Slayed by Sunset: Shanks Vs. Minato Namikaze - Feats and Scaling

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Feats

Shanks

Overall

  • Survived the God Valley Incident and living with the Roger Pirates as a child
  • Became an apprentice pirate at just 9 years old, assisting the crew for 5 years
  • Fought in the Edd War, where the Roger Pirates fought back against the legendary Golden Lion Pirates' fleet
  • Reached and survived Skypiea, which is about 6.2 miles above sea level
  • Formed the legendary Red Haired Pirates, leading them for 22 years
  • Dueled Dracule Mihawk in legendary battles
  • Decieved the World Government to reclaim his birthright (before ditching that BS)
    • Considered skilled-enough to be a Devoted Blade, and eventually a Knight of God
  • Called the "Child of Fate" by Scopper Gaban, Gol D. Roger's Second Division Commander (sounds familiar...)
  • Aided in slaying the giant King Harald, even while he was given supernatural powers and immortality via Imu - the World Government's secret ruler - possessing him
  • Raided a CP9 ship to steal the Rubber-Rubber fruit, setting the events of One Piece into motion
  • Saved Luffy from the Lord of the Coast, scaring it away with a glare
  • Inspired Luffy to become a pirate, who would become the "Warrior of Liberation"
  • Became one of the Four Emperors
  • Stopped the titanic Kaidou from reaching Marineford (See Scaling)
  • Saved Luffy (again) and Koby from Akainu
  • Seemingly scared-off a bleeding Blackbeard
    • The Five Bums Elders believed only the Four Emperors and maybe remnants of Whitebeard's crew could take down Blackbeard
      • Said remnants were later "crushed" by the Blackbeard Pirates after an intense battle
  • Ended the Paramount War
  • Kaidou considers him one of 5 individuals (later 6) who can fight him
    • He only considered Luffy for this tier after being prompted to unleash his even larger Hybrid Dragon form while drunk (that somehow enhances his abilities even further)
  • Made Greenbull halt his assault on Wano Country
    • "Fist of the Sea" Jinbe - a former Warlord of the Sea - and Luffy considered the insuing Haki "monstrous" (See Scaling)
      • "Black Leg" Vinsmoke Sanji - Luffy's 2nd Division Commander - didn't dispute the claim
  • Defeated Captain Eustass Kid and his First Division Commander Killer with Divine Departure
  • Had his Haki compared to Joyboy's, which was not done for Awakened Luffy and The Five Bums Elders (See Scaling)
  • Exceptional swimmer (this means a lot when most of your rivals can't swim at all)
  • Maintains a massive and delusional fanbase

Power

  • Sliced through part of King Harald
  • Clashed with the house-sized Whitebeard, partially splitting two clouds (Class 5 Lifting Strength, likely Town level, See Before the Verdict)
  • Jumped dozens of feet (Class 5 Lifting Strength, Wall Level)
  • Sliced through half of Kid's railgun (Wall Level)

Speed

  • Moved Luffy from out of the Lord of the Coast's range, though this cost him his arm (At least Superhuman)
  • Clashed with Whitebeard
  • Moved faster than the eye could see to stop Akainu's punch (Subsonic)
  • His Color of the Supreme King Haki quickly traveled to Wano's Flower Capital from miles away (Likely Hypersonic+, possibly far higher)
  • Used Divine Departure on Kid before he could try and dodge (Subsonic)

Durability

  • Unharmed by a bottle of sake being smashed across his face (Wall level)
  • Clashed with Whitebeard and his blade, which split a massive cloud formation (At least Superhuman, possibly Town level, See Before the Verdict)
    • This was most likely done via their Advanced Color of the Supreme King Haki (See Before the Verdict)
  • Stopped Akainu's magma punch dead in its tracks (Wall Level+, possibly Small Building level)

