Kakashi Hatake is one of the most interesting and best-written characters in Naruto. His unique journey sets him apart from most other characters. His compounding tragic backstory and distinguished role in Konoha show how much he stands out from other cast members. As the greatest prodigy of his generation, Kakashi was always going to be a strong ninja. However, being given Obito Uchiha’s sharingan changed his life path. Kakashi still manages to become Hokage, but the sharingan was the only single path he could have taken toward that achievement. For most of the time he has it, the sharingan actually makes Kakashi weaker. Though he’s known for it, because he isn’t an Uchiha, Kakashi faces several drawbacks that other characters don’t.

Kakshi having the sharingan is important for several different plot points in his story, but it’s a huge contributor to him being team 7’s teacher. After the Uchiha Massacre, Kakashi was the only person in Konoha who could teach Sasuke Uchiha how to use his eyes. Plus, the sharingan is considered the only way to control the Nine Tailed Fox should it ever break free. Even if Kakashi didn’t have the sharingan, he probably would have been their teacher. Kakashi has worked with several sharingan users in the past, so he’d still be more informed than the average jonin about how they work. His history with Minato Namikaze and status as one of the strongest jonin would have put him forward as Naruto Uzumaki’s teacher, as well.

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Konoha’s Greatest Jonin

Kakashi’s Long List of Titles and Accomplishments

By the beginning of the anime, Kakashi is one of the strongest jonin in Konoha. He only took a year to graduate from the Ninja Academyandbecame a genin at age 6. It took four more years for anyone else in his class to graduate.

Minato Namikaze became Hokage at a very young age, a testament to his abilities. He’s an incredible teacher for any student, and Kakashi became a jonin by age 12. Kakashi’s quick rise through Konoha’s ranks is simply unheard of. The only other character who moves up at a similar rate is Itachi Uchiha. Notably, Kakashi’s promotions came during war, which could have affected the speed at which he was promoted.

Kakashi is infamous for several reasons, including his entry in Kiri’s bingo book. Likely, he’s in many other villages’ books, especially Iwa’s. This notoriety is separate from his accomplishments in Anbu. Anbu act as the village’s black ops, so they aren’t meant to be well known.

Kakashi became an Anbu captain in only a few years. Kakashi also invents an incredibly powerful jutsu, the chidori. Although he can only use it a few times a day due to his low chakra stores, it’s still very fast and useful. Other than his Anbu and jonin promotions, all of these events happened before Kakshi received the sharingan. After getting the eye, he’s known for copying all sorts of techniques and using the sharingan’s other abilities. However, he doesn’t actually need it to be successful.

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The Sharingan Makes Kakashi Weaker

He Alone Faces Certain Drawbacks

One of Kakashi’s epithets is Kakashi of the Sharingan. People are very aware of how well he can use his eyes, but that doesn’t change the fact that they cause problems for him alone. Kakashi doesn’t have an exceptional amount of chakra like most Uchiha do. He passes out in the Land of Waves arc because of his overused chakra; not any injury after all.

While it’s a great asset for winning his fights, the cost of using the sharingan means Kakashi struggles when fighting against multiple powerful opponents alone. Had Haku not been more peaceful and maintained his secrecy, he could have easily killed Kakashi when he rescued Zabuza. Because he isn’t a member of the Uchiha Clan, Kakashi can’t turn the sharingan off. He has to cover it so it isn’t constantly draining his chakra.

The functional loss of his eye at most times isn’t depicted as a big deal, and he would have to deal with that even if he didn’t have the sharingan. Kakashi had already lost his eye before Obito offered his sharingan as a replacement. Still, the fact that Kakashi is left bedridden with very long recoveries often when he uses the Sharingan presents a major problem. Kakashi hasn’t mastered his eye because it’s not something he can use casually. The sharingan can be considered a boon, but it isn’t without major problems for him.

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Kakashi Doesn’t Know Much About the Sharingan

The Uchiha Were Very Secretive

Even if Kakashi had more time to practice with the sharingan, there’s a lot he doesn’t know about the eyes. Like most clans with kekkei genkai, the Uchiha clan keeps many secrets about theirs. Bloodline theft is a very real threat in Naruto, as seen with Hinata Hyuga’s childhood kidnapping. This secrecy makes perfect sense in that light.

In the current day, the Uchiha Massacre wiped out almost every Uchiha who knows about the sharingan, so Kakashi has no one he can currently go to. Before that, Kakashi is shown to have a complicated relationship with the Uchiha clan. Many clan members didn’t want Kakashi to keep the eye, but he was allowed because it was Obito’s dying wish. However, this relationship isn’t conducive to their teaching him how to use his eyes.

• Kakashi doesn’t know much about the mangekyo evolution, so he doesn’t know Rin Nohara’s death evolved his sharingan.
• Itachi is the closest member of the Uchiha clan to Kakashi, as they were on the same Anbu team.
• There’s no reason to believe Kakashi knew about Izanami and Izanagi before.

Kakashi had no reason to know about the mangekyo sharingan, let alone how to awaken it. He doesn’t know anything advanced about the sharingan in general, so he has no basis of what to learn. While Kakashi perfects the basic ninjutsu, copying, and precognitive abilities the eye gives him, that’s his limit. These are all great skills, but none are needed to become a great ninja. The biggest benefit the sharingan gives Kakashi is correcting the issues with the chidori. That’s at the cost of Kakashi slowly losing his vision in that eye, though. Eventually, Kakashi starts to teach himself the kamui, and this lack of information is no longer a problem when he gets the completed mangekyo from Obito.

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Kakashi’s Lost Potential

The White Fang Was as Strong as the Sannin

Sakumo Hatake was known as the White Fang when he was alive. He was on the same level, if not stronger, than the Sannin. Sakumo didn’t have a sharingan or anything of the sort. Because of his small role in the anime, fans don’t know much about how he fought. Many assume Kakashi’s contract with the dog summons is somehow related to his father, but that isn’t confirmed. However, Sakumo is a good gauge of Kakashi’s potential. Considering Kakashi’s ridiculously young age to graduate from the academy, he may have been able to surpass his father easily.

After getting the sharingan, Kakashi’s development centered on it. He took advantage of having the eye to learn as many techniques as possible, both jutsu and other skills. Kakashi could have developed more jutsu independently if he hadn’t had so many to copy. Despite being his student, Kakashi isn’t shown using any of Minato’s techniques. The sharingan became critical for Kakashi to master, and there was no reason not to use it. It’s just a shame that the eye erases any other path he could have taken. For as much strength as the eye brought him, for the majority of Kakashi’s time having a Sharingan, it also comes with some devastating weaknesses.

In the end, Kakashi is a character powerful enough to become Hokage. It’s just that he would have been that strong without the sharingan. By the end of Naruto: Shippuden, Obito gives Kakashi two mangekyo sharingan and the ability to use them like an Uchiha can, so none of the issues they cause him matter anymore. The sharingan limited Kakashi’s potential and gave him the same skillset as several other significant characters in the anime. Despite these hurdles, Kakashi is the pinnacle of what it means to be a ninja.

Naruto

Release Date

2002 – 2006

Showrunner

Masashi Kishimoto