Ninetails Cloak Naruto is terrible until it is 4 tails or even 6 tails. Which is extremely expensive.

Sage Naruto can be essentially on any team. Because of this it is the best one of the 3.

Original Naruto is really bad.

Depends what kind of player you are. If you aren't willing to spend money, you'll more likely to use Sage Naruto over the regular one once you get Sage. Nine tails' is out of the question since it requires you to pay for his shards. If you are willing to spend a lot, then it depends on your team. Nine tails cloak work well water and earth teams but it requires him to be 3* or 4* and Sage is an universal ninja. Based on my experience with high paying players. they'll use a nine tails team over Sage.

It really depends on your play style. My play style can make a two star Nine Tails Naruto work well with the Fire Main. How I do it, I just do it. I am the one who will go in and mess around until I can understand what I am given and do something with it. As for Sage Naruto, he is very good as well and very helpful in Ninja Exams.

Why is the original naruto really bad?

I would not say original Naruto is bad at all. He works well in certain situations, like if you need a ton of clones and one just does not cut it and they need to constantly be replaced.

He has no chases, he's easily countered since his clones can be quickly killed by something as weak as a Kidomaru mystery, and his mystery's really not worth it unless you have some clones alive. However, he can be useful if you need more protective coverage (since his clones can block for more people than say Sai, Akatsuchi et cetera)

Each ninja has their use.

Sage all the way

in my opinion Normal Naruto is good for guarding your lineup (put your main ninjas in the back row and put him front row), Sage Naruto is really good with almost every lineups, while ninetails cloak naruto... well... i don't know since i'm not a P2W player

Normal Naruto is good for a starter ninja. Beyond that, he is not good at all. Skill broken he is still in a bad spot. His clones become more of a liability than anything, especially against lightning. Just doesn't hold up well in the current state of the game with the ninjas out.

Sage Naruto is the best(free) version as like most stated; fits into every team. High damage, chases, and pretty tanky. With pretty good luck you can get him around 60 scrolls. If not 60....than in most cases it'll be a max of 180.

Nine-Tails Cloak......I wouldn't consider even looing in the direction of unless you plan on spending a ridiculous amount of money. The 2-star version you get is pretty decent for early game only. After level 50 or 60 he isn't as good, granted you can still use him but there are many other ninjas that outclass him. In order for him to be truly viable and maximize his potential, you need his 6-tails version. His 4-tails version is pretty decent but I would never use him over the recently released Roshi.

All in all, Sage Naruto(Because of pricing)> Ninetails Cloak>Regular naruto