Best Naruto arcs

35 ELO points separate Pain's Assault (Chapter 403 to 449) from Land of Waves (Chapter 9 to 33) at the top of the Naruto ranking, after 4008 duels.

Chunin Exam (Chapter 34 to 114) claims first place with 1358 ELO points and a 66% win rate across 486 duels, narrowly edging out Pain's Assault (Chapter 403 to 449) by just 5 points. The gap widens below the podium: Pain's Assault leads Land of Waves by 35 ELO points, the sharpest drop in the top 3. At the bottom, Sasuke and Sai (Chapter 282 to 310) struggles with 952 ELO points and a 31% win rate, suggesting this arc fails to resonate with the community. Introduction (Chapter 1 to 8) sits at rank 14 with 1001 ELO points, while Search for Tsunade (Chapter 140 to 173) rounds out the lower tier at rank 13.

This ranking draws from 4008 duels submitted by 85 players across 15 contenders, updated 12 October 2026. Whether you champion the tournament structure of Chunin Exam or the emotional weight of Pain's Assault, your vote shapes how the community ranks these arcs. Head to the Naruto TopList and pick your favorite in a direct comparison.

Updated on October 12, 2026

How this ranking is computed

Every duel won lifts a contender and every loss drops them, by an amount that depends on the opponent's strength: beating the leader is worth more than beating the last. It is an ELO, the same principle as in chess. Duels are not drawn at random — an adaptive entropy sort puts the least predictable match-ups first, which settles the ranking far faster than a full round robin. A worldwide ranking is only published past 30 completed plays. Known limit: a contender who has faced few opponents keeps an approximate score, and the bottom of the table moves more than the podium.

How our rankings are made →