Minato Namikaze

Overall

  • Became a Junior Ninja at 10-years old
  • Rescued Kushina from her kidnapping
  • Achieved the highest recorded score on the written Journeyman Ninja exam
    •  Jiraiya believed he was the Child of Prophecy after this
  • Became an Elite Ninja during the Third Ninja World War
    • Under his tutelage, Kakashi became an Elite Ninja at just 12-years old
  • Figured out how to mimic the Tailed Beast Bomb on a human-scale
  • Mastered Flying Thunder God, which Tobirama failed to do
  • Learnt and enhanced the Uzumaki sealing arts, keeping Kurama imprisoned
  • Defeated 50 ninja by himself
  • Enemy villages ordered their ninja to flee upon seeing him
  • Repeatedly fought A, even taking both him and Killer B on
    • The former became The Fourth Lightning Shadow; the latter was host to the Eight-Tailed Octopus and could use its power
  • Achieved his dream of becoming the Fourth Fire Shadow and constant glaze
  • Saved his son from Obito
  • Released the Nine-Tails from Obito's control, forcing him to retreat
  • Split and sealed Kurama
    • This inadvertently kickstarted the events of Naruto
  • Fathered the Child of Prophecy, Naruto Uzumaki, who followed in his footsteps
  • Saved his son from being posessed by Kurama, which would have destroyed the village
  • Rescued the Allied Ninja Forces from the Ten-Tails, saving his son..again
    • He did this before the other resurrected Fire Shadows could arrive
  • Won an astral battle with Kurama to gain his chakra, then befriended him to unlock Kurama and Tailed Beast Mode
  • Worked with the reanimated Fire Shadows to create the Four Red Yang Formation (See Before the Verdict)
    • This kept the Ten-Tails trapped, blocking its Tailed Beast Bomb
  • Stopped Obito from reviving Madara Uchiha by mortally wounding him
  • With the other Fire Shadows, Allied Ninja Forces and his son, fought and defeated Ten-Tails Obito (See Scaling)
  • Helped fight against Ten-Tails Madara
  • Got to have a heart-to-heart with his son and wish him a happy birthday, making me cry (Omniversal)
  • Maintains a massive and delusional fanbase

Power


(Elite Ninja)
  • Sliced through a summoned Eight-Tails tentacle with his kunai (Wall level)
  • His Rasengan clashed with a restrained and nerfed Tailed Beast Bomb from Kurama (See Before the Verdict)

(Prime)
  • Can jump over two dozen feet (Class 5 Lifting Strength, Wall level)
  • His Rasengan fragmented part of the ground and destroyed one of Obito's arms (At least Wall level+)

(Reincarnated Sage Mode)
  • His Rasengan injuired Kakashi and fragmented the ground (Wall level)

(Kurama Chakra Mode)
  • Sliced through Obito (Average Human+ level, uh-oh Shanks bros)

(Tailed Beast Mode)
  • Is Beeg (At least Multi-City Block level)
  • Worked with Naruto to create a Sage Rasengan around the size of their Avatar torsos, pressuring Obito's chakra arms. The resulting explosion sent all three flying backward (See Before the Verdict)
    • This included one of Minato's avatar tails slapping a chakra arm away (See Before the Verdict)

Speed


(Elite Ninja)
  • Intercepted 9 kunai by throwning 9 shuriken (At least Subsonic+)
  • Teleported out of Ay's way while he was moving at top-speed on two seperate ocassions (See Before the Verdict)

(Reincarnated)
  • The Body Flicker lets him move faster than superhuman eyes can see (At least Subsonic+)
    • His Body Flicker is faster than those of undead Hashirama, Tobirama and Hiruzen
  • Reacted to his kunai being thrown by Gate of Joy Rock Lee
  • Intercepted Gate of Death Might Guy and 5 Truth-Seeking Orbs from Ten-Tails Madara (See Before the Verdict)

