Every character in the Naruto anime has their own distinctive traits, whether in terms of appearance, unique voice, or abilities. In the world of shinobi, especially during information-gathering missions, shinobi often use disguise techniques or Henge no Jutsu to mimic someone else’s appearance and deceive their enemies.

One example is Yamato, who disguised himself as Sasori when he met Kabuto at the Tenchi Bridge. At that time, Yamato tried to convince Kabuto that he was the real Sasori, aiming to obtain information about Sasuke’s whereabouts.

However, not all attempts at imitating someone else’s appearance go smoothly. There are some characters who tried to do the same but ended up experiencing ridiculous outcomes instead.

Here are four imposters who tried to imitate Naruto anime characters.

1. Banna Imitating Naruto Uzumaki

It all started during Naruto, Guy, Aoba, and Yamato’s journey to Kumogakure when they were suddenly stopped by a robber named Banna, who was wearing a fake Konoha headband. What was even more surprising was that Banna claimed to be Naruto Uzumaki, the hero who saved Konoha from Pain Akatsuki’s attack. Banna then demanded Naruto, Guy, Aoba, and Yamato hand over their belongings.

Seeing this ridiculous moment, Guy, Aoba, and Yamato couldn’t hold back their laughter. Guy even remarked that the robber really did resemble the real Naruto, which made Naruto even more annoyed because he was being imitated and laughed at by his companions.

Naruto then firmly told Banna that he was the real Naruto. Banna began to realize that the person in front of him might actually be Naruto, but he still challenged Naruto to a fight to prove who the real Naruto was. Yamato and the others agreed to the terms and told Naruto to fight. If Naruto lost, they would acknowledge Banna as the real Naruto.

Shortly after, Naruto managed to beat Banna to a pulp and tied him up with rope. Banna was then handed over to Iggy, a man who claimed to be the local law enforcer.

However, there was a sad story behind Banna’s claim to be Naruto. It turned out that Banna was doing all of this at the request of his friend, Iggy. Iggy had asked Banna to pretend to be Naruto and cause trouble, while Iggy planned to defeat the “fake Naruto” to earn a good reputation as a hero. Unfortunately, because of their actions, Banna ended up being kidnapped by hired ninjas who believed he was the real Naruto.

Fortunately, Naruto and his team agreed to help and successfully defeated the hired ninjas, even though they initially refused Iggy’s request. Iggy had even gone off alone to try and save Banna.

After all these events, Banna and Iggy decided to repent and abandon their evil plans. Banna also gave up using Naruto’s name, as he felt it was too heavy a burden. They both promised Naruto and his team that they would live better lives from then on.