Naruto VS Ichigo

Naruto VS Ichigo
Season	4
Overall Episode	85
Season Episode	14
Air date	November 8th, 2017
Written by	Nick Cramer
Animated by	Luis Cruz Kervin (Assistant)
Episode link	Rooster Teeth YouTube
Episode guide
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“

It's Naruto VS Bleach in our biggest anime fight ever! Two shonen heroes duel to the death. Who will win? Who will die?

„

Naruto VS Ichigo is the 85th episode of DEATH BATTLE!, featuring Naruto Uzumaki from the Naruto series and Ichigo Kurosaki from the Bleach series in a battle between shonen protagonists. Naruto was voiced by Dawn M. Bennett, Ichigo was voiced by Adam Park, and Kurama was voiced by Noel Wiggens.

Interlude

(*Cues: Invader - Jim Johnston*)

Wiz: The Holy Shonen Trinity, the big three. Any long time reader of Shonen Jump will recognize these, some of the biggest titles in manga and anime history.

Boomstick: And it's time for two of those Shonen heroes to throw down.

Wiz: Naruto Uzumaki, ninja prodigy of the Hidden Leaf.

Boomstick: And Ichigo Kurosaki, the enormously powerful Soul Reaper from Bleach. He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.

Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.

Naruto Uzumaki

Wiz: Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, is a pretty quiet town.

Boomstick: Not what I'd expect for a city full of ninja. Still, there was at least one troublemaker among the bunch, the number one knucklehead ninja, Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto: I'm home, everyone! Naruto Uzumaki has returned to the Hidden Leaf Village!

Wiz: Orphaned at a young age and ostracized by his peers, Naruto may have been mischievous, but he had great aspirations. His goal was to become the town's Hokage.

Boomstick: Which is a fancy word for ninja governor.

Wiz: The only way Naruto could reach such a prestigious position was to excel in ninja school.

Boomstick: Like ninja Harry Potter, though he should really find a place that'll teach him not to dress like a clown and run like a real human being. What does he think he is, an airplane?

Wiz: Actually, his posture likely decreases wind resistance, which could be beneficial when moving at superhuman speeds where angular momentum is a smaller factor.

Boomstick: (mocks him), I remember when you ran like that in middle school.

Wiz: Hey, that was for research!

Popup: Naruto failed to graduate from the Academy three times!

Boomstick: Sure, Wiz. Anyway, while Naruto wasn't the best student, he still tried his hardest to reach his goal, but first, he'd have to learn how to control his chakra.

Wiz: In Buddhism and Hinduism ideologies, chakras are, in simplistic terms, gates within the human body which can be opened to achieve enlightenment, but the ninja in Naruto's world had a slightly different interpretation.

Boomstick: I'll say, they weaponized it! Naruto can use chakra for all sorts of flashy attacks, he can heal himself, seal monsters away, walk up walls, or even stand on water like a ninja Jesus.

Wiz: He's learned a number of chakra techniques, or jutsus.

Boomstick: Gesundheit.

Wiz: And even developed a few new ones of his own.

Naruto farts in Kiba's face as the others stare in shock.

Wiz: His signature move is the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Boomstick: Where he can copy and paste himself over and over and over again.

Wiz: Unlike the standard clone technique, shadow clones are tangible, with their own combat capabilities. By dividing his chakra between himself and his clones, it's nearly impossible to distinguish the real Naruto from the fakes.

Popup: Naruto is extremely adept at developing complex shadow clone strategies on the fly!

Boomstick: And he can get pretty tricky when he makes thousands of 'em, but when strategies can't save the day, he can always just beat his opponents down with the Rasengan.

Wiz: By spinning chakra in his hand, Naruto creates a compact ball of energy which can blast through solid stone. While the Rasengan usually takes years to learn, Naruto figured it out after training for just over a week.

Popup: He previously required at least one shadow clone to assist in creating a Rasengan, but has since learned how to form it on his own.

Boomstick: He's invented more Rasengan's than Willy Wonka's invented candies, but his top pick is the Rasenshuriken. By combining the Rasengan with the element of wind, he uses it to turn the spinning ball into a spinning blade, this baby can trap you in a vortex of wind so sharp, it'll mess you up at cellular level.

Wiz: Naruto has plenty of other techniques up his orange sleeves, including summoning, substitution, and transformation jutsus. He can even transform into a, uh... a naked woman.

Boomstick: Oh ho ho ho! Looks like he's been studying! I guess that's one plus side to not having parents, you don't need to worry about anyone walking in on you.