(Prime)
  • The Fourth Lightning Shadow said Minato was the fastest ninja in the world (though this likely has to do with Flying Thunder God)
  • Jumped over two dozen feet and caught Naruto before Obito could stab him (At least Subsonic)
  • Saved Kushina from a mind-controlled Kurama's paw swipe (See Before the Verdict)

(Kurama Mode)
  • Teleported to save Naruto and Sasuke from possessed Ten-Tails Obito's Truth-Seeking Orbs (See Before the Verdict)
  • Teleported to grab Kakashi's hand before he could stab Obito

(Tailed Beast Mode)
  • Beeg (At least Subsonic)
  • Rushed forward with Naruto's Sage Kurama avatar (See Scaling)

Durability

(Gonna be short since his whole thing is not getting hit)

(Reincarnated Sage Mode)
  • Kicked dozens of feet away and into Gaara by a casual Ten-Tails Madara, cracking the ground (See Before the Verdict)
(Kurama Chakra Mode)
  • Him and a Shadow Clone withstood being kicked by a possessed Ten-Tails Obito (See Before the Verdict)
(Tailed Beast Mode)
  • Along with Naruto's Sage Kurama avatar, tanked the skyscraper-sized shockwave created from their dual Rasengan being dissipated. This sent their Avatars flying over a mile backward, creating large craters (At least Multi-City Block level)

Weaknesses

Shanks


Aside from being suspiciously willing to avoid fights with top-tiers, Shanks doesn't have any unique weaknesses per say. However, it's important to note that Haki is a limited resource that will gradually drain his stamina. More importantly though...he's only got one arm. He's quite literally coming into this match handicapped, and it's for this reason that we've only ever seen him fight with a sword (not a swordsman my ass).

Minato Namikaze


(Overused template but this one was funny af)
Like Shanks, Minato doesn't have any atypical weaknesses for a reanimated ninja in Naruto, so aside from potentially passing-on due to Da Feels, there isn't too much to say here. He only carries so many kunai, but cloning and his endless supply of chakra make this a non-issue long-term. 

The closest you'll get to a weakness is that the Dead Demon Consuming Seal can potentially make for one hell of a negative trade. Initiating the Technique means guranteed death, even while undead. Some have argued clones can bypass this, but we've only ever seen the Technique used by them after the original's already summoned the God of Death. If Minato is unable to lethally seal an opponent, they'll still be alive while his soul rests in a divine belly.

Scaling

Look...I'm one guy. I do not have the time or energy to go through all of the impressive feats in these series. Like I mentioned at the start, if you want massive catalogs of those, you have places to go. Respect to everyone who makes that happen - I've certainly used them as a resource -, but it's not for me.

Instead, this section consist of two parts:
1. The limits of where these two scale amongst characters in their own series, which lets us find out...
2. The most impressive feats they can reasonably scale to.

Shanks


As a pirate Captain and one of the Four Emperors, Shanks stands amongst some of the most influential people in the world. He is within the rare position of traversing the dangerous New World and undergoing an even more treacherous task; searching for the One Piece. This alone doesn't directly correlate with physical or even mental prowess though. His childhood annoyance/friend Buggy the Clown isn't very bright a genius and not particularly impressive as a fighter extremely powerful, yet an Emperor legitimately competing for the One Piece through about 5% charisma and 95% luck mysterious abilities.

Nonetheless, Shanks has both been described and demonstrated to be among top-tier combatants. He stopped the efforts of Admirals and other Emperors alike, who stood far beyond nearly all other powers in the World Government and among pirates. This places the vast majority of physical feats in the series as within Shanks' reach and then some. Certain Devil Fruit powers and Haki abilities wouldn't scale in this way, but most with clear energy output and/or speed would.

Even so, things get shaky with more characters than you might think:

1. Gol D. Roger, Whitebeard, and Monkey D. Garp. The now-deceased Pirate King and The World's Strongest Man. Its a no-brainer that Shanks scales to the old and sick Whitebeard he clashed with; and thus upscales his more severly-ill self at Marineford. Weaker characters have survived and clashed with Whitebeard's Devil Fruit, so Shanks upscales from it too. 

