Naruto: How Strong is Gaara Without Shukaku?

Back when you go to the Chunin Exams, Gaara was as scary and powerful as our snake shinobi, Orochimaru.

Both had the cravings for blood, and Orochimaru had an extra appetite for knowledge and power. The Gaara we saw in Naruto back in those days was terrifying.

Chunin Exams

Accept it or not, if he didn’t lose control with Shukaku, he could’ve easily won over Naruto. Or, to put it more simply, he could’ve won over anyone.

He was blood-hungry, filled with hatred, had the most powerful defense of all time, and don’t forget, came out of the forest during the Chunin exams without a scratch on him.

Thanks to Naruto, he saw the err of his ways and came out of his hatred filled phase. He is now the best Kazekage the sand ever had and is one of the most trusted friends of our Seventh Hokage, Naruto.

Weak without the hatred?

After the Akatsuki extracted the One-Tailed – Shukaku from Gaara, he looked weaker in the immediate battle; well, he was dead actually, which was natural for anyone who had their tailed beast removed.

Even before that, during his fight with Deidara, Gaara is a little weaker than usual. It’s like when he came out of the hatred, he actually became a little weak.

But this gets worst when Shukaku is removed. Yes, Deidara was powerful, and even Sasuke had a hard time dealing with him. But Gaara kept losing his powers.

Not the old Gaara

By the time we see him in Boruto, he is all weak and easily beaten up. Yes, his defence system and techniques have gotten good with experience, but still, it wasn’t the old Gaara.

Is it because people know now about him and his defence? Or it simply could be because these Ōtsutsuki people are Gods, and beating them is hard. I mean, even Sasuke and Naruto had to shed some blood to do it.

With the way Gaara was introduced in the series, we thought he would remain in the same league as Naruto and Sasuke until the end, but I guess it didn’t happen that way.

Why the degrade?

With the war episodes,  we got to know he was awestruck by the power Naruto had, but at least the Gaara back then was powerful enough to win battles in his front.

Now, basically, Boruto defeated a God but Gaara couldn’t do anything other than just seal one for some time.

Should the writers put Shukaku back inside Gaara or just show his true potential properly as they did back then? Let us know what you think!