits: Studio Pierrot
Hidan is terrifying against anyone slow enough to let him draw blood and complete his ritual circle, since his Jashinist curse makes him functionally unkillable through normal damage. The catch is that the whole technique depends on contact, and Minato’s entire fighting style is built around never being where an attack lands.
Between Hiraishin repositioning and Rasengan pressure, Minato can keep Hidan from ever tasting his blood, then just bury or dismember him at leisure once the threat is neutralized. Hidan edges out Orochimaru because his immortality is scarier on paper, even though Minato’s speed makes the ritual a non-issue in practice.
8. Sasori’s Poison Puppets Can’t Track A Target This Fast At All
Sasori from Naruto | Credits: Studio Pierrot
Sasori turned himself into his own greatest puppet, packed with hidden blades, poison senbon, and enough firepower to overwhelm most opposing squads at once. His weakness has always been range and setup time.
He needs distance and a read on his opponent’s movement to land the killing poison, and Minato’s Flying Thunder God erases both of those advantages instantly. A single Hiraishin strike to the core puppet ends the fight before Sasori’s tricks even come into play. Sasori ranks above Hidan because his ranged arsenal is more versatile, but that same reliance on positioning is exactly what Minato exploits.
7. Deidara’s Bombs Are Useless Against Someone This Fast On His Feet
Deidara from Naruto | Credits: Studio Pierrot
Deidara’s clay creations range from small C1 sparrows to the devastating C4 Karura, and he’s genuinely dangerous to anyone who can’t close distance or avoid his aerial bombardment. Against Minato, though, the whole strategy collapses. Minato can Hiraishin onto a kunai planted near Deidara before the bombs even detonate, closing the gap he depends on for safety.
Once he’s in close range, Deidara has no real counter to a point-blank Rasengan, and his mouth-palm clay can’t be molded fast enough to save him. He sits above Sasori since his explosive range covers more ground, but that range collapses the instant Minato marks a spot near him.
6. Konan’s Paper Techniques Can’t Outrun A Marked Battlefield
Konan from Naruto | Credits: Studio Pierrot
Konan is one of the most underrated fighters in Akatsuki, capable of turning her entire body into thousands of paper fragments that can slice, bind, or explode on command, and she’s shown she can seriously injure opponents who underestimate her.
Her limitation is that paper still needs room to maneuver, and Minato can seed the battlefield with Hiraishin markers long before engaging directly. Once he’s teleporting freely around her formations, Konan’s paper storm becomes something to dodge through rather than something that traps him. Konan ranks above Deidara because her technique is harder to predict, though a fully prepared battlefield still favors Minato’s mobility over her control.
5. Akatsuki Sasuke’s Partial Susanoo Still Can’t Track A Moving Target
Sasuke and Team Taka from Naruto | Credits: Studio Pierrot
This is the Sasuke Uchiha of the Five Kage Summit era, freshly recruited into Akatsuki after Itachi’s death, wearing the cloak and hunting Killer B alongside Team Taka. He already has Amaterasu and an early, incomplete Susanoo strong enough to trade blows with a Kage, plus sharper Sharingan precognition than most his age.
The problem is that precognition only works on things Sasuke can actually see coming, and Hiraishin isn’t one of them. Minato reads the fight a step ahead and closes it with a Rasengan before Susanoo fully forms. Sasuke ranks above Konan since his Sharingan and partial Susanoo make him a legitimate threat, but Hiraishin still beats his reaction time outright.
4. Kisame’s Monstrous Chakra Still Can’t Match This Speed Gap
Kisame from Naruto | Credits: Studio Pierrot
Kisame Hoshigaki earned the nickname Tailless Tailed Beast for a reason, since his chakra reserves rival an actual tailed beast and Samehada lets him shred and absorb chakra from anything it touches. He’s also a genuinely skilled swordsman who can fight for hours without tiring.
The problem is that raw chakra and swordsmanship don’t help much against someone who can vanish and reappear behind you mid-swing. Minato can wear him down with hit-and-run Hiraishin strikes until Samehada simply can’t feed fast enough to keep up. Kisame ranks this high because his stamina and chakra pool make him a genuine grind, even though he still can’t solve Minato’s teleportation.
3. Itachi’s Genjutsu Still Can’t Catch Someone Who Isn’t There
Itachi Uchiha from Naruto | Credits: Studio Pierrot
Itachi Uchiha is widely considered one of the most dangerous Akatsuki members thanks to Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu, and Susanoo, and under normal circumstances, his genjutsu alone ends most fights before they start.
Minato’s advantage is unusual: Hiraishin lets him disengage the instant something feels wrong, and his reflexes are sharp enough to avoid direct eye contact in a way most opponents can’t manage. It’s a genuinely close fight on paper, but Minato’s ability to simply not be present for Itachi’s setup tips it in his favor. Itachi ranks third because his genjutsu and Susanoo make this one of the tightest fights on the list.
2. Obito Uchiha’s Intangibility Already Failed Him Once Before
Obito As Tobi from Naruto | Credits: Studio Pierrot
This is the masked Obito Uchiha, still going by Tobi during his early Akatsuki years, not the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki he becomes later in the war. Those two versions are worlds apart in danger level. Obito’s Kamui lets him phase through attacks entirely, normally close to unbeatable for most Shinobi, making him one of the strongest Akatsuki members.
But this exact matchup already happened in canon: on the night of the Nine-Tails attack, Minato fought the masked man directly, forced him to retreat, and wounded him before he could finish extracting Kurama. Minato’s timing already has his number. Obito ranks this high because canon already shows Minato getting the better of this exact fight, though it’s still a tighter win than everyone below him.
1. Nagato’s Frail True Body Is The One Crack Minato Can Exploit
Nagato from Naruto | Credits: Studio Pierrot
As Pain, Nagato commands all Six Paths of Pain at once, using Deva Path’s gravity control, Asura’s mechanized arsenal, and Preta’s chakra absorption to overwhelm entire villages in one sitting. It’s the single scariest toolkit on this list. The catch is that Nagato’s actual body is frail and wheelchair-bound, kept alive by machinery, and every path still routes back to his limited stamina and concentration.
Minato’s Hiraishin lets him bypass the paths entirely and strike at Nagato’s real location before his chakra reserves can keep the assault going. Nagato tops the list because the Six Paths are the deadliest arsenal here, and only Minato’s ability to bypass them and reach the real body makes this a winnable fight at all.
What are your thoughts on our list and ranking of the Akatsuki members Minato can truly defeat in the series? What are your personal top picks to give the Fourth Hokage a tough fight? We’d love to hear it in the comments below.
All episodes of the Naruto anime series are available to watch on Crunchyroll, Netflix, and Hulu.
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