Like seriously – people seem to think that he’s literally a god, or that he’s fodder just like his partner. No inbetween. Well I’m probably going to piss off both sides with this ranking, as I pit Kakuzu against other anime characters in hypothetical battles – and I’m confidently stating that he would probably lose all of these. Prepare for lots of head cannon.
10. Daki and Gyuutarou
Anime: Demon Slayer Yep, this battle would heavily depend on head cannon. Also I’m counting Daki & Gyuutarou as one character, since you have to kill both to win. So putting just one of them on here would seem a bit weird. So, what do they have going for them when facing Kakuzu? Since Kakuzu has five hearts, an organ whose entire function is to pump blood, I’m going to assume that he must have some type of blood circulating in that puppet body. This of course puts him in quite the pickle – because Gyuutarou’s poison could theoretically shut his body down. Plus, unlike physical damage, the only way Kakuzu can actually get rid of the poison is to drop the affected body part. So his multiple heart revive tactic might not work as well here as it did in the anime. Furthermore, Kakuzu’s own damage (at least if we’re talking about his masks) is usually AoE, and relies more on destructive power than a concise strike. That’s important because it lowers the odds of him cutting the heads off the upper six quite a bit. I mean, they got hit with plenty of bombs that were even specifically designed to hurt demons, and they basically took no damage. So widespread elemental damage probably wouldn’t kill them either.
9. Asta
Anime: Black Clover In this match-up, the head cannon mostly concerns what his puppets are actually made of. My guess is they have to be chock full of chakra to be controlled. which means that Asta could probably just whack them once and completely destroy them. That being the case, Kakuzu would either have to quickly pull them all back in, or face Asta with no spare lives and no bonus AoE. If he does suck them up, Asta would have to enter his demon form. But I still do think he could win. We’ve seen Kakuzu’s tendrils get cut, so Asta’s sword should be able to get through them as well. In fact, it should even completely immobilize the limb they were attached to, since it is anti-magic. And when it comes down to just a proper one vs one, I think they’re both extremely good fighters – but since Asta can counter most of Kakuzu’s abilities, he would have the leg up here. I mean, he would still have his swords and demon amps.
8. Isaac Netero
Anime: Hunter x Hunter (2011) Isaac vs Kakuzu is one of the few match-ups that doesn’t rely on counters so much, as opposed to just a stat difference. Yes, Kakuzu is both incredibly fast and incredibly durable. But I don’t think he could actually tank Netero going all out. First off, his masks would serve very little utility, as Isaac’s Bodhisattva can strike such a wide area so quickly that I think Kakuzu and his four masks would be constantly staggered – and he wouldn’t have the time to actually fire off any spells. Plus, this unrelenting offense would also mean that if Kakuzu’s main body died, he wouldn’t have the time to summon one of his masks to revive him with the extra heart. Even his threads wouldn’t be that useful, as their range has been shown to be way shorter than that of the Boddhisatva. And if all else fails, he can at least make it a draw by blowing himself up. We already know from Meruem that this blast damages you on a molecular level, just like the Rasengan, so it should spell Kakuzu’s demise.
7. Satoru Gojou
Anime: Jujutsu Kaisen Jujutsu Kaisen characters in general would be quite good at battling Kakuzu – since they could easily detect that he has multiple hearts, and even where those hearts are. Sure, Kakuzu can move them around. But at least he won’t have that shock factor of “Oh we beat him!” proceeds to gets killed Since Kakuzu isn’t exactly a pushover when it comes to battle prowess, we need the best of the best to take him down. Enter Gojou. In terms of durability, Gojou actually out-scales Kakuzu, since you only need one heart when your enemy literally can’t even touch you. Especially when this enemy usually relies on taijutsu quite a bit to win. And while Kakuzu does have a bit more destructive power (with his fire blasts being at least small town level destructive), Gojou is also pretty competent with his haze Purple. So the gap isn’t too large. When it comes to speed, I think that Kakuzu does lose overall, since Gojou is so quick that he basically teleports in and out of a fight. This wouldn’t be a quick fight. But I think Gojou would win in the end.
6. Ryūko Matoi
Anime: Kill la Kill I already know this is going to piss some people off, but hear me out. Kakuzu is made up of threads, and Ryūko’s entire battle experience has consisted of cutting and absorbing threads. And if we also give her the full scissors, she should be able to just chop Kakuzu up like it was nothing. It might sound stupid, given that most people only remember Kill la Kill for the fanservice and Mako. But Ryuuko has showcased way more impressive feats than Kakuzu. She can basically cut an entire building in half without any amps. And by the end of the series she became fast enough to quickly go into space to continue a battle. Plus, her healing abilities and tenacity are nothing to scoff at either. She has been punched through more buildings than I’m willing to count. And she can even survive someone pulling out her heart, which is sure to impress mister Jar of Hearts Kakuzu.
