Summon Animal Rankings

Summon animals (and non-animals) have been around since the beginning of the Naruto series. And what you may have forgotten is that there are many more summon animals than just toads, snakes, and slugs. So today I’ll be ranking the summon animals featured throughout the series.

Unlike my post on which chakra nature is the strongest, in most situations, we can’t really compare summon animal types directly. Instead, I’ll be discussing the abilities, strengths, and weaknesses of each and listing them out from worst to best.

And as one final note before we begin, this list will only cover summons that are animals (including demons and chimeras) that either have more than one entry or are significant enough to include.

That means Tenten‘s weapon summoning doesn’t count, and neither do many of the one-off animal summon’s like Kamatari the weasel, Moguranmaru the mole, and a few of Pain’s summons such as the giant panda.

14. Dogs

Ninja dogs were the very first animals to be summoned in the series, all the way back in episode 17. There have been nine summoned dogs in the series, with eight of them being Kakashi’s summons and one being the two-headed guard dog of Hozuki Castle in Boruto.

Pain also has a multi-headed dog summon, but that one is actually classified as a chimera, not a dog. And the dogs used by the Inuzuka clan aren’t actually summons, so they don’t count either.

Unfortunately, despite being the summon with the longest history in the series, dog summons just aren’t that good compared to other options. While we’ve seen that there can be larger, more unique variations, they’re generally normal dog-sized and don’t have any special abilities beyond tracking.

13. Fish

Fish summons are barely better than dog summons from what we’ve seen. I can think of two notable examples, which are the giant marlin with a sword for its snout and Kisame‘s sharks. There were other fish summons in one of the novels, but I’m sticking to anime series summons for the sake of this ranking.

There are two reasons I rank fish above dogs. The first is that with the giant marlin, we saw that there’s the possibility for giant, unique fish as a summon. The second reason is that they’re generally going to be more dangerous than dogs. For example, sharks.

However, the reason fish are so low on this list is because they require there to be water. If the giant marlin is your summon, you can only really use it in a large body of water — but it’s a powerful summon in that terrain.

Kisame’s sharks are much more versatile because of their smaller size. You probably wouldn’t have a fish summon unless you’re proficient at using water-style jutsu. So as we see Kisame do, you can simply create water and then summon the sharks within it. You wouldn’t be able to create enough water for the giant marlin, though.

12. Birds

I really wanted to put birds higher up on the list, but the more I looked into them, the worse they seemed. There have been a few birds throughout the series. These include Sasuke’s hawk Garuda, Pain’s giant drill-beaked bird, the giant eagle, Fukuemon the owl, and Itachi’s crow.

You’d expect that bird summons would be powerful considering Sasuke, Pain, and Itachi all use them. But the problem with bird summons is that they’re generally just large versions of regular birds. They don’t have any special abilities that make them particularly strong.

But, I still have to put birds above dogs and fish because there is one benefit to using them: Flight. Garuda is the best example of this. While he’s large enough to be used in combat, such as against Danzō, Sasuke generally only summons him when he needs to fly.

11. Bugs

Some people are definitely going to think that bugs should be at the bottom of the list, but they’re actually extremely versatile. Every bug summon we’ve seen in the series is a giant bug, so basically just think of all the amazing things normal bugs can do and then imagine there was a giant version that can do the same thing.

Examples of bug summons are Pain’s giant centipede, Susumebachi’s giant bee, Shino’s giant insect (not the normal insects he controls), and Kidōmaru’s eponymous giant spide Kyodaigumo. I’m not including the slug Katsuyu here with the rest of the bugs because she has additional abilities beyond simple “bug abilities.”

But as you can see, bug summons are very diverse. The giant centipede is basically the bug version of a giant snake; the giant bee is extremely agile, can fly, is venomous, and can trap people in honey; the giant insect can be used to fly like a giant bird; and Kyodaigumo can do everything a spider can, but on a much larger scale.

