With the announcement that the spinoff Sasuke’s Story is set to receive an animated adaptation, fans of Sasuke Uchiha are excited to get even more of their favorite Naruto character in his own new tale. Being one of the main three, Sasuke gets some of the best fights and best development in the show.
Whether it’s a particularly smart or heroic move in battle or a strong emotional beat, Sasuke delivers some truly awesome and memorable moments again and again.
10 Jumping In Front Of Haku’s Needles
Sasuke openly introduces himself as hating most things and people and, especially at first, does not seem interested in bonding with Naruto or Sakura. But as a shounen character, he does not get to escape the power of friendship, and by the end of the Land of Waves arc, he has grown close enough to his teammates to instinctively throw himself in front of Haku’s attack to protect Naruto.
This is a moment that only gets better on rewatch: second-go-around fans know that Sasuke is determined to stay alive to avenge his clan and that the death of his closest friend will unlock his Mangekyo Sharingan he needs to do that. But even so, he doesn’t think before risking his own life for his friend’s.
9 Mastering Chidori
Chidori quickly becomes his signature technique, but one of Sasuke’s greatest powers didn’t come easily: even he had some difficulty picking the technique up at first. Not only does it require massive amounts of chakra, but the fight Sasuke needs it for requires him to match if not surpass the speed of Rock Lee, who soundly beat him in the last arc.
However, when he gets to his Chunin Exams match against Gaara, he pulls it off without a hitch (provided one doesn’t count the invasion of the Leaf Village as a hitch), proving to be fast enough to avoid Gaara’s sand and able to launch a Chidori strong enough to break his shield. Even though he likely wouldn’t have won the match, considering how their later fight ends, it’s still enough to shock and impress the entire arena.
8 Leaving the Village
The biggest plot turn in Part 1 is Sasuke choosing to defect from the Leaf Village and join Orochimaru in search of power. Naturally, he leaves under cover of night without telling anyone what he’s thinking…but that doesn’t stop Sakura from realizing anyway, and meeting him along the way to try and talk him out of it.
Though some fans don’t find Sasuke and Sakura’s romantic relationship believable, this is still a standout scene between the two. On hearing Sakura pour her heart out to him and even offer to go with him so he won’t be alone, Sasuke does call her annoying, but also sincerely thanks her, before knocking her out with a pressure point, so his pursuit of revenge won’t ruin her life as well.
7 Sparing Naruto’s Life
At their first battle in the Valley of the End, both Naruto and Sasuke gave it their all against each other in some of the saddest episodes in Naruto, ending in Naruto’s defeat. Sasuke is alone and has the perfect opportunity to kill an unconscious Naruto, but he chooses not to, taking off and leaving him unharmed instead.
Like his sacrifice in the fight against Haku, this is an especially pivotal moment for Sasuke because of his driving goals. Itachi instructed Sasuke to kill his closest friend to gain the power to try killing him, but Sasuke vehemently rejects the idea of using Itachi’s methods. Even though the arc ends in tragedy, and Sasuke’s corruption gets worse before it gets better, it’s a final spark of hope that redemption will be possible for him in the future.
6 The First Reunion
When Shippuden first began, Sasuke’s status and his new look were, naturally, the last to be revealed of all the main cast. As its first arc went on, taking several episodes to even give fans a glimpse of him and even then only in part or in shadows, fans grew as eager to see him again as Naruto and Sakura are.
Finally, in the episode “Reunion,” the new and considerably more villainous Sasuke shows up in full view, with appropriately dramatic framing and lighting. In stark contrast to his behavior the last time he saw his teammates, here Sasuke flatly rejects the bonds he had with them and claims that his only bond is with his brother, setting the tone for his Shippuden arc.
5 Uno Reverse-Carding Orochimaru
Sasuke knows perfectly well that Orochimaru isn’t training him out of the goodness of his heart: he wants a powerful body to steal when his current one wears out. However, Sasuke has brothers to kill and teammates’ hearts to break, so that just won’t do. When Orochimaru tries to take his body, Sasuke turns the jutsu back around on him while telling him exactly how disgusting he finds him..
Though Orochimaru is one of the strongest and smartest Naruto villains, Sasuke is able to not only defeat Orochimaru in his true form, proving himself physically and mentally stronger, but steal his body and his power using his Sharingan. His toying with Kabuto and then bragging to him about how he killed his master is just icing on the cake.
4 Unlocking Kirin
Sasuke never forgot getting pummeled by Itachi while trying to save Naruto from him, and while he hadn’t yet obtained the Mangekyo Sharingan like Itachi told him to, he makes good on his promise from Part I to reach his brother’s level of power his own way, instead of following in his footsteps.
Itachi’s Ameterasu technique is intensely powerful, but Sasuke was working all this time to create a new technique to both counter it and use it to his advantage. The eternal flames bring forth storm clouds, which Sasuke uses to generate Kirin: a jutsu that harnesses real lightning to strike its target in a fraction of a second. If Itachi hadn’t introduced us all to Susano’o, the fight would have been over right there and then.
3 Reconciling With Itachi
Sasuke’s relationship with his older brother is complicated, to say the least. Itachi goes from beloved brother to bitter enemy to tragic fallen hero that must destroy the entire Leaf Village to avenge. In the Shinobi World War arc, he gets to both argue with and team up with his reanimated brother, finally achieving closure with him.
After their tag-team technique defeats Kabuto, Itachi tells Sasuke he doesn’t have to forgive him and that he loves him no matter what he chooses, before dying again. Though Sasuke had just doubled down on his intention to destroy the Leaf, it’s clear Itachi’s last words get to him, and it’s his first step back towards becoming the Leaf’s protector like his brother.
2 Teaming Up Against Every Final Arc Villain
The final arc sees increasingly monumental villains all trying to one-up each other, one right after the other: first the Ten-Tails, then Madara Uchiha, and finally the alien queen Kaguya, because there are aliens in Naruto now. With Sasuke back on the heroes’ side, Team 7 is reunited once again, and can unleash their full power on their opponents.
Over the entirety of Shippuden, both Sasuke and Naruto have mastered and even created devastatingly powerful techniques, from the Rasenshuriken to Susano’o. In these fights, they combine attacks and watch each other’s backs, as if they were never enemies at all.
1 Final Battle With Naruto
This is the moment fans were waiting for from the moment Sasuke first challenged Naruto to fight him: a no-holds-barred, one-on-one fight between the two, this time with both at the absolute height of their power. They fight until sundown, resorting to simple, exhausted punches and kicks when their chakra runs out.
But the image everyone remembers is the end of the fight, with Sasuke and Naruto lying next to one another, each having lost an arm. Sasuke actually smiles genuinely for the first time since Part I as he admits that he’s lost, signifying that he’s finally let go of his hatred and thirst for power, and is ready to move forward with the rest of his life.
