Not enough people give Naruto, credit for its plot twists. Throughout the anime, there have several moments of great foreshadowing which have led to some of the greatest reveals ever seen in anime.
This often took the form of characters betraying each other. It makes sense as shinobi are known for infiltrating and hiding their true intentions from their enemies. These betrayals often had profound impacts on the story and further engaged fans
Updated on July 6, 2022 by Amanda Bruce: Betrayals are just as common in the Naruto franchise as a fight scene that spans multiple episodes. Some of the most beloved characters have betrayed people repeatedly in the series, like Sasuke Uchiha. The greatest betrayals are those that reveal information about the character (as each of Sasuke's do) but also help to move the story along. Without these betrayals, the Naruto story would have been drastically different.
Sasuke Left Karin To Die
By the time Sasuke betrayed Karin, he'd already betrayed his entire village, so it shouldn't have been as shocking to fans as it was. Karin, however, was intensely loyal to Sasuke. There was nothing she wouldn't do for him, even allowing him to bite her to use her healing abilities over and over again.
Sasuke's betrayal demonstrated that, at the time, he placed no value on her life, only on his own ambitions, as he went after Danzo and left her to die after she healed him.
Mizuki Tried To Kill Naruto For A Secret Scroll
One of the earliest betrayals in the series was that of Mizuki. A beloved member of the community, and one of the shinobi responsible for training children, he targeted Naruto after the title protagonist took a secret scroll.
Naruto was a young child at the time, but Mizuki was willing to kill him for the scroll. How quickly he turned on an actual child makes him one of the evilest villains in the Naruto franchise. If Iruka hadn't been there to save Naruto's life, there would have been no story.
The Sand Village Siblings Attack The Hidden Leaf Village
A lot of animosity between teams existed during the Chunin Exams. The hostility between different teenagers, however, wasn't expected to boil over into an attack on the village itself. Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari were siblings from the Village Hidden by the Sand that had their own shinobi team.
The trio attacked the village as a distraction so that their father and Orochimaru could enact their plan. It was a huge surprise to the other students their age. Of course, the trio eventually revealed they were all manipulated by their father, and they become close allies of the Hidden Leaf Village, and Naruto and Shikamaru especially.
Kabuto Revealed To Be Affiliated With Orochimaru
Initially, Kabuto seemed as if he was just another participant in the Chunin Exams. During the exams, he was often friendly and he even helps Team 7 in achieving their scrolls in the second round. However, this was all a façade.
In actuality, Kabuto was working for Orochimaru to gather intel on Sasuke. Later, when Orochimaru and the Sand Village attacked the Hidden Leaf Village, Kabuto used a genjutsu to put everyone to sleep. Kabuto would go on to be one of the most intelligent characters in the Naruto franchise, eventually reforming at the end of Naruto: Shippuden.
Orochimaru Betraying The Hidden Leaf Village
For a time, Orochimaru was a powerful shinobi within the Hidden Leaf. He was the favored pupil of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen, and one of the three legendary Sannin. But Orochimaru always had a sadistic side to him and would experiment on children and prisoners to further increase his power.
Eventually, Hiruzen caught Orochimaru, and he was forced to escape the village. Since all this happened prior to the events of the series, his betrayal was not shocking but it still had a great impact within the show, making him one of Naruto's major villains.
Orochimaru Killing The Fourth Kazekage
It was already odd that the Sand Village decided to side with Orochimaru in betraying Hidden Leaf Village, but the part that makes it even more foolish is when Orochimaru then kills the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa.
Orochimaru’s reasonings for killing Rasa are not clear, but it allowed him to better manipulate the Sand Village during the invasion of the Hidden Leaf Village. The whole event left the Sand Village remorseful for affiliating with Orochimaru and would result in them working closer with the Hidden Leaf.
Sasuke Turning On Orochimaru
During the early events of Shippuden, Sasuke was training under Orochimaru in order to get stronger. Orochimaru was always planning to one day take Sasuke’s body as his own, but before he could formulate a plan to do so, Sasuke killed him and absorbed his powers.
At the time, it was quite shocking to see the main antagonist of the initial series easily undone by Sasuke. This was also one of the first big displays of Sasuke's power within the series. It truly was one of the best betrayals in the anime, setting Sasuke up as a major player in the storyline moving forward.
Nagato Killing Jiraiya
During the Second Shinobi War, Jiraiya spent some time teaching three orphans from the Hidden Rain Village ninjutsu. One of these orphans was a child named Nagato who possessed the legendary Rinnegan.
Despite Jiraiya teaching the orphans to use their abilities for the sake of peace, the brutality of the Third Shinobi War and the death of one of his friends crushed Nagato's belief in peace. Nagato went down a darker path, believing peace could only be achieved through pain. He then took on leadership of the Akatsuki and eventually reunited with Jiraiya when he infiltrated the Hidden Rain Village. It was not a happy reunion, and Nagato ended up killing his former teacher.
Itachi Killing The Uchihas
Due to the budding conflict between the Uchihas and Hidden Leaf Village, Itachi was forced to choose between his clan and his village. In the end, he chose the latter and killed every member of his clan with the exception of Sasuke.
While Itachi was not entirely at fault for his choices, it was still an impactful moment in the series and the catalyst for many of Sasuke’s later actions. Additionally, for the longest time fans believed Itachi was a villain when he was actually one of the most benevolent and likable characters in Naruto.
Obito Revealed To Be Tobi
For a while, one of the greatest mysteries in Naruto: Shippuden was the true identity of Tobi. The hidden leader of the Akatsuki went by the names Tobi and Madara throughout many arcs, until he was shockingly revealed to be Kakashi’s former teammate, Obito. Initially, Obito was believed to be dead after a mission went wrong, but he was saved by White Zetsu and brought to Madara.
After recovering from injuries, Obito went in search of Kakashi and their other teammate Rin. However, when he found them, he witnessed the former being forced to kill the latter. This changed Obito for the worse, and he joined Madara in his goal to use the Infinite Tsukuyomi to create an illusionary world of peace.
Sasuke Betraying Naruto
All was seemingly well when Naruto and Sasuke united to fight against the godlike Kaguya. However, as soon as they defeated her, Sasuke turned on Naruto.
Because Sasuke wanted to become the “True Hokage” where he would be responsible for making all of the decisions for the world, he felt the need to kill Naruto as he was the only person who could subvert his plans. This sudden betrayal would lead to Sasuke and Naruto having one last grand fight.
Black Zetsu Turning On Madara
During the final arcs, it appeared as if Madara would be the final Naruto antagonist. Everything seemed in place for this to be true as Madara had triggered the Infinite Tsukuyomi and essentially became a god.
However, while Madara boasted of his triumph, Black Zetsu stabbed him in the back. Black Zetsu then revealed he was using Madara to revive Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, covering Madara’s whole body and morphing into Kaguya. Kaguya would then become the antagonist of the final battle.
Sasuke Defecting From The Hidden Leaf Village
While Sasuke leaving the Hidden Leaf to join up with Orochimaru was not the most surprising event within the series, it is certainly one of the most emotional and dramatic within the series.
Sasuke leaving resulted in an all-out battle between Naruto and Sasuke, which would heavily impact both of them in the future. To Sasuke, leaving the village was a sign that there was no turning back on his quest for vengeance; to Naruto, it meant he was not strong enough to save those he cared about.