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Earth Style, also known as Doton, is one of the five basic nature alterations of chakra featured in Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto series. Doton-based techniques typically involve the use of the Snake hand seal to manipulate any kind of earthen material.
Earth Style has a wide range of applications, including altering the terrain to trap targets, erecting fortifications to block incoming attacks, and hiding underground to surprise the enemy. Under normal conditions, Earth Style is naturally strong against Water Style but weak against Lightning Style.
This thread will rank the ten best Doton users in the Naruto franchise. The list will only include characters who have demonstrated the actual usage of Earth Style techniques. Keep reading until the very end to find out surprising information that not all fans might be aware of.
The ten greatest Doton users in Naruto, ranked from worst to best
10) Akatsuchi
As an expert Jonin from the Hidden Rock, Akatsuchi is quite skilled with Doton, to the point where the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, appointed him as one of his bodyguards. Akatsuchi's signature jutsu allows him to expel a large rock golem from his mouth.
This technique can be used for both offensive and defensive purposes, as Akatsuchi employed it to tear through a White Zetsu clone as well as to defend himself and Onoki from one of Deidara’s C1 explosives.
9) Kurotsuchi
A Jonin of the Rock Village, Kurotsuchi served as a bodyguard for Onoki and eventually succeeded him as the new Tsuchikage. Kurotsuchi showed a particular knack for elemental ninjutsu, as she can use several nature alterations skillfully.
Using Earth Style, Kurotsuchi can perform the Rock Shelter technique to erect stone domes, as well as a jutsu named Opening Earth Rising Excavation. This technique enables the user to reproduce the power of an erupting volcano to forcefully launch something that was hiding deep underground into the air.
8) Hiruzen Sarutobi
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was an exceptionally gifted shinobi, hailed as “The Professor” for his great proficiency in all fundamental ninja arts. Notably, Hiruzen was one of the very few ninjas who could use all five basic nature alterations.
In terms of Earth Style, Hiruzen was highly adept at using the Mud Wall, a defensive technique allowing him to block most incoming attacks. He could also unleash a stream of Doton powerful enough to counterbalance Tobi’s own elemental moves.
It must be noted that, when he was an old man, Hiruzen's chakra levels deteriorated significantly, which diminished his stamina. In his prime days, he was a much more effective fighter.
7) Jiraiya
Naruto Uzumaki's personal teacher, Jiraiya, was a great shinobi. He became famous as one of the Leaf's Three Legendary Ninjas and was even offered the position of Hokage several times.
Jiraiya was a very versatile ninjutsu user who could use plenty of different techniques. His best and most effective Earth Style jutsu was the Swamp of the Underworld, a technique that traps the target into a muddy, sticky marsh.
By using the Swamp of the Underworld, Jiraiya could immobilize and sink Orochimaru's summoned snakes, as well as capture one of the Six Paths of Pain.
6) Kabuto Yakushi
Kabuto was Orochimaru's right-hand man but chose to seek power for himself, eventually surpassing his former boss. Even before upgrading his skills, Kabuto was a highly capable user of the Earth Style: Hiding Like a Mole jutsu.
This technique allowed Kabuto to travel underground at high speed, sensing whatever was happening on the surface and suddenly popping out to perform surprise attacks. Using this jutsu, Kabuto put great pressure on Tsunade and flawlessly defeated her aide, Shizune.
After injecting himself with Jirobo's DNA, Kabuto gained the latter's Earth Style techniques, among which the Earth Shore Return, which upends the ground for defensive purposes. Due to the superior senjutsu chakra of his White Snake Sage Mode, Kabuto could use Jirobo's techniques for much greater results.
Kabuto should be able to use a senjutsu-amped version of Jirobo's Prison Dome of Magnificent Nothingness. This jutsu traps targets in an earth dome, whose walls self-repair any damage they receive. The captured enemies struggle to free themselves, and the user can absorb their chakra, weakening them. Still, the dome has a weak spot that can be exploited to break through.
5) Kakuzu
A powerful missing-nin who joined Akatsuki, Kakuzu used a kinjutsu to alter his body, turning it into tendrils and gaining five different hearts. Owing to these modifications, he became able to use all five basic nature alterations of chakra.
