Naruto is often remembered as a story about Naruto, a teenage ninja who was hated throughout his childhood and later became the idol of his entire village.
That perception is misleading. The shinobi world is actually controlled, shaped, and repeatedly broken by characters who lived long enough to bend history itself.
This list ranks the Top 15 oldest characters in the Naruto verse, based on confirmed lore, lifespan, and long-term influence on the shinobi world — not appearance.
Age alone isn’t enough. Every character here left a permanent mark.
Table of Contents
Kaguya Otsutsuki — Over 1,000 Years Old
Kaguya is the origin point of everything in Naruto.
Before villages, before clans, before ninjutsu — there was her. She belonged to an alien clan that brought the chakra tree to Earth and later gave birth to Hagoromo and Hamura.
It was Hagoromo who spread chakra to humanity, but the system itself exists because of Kaguya’s actions.
Every bloodline, every jutsu, and every great war traces back to this single event.
If Naruto has a true beginning, it starts here.
Black Zetsu — Nearly 1,000 Years Old
Black Zetsu is patience weaponised.
Created by Kaguya shortly before her sealing, he spent centuries manipulating shinobi history without ever taking centre stage, all to free her from her shackles.
Madara, Obito, the Fourth Great Ninja War — none of it was a coincidence.
Black Zetsu proves that the longest-lived character doesn’t need brute strength, only time, memory, and precision.
White Zetsu — Over 1,000 Years Old
White Zetsu’s childish behavior hides a horrifying truth.
These beings were once humans from ancient times who were transformed during Kaguya’s original use of the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
They predate every ninja village and represent humanity’s first chakra catastrophe.
White Zetsu isn’t evil by choice — it is the lingering consequence of ancient experimentation.
Gamamaru (Great Toad Sage) — Over 1,000 Years Old
Gamamaru existed during Hagoromo’s era and influenced the prophecy that shaped Naruto’s future.
He is the toad who trained Jiraiya in Sage Mode and prophesied that Jiraiya’s student would either bring peace or plunge the world into destruction.
Unlike other ancient beings, Gamamaru chose restraint over domination. That decision alone separates wisdom from tyranny in the Naruto world.
Hagoromo Otsutsuki (Sage of Six Paths) — Over 1,000 Years Old
Hagoromo spread chakra with the intention of peace through understanding.
Instead, his teachings evolved into ninjutsu and endless warfare.
His ideals outlived him — and arguably failed.
Even after death, his soul intervened, granting chakra to the reincarnations of Indra and Ashura: Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha.
Madara Uchiha — Over 100 Years (Strategic Influence)
Madara didn’t need immortality to influence centuries.
His plans continued long after his physical death.
He was the legendary shinobi who outlived an era and survived battles against the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju.
Few characters understood time as a weapon like Madara.
His age is measured in generations manipulated, not years lived.
Kakuzu — 91 Years Old
Kakuzu is the oldest confirmed human shinobi to remain combat-active.
He fought Hashirama Senju and survived.
Through forbidden jutsu, he replaced vital organs to extend his lifespan. Unlike Orochimaru, Kakuzu didn’t seek knowledge or evolution — only survival and profit.
Ōnoki — Over 79 Years Old
He was one of the very few leaders who personally lived through the First, Second, and Third Great Ninja Wars.
Unlike younger Kage who inherited broken systems, Ōnoki actively helped build and enforce them—then spent decades watching those same systems repeat the same cycle of destruction.
By the time Naruto’s generation arrived, Ōnoki no longer believed in clean solutions—only in damage control.
Orochimaru — 70+ Years Old (Boruto Era)
Orochimaru rejected mortality entirely just for the single purpose of learning every single jutsu in the world for the knowledge.
Through body transfers and human experimentation, he bypassed natural aging.
By the Boruto era, he is no longer merely a villain, but a living archive of forbidden knowledge accumulated over decades.
Hashirama Senju — Over 60 Years Old (At Death)
Hashirama lived long enough to see his dream partially fail.
He founded the shinobi village system with the belief that cooperation would end endless war.
Instead, those villages became more efficient machines for it. Conflicts did not disappear—they became organized, institutionalized, and larger in scale.
Despite being remembered as the God of Shinobi, Hashirama could not outlive human ambition, fear, or rivalry.
Hiruzen Sarutobi — 69 Years Old
Hiruzen ruled across multiple eras. His long life meant long leadership — and long consequences.
He represents the danger of staying in power too long while avoiding decisive action.
Tsunade — 54 Years Old (Shippuden)
Tsunade’s youthful appearance hides a body damaged by decades of medical ninjutsu.
She didn’t escape aging — she delayed it, and the cost was severe.
Chiyo — Over 73 Years Old (At Death)
Chiyo lived through multiple shinobi eras and carried the bitterness of an entire generation shaped by war.
She witnessed the rise of the village system, the escalation of ninja warfare, and the endless cycle of revenge between nations.
Her hatred toward Konoha—and especially toward Tsunade—was not born from malice, but from decades of accumulated loss.
By the end of her life, she recognized that clinging to hatred only prolonged suffering. Her decision to sacrifice herself to save Gaara symbolized something rare in Naruto: an older generation choosing accountability over pride.
Jiraiya — 54 Years Old
Jiraiya survived multiple great ninja wars and trained future legends.
His death symbolically marked the end of an older, brutal shinobi era.
Sasori — 35 Years Old (Chronologically)
Sasori froze his body at a young age, but his mind aged far beyond his appearance.
After losing his parents in war, Sasori rejected the idea that flesh, emotion, and time were worth preserving.
By transforming himself into a living puppet, he attempted to create permanence—something war had denied him from childhood.
Chronologically, Sasori is young. Psychologically, he is ancient.
Who is the oldest character in Naruto?
Kaguya Otsutsuki is the oldest known character, existing for over 1,000 years.
Are Zetsu older than first ninjas and Hagoromo?
yes Zetsu are older than all other ninja except for Hagoromo who came first from Kaguya then she created Zetsus.
Leave a Reply Cancel reply