Obito Quotes in Japanese (Naruto), with Romaji and Grammar

Obito Uchiha says the most quoted sentence in all of Naruto while he is still a crying, late-for-everything thirteen-year-old: breaking the rules makes you trash, but abandoning your friends makes you worse than trash. Years later, the same boy hides behind a mask and claims to be nobody at all. I teach Japanese, and that split makes Obito a wonderful teacher of grammar — his young lines are warm and casual, his masked lines are cold and formal. Below are ten Obito quotes in Japanese, in the original Japanese with rōmaji, a translation, the grammar underneath, and an honest note on which ones you could actually say to a person.

Can-you-use-it legend: ◎ = safe in real conversation · △ = fine in anime, odd in life · ✗ = don’t say this to a person.

Obito quotes in Japanese

Japanese	Rōmaji	English	Use it?
確かに忍者の世界でルールや掟を破る奴はクズ呼ばわりされる……けどな！ 仲間を大切にしない奴は、それ以上のクズだ	Tashika ni ninja no sekai de rūru ya okite o yaburu yatsu wa kuzu yobawari sareru…… kedo na! Nakama o taisetsu ni shinai yatsu wa, sore ijō no kuzu da	Sure, in the ninja world, people who break the rules get called trash… but people who don’t care about their friends are worse than trash	△ クズ is harsh
カカシ…このオレの写輪眼やるからよ	Kakashi… kono ore no Sharingan yaru kara yo	Kakashi… I’m giving you this Sharingan of mine	△ Anime only
里の奴らが何と言おうとお前は立派な上忍だ！！	Sato no yatsura ga nan to iō to omae wa rippa na jōnin da!!	Whatever the people in the village say, you’re a real Jōnin!!	◎ Great pattern
リンを…頼むぜ…	Rin o… tanomu ze…	Take care of Rin…	◎ Swap ぜ for ね
オレは誰でもない……誰でもいたくないのさ……	Ore wa dare demo nai…… dare demo itaku nai no sa……	I am no one… I don’t want to be anyone…	△ Too dramatic
これが現実だ…託した側も託された側も……	Kore ga genjitsu da… takushita gawa mo takusareta gawa mo……	This is reality… for those who entrusted, and for those who were entrusted…	△ Heavy
…オレの師が火影でよかったよ…	…Ore no shi ga Hokage de yokatta yo…	…I’m glad my teacher was the Hokage…	△ Sarcastic here
オレは昔から真っ直ぐ素直には歩けなくてね…だがやっと辿り着いた	Ore wa mukashi kara massugu sunao ni wa arukenakute ne… da ga yatto tadoritsuita	I never could walk a straight, honest path… but I finally got here	◎ Swap オレ for 私
今のオレは…火影を語りたかったうちはオビトだ！	Ima no ore wa… Hokage o kataritakatta Uchiha Obito da!	Right now I am… Obito Uchiha, who wanted to call himself Hokage!	◎ Self-intro pattern
お前は…必ず火影になれ	Omae wa… kanarazu Hokage ni nare	You… make sure you become Hokage	△ Command form

The grammar underneath each line

確かに…けどな — how Japanese says “sure, but”

Obito’s famous line is built like a good debate answer. First he agrees with Kakashi’s point with 確かに (tashika ni, “it’s true that…”), and only after that does he flip it with けどな (“but, you know”). Japanese speakers use this 確かに A。けど B frame all the time to disagree politely, because it shows you listened first.

Piece	Plain meaning	Why it matters
確かに	certainly, it’s true	agrees before disagreeing
クズ呼ばわりされる	be called trash	呼ばわり = “calling someone (a bad name)”, plus the passive される
けどな	but, you know	けど + な, a casual, male-sounding “listen”
大切にしない	not treat as precious	大切にする = to take good care of
それ以上の	more than that	以上 = “above, beyond”

Teacher’s note: 大切にする is the phrase to steal. 友達を大切にしてね (“be good to your friends”) and この本を大切にしています (“I treasure this book”) are everyday sentences. クズ, on the other hand, means trash or scum, and it really stings — keep it inside the quote. A fun detail: in the chapters as they came out, readers first heard this line from Kakashi in volume 2, as the reason he passes Team 7. Only in the Kakashi side story in volume 27 do we learn he got it from Obito.

写輪眼やるからよ — the giving verb やる

Japanese has several verbs for “give,” and the choice tells you about the relationship. あげる is the normal, friendly one. やる is the rough, casual one, used toward someone you see as equal or below you — and also for feeding pets or watering plants. For two boys who have been arguing for the whole mission, やる sounds exactly right: gruff on the outside, generous underneath. からよ adds “so, here you go”: it gives a reason and pushes the sentence at the listener.

For real life, use あげる with friends (これ、あげる！ “Here, this is for you!”) and さしあげる with teachers. A student who says 先生にやる will get a surprised look.

何と言おうと — “no matter what anyone says”

里の奴らが何と言おうとお前は立派な上忍だ is the kindest sentence Obito ever says to Kakashi, and the grammar is very useful. Take the volitional form of a verb (言う → 言おう, “let’s say”) and add と. With a question word in front, it means “no matter what…”: 何と言おうと (whatever they say), どこへ行こうと (wherever you go), 誰が来ようと (whoever comes).

Keep the pattern, soften the words, and a child can say this to a friend who lost a match: みんなが何と言おうと、〇〇くんはすごいよ — “whatever anyone says, you’re amazing.” 立派 (rippa, “fine, splendid”) is another keeper: 立派な家, 立派な人.

