How Strong is Kakashi in Naruto?

Every generation or so in the Naruto universe, there is one Shinobi that stands out as so powerful that he or she is labeled a genius. Kakashi was the genius of his generation. This was thanks to natural intellect, hard work, powerful chakra reserves, and – lastly – the Sharingan eye. Even without the Sharingan, however, Kakashi is quite powerful, and he is credited with the creation of a powerful jutsu – something that usually denotes a gifted, genius level Shinobi.

What are Kakashi’s Strongest Abilities?

Kakashi has a plethora of abilities thanks to a natural giftedness and then greatly extended thanks to his mastery over the Sharingan. Let’s dive into a few of the most important ones below.

• The Sharingan: as we will see shortly, Kakashi had a great power with the Sharingan eye. However, there’s a lot more to this than meets the eye (pardon the pun). Not only did the Sharingan enable him to use Chidori more effectively, it enabled him to copy 1000+ techniques and unlock incredibly powerful abilities down the line.

• 5 chakra natures: Kakashi has the relatively rare ability to leverage all five elements in his jutsu, making him an ideal carrier for the Sharingan eye. Not only can he copy any jutsu from anyone, he can also use it thanks to his multi-nature self.

• Kamui: a subset of the Sharingan ability, Kakashi gets access to a very unique ability that massively up-levels his power. Kamui is the ability to transport oneself to another dimension and teleport wherever he wants at will. The Kamui helps make Kakashi even more deadly (potentially) than the likes of Minato, who can teleport wherever he has a kunai with the jutsu formula attached.

• Chidori: Kakashi invented Chidori by accident when he was trying to infuse his teacher’s Rasengan with his preferred Lightning jutsu. Chidori is, without a doubt, up there in most lethal ninjutsu. The fact that Kakashi invented it points to his power.

• Intellect: blunt force is not the only power worth mentioning in the Shinboi world. Time and time again we have seen Kakashi deal out punishing wins thanks to his ability to outhink his opponents. We need look no further than the first outing of his that we witness when he utterly outthinks Zabuza in his first outing in the show.

What are Kakashi’s Biggest Weaknesses?

Without a doubt, Kakashi is one of the strongest ninja in all of the Hidden Leaf, as well as one of the strongest characters in Naruto of all time. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his own share of weaknesses. Let’s dive into his strengths and weaknesses in combat to pain a fuller picture of this legendary fighter.

Lower Power Threshold

Perhaps Kakashi’s most glaring weakness is that his threshold for great feats of strength are somewhat limited. This is drastically reduced during the War Arc where he eventually attains both Mangekyou Sharingan eyes and can summon Susanoo. However, for the majority of Naruto, Kakashi doesn’t have that ability. When he goes up against opponents with overwhelming offensive powers, he simply can’t scale to match the way Naruto or Sasuke can.

Chakra Reserves

It’s a common misconception that Kakashi has average chakra reserves. He actually doesn’t. He actually has an impressive amount of chakra. However, his innately high amount of chakra is greatly hampered by his Sharingan eye. Dojutsu like the Sharingan are Kekkei Genkai traits, meaning they are passed down only through specific bloodlines. While they can be stolen or lent, they can never be used 100% by people who don’t have the bloodline.

Kakashi is constantly being drained by his Sharingan eye while simultaneously using high chakra output jutsu like Chidori or shadow clones. Very long, drawn out fights against strong, high chakra reserve fighters are a bad matchup for Kakashi who will have to look to end things quickly to avoid his innevitable chakra glass ceiling.

Genjutsu

Kakashi has a noticeable weakness to genjutsu. Despite being a wielder of the Sharingan – a dojutsu known for its ability to cast awe inspiring illusions, Kakashi does not make use of genjutsu often. This is partly due to the fact that, again, he is not actually an Uchiha. He doesn’t have the mindset of someone who uses Genjutsu, prefering to rely on his brain, his adaptability and versatility, and skill as opposed to mind tricks. This also means his resistance is not super strong, enabling foes like Itachi to handle him with ease.

How Powerful is Kakashi Without his Sharingan?

There is a common misconception that Kakashi is only really strong thanks to his Sharingan eye. This is not true. Kakashi was, in fact, very strong before ever aquiring the eye, and in some ways, the Sharingan hampers his innate strength. As pointed out, Kakashi spends a disproportionate amount of chakra using the Sharingan, due to the fact he does not have the ability naturally. Also, you don’t need to look for further proof of Kakashi’s strength than his battle with Minato when he was just a child. He was already able to take on the Fourth Hokage and give him a run for his money (though Minato was undoubtedly exhibiting restraint) as a child. No Sharingan required.

With that being said, without the Sharingan, Kakashi becomes something of a more ordinarily powerful Shinobi – sort of like what we see him as for the majority of the anime. He relies mostly on his wits and skill to get the job done, using the Sharingan only when necessary.