Wiz: While most individuals have chakra, everyone has a limit. The more physical and spiritual energy one possesses, the more chakra they'll have at their disposal.

Boomstick: Just like the gas tank for my chainsaw.

Popup: The Uzumaki clan was famous for their strong chakra, long lifespans, rapid healing abilities, and expertise with sealing abilities.

Wiz: Thanks to his heritage, Naruto already has a great deal of chakra. Even still, he has far more than he reasonably should, all thanks to the beast within.

Boomstick: Yeah, he's got a monster in his stomach.

Wiz: Let's backtrack a few years, on the day of Naruto's birth, his village was attacked by a chakra beast known as the Nine-Tailed Fox, a monster so destructive, a mere swing of its tails could level a mountain. In desperation, the hokage at the time sacrificed himself to split the Nine-Tails in two, sealing one half within his own son, Naruto.

Boomstick: So his first-ever birthday gift to his son was a giant pet fox that can destroy cities? I wish he was my dad.

Wiz: Eventually, Naruto discovered how to communicate with the Nine-Tails.

Boomstick: They didn't get along at first, Foxy would threaten to eat Naruto, Naruto would whack him over the head with a big shrine gate, you know, typical roommate drama. Still, they eventually became friends, and Naruto learned the fox's name was Kurama.

Wiz: Afterward, Kurama willingly shared his chakra with Naruto on a regular basis, and as a being composed of chakra, Kurama's reserves are gigantic.

Boomstick: With so much power at his fingertips, Naruto can enter a bunch of different super forms, first up is Sage Mode, which sounds like something he'd learn from an old wise-man or wizard, right? Nope, he learned it from a frog.

Wiz: This state increases all of Naruto's physical abilities. Furthermore, Sage Mode allows Naruto to perceive the entire area around him and tap into naturally occurring energy via Senjutsu.

Boomstick: He can enhance his chakra attacks by adding natural energy, but if he's not careful, he'll turn into a frog. No, I'm not kidding.

Wiz: With Kurama's chakra, Naruto can enter multiple tailed-beast forms which drastically increase his physical prowess and energy output.

Boomstick: Best of which is the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, flame on! It got even better when he befriended Mr. Fox, upgrading to the stronger, faster, tougher, Kurama Chakra Mode.

Wiz: Chakra mode grants Naruto extra protection, a sense for negative emotions, and the ability to create additional chakra arms.

Popup: He is capable of creating at least nine chakra arms simultaneously.

Boomstick: Whoa! That's a lotta hands! Gotta wonder what kinda things he does with those, right?

Wiz: Overwhelming attacks, extra maneuverability, creating rasenshurikens, the works.

Boomstick: Yeah, that's not what I was-

Naruto creates two small chakra arms on a finger.

Boomstick: AH! Creepy tiny hands!

Wiz: He can also shroud himself in a Nine-Tails sized avatar and use Kurama's ultimate attack, the Tailed Beast Bomb, so destructive, it can level a mountain range.

Popup: Scaling to other Tailed Beasts, the Tailed Beast Bomb's max damage output is five teratons of TNT (5,000,000 MT).

Boomstick: And for his final form, it's spoiler time, pay attention, cause...yeah. Ahem, all this chakra stuff started with an alien named Kaguya, who ate a fruit which basically created chakra. Later, she got all murder happy, so her sons stopped her. One of these sons, the Sage of Six Paths, had his own son named Asura, and Naruto is the reincarnation of him. So, yeah, Naruto's kind of an alien.

Wiz: Through this connection, Naruto was gifted the most divine form of energy, Six Paths chakra, with it, he can enter Six Paths Sage Mode.

Boomstick: His strength gets boosted even more, he can fly, and he can use Truth-Seeking Balls, which are orbs of chakra that can transform into weapons and destroy anything they touch.

Wiz: He can combine all these forms and further add natural energy to his Kurama avatar to form Six Paths Asura Kurama Sage Mode, whew!

Boomstick: Good God, that's a confusing amount of forms. Anyway, Naruto is also an expert in hand to hand combat, and could run faster than the eye could see when he was just twelve years old.

Wiz: He's dodged a lightning speed punch from the Fourth Raikage, a feat considered comparable to his father, who could teleport.

Popup: The speed of a lightning bolt's return stroke is 220,000,000 miles per hour, or 354,055,000 km/h

Boomstick: He even dodged this light speed loogie.

Wiz: According to the fourth data book, this light fang attack does indeed move at light speed, over six hundred seventy million miles per hour.