However, there's no indication Shanks can compare to prime Whitebeard. In fact, a guidebook says Shanks is equal to the Whitebeard he clashed with, who grew much weaker from his prime-self. By extension, his near-equals Roger and Garp would largely be out of Shanks' reach as well. The latter's abilities have weakened with age, placing him in the range of Admirals, so Shanks definitely scales to him. Regardless, scaling to prime Roger, Whitebeard and Garp is Inapplicable.

2. Dracule "Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk. An infamous rivalry in-series and an even bigger debate in the One Piece community. They were certainly comparable at one point, being described as having "legendary duels", but things have clearly changed. As stated previously, Mihawk is The World's Strongest Swordsman. This title has been stated by the narrator, characters in-series, guidebooks, and Oda himself. For however long Mihawk has held this title, he is Shanks' superior. 

But by how much? We don't know for sure, but it's probably at least after Shanks lost his arm; Mihawk didn't view him as worth the time ever since. So while Shanks scales to a Mihawk sometime prior to the main story, scaling to current Mihawk is Innaplicable.

3. Kaidou. As previously mentioned, Shanks made Kaidou's top 5 and repelled him at one-point. Seems pretty clear-cut he'd scale, right? Well, not entirely. Its heavily implied Shanks and Kaidou were with their crews, which are very important to an Emperor's power and influence. Shanks wouldn't have to be on Kaidou's level to make him view an all-out war as not worth the trouble. Furthermore, Kaidou's character motivations are very inconsistent. He sometimes holds back to get a good fight, then tries to end it immediately, and vice-versa. Since he has a variety of forms and abilities to boost his stats, how much effort he put into this encounter is unclear. We don't even know if the two physically fought per say.

With that said, Shanks' Divine Departure did one-shot Eustass Kid. Why is this important? Because Kid damaged and took hits from a powered-up Big Mom due to plot armor, who in-base seemed evenly matched with base Kaidou when both used Haki. Combined with Shanks having engaged Kaidou in some manner, it's hard to argue he shouldn't at least Downscale from base Kaidou with Haki. Anything higher is Debatable.

4. Monkey D. Luffy. Up until his rematch with Kaidou, Luffy could not stand up to Admirals or Emperors. This places Shanks far above him up until that point. Luffy has since reached this level, taking on Dragon Kaidou and his stronger Hybrid form without any of his extra transformations. Upon Awakening his Devil Fruit, he grew even more powerful. If Shanks only fought base Kaidou, Luffy may have already surpassed him.

But if you read the Feats section (go do that btw), you'd see that Shanks' Haki was viewed as "monstrous" by Luffy and more noteworthy than his by Dorry and Brogy. Does this mean he's stronger? Again, it's hard to say. Haki isn't typically measured on any sort of scale, but it being more intense or generally impressive does usually equate to superiority. However, Luffy has a Devil Fruit further enhancing his abilities, muddling the waters. Thus, scaling to Luffy by the time of his second fight with Kaidou and onward is Debatable.

5. Imu and Rocks D. Xebec. The secret demon ruler of the world and their greatest challenge thus far. Having such statuses theoretically places them above Shanks, but in-practice this is far from the case. Imu was severely damaged by Rocks' crew, who inflicted similar wounds to their Captain. Why is this noteworthy? Because a young Kaidou and Big Mom were among the Rocks Pirates inflicting these injuries, two characters noted to get stronger with age. Kaidou in particular had just gotten his Devil Fruit, and showed a much-smaller Dragon form and no Hybrid state. This objectively places both Kaidou and Big Mom above Imu and Rocks.