リンを…頼むぜ — asking a favour with 頼む

頼む (tanomu) means “to ask a favour” or “to rely on someone.” X を頼む is a short, strong way of saying “I’m leaving X in your hands.” The ending ぜ is a rough, boyish sentence ending, common in manga and much rarer in real classrooms.

The same idea, from casual to polite: 頼むね → お願い！ → よろしくね → よろしくお願いします. That last one is probably the single most useful phrase in Japanese, and it carries the same feeling as Obito’s line: “I trust you with this.”

誰でもいたくない — でも, たい and the verb いる

As the masked man, Obito answers the question of who he is with オレは誰でもない……誰でもいたくないのさ. 誰でもない uses 誰 + でも + a negative: “not anyone.” The second half adds the verb いる (“to be, to stay”) and the wish form たい, and finally negates it: いる → いたい (want to be) → いたくない (don’t want to be). Finally のさ is a cool, slightly showy “that’s just how it is.”

The same pieces make normal sentences: 何でもいい (“anything is fine”), どこにも行きたくない (“I don’t want to go anywhere”), ずっと友達でいたい (“I want to stay friends forever”). That last one is a lovely line to know — and the exact opposite of Obito’s mood here.

火影でよかった — 〜でよかった and the trap of sarcasm

〜でよかった / 〜てよかった means “I’m glad that…” and it is one of the warmest patterns in Japanese: 会えてよかった (“I’m glad I met you”), 無事でよかった (“I’m glad you’re safe”). In the war arc, though, Obito says オレの師が火影でよかったよ to Minato as a bitter joke, and follows it with “thanks to you, I could give up on being Hokage.”

This is a good lesson about anime Japanese: the words on the page say “glad,” the voice says the opposite. Use the pattern sincerely in real life and it will always land well. 師 (shi, “master, teacher”) is formal and old-fashioned; in daily life you would say 先生.

語りたかった — two verbs read “kataru”

Just before 今のオレは…火影を語りたかったうちはオビトだ！, Obito tells Madara that letting someone else wear your name (己の名を騙らせ) is not the same as trusting your friends. 騙る and 語る are both read kataru. 騙る means to use a name falsely; 語る means to talk about or speak of. So Obito throws away the fake name “Madara” and takes back the real dream he used to talk about: Hokage. In English the wordplay disappears completely.

The grammar is a great self-introduction pattern: a whole clause can sit in front of your name to describe you. サッカーが大好きな〇〇です, 日本語を勉強している〇〇です. Next to it, the young Obito’s other line shows the potential form: 歩ける (can walk) → 歩けなくて (couldn’t walk, and so…). オレは昔から真っ直ぐ素直には歩けなくてね…だがやっと辿り着いた is a beautiful way to say “it took me a long road, but I made it,” and works almost unchanged with 私.

必ず火影になれ — に なる plus a command

Obito’s last words to Naruto are お前は…必ず火影になれ. X になる means “to become X”: 先生になる, 大人になる, 友達になる. なれ is the plain imperative of なる, and 必ず (“without fail”) makes it a promise he is handing on. From a dying older ninja it sounds noble; from a classmate it would sound bossy.

For a friend, turn the command into encouragement: 絶対になれるよ！ (“you’ll definitely make it!”) or 夢、叶えてね (“make your dream come true, OK?”). Same feeling, no bossing around.

Is Obito good for learning Japanese?

Yes, with a warning label. Obito dialogue in Japanese covers two very different voices: the young Obito is casual and boyish (オレ, お前, ぜ, よ), while the masked Obito speaks in cold, heavy phrases about reality and despair. Both are great for grammar, but neither is how a polite student talks. お前 for “you” sounds rough, クズ is an insult, and bare commands like なれ are for anime battlefields.

The trick is to keep the pattern and change the clothes: 何と言おうと becomes “whatever anyone says, you’re great,” 頼むぜ becomes よろしくね, and 火影になれ becomes 絶対になれるよ. Next, test your new sentences on real friends your own age. A friend’s smile, or their confused face, teaches you more about tone in one second than any list of quotes.

Keep going with the same method: our Naruto quotes in Japanese guide covers the main characters, including Naruto’s own dream of becoming Hokage. Obito’s famous line lives on through his teammate in Kakashi quotes in Japanese, and another Uchiha with a hidden story speaks in Itachi quotes in Japanese. If you are starting from zero, our guide to learning Japanese with anime sets out a weekly routine, and our tuition page explains how live classes with Japanese friends work.

FAQ

What is Obito’s most famous quote in Japanese?

確かに忍者の世界でルールや掟を破る奴はクズ呼ばわりされる……けどな！ 仲間を大切にしない奴は、それ以上のクズだ (Tashika ni ninja no sekai de rūru ya okite o yaburu yatsu wa kuzu yobawari sareru… kedo na! Nakama o taisetsu ni shinai yatsu wa, sore ijō no kuzu da). He says it to Kakashi during the Kannabi Bridge mission, in the Kakashi side story in volume 27 of the manga, before going alone to rescue Rin.

Is it Obito or Kakashi who says the “trash” quote?

Both. Kakashi says it to Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura after the bell test early in the story, and the official Naruto site lists it under his name. The side story later reveals that the words were Obito’s first, and Kakashi has been carrying them ever since.

What does クズ (kuzu) mean?

クズ originally means scraps or waste, like 紙くず (paper scraps). Said about a person, it means trash or scum, and it is a real insult. Learn it to understand anime, but don’t aim it at anyone.

My child loves Naruto. How do they practise with real Japanese speakers?

Tomodachi Japan is an online Japanese school for children living outside Japan, taught by Japanese school teachers in small classes of eight, with classmates their own age in Japan. Parents don’t need to speak Japanese — we guide you in English. The free school guide below has the timetable, tuition and scholarship details.