Boomstick: He's tough enough to survive getting stabbed, have his soul ripped out, or get smacked in the face with a beam that can slice the frickin moon apart.

Wiz: He's fought multiple Tailed Beasts at once, lifted a statue weighing several hundred tons, survived a fall from the clouds, gone toe to toe with invisible limbo shadows, and pulverized six falling meteorites simultaneously. His chakra is so tough, he can power through Amaterasu, a fire jutsu with flames so strong, they burn other flames.

Boomstick: He can even make new eyeballs for blind people, what's up with that? Oh, and in his final fight with rival, and possibly closet boyfriend, Sasuke, their opposing power was so great, they obliterated miles upon miles of land, changing the weather and disintegrating a lake.

Wiz: Only then, after defeating Sasuke, saving the world from Kaguya, and reuniting the split halves of Kurama, Naruto finally achieved his dream, and became Hokage.

Boomstick: But he's still pretty dumb, I mean, he named his son Burrito.

Wiz: Boruto.

Boomstick: Eh, close enough.

Naruto: I'm not gonna run away, I never go back on my word, that's my nindō! My ninja way!

Ichigo Kurosaki

Wiz: Shinigami, it may sound like a foreign word to some, but you all know what it is, the death god, the grim reaper of souls...

Boomstick: And a seventeen year old ginger with a badass sword.

Wiz: Ichigo Kurosaki seemed like a pretty normal kid growing up, doing well in school and learning martial arts from his father, except there was one little oddity: He could see ghosts!

Boomstick: Whoa, it's like the kid from "The Sixth Sense"!

(We see the famous scene from the movie with Ichigo's hair over the boy's head)

Wiz: One day, when he was nine years old, and walking home with his mother, young Ichigo noticed what he thought was a girl about to fall into a river.

Boomstick: So, naturally, he ran over to rescue her, like the brave little kid he was.

Wiz: Except it wasn't really a girl at all, it was a Hollow, a monster spawned from an abandoned human soul, and it promptly killed his mother.

Boomstick: Bummer, reminds me of how I lost my poor Mama Boomstick, (sighs) she always hated that ghost in the barn.

Wiz: Right, well, Ichigo remained ignorant of the truth until years later, when he met a woman named Rukia, who held the illustrious job title of Shinigami, or Soul Reaper, a guardian of the dead who keeps balance in the universe by helping those who have passed move on to the afterlife, otherwise, they turn into violent Hollows.

Popup: "Shinigami" was translated to "Soul Reaper" for most English speaking audiences.

Boomstick: And if you show up late to work, and it doesn't work out, the Soul Reaper can always cut Hollows down with their awesome swords, like samurai Ghostbusters. Anyway, the two of them got into a bind, and Rukia had to share some of her power with Ichigo. Turns out, he was a surprise Soul Reaper all along, convenient.

Wiz: When accessing his Shinigami power, Ichigo leaves his physical body for a new one made up of Reishi, or spiritual matter, which makes him invisible to anyone in the living world, despite still being physically present.

Popup: Reishi is the primary component of all spiritual matter. It makes up all spiritual bodies and naturally exists in the atmosphere like oxygen.

Boomstick: And his new powers make him super deadly, he can move with blinding speed, cut through giant monsters with ease, survive being punched through whole city blocks, and even fly through the air.

Wiz: It's more accurate to say he walks through the air, using naturally occurring Reishi as footholds.

Boomstick: But let's get to the dicey part of his getup, that awesome sword! It's a Zanpakuto, a blade connected to it's owner's soul. It may look like an oversized steak knife, but it's a Soul Reaper's best friend.

Wiz: Every Shinigami possesses a Zanpakuto spirit within themselves, which manifests as their sword, Ichigo's is called Zangetsu, well, both of them are.

Boomstick: Oh, here we go, strap in, cause this shit's about to get crazy.

Wiz: Ichigo actually has two different Zanpakuto spirits, drawn from his weird and confusing heritage.

Boomstick: Alright, so long story short, Ichigo's a Soul Reaper because his dad is too, but he's also part Quincy, which is a human with Reishi powers, because that's what his mom was, but he's also part Hollow, because his mom was possessed by a Hollow called White, and White got passed onto him when he was born, oh, and he's also part Fullbringer, but nobody cares about Fullbringers.

Wiz: One of Ichigo's inner spirits is a manifestation of his Quincy side inherited from his mother, while his other is a fusion of his Shinigami power and the Hollow. Unfortunately, Shinigami and Quincy go together like oil and water.

