WARNING: The following contains SPOILERS for Naruto and Boruto.Despite defeating many a villain, Naruto‘s title character directly kills just one person in the entire series. Set in a world of warring ninja nations with otherworldly powers, it’s no surprise that Naruto is one of the more violent Shonen Jump properties, and has included its share of blood, gore and impalement. Despite this, Naruto Uzumaki’s kill count is extremely low. As the lead protagonist and unlikely hero of Konoha, Naruto finds himself at the center of numerous seismic battles on his journey to becoming Hokage, and has been on the receiving end of some fairly brutal attacks himself.
With that said, Shōnen Jump protagonists are rarely portrayed as murderers, more often taking the high ground or showing their enemies mercy, promoting the magazine’s values of kindness and teamwork. The archetypal compassionate anime hero is Goku from Dragon Ball, who more often than not chooses to spare an enemy rather than kill them, much to the annoyance of Vegeta. When villains do bite the dust in Shonen manga and anime, the story usually works around the issue, so the protagonist is not directly responsible for the death. Naruto does exactly that after the fight against Pain, where the exuberant young lead ninja changes the villain’s outlook and prompts Pain to sacrifice himself and revive all his previous victims. Even Kaguya Otsutsuki, the final villain of Naruto, was safely sealed away, rather than destroyed outright.
Naruto, the hero of the story, defeats numerous enemies throughout the story, so it might be a natural assumption that he has plenty of blood on his hands. Despite this notion, Naruto Uzumaki actually has only killed one person – a single Sand Village jonin, who was named Yura. Yura was at first believed to be a trustworthy member of the council, however it later was revealed that he was a secret agent acting on behalf of the Akatsuki. His memory was reactivated on the arrival of Sasori and Deidara in the Hidden sand. After Yura’s espionage comes to an end, Pain transforms him into an Itachi clone. Under the guise of the brother of Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura and Chiyo face off against Yura, who eventually is killed by Naruto’s Giant Rasengan technique. Viewers later see Yura’s corpse, confirming his death.
Naruto Is Directly Responsible for More Than One Death
For a series that actively tries to avoid showing Naruto as a killer, it’s odd that the aspiring Hokage finishes off Yura when bigger, more despicable villains walk away with their lives intact – even if Naruto was under the impression he was fighting Itachi. Perhaps the Akatsuki puppet was considered a minor enough character that Naruto could destroy him without his morals being questioned, or maybe the death was meant to highlight Naruto’s increased maturity after the time-skip since the fight occurs at the very beginning of Naruto Shippuden.
While Yura is the only canon kill under Naruto’s belt, delving into the realm of filler opens up a few additional possibilities. The Hidden Mist ninja Raiga, for example, was sent flying off a cliff by Naruto’s signature jutsu Rasengan. Raiga actually committed suicide while falling, probably realizing the fall would kill him anyway, so Naruto perhaps isn’t entirely responsible for Raiga’s death, even if his daughter did come seeking vengeance years later. Furthermore, Naruto had a hand in the defeat of Urashiki Otsutsuki. This villain travels to the past in a Boruto filler arc to attack Naruto’s younger self. Urashiki was destroyed thanks to the combined efforts of Naruto, Sasuke, Boruto, and Jiraiya, making Naruto jointly responsible for the character’s demise in this non-canon adventure.
Yura’s death is an exception to the unwritten Shonen rule that protagonists shouldn’t be merciless killers. Because of this, there has been some speculation that Yura’s life had already been claimed by Pain’s Shapeshifting jutsu, and Naruto’s big Rasengan merely broke the transformation and left a corpse behind. Although there’s nothing in canon to suggest this is the case, Yura being killed by Pain, rather than Naruto, would allow the title character to maintain his moral superiority by not landing the final blow. Officially, however, Yura is the only character whose death was directly administered by Naruto himself.
Naruto’s Son Boruto Has Actually Never Killed Any People (But Did Kill A God)
Although Naruto’s son Boruto has also never killed any actual people, Boruto has notably used the Odama Rasengan to kill the god Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki, a killing blow that was only set up by Naruto and Sasuke, meaning that it’s included in Naruto Uzumaki’s kill count. Moreover, as Naruto once explained, he doesn’t see Momoshiki as anything resembling a human, not because of Momoshiki’s godly powers, but due to his lack of redeeming qualities. Indeed, before the fated encounter between Momoshiki and Boruto, Momoshiki was singularly focused on doing whatever was necessary to attain godhood and become one of the Naruto franchise’s most powerful villains. Notably, after Boruto kills Momoshiki, the god marks Boruto with the Kama, in effect preserving the spirit of Momoshiki, who explains that he can only die if Boruto dies. Much later, Boruto’s adopted brother Kawaki kills a Momoshiki-possessed Boruto. Kawaki may have permanently killed Momoshiki, but it was Boruto who first dealt the killing blow to the Ōtsutsuki god. That said, considering how death can be fickle in the Naruto/Boruto franchises, it remains to be seen whether or not Momoshiki is truly gone.