The Naruto world seems to be in constant conflict, which is why the ninja profession is so vital. There need to be protectors around to save people from others using their abilities for evil. And with so much strength in ninjutsu, there are quite a few ninja that get their morals warped.
However, even though there are so many dark people in their world, there really isn't a justice system in Naruto. The choices for bad guys either seem to be reformation or an early grave. And that reformation system is shaky at best, considering it consists of telling them "don't do bad" and hoping they listen. Then, beating them up if they don't.
Here are 10 Naruto villains that definitely deserved harsher consequences for their actions.
Orochimaru
The snake Sannin has always gotten away with too much evil, and it's something about him that never seems to change. His teammates overlooked his cruelty in war. The third Hokage banished him from the village for his vile experiments on children, but nothing else. This man coerced Sasuke, ended the Hokage's life, caused absolute chaos for his pursuit of immortality.
And by Boruto, they pretend he's just a weird dad scientist who lives outside the village?
But he isn't, he's still cloning and manipulating people, and no one does anything about it.
Orochimaru did not deserve the grace and mercy he's gotten.
Gaara
As a child, Gaara was a slaying machine. After all, his father put a Tailed-Beast in an infant and willingly kept pushing the beast's limits.
While fans understandably feel bad for his childhood, and eventually became proud of the man he turned into, Gaara should have paid penance for his cruelty and the lives ended in his younger years.
Instead, he got gifted the position of Kazekage.
The position probably would've been a natural progression for him, but there needed to be some crime and punishment in between that didn't happen, where Gaara should've learned sympathy, kindness, and reformation.
Kabuto
One question: who thought the kidnapping manipulator was a great choice for orphanage caretaker?
Oh right. Naruto.
While Naruto's kind, forgiving heart is a key part of his personality, it's clear he can be too forgiving. Kabuto should not be in charge of Konoha's orphaned youth. He deserved to be isolated and serving time to earn redemption and a place in the village. Maybe make him a farmer, but not a pseudo-parent.
Team Oboro
These annoying, semi-powerful ninja tried to destroy Naruto and the rest of Team 7 during the Chunin Exams. And later, they happily took a job to beat up a runner so he'd lose a race.
Sure, they weren't the worst villains, but they still caused a lot of trouble, damage, and deliberately hurt people for profit (in a less than honorable way). They deserved worse punishments than just getting beat by Naruto and co. and then going back to their village, sad and defeated.
Karin
A scientist for Orochimaru, Karin helped create some of the worst scientific abominations in ninja history. Orochimaru's labs were some of the most horrific places, sacrificing lives in the name of advancement. Also, she willingly joined the Akatsuki with Sasuke and supported all of his terrorist agenda. She always used her brilliance for less than heroic purposes.
Her dedication to Sasuke, regardless of his allegiances, and delivering Sarada, doesn't really change what she did.
Even though the Naruto world believes in forgiveness or destruction, no real in-between, Karin needed to pay penance for her actions.
Itachi
Despite his good intentions and the manipulation behind his actions, that doesn't change what Itachi did. And, particularly, how he did it. Instead of informing the rest of the village of his clan's dark plans, he took it upon himself to get powerful and slay his family one by one. Worse, he made sure to traumatize his little brother for the rest of his life.
He didn't need to do that. The village could've dealt with the problem as a whole, he could've kept Sasuke by his side and protected him, and grown up with him. Instead, he warped his brother's entire childhood into this revenge fantasy about an injustice that wasn't quite real. His warped mindset, and bad actions as an Akatsuki, deserved worse than slipping away from an illness.
Indra
The first-born son of Hagoromo Otsutsuki, Indra struggled with his humanity. Instead, he leaned into his powers of ninjutsu and the superiority he felt about that. Because of that, though, he didn't become his father's successor, despite being the more powerful brother. It made him bitter and caused a deep rift between him and his brother.
However, his brother, Asura, spent the rest of his life trying to get his brother back and forgive him, no matter how many horrible things he did. Indra deserved to be stopped at any cost, but Asura wouldn't accept that, and it led to Indra turning their feud into a reincarnation cycle that would haunt ninja for years, create the cursed Uchiha clan, and start countless wars.
Sand Village
During the Chunin Exams, the entire Sand Village delegation was only there to help Orochimaru attack Konoha. Even though they made such a brazen assault, there were absolutely no repercussions for their behavior. That includes Gaara nearly beating Rock Lee to his grave.
There exists a Kage council for a reason, and there should have been movements for some serious village reform there. Instead, though, said "beat to a pulp" boy became a young Razekage and only changed his ways because Naruto beat him.
That implies that if Naruto lost, Gaara would've continued snuffing out lives on a whim. And his siblings would've let him. There needed to be something done about that.
Yagura
The Village Hidden in the Mist was a monstrous mess shortly before Naruto, with its absolutely fatal graduation ceremonies. There's no surprise that a system like that created a kid like Yagura, ruthless and power-hungry. However, once his entire village feared him, there should've been a movement to depose the cruel leader.
However, nothing was done. Not until the Akatsuki came for him, for unrelated reasons.
Yagura, an active murderer, deserved to be punished for turning his village into a totalitarian state of fear and corpses. He made Zabuza look cuddly. But without the Akatsuki, he may have never been stopped.
Sasuke
While fans love Sasuke, they have to know that complete forgiveness was not justified. He turned his back on his village for power, hunted down his brother, and became a terrorist and mass murderer. Naruto giving him some full pardon for his crimes is a gross misuse of power and influence.
However, unlike the others on this list, Sasuke did partake in self-isolation and went on his own solo journey of reformation and redemption. He didn't forgive him as quickly as everyone else did, which is refreshing in a world where Kabuto runs an orphanage and Orochimaru is sending his clone sons to Konoha for schooling.