Has Naruto ever actually killed anyone?

Naruto is a protagonist, who not only stays optimistic despite his hardships in life but also seems to believe in the best in people. This might sound strange, as it somewhat goes against his job as a Shinobi, but time and again fans have witnessed him turning his foes into powerful allies.

Note: This article contains spoilers!

He also seems to give credit to the person he became to the people in his past, be it friends or foes, as he admits to Sasuke and himself in their last battle in The Final Valley. As such, the fans have debated for a long time about whether he has actually killed anyone. Here is what they seem to think about the same.

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Did Naruto kill anyone?

The answer to the question of whether he killed anyone, according to the fandom, seems to be no, he has not. Despite being a high level Shinobi, possibly the most powerful one alongside Sasuke, he always seemed to go into battles with the intent to kill. However, it seems that he has not landed a killing blow to anyone yet. Or, to be more specific, he seems not to have killed anyone who was not already dead. Here are the times when he almost killed his opponents but not quite.

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Fight against Yura

Yura, according to the show, was a Sand Shinobi and advisor to the Fifth Kazekage Gaara. At first, he seemed to have been very loyal and a great advisor to the Sand but the fans later found out that he was also a spy of the Akatsuki. When the Akatsuki took Gaara to their hideout, Team 7 along with Granny Chiyo, went to save him with the help of Team 5.

During this, the fans find out that Yura has been turned into a living puppet who looked like Itachi to stall the saviors. In this battle, although fans do witness Naruto killing him with his Big Ball Rasengan, it does not seem to count as killing, as he was already dead during this. The reason is, it takes a living sacrifice for the Jutsu to turn them into the lookalike of the Akatsuki members. So technically, he never killed Yura.

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Fight aginst Kakuzu

When Team 10 went to avenge their Sensei Asuma under Kakashi's supervision against Hidan and Kakuzu, Team 7 arrived just in time to save them from Kakuzu's attack with their acting captain, Yamato. This is when fans first witnessed Naruto's Rasenshuriken, which he used to incapacitate Kakuzu.

Although, at first, it might have seemed like his Rasenshuriken had killed Kakuzu, fans later realized that not to be the case when Kakashi landed the killing blow on Kakuzu with his Chidori. As such, according to the fandom, this too, cannot be counted as Naruto killing him.

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Fight against Pain

During Pain's attack on Konoha, fans witnessed him destroying all six of Pain's bodies in their fight. However, according to fans, this does not seem to count as him killing anyone - as they were already dead and were operating with Nagato's Chakra. This Chakra seemed to be received through the Chakra rods implanted in their bodies. As he never really killed Nagato, the latter chose to sacrifice himself by bringing back everyone he killed after their talk, and therefore this also does not count as him killing anybody.

Naruto seemed to have given the fandom lots of characters and moments that they still seem to cherish to date. Now, with Boruto reaching the heights of popularity, fans are eager to see what new adventure the series takes them to. For more updates on the same, stay tuned here.