10. Tortoises

While there’s only one tortoise summon we know of, I think Ningame is significant enough to include on this list. He’s the personal summon of Might Guy and has been in the series for almost as long as Kakashi’s dogs have. Unfortunately, Ningame doesn’t get quite as much screen time as they do.

Ningame is the most difficult summon for me to rank. Part of the reason is that he’s the only tortoise we know of, and part of the reason is that he doesn’t really do all that much. But what we do know about him is that he basically has the highest defense stat of any summon animal.

So why did I place Ningame (and summon tortoises in general) higher than bugs that have much more variety? First, I honestly don’t think any of those bugs could defeat Ningame. The giant centipede could probably come to a draw with him though. Second, unlike the bugs, Ningame is shown to have a personality of his own.

Almost every animal summon can think for itself, but the only ones that we really see acting on their own rather than simply following orders are those with a distinct personality. And the reason this is a benefit is that it allows the summoner and the summoned animal to work in tandem — such as pairing Guy’s monstrous attack with Ningame’s unbreakable defense.

9. Chameleons

Chameleons are the first of what I would call the mid-tier summons. Everything before them is a low-tier summon (though any summon is better than no summon). There have been two chameleon summons in the series, and both were pretty formidable opponents with unique traits.

The first is Shiromari, the personal summon of Kōza Kubisaki. Shiromari is a giant chameleon that can shape-shift into any form. Most notably, it turned itself into an immense castle and ate anyone who ventured inside. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s a pretty powerful summon.

Pain’s giant snake-tailed chameleon is the second chameleon summon. While technically a chimera like the multi-headed dog, I’m including it in the chameleon section due to its primary ability. This summon animal can perfectly blend into its surroundings to effectively become invisible. Its user can also hide within its mouth.

I wouldn’t really say that there’s a downside to using chameleon summons. The only thing to remember is that they’re not exactly the most offensive creatures. Instead, they’re better suited for ambush tactics.

8. Chimeras

There are a decent number of chimera summons throughout Naruto and Boruto. The aforementioned snake-tailed chameleon is technically one, the multi-headed dog is one, and the conch king is one as well. There are also more traditional chimera summons such as the ultimate summoning beast and Nue.

For the purpose of this category, I’m including the multi-headed dog, the ultimate summoning beast, and Nue.

The multi-headed dog is classified as a chimera and not a dog summon because of its hydra-like ability. When one head is destroyed, two new heads grow in its place. The ultimate summoning beast is a man-made creature that can transform into a variety of forms. And Nue is just a nue, which is a traditional Japanese chimera.

While chimeras are often more on the offensive side and have a variety of abilities, their main drawback is that they simply aren’t specialized. As the saying goes, “jack of all trades, master of none.”

7. Demons

Under the umbrella of demons, I’m including any demonic summons. That means there are four or five different summons depending on how you want to classify them. These are the doki, the demonic statue, Rashōmon, possession demons, and the reaper.

The doki are three demons summoned by Tayuya of the Sound Four. Despite being extremely physically strong, the drawback to using the doki is that they have to be controlled by their summoner and don’t have the ability to act on their own.

The demonic statue can only be summoned by someone who possesses the Rinnegan. The statue can then absorb the chakra (life force) of anyone nearby. Rashōmon is a demonic, defensive wall summon that can be layered. It’s unclear whether the demonic statue and Rashōmon can really be considered living things, but whatever.

Demonic possession-type summons were only introduced in Boruto with Enko Onikuma. The Onikuma family has a secret jutsu where they form a pact with a demon that allows the demon to possess their bodies.

Finally, there’s the reaper. It’s unclear whether the reaper should be counted as a true summon, but it does work in a similar fashion to standard summons. Normally, you would form a two-way pact with the being you want to summon beforehand. But with the reaper, everything is done at once.

When you summon the reaper, such as to use the reaper death seal jutsu, you have automatically entered into a pact with it. Regardless of what transpires beyond that point, the reaper will take your soul as payment (which could be seen as the two-way nature of the summoning).

