Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-26388300-20150718023043/@comment-26388300-20150728043206

Fearlandscape wrote: The entire ANBU Black Ops and Jonin types such as Kurenai, Anko and Asuma were all introduced as viable threats, but none of them ever mattered again after the first Chunin exams.

I agree 100%. I mean, Asuma was the son of the freaking Hokage, a fountain of ninjutsu knowledge; yes, Asuma was a powerhouse, but shouldn't he have been a little better? Anko, perhaps, is the most upsetting... trained by a legendary Sannin, we never see her truly dominate on the battlefield. She was overcome before the Fourth Shinobi World War and sat the whole thing out.

Also: what's up with the Sand Village??! Do they only have two or three viable shinobi?? When Konoha needed assistance in the Sasuke Retrieval saga, they sent three genin. When it comes to relevant Suna ninja, we basically only ever see the Sand siblings, Granny Chiyo, and Gaara's father, who is defeated pretty quickly.

And you're right, despite the Anbu being regarded as the "special ops" of the shinobi world, we rarely ever see them pose significant differences in battle.