5. Tatsumaki
Anime: One Punch Man One of the hardest abilities to counter in a battle is telekinesis. Because like, what are you legitimately going to do when someone can just yeet you into the Sun if they truly feel like it? Not to mention the fact that Tatsumaki can just block all of Kakuzu’s elemental damage and simply fly away if he even tries to get close to her. If all of that isn’t convincing enough, just remember that she shares a power feat with literal Madara –they can both just yank asteroids out of space and have them plummet onto their enemies. But if even that can’t convince you of the Tatsumaki supremacy, you’re too far gone in the Kakuzu fan-club. Just mentally substitute this spot with Saitama if it’ll make you feel better.
4. Pain
Anime: Naruto: Shippuden In a similar vein to the last pick, if you actually think that Kakuzu beats the Six Paths of Pain, we’re going to have to exchange some virtual hands. In terms of feats, it’s enough to point out that Kakuzu was going even with Kakashi for the most part – while Pain literally offed him with a nail. And in terms of their actual jutsu, it’s just as bleak. Kakuzu’s elemental attacks mean next to nothing when the opponent can absorb all of the chakra coming their way. And his safety in numbers isn’t as safe when there are six enemies that can also summon pretty durable minions as well. All of the Paths have shared vision, so no odds of any type of surprise attack. And considering a Shinra Tensei wiped out an entire village, Pain definitely wins when it comes to raw destructive power. There are more points to make on this matchup – but at the end of the day, Pain was the face of the Akatsuki for a reason.
3. Rimuru Tempest
Anime: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Although I haven’t brought it up until now, I’m aware of the fact that Kakuzu is one of the smarter characters in the Naruto verse – even being able to predict some of Shikamaru’s tactics. However, that means nothing when you’re facing a literal super-computer powered slime machine of destruction. Kakuzu’s multiple hearts and revive techniques would probably get picked up and analyzed by Raphael within thirty seconds. So there would be no realistic chance of Kakuzu pulling a fast one on Rimuru and landing any sneak attacks. In terms of Kakuzu’s masks, I’m pretty sure that Rimuru could devour them whole with Beelzebub, both ridding Kakuzu of one of his lives and giving Rimuru a nice pick-me-up mid battle. In terms of endurance, Rimuru wins by a long shot. You have to be at least a continental threat if you want this slime to even flinch at your attacks. And since Rimuru is capable of destroying entire armies just by flexing on them, the destructive power category also goes to them. Rimuru even has some elementals of their own that they could summon, once and for all proving that they’re just a more advanced form of Kakuzu.
2. Sinbad
Anime: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic When it comes to Sinbad, he can kind of outperform Kakuzu is every way on offensive feats. Sure, Kakuzu can blow up an entire forest with his fire blast. But Baal is capable of blowing up an entire mountain range just to prove a point. And while one wouldn’t think that Kakuzu would lose in a fist-fight, being that he’s a skilled ninja/bounty hunter and all that… but through the power of Valefor, Sinbad can nerf Kakuzu’s reaction and movement speed – and therefore make him way easier to deal with. And this is without even mentioning the fact that Sinbad can simply fly and outmaneuver Kakuzu while pelting him with spells – and that through Focalor he can swipe up all of his mask elementals and yeet them far, far away. Also, don’t forget that pesky little Zepar and his ability to brainwash you! No matter how you spin it, Sinbad can turn the tides of the battle in his favor. So even though his tenacity is nowhere near Kakuzu’s, he would still emerge victorious.
1. Meliodas
Anime: The Seven Deadly Sins This fight seems like the most appropriate way to end this list, since Meliodas pretty much out-Kakuzus Kakuzu. Not only is he immortal, but he actually has seven hearts in total. Eat your hearts out you five heart bastard! OK jokes aside, in terms of physical power and battle prowess, Meliodas also out-scales Kakuzu in every conceivable way. His mere temper tantrum was strong enough to blow up an entire city. He spent a thousand years getting tortured in hell, and he’s quick to seemingly start teleporting all over the battlefield. Plus, his ability to create clones would prove useful in case Kakuzu decided to split his masks off – since he couldn’t gang up on him. And don’t even get me started on Full Counter and how absolutely busted that ability would be in this fight. Kakuzu would probably beat season one surpressed Meliodas. But anything from the later seasons is far beyond Kakuzu’s pay grade – and he would get absolutely bodied within a minute or so.