Popup: The Quincy Zangetsu even limited Ichigo's Shinigami power in an attempt to keep him from fighting. Obviously, that didn't exactly go as planned.

Boomstick: While trying to find a balance between these two sides, Ichigo learned plenty of neat techniques, like his bread and butter attack, the Getsuga Tensho.

Ichigo: Getsuga... TENSHO!

Wiz: By concentrating his Reiatsu, or spiritual pressure through his sword, Ichigo can launch a massive slashing attack.

Popup: Reiatsu is the physical force performed when applying spiritual energy (Reiryoku) to offense or defense. Some Reiatsu pressure auras are so strong, they disintegrate ordinary humans with their mere presence.

Boomstick: Call it like it is, Wiz, it's a sword beam, and Ichigo can charge it up, fire from up close, or even blast two of 'em at once.

Wiz: From his Quincy side, Ichigo has used Blut Vene, a temporary defense which grants inhuman durability. From his Shinigami training, he developed exceptional sword skills and learned Shunpo, or Flash Step, which greatly enhances his speed.

Boomstick: But there's one really big deal we haven't talked about yet.

Ichigo: BANKAI!

Wiz: Over the course of his career, battling Hollows and protecting his friends, Ichigo has obtained many, MANY different super-powered forms, starting with the base Shinigami form, Shikai. Despite essentially being Ichigo's base, this form is strong enough to block an attack from the Sokyoku, said to have power equal to one million Zanpakuto.

Boomstick: The next step was Bankai. Normally it takes ten years to reach this form, but Ichigo did it in just two days, like a boss.

Popup: Ichigo is often praised for how quickly he can learn and adapt to situations and new abilities.

Wiz: When using Bankai, one's power can grow anywhere from five to ten times greater. And according to the official data book, while in Bankai, Ichigo moves like lightning.

Boomstick: Wait, why does his sword shrink when he goes Bankai? Shouldn't it be bigger, since he's stronger?

Wiz: Technically, yes, but Ichigo can control its size to keep it more manageable. If Shinigami couldn't minimize their blades, some would have swords the size of skyscrapers.

Boomstick: Awesome. Anyway, the Hollow inside wanted a piece of the action too, so Ichigo gained a new power boost with a spoopy Hollow Mask! This form is strong enough to lift five iron pillars, each weighing nearly one hundred tons.

Wiz: Though, if he's not careful, the Hollow can take control of his body, sending him into a violent berserker state commonly referred to as Vasto Lorde. Despite the lack of consciousness, Vasto Lorde Ichigo could heal quickly and was strong enough to overcome Ulquiorra, who's powerful enough to nuke a city.

Boomstick: After some quality training with his dad, Ichigo got a sort-of second Bankai, which most people call Dangai Ichigo. In this form, he shattered mountains without even trying, he broke through the Black Coffin attack, which distorts time and space, which sounds like a black hole. Right after that, he survived a shot so freaking big, the explosion could be seen for miles.

Wiz: By comparing this crater to those left by real-life bomb tests, I'd estimate the attack to have a maximum explosive yield of eight hundred fourteen kilotons of TNT. That's like Ichigo surviving fifty-four Little Boys to the face. (Boomstick laughs) No, no no no no no! I meant... I meant the bomb, f-from 1945, not the... oh God.

Boomstick: Well, try as those 'Little Boys' might, all it did to Ichigo was burn his arm, and he didn't even care! This guy isn't the type to give up.

Wiz: For his ultimate attack, Dangai Ichigo literally becomes the Getsuga Tensho itself -I know that's confusing, just roll with it- to summon the incredibly powerful Mugetsu.

Boomstick: Which busted up one of the biggest baddies in the whole series, but it also sacrificed all of Ichigo's powers. Wow, that's a raw deal. But seventeen months later, he managed to get them back with Fullbringer powers, which enhanced his physical abilities, but then he lost those too.

Wiz: It's worth noting that while in Fullbring Shikai, his normal sword swings were as strong as his old Getsuga Tensho.

Boomstick: But he still didn't give up. After training with some top-tier Soul Reapers and eating some food which gave him super Reiatsu, the moment came. In the most epic quenching of all time, an entire sea disintegrated to form his new True Shikai, complete with not one, but two Zangetsu Swords.

Wiz: Finally balancing the Shinigami, the Hollow, and the Quincy within, Ichigo had reached his full potential. He tamed his Vasto Lorde form, merging it with his Quincy side. In this form, he can combine his Getsuga Tensho with one of the strongest Hollow attacks, the Gran Rey Cero.