Basically, demonic summons are very powerful, but they also all have fairly severe drawbacks. I don’t recommend using them.

6. Shellfish

If you’re thinking that it’s odd for shellfish to be this high up on the rankings, I completely agree. But they’re actually quite strong. The three shellfish summons we see in the series are Pain’s giant crustacean, the Second Mizukage’s giant clam, and Kandachi’s conch king.

All three have high defense stats like Ningame but also come with other notable abilities. The giant crustacean is the least impressive, only being able to use the wild bubble wave jutsu. The giant clam is able to produce a mist that creates mirages. And the conch king can shoot spikes, use its tongues like whips, and freeze enemies with genjutsu.

Both the giant clam and conch king are why shellfish made it so high on this list. The giant clam was used extremely effectively during the Fourth Great Shinobi War and the conch king even gave Jiraiya trouble.

5. Monkeys

Monkeys are the final mid-tier summons. There have only been two in the series: The Monkey King Enma and Enra. Enma was the personal summon of Hiruzen Sarutobi while Enra is the personal summon of Konohamaru Sarutobi. Saru means monkey in Japanese, which is why the Sarutobi clan has summoning pacts with monkeys.

Originally I wasn’t going to put monkeys this high up, but after some extensive consideration, I think they deserve it. Enra isn’t exactly all that strong, but Enma definitely was considering he’s the leader of the monkeys (similar to the conch king, Manda, and Gamabunta for their respective species).

Enma was able to take down the reanimations of both Hashirama and Tobirama Senju, so he’s pretty strong. The only reason I don’t have monkeys higher up on the list is actually the reason I didn’t think they would be this high to begin with: Their jutsu.

Both Enma and Enra are able to transform into expandable staves that are wielded by their summoners. The reason I don’t like this jutsu that much is because it means the summoner is effectively summoning a weapon as Tenten does. But in staff form, Enma was able to push Kurama out of the Leaf Village, so I guess it’s still a good jutsu.

4. Salamanders

I almost want to put salamanders higher up on this list, but I’ll refrain from doing so. As with tortoises, there’s only one salamander summon in the series, Hanzō’s giant salamander Ibuse. But despite being the only one of his kind (that we saw), Ibuse is strong enough to reach position number four.

Ibuse was able to help Hanzō fight off the Sannin (Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade), Granny Chiyo of the Hidden Sand, and even the original formation of the Akatsuki. While that says a lot about Hanzō’s strength, we can’t ignore Ibuse’s role in those fights.

The primary ability Ibuse has is to expel poisonous gas from its body. Not only does this obscure Hanzō and Ibuse’s movements from sight, but it can also paralyze and outright kill anyone who breathes it in. Ibuse has also been seen burrowing underground and appearing beneath its opponents, eating them.

The reason Ibuse is so high on this list is due to the wide-spread nature of its poisonous gas. Without the right equipment, even an army can do little to stop it.

3. Slugs

As you can tell at this point, slugs, snakes, and toads make up the top three summons. I was hoping this wouldn’t be the case, but these summons really are extremely powerful. The only other summons that can compete with them are salamanders like Ibuse.

Katsuyu is the only slug summon in the series. She has two main abilities: acid spitting and body division. Katsuyu’s acid is a sticky substance that she shoots from her mouth. It’s so potent that it can even disolve rock. However, she doesn’t use this ability all that much, and typically plays a more supportive role.

Her second ability, body division, plays much more into this role. She can break her massive body down into tens or hundreds of thousands of smaller slugs and disperse them throughout the battlefield. Her summoner can then channel their chakra through these smaller slugs to other people.

During the Fourth Great Shinobi War, we see her use this body division in three ways. First, she could be used to heal the allied shinobi. Second, she could be used to share Kurama’s chakra with the allied shinobi. And third, she could gather and share information throughout the battlefield thanks to her small slugs having a shared mind.

