In the world of Naruto, children train from a young age to become powerful shinobi — but this work doesn’t occur in a vacuum. The characters in the Naruto franchise all end up on ninja teams that stay with them into adulthood. According to the rules within the universe, three-man, or in rare cases, four-man squads are optimal.
Three children and one sensei make a unit that train together after Academy graduation. Those official teams created for training aren’t the only ones, though. Some missions require very specific types of shinobi, creating whole character combinations. There are dozens of different teams between Naruto’s manga, movies, and the anime arcs that act as “filler.” Though many manga fans loathe the filler, they do provide for some compelling backstory and team dynamics when unexpected characters are thrown together. While many of the best-known Naruto teams are incredibly strong, some definitely have a better success rate than others.
Updated by Amanda Bruce on November 10, 2021: Given that Naruto is structured around the formation of ninja teams and their growth, there are a huge number of teams featured in the series. Not every team lasts for more than a single episode or arc, but many of them do. All of the Naruto teams have plenty of raw power thanks to their skills and training, but it's the teamwork that can actually make or break a team. If a squad can't get beyond their differences to work together, this ultimately leads to failure.
Team Ebisu
Team Ebisu is the weakest for one simple reason: they are the only one that fans don’t see in action once they’ve achieved some serious skills. Ebisu is the shinobi training this particular team, and he’s got his hands full. Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon are the youngest shinobi in training seen in the early days of the franchise, so they’re certainly rambunctious, especially with Konohamaru idolizing Naruto.
This group of friends played together before they became an official ninja team, so their teamwork is pretty solid. In of power, though, fans don’t know just what they can do until they’ve already gone their separate ways as adults in Boruto.
The Leftover Team
When Tsunade was Hokage, trained shinobi were in short supply. There was always a mission that needed attention, but without chunin (or higher) around to complete it, she was forced to send genin. Her “Leftover Team” consisted of Naruto, Hinata, and Kiba in filler arcs in the anime.
Individually, they were powerful. Naruto had raw power, Hinata had the byakugan, and Kiba had his ninja dog Akamaru to execute complicated moves. Their problem wasn’t in power but in their teamwork. Because Hinata had a crush on Naruto, she would often defer to him, while Kiba was the opposite. Protective of Hinata, he butt heads with Naruto. It made many of their missions a failure.
Amaru’s Escort Team
Though the Naruto movies aren’t considered part of the canon by many fans, they provide some very interesting team-ups. In Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Bonds, a new team was put together to escort a shinobi in training named Amaru. The team consisted of Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata. In theory, this team should have been great since they had all progressed in their training at that point.
Unfortunately, over the course of the mission, Sakura fainted in the face of a beast that fed on souls, unable to hold out against the darkness. Likewise, Hinata ended up captured with the villagers they were supposed to be helping!
Orochimaru Search Team 3
During the Naruto Shippuden anime, the Orochimaru Search Team is born. The team was comprised of three separate units to investigate one of Orochimaru’s bases. Team 3 includes Sakura, Ino, and Hinata, and was led by Shizune.
It’s a rare chance to get to see Shizune out in the field, but this wasn’t a fighting team. Instead, Orochimaru Search Team 3 was made for sealing. Their job was to use their very precise chakra control to seal a three-tailed beast. While the group does involve four women who have immense control of their chakra, they fail at the one task assigned to them on the mission.
The Sound Genin
During Naruto’s chunin exams, Orochimaru hid some of his henchmen in plain sight. In fact, the group from the Hidden Sound Village was comprised of them, and Orochimaru disguised himself as their sensei. Dosu led his teammates Zaku and Kin in the exams, and they all had abilities inspired by sound.
The trio was told to eliminate Sasuke during the exam, but with his power increased thanks to a curse mark, Sasuke nearly destroyed them all. Their arrogance got them into more trouble when Dosu challenged Gaara as well. Gaara destroyed Dosu, effectively ending the team. Zaku and Kin stuck with Orochimaru for a while, though, before ending up as sacrifices for his reincarnation jutsu.
Team Anko
One mission during an anime filler arc had three genin who were usually on separate Naruto teams unite under former exam proctor Anko. It made for one difficult dynamic. Naruto, Shino, and Ino couldn’t be more different in their ninja styles. Ino and Shino had little patience for Naruto’s antics. They were both more focused on the mission at hand, while Naruto was more focused on people they met along the way.
Complicating matters was that the Land of Sea was where Anko last saw her mentor Orochimaru as a child, and he erased a large chunk of her memory. With their team leader losing focus, it’s no wonder this group had a hard time working together.
Team Ino-Shika-Cho
No, this isn’t the Team 10 most fans will readily recognize. Instead, this is a generation older than Shikamaru’s team. This version of the lineup is actually Team 10’s fathers. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio is a tradition in the Hidden Leaf Village. Inoichi, Shikaku, and Choza make up the 15th iteration of the team.
They use their family jutsu — mind possession, shadow possession, and size-changing — just like the other generations do. This team earned their rank because they were responsible for delivering a peace treaty during the Third Shinobi World War. While that mission was successful, when they reunited in the Fourth Shinobi World War, Inoichi and Shikaku lost their lives.
Team 3 (Team Guy)
Despite the enthusiasm of their sensei and their unique abilities, Team Guy just doesn’t rank quite as highly as the other shinobi out of the Hidden Leaf Village. Guy trains Rock Lee to be his own carbon copy, and they are both certainly some of the best hand-to-hand fighters in Naruto. Tenten is a weapons expert; Neji has the Hyuga family byakugan. They all have great strengths.
Both Neji and Tenten are smarter than the average genin they work with, but Lee tends to fixate and miss the bigger picture, much like Naruto. Though the trio learns to work well together, they find that when just a single person is added to their team, their success rate drops. Neji also becomes the only casualty of their generation in the Fourth Shinobi World War.
Team 8 (Team Kurenai)
Shino, Kiba, and Hinata all had very particular skill sets that made it difficult to measure them against the typical fighting shinobi in the franchise. While Shino specialized in insects, Hinata in her byakugan form of sight, and Kiba in animalistic abilities, they were all very different.
Their real power lied in reconnaissance. Of the Naruto squads, this group developed the most excellent tracking skills. Unfortunately, they weren’t often employed in that way. Interestingly, their sensei was a genjutsu type shinobi, specializing in hallucinations. None of her students were, though! Wouldn’t they have benefited from someone who could help their tracking-related abilities instead?
Orochimaru Search Team 2
When the Orochimaru Search Team splits into three, two of the groups are considered “fighting teams.” Team 2 was a fighting team, but one put in place to make sure those on Team 3 didn’t get interrupted from their sealing. Yamato led Tenten, Lee, and Kiba (with Akamaru of course) to fight the of a group of Orochimaru’s followers.
In theory, this is a very strong team. Despite Lee and Tenten not having access to as many jutsu as the others, they’re known for never giving up a fight. Likewise, Kiba has some impressive attacks. Unfortunately, the enemy this team is formed to go up against is able to take them all on simultaneously.
