In the series of Naruto there are many different ninja ranks, which seperate the weaker ninjas from the stronger ninjas so that there is no unnecessary deaths, which in turn is a very useful thing to have. These ninja ranks rank right down from adacemy students who are ninjas in training so to speak, and go right up to the top ranked ninja, the Kages who act as a Governor type figure with their skills and intelligence for decision making for when they should go to war. Below you can find out information for each ninja rank:

Academy Student: The academy students are the lowest ranked ninjas of all of the ninja ranks. They are not yet considered to be ninja's, but are training at the academy to become one. At the stage of the academy student they are taught the basics for becoming a professional ninja. At the age of twelve the students then are put to a test to see if they graduate to go up to the next level ninja which is the Gennin. In the academy that Naruto went to he was taught by a Chuunin named Iruka who passed naruto only after that of the test, when he proved that he could learn a Bunshin no jutsu to pass where naruto performed a Kage Bunshin no Jutsu which is a forbidden technique which he taught himself from a scroll full of forbidden techniques, and was passed.

Gennin: The Gennin are those who have graduated from the academy. These Gennin are the lowest ranked ninjas that have passed the academy and advanced to the stage of the Gennin. The Gennin are once graduated are assigned to a Jounin as their sensei or teacher to train them to become the top ranked ninjas, they hope to become. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were accompanied by Kakashi as their sensei when they advanced and graduated from the adacemy. The Gennin usually have to perform D ranked missions which are the lowest of the low missions, which includes for these ninjas such tasks as weeding, taking dogs for walks and hard physical labour. Once a Gennin has completed eight of these missions they advance to the next ranked ninja, the Chuunin.

Chuunin: The Chuunin are those who have passed the Gennin rank and advanced to the Chuunin level, which is still a low rank, but not considered to being the lowest and weakest ranked ninja. Once a ninja obtains the Chuunin rank they are now no longer apprentices but are now thought of as a teacher. At this new middle classed level, these ninjas can now teach at the academy to teach the basic techniques to students which they learned when they were academy students. These ninjas are very hard to come across, as each year only two Gennin advance to the Chuunin level. The Chuunin are assigned to the rank C mission ranks which are middle ranked missions where the ninjas can perform such things as obtaining documents.

Jounin: The Jounin are the highest level ninja that anyone can become, before becoming a Kage which is the highest level rank ninja. The Jounin are those who have rised above that of the Chuunin rank ninjas which is even more difficult that becoming a Chuunin. Jounin are very strong and fast and usually very intelligent ninjas who are the elite military captains. The Jounin are given very intense and serious missions which include such things as assassinations, theft or delivering or recieving an important document. The Jounin as they are the the highest ranked ninjas are assigned to these missions which are in ranks, A and B ranked missions. Once you become a Jounin you are also assigned to what is usually three Gennin to train and instruct them to help them become ninjas as great as the Jounin themselves, such as Kakashi from the series. Most of the Jounin know or have mastered 2 to 3 styles of fighting and perform them in battle.

ANBU: The ANBU are a special rank ninja squad who are specially trained ninja who are trained for very dangerous tasks such as silent assassination, tracking enemies, guarding important people and guarding the village from intruders. ANBU are also assigned for assassinations and to cover it up as though they ninja that was assassinated is seen as never being born to keep the secrets of a hidden village secret. The ANBU also wear masks which look like animals, but no mask is alike so that the ANBU can associate and identify the ninja without needing the mask off. Kakashi also was a part of the ANBU.

Missing-Nin: The missing-nin are ninjas who have deserted their village and left them because of a conflict that they did not agree with and go into fleeing from the village. Upon doing this these missing-nin are sentenced by that of the village they abandoned to death. They do this to protect the village from these missing-nin releasing information about the village which was secret knowledge that only the village themselves know. Examples of missing-nin are Uchiha Itachi, who is the strongest at the moment of all the missing-nin, and also Zabuza and Orochimaru. There is also an alliance of S-Ranked criminals which have been ranked most illegal which is made up of seven of these S-Ranked criminals which is lead by Orochimaru but Itachi is seen as the strongest of them.

Hunter-Nin:The Hunter-nin are those who are specified into one profession. That is to hunt down and kill the missing-nin. They do this so that they missing-nin do not release information which is secret to their village and is unknown about by any other village. The hunter-nin need to dispose of the missing-nins entire body when caught to prevent any chance for other villages to find out information on their own village which is secret. For every village there is a team of hunter-nin, which is to protect the village from other villages finding out secret information to that village. The hunter-nin also wear masks to hide their identity much like the ANBU but the hunter-nin do not have animal faced masks like the ANBU.

Sennin: The Sennin or what some may also know as Sage. The Sennin are those who were once Jounins who have become a legendary status. These Sennin are very powerful, so powerful that they have the ability to become a Kage level ninja. These ninjas are so powerful that they could destroy an entire village by themselves. These Sennin are very powerful and are not to be taken lightly even by that of a Kage. The Sennin are elite legendary ninjas, some of which include the legendary three who are Orochimaru, Tsunade and Jiyrai.

Kage: The most powerful of all ninja ranks, the Kage level ninjas are those who have risen from either the Sennin or Jounin rank. This title is given to only the most powerful ninja in a village. each has their a special name like Ho: Fire, Kaze: Wind, Rai: Lightning, Mizu: Water, and Tsuchi: Earth. Not only do they receive the name Kage but they are capable of being the Governor status for their village, for making decisions for going to war and for setting ninjas to certain tasks and participating in some of the A ranked missions themselves. The Kage are the most powerful of all members of a single village and their power is only rivaled by that of other Kages.