Although we never saw this happen, I would also assume that Katsuyu can be used to spread genjutsu over a wider range as well. For example, if someone like Sasuke or Itachi had a pact with her, they could affect anyone Katsuyu is in contact with.

2. Snakes

Snakes are pretty straightforward when it comes to summoning animals. They’re giant and strong. Manda and the later Manda II were the strongest of the giant snakes. Then there’s also the so-called three giant snakes summoned by Orochimaru, Aoda who is Sasuke’s summon, and Garaga who was temporarily Boruto’s summon.

Ignoring the three giant snakes, Manda is basically just the physically strongest snake summon — or at least he was until Sasuke decided to use him as a meat shield. But despite dying from it, Manda’s body withstood the blast from Deidara’s ultimate technique

Aoda isn’t quite as strong as Manda was, but he’s much more agile. He’s also more willing to cooperate with Sasuke, effectively being completely subservient to him.

Garaga is the only one of the giant snakes we’ve seen that actually has a special ability. He’s able to spit venom that can petrify victims (I wish Chouchou was still petrified). Aside from that, he’s basically like a newer version of Manda, which is to say that he’s strong.

The reason the snakes are this high up despite being so simple in their abilities is because of the battles we’ve seen them in. Specifically, Manda was able to hold his ground against both Katsuyu and Gamabunta at the same time.

1. Toads

It probably comes as no surprise that Toads are the best summon animals in Naruto. However, I’d like to point out that the reason for this is likely because we’ve seen the most toads compared to the other summon animals. There have been at least 13 different toads summoned throughout the series.

These include Fukasaku and Shima, Gama, Gamabunta, Gamagorō, Gamahiro, Gamaken (my favorite), Gamakichi, Gamariki, Gamatatsu, Gerotora, Kōsuke, and the giant, fire-breathing toad.

Most toads we’ve seen can use either water-style jutsu, fire-style jutsu, or both. That, combined with their wide variety (similar to bug summons) makes them formidable in battle. There’s basically a toad for every situation.

If you need raw power, Gamabunta is your toad. Want a bit more agility? Then try out Gamahiro. Need some extra defense? Gamaken has a shield. Is genjutsu more your thing? Fukasaku and Shima are experts when it comes to genjutsu. And then there’s the giant, fire-breathing toad that can trap and dissolve anyone who ends up inside it.

Conclusion

How would you rank the various types of animal summons in Naruto? Keep in mind that my rankings are simply based on what we’ve seen in the anime series. I think if we saw at least 13 examples of each type as we do with the toads, then salamanders might be the true strongest. Or perhaps Ibuse is the only powerful salamander.

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Basic Elemental Chakra Natures

In this next installment in my unofficial series on chakra natures, we’re going back to the basics (temporarily). As you should all know by now, there are five basic elemental natures: Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water.

There are also the combinations of these natures: kekkei genkai and kekkei tōta. As well as the Yin, Yang, and Yin-Yang natures which aren’t associated with the basic elements. Today we’re going to ignore all of those and instead focus on the five basic elemental natures pictured below.

And although we’re all familiar with these five natures, did you know that they can actually be upgraded into new natures without being combined? You can have an upgraded Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water nature with far superior properties compared to the original.

There have also only been two confirmed users of these upgraded natures, which are Sasuke Uchiha and Nowaki. We all know Sasuke, but Nowaki was one of the antagonists in the Book of Sunrise arc which takes place during the epilogue of Naruto: Shippūden.

Also, while it’s not entirely clear how these upgraded natures manifest, it’s heavily implied that they’re simply another form of kekkei genkai. The only issue with this is that from what we’ve seen, there are other steps needed before these upgrades can be unlocked, which isn’t generally the case for kekkei genkai chakra natures.

Known Upgraded Chakra Natures

Blaze release is the upgraded version of Fire release which Sasuke can use. Interestingly, Amaterasu is not considered to be a blaze release jutsu — it’s simply the strongest Fire release jutsu. Where the Blaze release comes into play is Sasuke’s ability to manipulate the flames of Amaterasu.