Boomstick: He also made a trip that normally takes a week in only nine hours and fifteen minutes.

Wiz: And last but not least, he achieved a brand new level of Bankai.

Boomstick: Which was immediately crushed by some old dude who wanted to destroy the universe named... 'ye watch'? 'You watch'? 'Ewok'?

Wiz: Hmm... It's probably inspired by the Hebrew name for God, 'Yahweh', and the katakana ends with a sharp 'kuh', sound so... 'Yuhwach'?

Boomstick: Yeah, wach ya gonna do? Well, we can assume this Bankai worked similar to his old ones, increasing his physical speed and strength along with his Reiatsu tenfold. Even without his Bankai, he still cut moustache man to shreds.

Wiz: And then he lived happily ever after... until his kid became a Soul Reaper.

Boomstick: Yeah, what'd he name him? 'Bitchigo?'

Wiz: What?! No! It's Kazui!

Boomstick: Uh, I might have gotten it mixed up with the other uh, enchilada kid or whatever.

Wiz: Ehh... close enough.

Ichigo: Now I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, substitute Soul Reaper. And I'm combining my powerful spirit energy with this blade in order to protect my friends!

Death Battle

In the middle of a peaceful forest, Naruto Uzumaki is seen meditating under a waterfall as a bird flies by.

(*Cues: Shonen Showdown - Yates)

Ichigo arrives and observes the shinobi behind a tree.

Ichigo: What's that energy? Is that a hollow?

Kurama: Naruto, I sense a presence.

Naruto's unable to hear Kurama's warning as he's fallen asleep during his meditation.

Kurama: Naruto! Wake up!

Naruto opens his eyes and wakes up to see Ichigo ambushing the ninja with his Zangetsu.

FIGHT!

Naruto quickly leaps out of the way as Ichigo slices at him and throws three Kunai at the Soul Reaper. Ichigo takes out a smaller blade from his robe and deflects them. The Hidden-Leaf ninja lands on the ground and can't seem to find his opponent.

Naruto: Woah! He's invisible!

Ichigo lunges straight at Naruto once more, with the Hokage only able to dodge the attack thanks to hearing the Zangetsu blade and starts running forward.

Ichigo: He can't see me? Good...

Ichigo pursues his enemy on foot and launches several projectiles with his spiritual blade. Naruto continues running and avoiding the attacks before hiding behind a tree for cover.

Ichigo: Quit running, coward!

Naruto connects with his inner demon to seek Kurama's advice.

Kurama: Naruto, keep moving! I'll direct you...

Ichigo charges up his blade to launch a Getsuga Tensho. Naruto is barely able to avoid the attack and stumbles, giving the nimble Ichigo a wide opening.

Ichigo: You're dead!

The swordsman seemingly ends the fight early by stabbing Naruto in the back, but the ninja disappears in a puff of smoke leaving behind a bomb, revealing it to be one of Naruto's shadow clones.

Ichigo: How the heck-!?

Before Ichigo can react, the bomb goes off and covers the area in smoke. Multiple Naruto shadow clones ambush Ichigo from the trees with his signature move, the Rasengan.

Naruto (clones): Rasengan!

The clones launch Ichigo in the air, whom Naruto leaps after as he transitions into his Tailed Beast Mode.

Naruto: I see you!

Now able to see his opponent, Naruto meteor smashes Ichigo into the river.

Naruto: Believe it!

As Ichigo recovers from the attack, Naruto creates a massive army of shadow clones.

Ichigo: Bring it on!

Ichigo places the Hollow mask on himself and launches his signature attack.

Ichigo: Getsuga Tensho!

The Substitute Shinigami eliminates a number of Naruto's clones, but still stands face to face with a large group of powerful ninjas. One Naruto leaps at him with a Rasengan that he dodges. Another attacks him using an extended Kurama arm that Ichigo consistently counters. Ichigo manages to take a number of them out with the fast movements of Shunpo.

Naruto: Transform!

One of the clones confuses Ichigo by using the Sexy Technique, but all it does is irritate him.

Ichigo: Really?

Ichigo slices the sexy clone in half, but it proves to be a trap, as three Narutos emerge from the ground to launch three wind attacks.

Naruto: Rasenshuriken!

Ichigo: Bankai!

Ichigo roars as he enters his True Bankai state to counter the wind shurikens. Naruto runs over to see his opponent's new form.

Ichigo: Yo! Not bad, but I'm still gonna beat your ass!

