Who Would Win In A Fight Between Goku And Naruto?
Dragon Ball and Naruto are two of the biggest franchises in anime history. These action-packed shows were both originally published as manga in Japan's Shonen Jump publication before receiving their own anime adaptations, which would only increase their already-tremendous popularity; over the years, both series became household names for people all over the world. Both series are primarily focused on combat. The main characters — Son Goku in Dragon Ball and Naruto Uzamaki in Naruto — both share the goal of becoming stronger in order to test their mettle and protect their homes from increasingly dangerous threats. Needless to say, after innumerable fights and training sessions, both Goku and Naruto find themselves wielding incredible amounts of superhuman and supernatural power.
Understandably, when two characters occupying the same genre reach similar levels of popularity, fans of both franchises find themselves comparing them, making the question "Who would win in a fight two?" an obvious and entertaining idea to ponder. Obviously, neither character has interacted with the other in any capacity within their respective canons, so the answer to this question will always be speculative. However, comparing both characters' abilities and achievements can give fans a fairly good idea of who would come out on top.
Goku's Abilities
As the granddaddy of all action anime heroes, Goku holds a time-honored spot as one of anime's most powerful characters. With more than 30 years of near-continuous publication and 5 separate anime under his belt, Goku has had plenty of time to get stronger, and he hasn't wasted a single second of it. The Saiyan warrior's superhuman strength, speed, and reactions are basically everyday abilities. He can fly, fire planet-destroying laser beams from his hands, and teleport with almost no strain on his body.
Goku's abilities are only enhanced by his myriad of transformations. Most of these transformations, like his Super Saiyan form, only multiply Goku's existing power levels and do not grant Goku new powers. However, an exception to this transformation rule is Goku's most recent form, Ultra Instinct, his most powerful form (via Comic Book Resources). In Ultra Instinct mode, Goku is not only more powerful, but his movements are completely automatic. He requires little-to-no conscious thought to defend himself, and can therefore focus on doing damage while remaining untouched by his enemies.
These abilities and transformations put Goku on a similar level of power to some of the strongest characters in the Dragon Ball multiverse, including the highest-ranking gods that govern the mortal world. Even characters like Whis and Beerus, gods who possess powers that far outweigh Goku's, are impressed by his tenacity and strength. They even agree to train Goku with the expectation that he could become as powerful as they are one day.
Naruto's Abilities
Similarly to Goku, Naruto reaches an extremely high level of power through myriad techniques and transformations. As a ninja, Naruto has the ability to control the natural energies in his body, known as chakra, to augment his natural skills and perform various spells known as jutsu. These attacks form the cornerstone of Naruto's fighting style, and they are greatly enhanced by Naruto's many natural abilities and transformations.
Naruto naturally possesses a greater amount of chakra in his body than the grand majority of other ninja, and the demon fox spirit trapped in his body only adds to this supply. The various tiers of his Sage Mode transformation enhances these abilities on top of adding more techniques to Naruto's laundry list of superpowers. Taking everything into account, Naruto can augment his Rasengan with elemental powers, summon armies of clones, fly, change his appearance, walk up walls, heal himself, summon giant talking frogs, spawn multiple arms composed entirely of chakra and much, much more.
These abilities not only make Naruto a powerhouse in his own right, but they make him incredibly adaptable in many situations. Per ComicBook.com, he's able to completely outmatch an opponent in order to control the fight and avoid collateral damage. His extensive list of skills and knowledge has allowed him to stand up to history's greatest ninja, and even seal away the godlike entities who brought chakra down to earth in the first place (via Screen Rant). There are only a handful of other characters who could even compare.
Goku is the Winner
Unfortunately, even these impressive achievements struggle to put Naruto on the same level as Goku. His versatility and skill potentially make Naruto a better strategist than Goku, but his tactics are beaten out by raw power; after all, Goku is a Saiyan. Dragon Ball fights tend to occur on the planetary scale, meaning that the characters in question could blow up the very world they're fighting on without much effort at all. Conversely, Naruto characters have never displayed this level of power. Theoretically, Goku could destroy entire solar systems and galaxies if he wanted to. As flexible and impressive as Naruto's powers are, they simply can't stack up to Goku's level of strength. Naruto can summon as many clones as he likes, but it only takes a snap of Goku's fingers to reduce Naruto and the planet he is standing on to space dust. In the end, Goku walks away with the victory for nothing but his overwhelming level of power.