To be clear, Imu appears to be the series' final villain, and will likely be shown as far more impressive in the present-day. But at the moment, this isn't the case. In fact, their failure to stop a mere Commander from escaping a room - even when working with the Five Elders - makes it clear that, until further notice, they aren't a top-tier. Shanks Upscales both Imu and Rocks.

Definitive Scaling

Debatably Scales

  • Luffy and Kaidou split the sky above Onigashima (At least Large Island level)
  • Luffy larger than Onigashima; Kaidou's Flame Dragon was similarly large (At least Class T Lifting Strength and Large Island level, likely far higher)
    • Luffy plunged Kaidou into the Earth's core, causing a volcanic eruption (At least City Level, likely far higher)
  • Luffy kept-up with Kizaru (See Before the Verdict)

Minato Namikaze


As a Shadow with access to Sage Mode and eventually half of the strongest Tailed Beast's power, Minato is well beyond what most ninja can achieve on a physical level. His intellectual achievements paint a similar picture for how he compares to ninja in intelligence, with a few exceptions (See Before the Verdict). But during The Fourth Great Ninja War, he met his match and then some. Numerous characters were leagues beyond what he could take-on alone, and no amount of tactical accumen could change that.

It's crucial to ascertain what forms of these characters Minato can still compare to, as they impact the bulk of his scaling. A few more specific feats and clarifications will be talked about later (See Before the Verdict).

1. Kakashi Hatake. The Copy Ninja, who Minato personally trained. On a physical level, Minato is evidently his superior. Ay believed Minato his superior, even while fighting near the level of Nine-Tails Chakra Mode Naruto. During the main-series, Kakashi falls short of said Naruto's strength and durability, while only somewhat able to keep up regarding reflexes. He famously fought Samsara Eye Obito, but the latter threw said fight for some 5D chess. When the two fought again after Zetsu posessed not-Anakin's body, it was fairly even...with Minato present.

So Minato scales above Kakashi for the most part, but there are three major caveats. 

1. Kakashi became a Junior Ninja at just 5-years old, and a Journeyman at 6. That's leagues-more impressive than Minato, so no scaling can be done in regards to Kakashi's nigh-superhuman feats of intelligence and skill.
2. Once Kakashi got some Six Paths chakra, he became beyond what Minato can physically do. At that point, Kakashi could outspeed Kaguya and had a Complete Body - Tempestuous God of Valour. You'll see why those put him way above Minato later. 
3. Post-Fourth Ninja World War, Kakashi's power supposedly grew by leaps and bounds. A bit dubious given he'd lost his Mirror Wheel Eye, but regardless there isn't a clear way to say if Minato scales at that point. He's not missing out though, since this Kakashi lacks any notable feats.

TLDR: Minato scaling to Kakashi's intelligence or his Six Paths-self is Invalid; scaling to current Kakashi is Debatable, but yields nothing relevant anyway.

2. Naruto Uzumaki. Minato's progeny and the future Seventh Fire Shadow. Minato was considered legendary compared to Naruto for most of the story, and eventually became a goalpost for him. This was the case even after he unlocked Sage Mode, only starting to match his father with Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. Minato clearly scales to this version of Naruto and prior ones.

Once Naruto got Kurama Mode, he deflected five Tailed Beast Bombs at-once; previously he never showed the capability to block one. That should put him leagues above base and even Sage Mode Minato...right? Well, it's a bit more complicated. Kakashi briefly mistook Naruto for Minato when doing this. It's not unreasonable to think this means Minato is comparable to KM Naruto for that reason.

Where do I stand? Well, many in the Village would have seen Minato redirecting Kurama's Tailed Beast Bomb with teleportation prior to the main story. Kakashi should know about that, and it's likely this is what he was thinking of. That makes it unlikely for Minato to be physically comparable based on this feat alone. You could argue he would scale in speed, but Kurama Mode Naruto isn't moving the needle in that area anyway.