Ichigo launches a Gran Ray Cero at Naruto, which launches him back far. The Hokage stops careening by activating the Kurama avatar state.

Ichigo: Give me a freakin' break...

Ichigo manages to dodge a couple of the Kurama avatar's punches, but eventually is pounded into the ground by the large fox creature. Despite his exhausting and heavy bleeding, he refuses to give in.

Ichigo: Is that the best you can do?

Determined to win, Ichigo enters his Final Getsuga Tensho form. The transformation is powerful enough to send Naruto out of the Kurama avatar state. Ichigo covers the sky in darkness as he unleashes his ultimate attack.

Ichigo: Mugetsu!

The attack obliterates most of the forest and most of Naruto's clones. Naruto, however, doesn't succumb to the darkness.

Naruto: Kurama!

Naruto tanks the attack by entering into his ultimate form, the Tailed Beast Six Path Sage Mode. The shocked Ichigo is reverted back into his human form due to the Mugetsu eating up all his power. Despite being powerless, Ichigo grabs a nearby stick to make one, final stand. However, all is lost for the Substitute Shinigami, as Naruto unleashes his largest attack, the Ultra-Big Ball Rasenshuriken, and then compounds that with a Tailed Beast Bomb. The massive explosion caused by the attack obliterates Ichigo in one fell swoop. Before he dies, Ichigo lets out one final cry:

Ichigo: Screw you...BASTARD!!!

As Ichigo is disintegrated, the explosion is nearly the size of a continent, ensuring the shinobi a well earned victory as he reverts to his normal state and looks at the crater.

Naruto: Phew! Who was that guy?

KO!

Naruto treats himself to a bowl of ramen, but it is stolen by the stretchy arms of another popular Shonen protagonist, much to Naruto's ire. Meanwhile, the explosion that killed Ichigo briefly interrupts the neverending battle between Chuck Norris and Segata Sanshiro.

Results

Boomstick: Damn, even without his powers, Ichigo never gave up. What a badass.

Wiz: Sorry, Bleach fans, I know you all really wanted to win, but unfortunately, this wasn't it.

Boomstick: Naruto had better training, a broader arsenal, and a better healing factor. And Ichigo's invisible ghost body didn't really matter.

Wiz: Shinigami may be invisible, but they're still present in the physical realm and can be touched by normal people. Kurama can locate individuals by simply sensing their emotions and Naruto's even seen his own soul before.

Boomstick: And with Six Paths power, he could see and fight Madara's limbo clones even though they were on a totally separate plain of existence.

Popup: Technically, he couldn't physically "see" Madara's clones, but he could sense their presence and movements to a degree which he could hold a fist fight with them.

Wiz: Also, keep in mind while that chakra and reishi have fairly different uses, they both contain spiritual energy.

Popup: Naruto's Senjutsu and Ichigo's Reishi are also comparable in that they access naturally occurring energy around them.

Boomstick: Let's talk speed. Naruto can dodge light speed attacks and can dodge faster than lightning. A lightning bolt's return stroke is two hundred twenty million miles per hour, about one third the speed of light. Ichigo has also displayed lightning fast speeds and even greater.

Popup: The "return stroke" is the light traveling down a jagged "ladder" of ionized air, creating a flash.

Wiz: Near the end of the series, Ichigo took a trip that should have taken seven days, but instead took nine hours and fifteen minutes.

Boomstick: It's likely Kirinji here was referencing his accomplice's speed, like Ichibei, who can knock his foes two thousand two hundred and forty miles away and appear next to them in a second. Yhwachy guy beat him by going twice as fast, so we'll use that as Ichibei's limit.

Popup: "Ri" is a Japanese unit of measurement. 1 Ri = 2.4 miles or 3.9 km (Not to be confused with Chinese "Li") 1,000 Ri = 2,440 miles or 3,927 km.

Popup: As commander of the Zero Division, Ichibei is likely the strongest Shinigami besides Ichigo.

Wiz: With that, we can get the trip's total distance and conclude Ichigo's top speed is three hundred nineteen million miles per hour. That's massively hypersonic, but not quite light speed.

Popup: Because his friends' lives were at stake, Ichigo was traveling as fast as possible.

Boomstick: Still, there's a difference between travel speed and reaction speed, as Naruto's already shown. Comparing them directly, Naruto's best reaction should clock in at about nine hundred seventy million miles per hour, forty percent faster than light speed and Naruto's travel speed. All right, point for Ichigo!

