Naruto: 7 Characters Who Can Counter Hashirama's Wood Release

Hashirama Senju is one of the few characters in Naruto who is revered as a God amongst shinobi, thanks to his immense skill and power. He wielded Wood Release, a rare and powerful nature transformation Kekkei Genkai that could single-handedly overpower a fully released Tailed Beast. Some ninja would consider Wood Release unbeatable, but there are a few characters who could counter Hashirama's signature ability.

Wood Release can restrain opponents and drain them of their chakra, and Hashirama could create massive wooden constructs with incredible offensive power. All of the Naruto characters who can counter Hashirama's Wood Release are either Kage or Kage-level, and they can either destroy his Wood Release outright or avoid its grasp. Certain characters, can literally disintegrate Hashirama's best Wood Release techniques.

7 Onoki Can Erase Hashirama's Wood Release With Dust Release

Onoki served as the Hidden Stone Village's Third Tsuchikage for decades, and all that battle experience helped him to become one of the strongest ninja in history. He has mastered Earth release, but that would not do much against Hashirama's Wood Release. Fortunately, Onoki is one of the few people in existence who can use Dust Release, an extremely rare and powerful Kekkei Tota that can destroy Wood Release in an instant.

With Dust Release, Onoki can use his chakra to create three-dimensional objects with his hands and then fire them at a target. These objects travel incredibly fast and instantly expand when they reach the target. Anything caught inside these expanded objects are disintegrated on a molecular level. During the Fourth Great Ninja War, Onoki used Dust Release to vaporize Madara's Wood Release. Hashirama's Wood Release might be slightly stronger than Madara's, but Onoki would still be able to disintegrate any wooden justu that Hashirama uses.

6 A, The Third Raikage, Can Blow Past Hashirama's Wood Release With His Lightning Release Chakra Mode

It has been many years since the Third Raikage's death, but he is still regarded as the strongest ninja in the history of the Hidden Cloud Village. He possessed near-superhuman strength, speed, durability, reflexes, and endurance, and he could significantly enhance all these physical traits with Lightning Release Chakra Mode. While in this state, the Third Raikage's body would be enveloped in lightning chakra, which made his body immune to most physical attacks.

The Third Raikage was able to fight a fully released Eight-Tails by himself to a stalemate. In fact, the only wound he sustained was one he accidentally inflicted on himself. He even fought an army of 10,000 ninjas for three days until he died. By focusing his lightning chakra into his hand and fingers, the Third Raikage can cut straight through a Tailed Beast's body like butter. Not only could the Third Raikage ram his way through Hashirama's Wood Release with Lightning Release Chakra Mode, he could cut straight through the wood with his fingers.

5 Obito Can Deal With Wood Release By Using Kamui

Obito became a Kage-level ninja after training with Madara for roughly a year, and it helped that he also awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan during that time. In doing so, Obito gained access to Kamui, a space-time ninjutsu that qualifies as one of the best teleportation abilities in anime. With his left eye, Obito used the short-range version of Kamui to teleport his entire body, or specific body parts, to the Kamui dimension.

This version of Kamui gave Obito a form of intangibility, which means physical attacks simply passed through his body. Thanks to the Hashirama cells in his body, Obito can use Kamui as much as he wants without going blind. Hashirama's Wood Release might be able to restrain someone and drain their chakra, but it needs to physically touch them first. Thanks to Kamui, Obito can phase through any Wood Release jutsu that Hashirama throws at him.

4 Nagato Can Get Rid Of Wood Release With His Rinnegan

Nagato's Rinnegan may have actually belonged to Madara, but he mastered the god-tier ocular Kekkei Genkai nonetheless. With these eyes, Nagato can summon various beasts, absorb ninjutsu, interact with souls, and augment his body with mechanized armor and mechanical weaponry. Thanks to the Deva Path, Nagato could also manipulate the forces of attraction and repulsion.

Hashirama's Wood Release can take down Nagato's summonings with ease, and it is unclear if Nagato can absorb any Wood Release attacks since it is a solid substance that also absorbs chakra. That said, Nagato can use the Asura Path to blow away any wood-based justu with ballistic missiles and energy blasts. With the Deva Path, Nagato can repel and shatter Hashirama's wooden golem and wooden dragon. Nagato destroyed the entire Leaf Village with a single Almighty Push, so he should be able to destroy Hashirama's titanic wooden statue just as easily.

3 Minato Can Counter Wood Release With His Incredible Speed

As the Fourth Hokage, Minato is one of the strongest ninjas that the Hidden Leaf Village has produced, and when he was alive, he was considered the fastest ninja alive. The argument can be made that Minato was the closest character to light speed, and that is because he mastered and improved the Flying Thunder God Technique. This mastery forced other nations to issue flee on sight orders if their ninjas encountered Minato on the field.

Minato would throw dozens of kunai with the Flying Thunder God Technique's formula inscribed on them throughout the battlefield. He could instantly teleport to any of these kunai at any time, and he could apply the formula to any surface by touching it with his hand. If Hashirama were to unleash his entire Wood Release arsenal at Minato, he can just teleport away to avoid all of Hashirama's attacks. If he is fast enough, Minato can teleport behind Hashirama and take him down with a surprise attack.

2 Itachi Uchiha Can Stop Hashirama's Wood Release With Amaterasu And His Susanoo

Hashirama was the only person strong enough to defeat the legendary Madara Uchiha in battle. He was able to defeat Madara's complete Susanoo with a wood golem, and he easily defeated the Nine-Tails while it was merged with Madara's Susanoo. Most Naruto fans assume that Itachi is weaker than Madara, and that he would not stand a chance against Hashirama's Wood Release either, but Itachi's Susanoo was not only stronger than Madara's, it was considered unbeatable.

Itachi's Susanoo wielded the Totsuka Blade, an ethereal sword that can allegedly cut through anything, which means it could cut through any of Hashirama's Wood Release constructs. His Susanoo also carried the Yata Mirror, a mythical shield that could reflect any attack. This mirror alone would be enough to counter all of Hashirama's Wood Release techniques. With enough chakra, Itachi could also use Amaterasu to incinerate any wood created by Hashirama, and Hashirama would not be able to put out Amaterasu's black flames.

1 Kaguya Can Counter Hashirama's Wood Release By Swapping Dimensions

Like other members of the Otsutsuki Clan, Kaguya wielded god-like abilities that under normal circumstances would garauntee her victory. Even if Hashirama summoned a wood golem or his titanic wooden statue, Kaguya could use her All-Killing Ash Bones technique to disintegrate them with her protruding bones. Even Hashirama's incredible healing cannot stop this technique if Kaguya were to land a direct hit on him.

Kaguya wielded the Rinne Sharingan, one of the Naruto franchise's rarest abilities, and it allowed her to use Amenominaka, a space-time ninjutsu that gave her the ability to instantaneously teleport herself and others to other dimensions. By teleporting herself away, she could avoid Hashirama's attacks. If she were to teleport Hashirama too, her volcanic dimension would ignite any wood Hashirama creates, and her graivty dimension would either crush Hashirama's wooden constructs with intense gravity or prevent them from growing.