All that being said, Kurama Mode Minato absolutely scales to and above Kurama Mode Naruto. Both get the same boost from their transformations, so Minato's vastly stronger base-form gives him a clear lead in all stats.

TLDR: Base and Sage Minato scaling to Kurama Mode Naruto and any of his more impressive forms is Inapplicable for strength and durability, and Debatable - but not relevant - for speed. However, Kurama Mode Minato Upscales his son's feats in their shared form. I'll address Minato's dual Rasengan with Kurama Sage Mode Naruto Before the Verdict.

4. Madara Uchiha. The Ghost of the Uchiha Clan. He strikes fear into even the Five Shadows, including Minato's rival Ay. Prior to his death (the first of a few) and when weakened by Reincarnation, Madara doesn't show any speed-feats Minato can't somewhat compare to. More importantly, he fought Kurama Mode Naruto...mostly offscreen, but still! This places his strength and durability well above base and Sage Mode Minato, but below his Kurama Mode...right? 

You could argue that, but this Madara's stronger Techniques are comparable to Kurama's full-power, and his physical abilities could arguably downscale via how chakra works. Since an alive Madara became more powerful than his undead-self, scaling Minato to him in anything but speed is dubious at best. Sage Mode Madara gains a massive boost to all stats, so scaling to him in any capacity is a no-go.

TLDR: Base Minato scaling to reanimated and alive Madara's speed is Applicable. Kurama Mode Minato scaling to these forms of Madara in AP and durability is Debatable. Scaling to his stronger Techniques, Sage Mode Madara and any higher form is Inapplicable (See Before the Verdict).

5. Hashirama Senju. The First Fire Shadow. This one will be comparatively brief, since he's a rival to alive Madara in stats normally, and the two are comparable with Sage Mode. That means Minato scaling to base Hashirama in speed is Applicable, whereas AP and durabilty are Debatable. Anything else is Inapplicable (See Before the Verdict).

6. The Ten-Tails and the Otsutsuki Clan. Ninja Ancient Aliens, bro. This one's another easy call. The Ten-Tails dwarfed all the Tailed Beasts in power, and by-extension, Kurama Mode Naruto. Kakashi could barely percieve its speed with his Mirror Wheel Eye, despite being able to keep-up with Naruto and Obito prior. The Otsutsuki are leagues superior in stats. Scaling is entirely Inapplicable...in a vaccum. More on that later.

2. Obito Uchiha. Minato's pupil, crushed under the weight of an unforgiving reality. Minato taking on Zetsu-possessed Obito and Nine-Tails Chakra Mode Naruto doing the same (albeit with help) means he scales to most versions of Obito. Ten-Tails Obito is where things get complicated. Having power surpassing all the Tailed Beasts combined, Obito should be leagues above Minato's capabilities, but some have argued otherwise via two interactions between them. These will be adressed in more detail Before the Verdict.

Definitive Scaling (Base)

  • Jirobo lifted a huge boulder (Class M Lifting Strength, Small Building level)
    • He also pushed Choji into the air when the latter was much-larger than trees, albeit at very inconsistent sizes per panel (At least Class M Lifting Strength and Large Building level)
  • Gaara raised a huge amount of sand (Class G Lifting Strength and City level+)
  • Kakashi is stated and shown to intercept lightning (Massively Hypersonic to Massively Hypersonic+, See Before the Verdict)
  • Kirin is a huge amount of lightning that obliterated the Uchiha Hideout (Massively Hypersonic, Mountain+ to Large Mountain level)
    • A near-blind and dead Itachi reacted to and survived part of it
  • Tailed Beast Bombs can vaporize mountains (Island level)

Debatable Scaling (Base)

Nothing notable lol

Kurama Mode Scaling

  • Naruto can make over 2,000 Shadow Clones
    • In KCM, he created 11 that were nearly equal to himself
  • Kurama Mode Naruto's Tailed Beast Bomb matched 5 Tailed Beast Bombs (Large Island level)

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