Wiz: Speed alone wasn't enough though. Especially since Naruto's sage powers gave him superb field awareness, making it difficult for Ichigo to land a fatal blow.

Boomstick: If he could even land something fatal at all.

Wiz: Ichigo has always had a tough time damaging those who have stronger spiritual energy than him. With that said, let's compare his reiatsu to Naruto's chakra.

Boomstick: Bad news is across both of them, the only multiplier we know for sure is Ichigo's times ten Bankai. The times ten is difficult to achieve, but for Ichigo's sake, let's assume he gets the maximum possible boost for every transformation.

Wiz: His other forms likely don't boost his stats this much. For example, when he used his Hollow Mask to barely overpower an Arrancar, the situation and results were comparable to his Shinigami friends releasing their limiters, which gave each of them a boost of times five. However, let's give the benefit of the doubt and apply the maximum times ten increase to all of Ichigo's forms that clearly increased his fighting potential. As well as stack them even though many forms were in separate, unconnected power sets.

Popup: Early fights with Renji imply Shikai is x5 too, as Ichigo's Shikai matched Renji's limiter release.

Popup: Fullbringer dismissed as it is undoubtedly weaker than prior forms. Vasto Lorde dismissed as Merged Hollow uses the same power. Final Getsuga Tensho dismissed as it is an attack.

Popup: Stacking later forms with previous ones despite having little prior connection also negates the limits Quincy-Zangetsu placed on Ichigo for most of his Shinigami career.

Boomstick: For the sake of argument, we're deliberately overestimating Ichigo's power. You'll see why.

Popup: Yhwach alluded that True Shikai equals Dangai, but that is debatable. Stacking them all together may overcompensate, but it assures nothing is left out.

Wiz: So here's our formula! But, where do we start? Ok, Bankai Ichigo with his Hollow Mask was on par with Ulquiorra's first transformation, correct?

Popup: A maximum x10 increase requires training, so this aggregates gains achieved throughout series.

Boomstick: Well... nearly.

Wiz: Ulquiorra states his new form can destroy the city of Las Noches in the hollow world of Hueco Mundo.

Popup: Specifically, Ulquiorra notes that the act of transforming will destroy it because of the form's boosted Reiatsu.

Boomstick: What's that? Like, Mexican hell?

Wiz: Well, there is a wall...

Boomstick: Haha!

Wiz: Las Noches is square in shape and takes three days to walk from a corner to a gate in the center of the wall. So it has a total area of two hundred thousand square miles.

Boomstick: That's bigger than California! And destroying it in one go needs four hundred thousand megatons of TNT.

Wiz: So, plug that into the formula, and there you have it! Ichigo's reiatsu is equal to over four hundred and forty billion megatons of TNT.

Popup: 57 thousand times larger than the entire world's nuclear arsenal combined!

Boomstick: Thankfully, Naruto's chakra level is much easier to figure out.

Wiz: His chakra was once extracted and burst a hole through the hollow moon. He survived the explosion, and it was explicitly said that this was nearly all of his chakra.

Sakura: Most of his chakra has been siphoned off.

(*Cues: Arashi)

Wiz: By measuring the aftermath from both sides, we found the blast to equal at least four hundred eighty billion megatons of TNT. Forty billion more than Ichigo.

Boomstick: And don't forget, we were deliberately overestimating him.

Wiz: Also, this was BASE form Naruto, not including any increases from additional modes, which allowed him to block an attack that cut the moon in half. A force that had to be over twenty-seven trillion megatons. This proves Naruto can both output and survive a blast stronger than Ichigo is capable of.

Popup: Assuming similar dimensions to the real moon, the energy needed to split a hollow version is 115 octillion joules. (1.157e29 J)

Popup: Scaling generously, Mugetsu would be no more than 800 teratons, or 800,000,000 MT.

Boomstick: If you're thinking, "Wait Boomstick, Ichigo survived a black hole in a box!" That move doesn't really work like a black hole.

Popup: Even at 1/3 of its power, Hado #90's essential effect shouldn't change.

Wiz: Plus, the eight hundred fourteen kilotons Fragor blast did hurt him immediately after, so it must have been weaker than that.

Popup: Notice his uniform after the blast. When Ichigo loses power, his clothes are torn off. No, this isn't quoting a porn parody.

Boomstick: "But Wiz, weren't Kaguya and Yh-waka waka planet busters? Don't they scale to them?"