Itachi could also use Amaterasu, but he wasn’t able to manipulate it in the same way Sasuke can, which is part of the reason we know only the manipulation is the Blaze release. The other reason we know this is because of the jutsu name Sasuke uses when he manipulates the flames begins with “Enton” instead of “Katon.”

Now, like I said, these upgraded natures may very well be kekkei genkai, but they aren’t awakened by normal means. Sasuke specifically has to use his Mangekyō Sharingan to use Blaze release. And, what makes this even stranger, is that Blaze release only seems to apply to Amaterasu, which is actually a signature ability of Itachi’s Mangekyō Sharingan, not Sasuke’s.

Maybe my next Naruto series discussion should focus on the evolution of Sasuke’s eyes since that would take way too long to explain here.

Typhoon release is the upgraded version of Wind release which Nowaki uses. Some people think this is a combination of Wind and Water, much like Ice (which would be the same as Wood and Mud both being a Water and Ground combination). However, it doesn’t seem like Water is actually necessary for this nature.

I think those people assume Water is involved because Nowaki is from the Land of Water, but that doesn’t actually matter. The Hidden Leaf Village is located in the Land of Fire, but that doesn’t mean everyone there knows Fire release.

Potential Upgraded Chakra Natures

Then there are the other potential upgraded chakra natures which aren’t confirmed and probably never will be. We don’t know what the upgraded versions of Water and Lightning could be, but I will say that it’s very possible Kakashi’s Purple Lightning jutsu is involved in some way much like Amaterasu is related to Blaze release.

The upgraded Earth release is interesting though. There are actually three possible natures which I think could be the upgraded version of Earth release: Mud, Crystal, and Steel.

Mud release is stated to be a combination of Water and Earth, it may actually simply be the upgraded Earth release. After all, Earth-style users can use mud jutsu anyway, so what’s the point of the nature being distinct if it’s not an upgraded version? Crystal and Steel are also possibilities because they seem to basically be better versions of Earth release.

And, although this article has been focusing on the basic elemental chakra nature upgrades so far, I do want to point out that there may actually be other nature upgrades. While Yin and Yang aren’t elemental natures, they are still considered basic and therefore, logically, could be upgraded.

My guess is that the Dark and Swift releases are the upgraded versions of Yin and Yang respectively. Yin is based on spiritual energy, and Dark release is able to absorb ninjutsu. Meanwhile, Yang is based on physical energy, and Swift release vastly increases the user’s physical speed.

Conclusion

So what are your thoughts on these upgraded chakra natures? Do you think Blaze and Typhoon release are both just single-base nature kekkei genkai? Or do you think there’s more to them considering the fact that Sasuke needs his Mangekyō Sharingan to use his?

Also, what are your thoughts on the potential Earth, Yin, and Yang upgrades? And, could Steel or Crystal be the upgraded Earth? Or does Mud make more sense even though it’s already said to be Earth and Water? How about potential Water and Lightning upgraded natures? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this discussion, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And, if there are any topics related to chakra natures that I haven’t already covered, please tweet them at me.

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Want to see how I ranked all 23 chakra natures on a tier list? Check out the Naruto Chakra Nature Tier List article.

Kekkei Genkai Nature Transformations

Today we’re going to discuss yet another aspect of chakra natures since there’s just so much information about them. Specifically, this article is the companion part to my discussion of the missing kekkei genkai chakra natures. This time we’ll be looking at what I’ve dubbed the “extra” kekkei genkai.

So basically, for this post, I’m going to assume you’ve read at least those two previous posts on chakra natures and have a basic understanding of them and how the chart is laid out. But there are actually natures that aren’t represented on the chakra nature chart as we know it.

In fact, there are currently five kekkei genkai we know of that are left out of this chart. These are Crystal, Dark, Mud, Steel, and Swift release. Crystal release is probably the most well-known of these natures because it was focused on in the Three-Tails capture arc of Naruto: Shippūden.

