Ranking Among the Vongola

During the Kokuyo Arc, Mukuro and his gang kidnap "Ranking Fuuta", a boy who has the ability to rank everything and anything, in order to obtain the list of the strongest fighters at Namimori Junior High School. Mukuro then sounds out Ken and Chikusa to systematically pull out the teeth of the fighters on that list, pulling the same number of teeth as that individual's rank on the list. Ken takes the even numbers and Chikusa takes the odd numbers and together they manage to pull the teeth of all but the three strongest people in Namimori before they manage to draw Tsuna out to fight.

Gokudera is third on the list and is attacked by Chikusa right after Hibari's right hand man Kusakabe has four of his teeth pulled by Ken. Gokudera holds his own against Chikusa for a bit but eventually Yamamoto steps in. Chikusa comments that he is Ken's target and that he won't fight him. Being that there are only three people left on the list including Gokudera and that Yamamoto is the target of Ken, the boy in charge of taking down the even numbers, we can deduce that Yamamoto is the second strongest boy in Namimori Junior High School. At this time Yamamoto has no fighting experience what so ever aside from randomly swinging his transforming sword believing it to be nothing more than a metal practice bat. So, why is Yamamoto considered to be so powerful?

It is possible that Yamamoto could feasibly be better than Ryohei, the fifth strongest boy in Namimori because while Ryohei is a skilled boxer who spends his every waking moment practicing he doesn't have much real life experience in battle; the same as Yamamoto. The idea that Yamamoto is stronger than Kusakabe and Gokudera is much harder to believe. Kusakabe is the most powerful member of Hibari's disciplinary committee. He beats up delinquents and rule breakers on an everyday basis. Gokudera grew up in the mafia and has used his dynamite to fight with since he was a child; he's also had experience sparring and in actual combat.

While both Yamamoto and Ugetsu are friendly and easy going their mannerisms are very different. Yamamoto is excitable and hides everything behind a smile while Ugetsu appears much more subdued and apathetic by comparison. Even so, both serve as the voice of reason compared to their more volatile counterparts.

The only way Yamamoto could be considered stronger than all of the others at Namimori Middile School is if Fuuta's ranking was based on potential and natural abilities rather than experience. Reborn describes Yamamoto as a "natural born hitman" and Yamamoto rarely loses a challenge despite the odds. The few challenges he does lose he often is able to come by and defeat those he lost to.