Among the five elements, Earth Style was undoubtedly Kakuzu's strongest suit. He could perform the Earth Spear to make his body or parts of it as hard as diamond. This enabled him to withstand most attacks without any damage, including a direct hit from Yugito Nii transformed into the Two Tails.
By hardening his fists with the Earth Spear, Kakuzu could also increase the power of his physical strikes, to the point where he could destroy a huge iron door with a single punch. However, due to Raiton's elemental advantage over Doton, any sufficiently powerful Lightning Style jutsu would overcome Kakuzu's Earth Spear.
4) Mu
Mu was proficient in using the Light-Weight Rock Technique, a unique jutsu that allowed him to make his body light enough to hover in the air and fly freely. Using it in conjunction with his Dustless Bewildering Technique and Particle Style, Mu was able to overwhelm most ninjas.
Although he didn't display the usage of other Earth Style techniques, Mu can easily be regarded as a highly-specialized practitioner of this element, given his role as the Second Tsuchikage as well as his past as Onoki's teacher.
3) Kitsuchi
One of the strongest fighters within the Rock Village's ranks, Kitsuchi can cast Earth Style techniques of almost unrivaled scale and potency. His mightiest jutsu is the Earth Sandwich, which raises two gargantuan rock constructs and then uses them to brutally crush anything caught in between.
While the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path overpowered the Earth Sandwich rather easily, it's still impressive that the size of the rocks that Kitsuchi generated dwarfed even that of the gigantic monster. Kitsuchi also used the same jutsu against the revived Ten Tails, toppling its balance for a moment.
Kitsuchi's repertoire includes several other Doton-based techniques, such as the Opening Earth Rising Excavation, to expose any foe that was traveling underground, and the Moving Earth Core, to alter the terrain at will. He can also perform the Fist Rock Technique to cover his hand in extremely hard stone, increasing the damage output of his punches.
2) Onoki
Very few Naruto characters are as good with Earth Style as Third Tsuchikage Onoki. His prowess was substantial, as he could cast a plethora of different Doton-based moves, all of them with impressive mastery, starting with the deceptive and highly versatile Rock Clone Technique.
Onoki was exceptionally skilled at using Earth Style to increase or decrease the weight of any target he touched. By weighing someone down, Onoki could restrict the target's movements or even totally immobilize him. By using the jutsu on himself, the Tsuchikage could lighten himself enough to fly at high speeds.
He could also lighten enormous objects to lift and move them around with ease. Using the Fist Rock Technique to cover his hand in tough rock, Onoki could punch through sturdy defenses despite his lack of physical might.
Another ace up Onoki's sleeve was the Golem Jutsu, which enabled him to create enormous humanoids made of extremely durable stone. This technique granted Onoki incredible defensive effectiveness against most strikes, except for high-level Lightning Style attacks.
1) Kakashi Hatake
A talented genius since childhood, Kakashi eventually became one of the most powerful ninjas that the Leaf Village ever produced. It’s hardly surprising that he is one of the very few Naruto characters capable of using all nature and shape alterations of chakra.
Kakashi’s elemental specialty is Lightning Style, of which he is an absolute master. However, he is also a remarkably proficient Earth Style user. He has exceptional skill with the Hiding Like a Mole jutsu, as he can hide himself underground and perform sudden sneak attacks better than any other shinobi.
Masterfully using this basic jutsu, Kakashi could move with such finesse to flank opponents of the caliber of Itachi, a Sharingan user, and even Pain, a Rinnegan user. When Kakashi had his own Sharingan, he could also copy any Earth Style jutsu and cast it as if it was his own technique.
What makes Kakashi’s Earth Style mastery unparalleled is the fact that he is the only Naruto character whose Doton techniques can negate the element’s inherent weakness to Lightning Style. An expert user of the Mud Wall, Kakashi eventually took this defensive jutsu to the highest level.
After becoming the Sixth Hokage, Kakashi evolved his Earth Style into quartz, a material that doesn't conduct electricity. As such, Kakashi can perform an improved Mud Wall that is immune to Lightning Release, is large enough to cover an entire village, and can be held for more than 24 consecutive hours, during which it can be immediately repaired if necessary.
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