However, Mud release is actually the nature we know the most about, and is featured in one of the novels. Dark, Steel, and Swift release were featured in movies and make the least amount of sense. But of course, I’ll be discussing them anyway.

Known Chakra Nature Combinations

Of the five extra kekkei genkai, Mud release is the only one which we actually know the base chakra natures for. It’s made by a combination of Water and Earth natures, which is exactly the same as Wood release. So, the reason Mud release isn’t featured on the nature chart is because Wood release is featured in its place.

And, keep in mind, combined chakra natures are kekkei genkai, meaning they’re tied to bloodlines. So just because the First Hokage could use Wood release doesn’t mean he could also use Mud release. He wasn’t a member of the bloodline that possesses that kekkei genkai.

Also, Mud release is the least exciting of the natures I’ll be discussing today because you don’t exactly need the kekkei genkai to use it. Yes, to use true Mud release you do, but if you know both Water and Earth release you can basically create a makeshift Mud release.

Unknown Chakra Nature Combinations

Crystal release is assumed to use the Earth nature as a basic nature, but the fact is that we don’t actually know. It could be the combination of Earth and Lightning, like Explosion release, but it could also be the combination of two other natures since it’s never been confirmed.

There’s also the possibility of Crystal release being an upgraded version of Earth release. I’m not going to get into upgraded chakra natures today, but look forward to a post dedicated to those in the near future (probably next Monday).

But basically, Crystal release can do just about everything Earth release can do, but stronger. It can also do things Earth release can’t do, such as create reflections much like how Haku used his Ice release back at the start of Naruto.

Steel release is another one which likely incorporates Earth release in some way. It could be something like a combination of Earth and Fire, much like Lava release. Unfortunately, we don’t really know anything else about Steel release.

It would have been nice if we met a user of this style during the Stone Village arc of Boruto, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. The Boruto series doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to expand upon these extra kekkei genkai.

But, although I say that, the next episode in Boruto has to do with the Samurai of the Land of Iron. If not the Land of Earth, I would expect a Steel release user to be from the Land of Iron, so maybe it’ll actually happen.

Are These Even Chakra Nature Combinations?

Dark release is where things start getting a bit more interesting. As far as I can tell, it isn’t a combination of any basic elemental chakra natures. Instead, it may be a combination of both Yin and Yang release, or simply an upgraded version of Yin release.

One of the notable jutsu using Dark release involves absorbing ninjutsu into a point on the user’s palm designated by a black diamond symbol. Based on this, Dark release may in fact be a kekkei genkai developed by close relatives of the Ōtsutsuki clan.

We’ve seen Ōtsutsuki clan members able to absorb chakra into their palms — like Momoshiki through the Rinnegan on his palms. We also know that Boruto received a black diamond mark on his own palm after defeating Momoshiki. Could this somehow be related to Dark release?

Probably not considering this is a movie-only chakra nature, but let’s just pretend.

The final extra kekkei genkai is Swift release, which somehow makes even less sense than Dark release. If Dark release is an upgraded version of Yin release, then Swift release is an upgraded version of Yang release. It basically just allows the user to move at insane speeds.

There’s not really anything else to say about that nature. It’s pretty basic, but it also makes no sense because shinobi can already move at crazy speeds. And any teleportation jutsu is essentially just moving at the speed of light, so we already have that as well.

Conclusion

What are your thoughts on these extra kekkei genkai chakra natures? Do you think we’ll ever see them come up in the Boruto series? Let me know in the comments. I have my doubts, but it’s not entirely impossible.

Crystal release was anime-only (so it could come back), and Dark, Swift, and Steel were movie-only. However, although I’ve seen it said that Mud is novel-only, I kind of remember it being mentioned in the anime. I don’t know if we ever saw someone use Mud release, but I feel like it was explained, maybe by Yamato in relation to his Wood release.

If you enjoyed this post, click the like button down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content, including my discussion of upgraded chakra natures.

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