Wiz: Nope! Kaguya's planet busting attack required chakra from nearly the entire Earth's population, not just her own. And while Yhwach's power was pretty OP, he couldn't destroy the world through his own destructive capability. He only planned to manipulate the delicate balance between life and death by stopping the flow of souls. Like a plate spinning on a stick. If one side gets too heavy, the whole thing comes crashing down.

Popup: While the Kaguya and Yhwach victories were complicated, Naruto and Ichigo did not need to be capable of planet busting.

Boomstick: To sum it up: Ichigo had the speed, they both had the guts, and Naruto had the strength, durability, training, and abilities for days. Naruto sure got the Shonen Jump on Ichigo.

Wiz: The winner is Naruto Uzumaki.

Original Track

The track for the fight is "Shonen Showdown" by Brandon Yates. It is a fast-paced heavy rock track featuring shakuhachi in the background. While both of these musical styles have been featured in both series, the rock is more of an homage to Bleach while the shakukachi is for Naruto. This is further emphasized in the climax of the fight, where the bamboo-flutes are louder as Naruto prepares to land the finishing blow.

The track's title is a reference to how Naruto and Ichigo are Shonen Jump protagonists and two-thirds of the "Holy Shonen Trilogy."

The cover image features Ichigo's Zangetsu going through Naruto's Hidden Leaf headband.

Trivia

• The connections between Naruto and Ichigo is that they are both Shonen Jump heroes who are abnormally powerful in their respective universes. In addition, both of them are about the same age (though Naruto is younger than Ichigo before Shippuden). They also have a sealed monster inside of them (Kurama for Naruto and his inner hollow for Ichigo).
  • Both have appeared in multiple Shonen Jump crossover video games together, including Jump Super Stars, Jump Ultimate Stars, J-Stars Victory VS, and Jump Force.
• This is the fourth Anime themed episode, after Zoro VS Erza, Natsu VS Ace and Lucario VS Renamon, and with the next seven being Jotaro VS Kenshiro, Roshi VS Jiraiya, Sasuke VS Hiei, Mob VS Tatsumaki, All Might VS Might Guy, Gray VS Esdeath and Beerus VS Sailor Galaxia.
• This is the 14th company themed episode, after Goomba VS Koopa, Haggar VS Zangief, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Battle Royale, Starscream VS Rainbow Dash, Master Chief VS Doomguy, Zelda VS Peach, Pokémon Battle Royale, Ragna VS Sol Badguy, Beast VS Goliath, Darth Vader VS Doctor Doom, Bowser VS Ganon, Ratchet & Clank VS Jak & Daxter and Meta VS Carolina, and with the next ten being Jotaro VS Kenshiro, Crash VS Spyro, Leon Kennedy VS Frank West, Roshi VS Jiraiya, Mega Man Battle Royale, Wario VS King Dedede, Sasuke VS Hiei, All Might VS Might Guy, Black Canary VS Sindel and The Seven Battle Royale.
• This is the second Death Battle to feature a ninja and a samurai fighting against each other, after Shredder VS Silver Samurai.
• During the KO screen, Luffy from One Piece makes a cameo stealing Naruto’s food. This was most likely done since Luffy is the protagonist from the third Big Three shonen series.
  • Also during the KO screen, Chuck Norris and Segata Sanshiro are seen continuing their eternal fight after they got distracted by Naruto's finishing attack.
• This is the first episode of Death Battle to feature tabs of additional information in the analysis.
• Ichigo's Voice Actor is credited as "Adam Park", but it is heavily implied to be his original voice actor, Johnny Yong Bosch. Not only is Adam Park and the Wikipedia link to frogs a reference to his Power Rangers character, but Johnny Yong Bosch promoted the fight on his twitter page , complimented Ichigo's VO, and retweeted other promotional material. Ben responded to his tweet saying "Thanks! And I know, right? Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think we could’ve found a better actor for the role!" It's likely Bosch may not have been credited to avoid the legal issues surrounding getting him to voice a character that he would legally and contractually not be able to voice.
  • If this were the case, this would be third death battle in which one of the characters is voiced by their official voice actor. The first two being Yang VS Tifa and Meta VS Carolina, respectively.
    • This would also mean that this is first Death Battle which one of the characters is voiced by their official voice actor that isn't a Rooster Teeth character, with the next one being Ultron VS Sigma.
  • Naruto's official voice actress, Maile Flannigan, jokingly responded to Bosch's tweet.
• When analyzing the square miles of Las Noches, Wiz complied that it is 2000 square miles. Whereas on screen it says that it's 217,500 sq and 350,000 sq. km instead.