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Credit: Naruto
When Naruto originally aired, Zabuza was the most terrifying dude around.
Prior to power cliffing everything into orbit and making the show about actual ninjas, Zabuza represented a silent and cold-blooded killer that could have taken out some pretty high-tier diplomats and warriors.
And to pay homage to the real ninja of the series, we’re considering some fictional battles where he’d face off against different anime characters – just to see how he’d fare.
The title might have tipped you off already, but he loses all of them.
10. Hyakkimaru
Anime: Dororo
I want to start off with Hyakkimaru since he’s my most controversial pick.
Honestly, I just wanted to include him because his rage-out moments are eerily similar to Zabuza’s demise – and I’m a sucker for mirroring characters.
I think Zabuza and Hyakkimaru are pretty even when it comes to strength and speed, with both of them easily blitzing average thugs and warriors, and one-shotting everyone in sight.
And when it comes to special abilities, Zabuza obviously has the leg up, since he has ninjutsu.
However, I think this would actually be his downfall – since he would likely use the mist to get into position to land a fatal blow, completely unaware that Hyakkimaru is blind and can detect him regardless.
Zabuza doesn’t deal with surprises all that well.
So I’d be willing to wager that Hyakkimaru can just slit his throat in this momentary confusion.
But things get dicey if this initial attack doesn’t get the job done.
9. Rein Kashiwagi
Anime: Darwin’s Game
I think this battle would follow a similar path like the last one, but with a slightly higher chance that Rein comes out on top.
Just like in the previous scenario, this fight’s outcome heavily depends on the fact that Zabuza will use his mist to quietly get into position for a kill.
This is when Rein can use her Laplace demon ability and precisely determine both where Zabuza is, and how he’s going to attack.
Once that’s done, it’d be as simple as shooting in the correct place.
Zabuza is pretty fast. But since he barely reacted to that kunai throwing trickery, I think a gun is way above his ability to dodge.
And since he isn’t exactly known for his durability or his healing ability, one solid shot should get the job done.
8. Ryuunosuke Akutagawa
Anime: Bungo Stray Dogs
The only way one can really defeat Ryuunosuke is by either being an immense tank, or by having some city level AoE attacks.
Zabuza unfortunately fails in both of these categories.
Ryuunosuke can cover a vast area with his shadow, and can keep his enemies at a distance by attacking from long range, in a way very similar to Gaara.
And if Zabuza does get close, Ryuunosuke has a shield to fall back on & quickly disengage the fight.
Even if Zabuza uses his mist and somehow gets off his water dragon technique, I’m pretty confident that Ryuunosuke can just tank it with his shield, and then throw spikes in every direction until he inevitably hits Zabuza.
It wouldn’t be an interesting fight to watch.
But it definitely would be a conclusive one.
7. Gauche Adlai
Anime: Black Clover
Gauche uses a pretty similar approach as Ryuunosuke, but to an even better degree.
While the edge lord is throwing shadows around, Gauche can illuminate an entire battlefield with his mirrors, and make Zabuza’s mist completely obsolete.
Or he could even use it against him by creating copies of himself and scattering them around, waiting for Zabuza to take the bait, and then immediately attacking him once he sees one of his doubles is gone.
And if Zabuza gets desperate and uses his water dragon, he’s just going to receive a water dragon right back – just like he did against Kakashi.
Gauche counters Zabuza’s up close and personal fighting style rather heavily. And he would need to be completely off his guard for Zabuza to ever stand a chance at landing a critical hit.
But sucker punches don’t count, so onwards we go!
6. Tomura Shigaraki
Anime: My Hero Academia
I don’t want to bore you with “X is ranged and therefore wins” scenarios, so I came up with a good melee fight here.
No matter who you are, you never want to get close to Shigaraki. He will turn you into dust before you ever realize what’s going on.
And after his powers got buffed, that statement is more valid than ever.
Plus, after his bouts with Gigantomachia, Shigaraki became a proper warrior that can evade attacks for hours on end to wait for his opportunity.
And if Zabuza tries pulling some mist trickery, Shigaraki can always subtly touch the ground and catch Zabuza off guard that way.
Or he could destroy his sword and cut his fighting power in half, while also doing some serious emotional damage.
Even prior to the World buff, Jotarou is pretty stacked.
His immense speed, power, endurance, and technique basically covers all of his bases & makes countering him extremely difficult.
Mist bugging you? Star Platinum can suck it up, as we have seen him do.
Water Dragon coming at you? Star Platinum can punch with such force that he weaponizes the water against you, as we’ve also seen him do.
And let’s just say that breaking a sword in half wouldn’t be much of an issue.
Star Platinum caught bullets. So kunai wouldn’t do much.
And when you have that type of speed, getting caught off guard isn’t much of a threat either.
Zabuza has to come close – and that’s when he gets ora-orad to death.
4. Aoi Toudou
Anime: Jujutsu Kaisen
For this fight I’m not thinking of counters, as much as I’m imagining Toudou wiping the floor with Zabuza.
Let’s face it: when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, there’s a pretty significant difference between these two.
Toudou is basically built like a truck while having the technique of an old master.
And even Zabuza’s sword wouldn’t look all that intimidating to this madlad.
And all of this is not even mentioning Toudou’s powers.
Swapping places might sound like an underwhelming ability, but Todou could use it to dodge any major abilities, escape out of water prisons, or just throw Zabuza off guard by swapping with his sword or something like that.
That is, unless Zabuza has good taste in women, in which case they become BFFs.
3. Garou
Anime: One Punch Man
Garou is basically an Uchiha Lite.
And we all saw what happened the last time Zabuza tried to beat a Wish sharingan.
Sure, Garou can’t exactly copy his water dragon. Nut he can get his fighting style down within seconds.
And once Garou figures Zabuza out, it’s all over, since he beats Zabuza in terms of stats quite heavily.
We’re talking about a dude that can precisely deflect bullets even while heavily injured.
The only way I can see Zabuza winning is if he pulls some Metal Bat shenanigans and relies on Garou’s overconfidence, but I think that’s out of character for him.
2. Hisoka Morow
Anime: Hunter x Hunter (2011)
In a battle between professional killers, I honestly think even Zabuza would be freaked out when facing Hisoka.
Even if we forget about the huge stat gap, I just don’t think Zabuza can pull out a W here.
Hisoka’s use of Bungee Gum has caught many fighters off guard.
And I honestly don’t think that Zabuza would be among the few to catch onto the trick before it’s too late.
Hisoka also kind of counters him, since he can stick one of his hands to his sword and prevent Zabuza from weaving hand-signs.
They’re both rather clever, and both have a clear head on the battleground.
But only Hisoka is crazy enough to cut his own arm off to get a leg up, which is why I think he would definitely outsmart the more tame Zabuza.
1. Lubbock
Anime: Akame ga Kill!
I wanted to end on an assassin vs assassin battle, as I’m a sucker for that type of thing.
Plus I think this would be one of the more interesting fights on this list.
The way I see it playing out, Zabuza would initially have the upper hand, using his mist and his ninjutsu to force Lubbock to be on the defensive and run for his dear life.
However, Lubbock would have a plan of his own at this time.
Before Zabuza can really figure out what’s been going on, Lubbock can use the mist to hide his already hard-to-spot threads, and butt Zabuza’s head off in a second without giving him a chance to block.
We’ve seen Lubbock pull off a similar maneuver against a much tougher opponent.
So I’m pretty sure he could pull it off against Zabuza as well.
