The Naruto franchise is known for many elements, but one of its standout aspects is the action it delivers. With its shinobi theme, Naruto has been able to carve out its own signature style within the broader shonen genre. While the series features many supernatural techniques, the titular protagonist’s Rasengan has evolved into one of the franchise’s most iconic techniques.
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This is largely because creating the Rasengan requires precise control of the form and the blending of chakra nature. As a result, many different variants have emerged, with some having their own subcategories. However, at the top level, the prominent Rasengan variants can be summarized into eleven categories, and this is how we have ranked them based on various factors.
11) Vermilloin Rasengan
Once Naruto learned his father’s technique through Jiraiya, and it became his signature move, it was evident that he would continue applying it in his new forms. After being cloaked in Kurama’s chakra during his first fight against Sasuke, Naruto was able to use the baseline property of the Rasengan, the form control of chakra, in this enhanced state.
By being cloaked in Kurama’s chakra, the Vermilion Rasengan added a new layer of power to the technique. It allowed Naruto to infuse the Rasengan with significantly more chakra, making it stronger than his normal version. The design difference was subtle, with a darker chakra presence that made it seem as though the Rasengan carried Kurama’s sinister energy.
10) Big Ball Rasengan
After the events of the original Naruto series, a time-skip of more than two years occurred, during which Naruto trained under Jiraiya to hone his ninja skills. Naturally, with the Rasengan now being one of his signature moves, it was exciting to see how he would develop the technique further.
One of the developments he achieved was making the Rasengan significantly larger. This ultimately revealed that Naruto had gained even greater control over his chakra form, as he could use more chakra to increase the Rasengan’s size. This had an impact on the story, as it proved Naruto’s growth as a shinobi and added a bigger nuance, literally, to the technique.
9) Sage Art: Massive Rasengan
Speaking of Naruto being able to infuse more chakra into his Rasengan and make it larger, after he acquired Sage Mode, which significantly increased his chakra output, he was able to create even bigger Rasengan variants through the enhanced power of this form.
Naruto first used these variants in his fight against Pain, where they aided him greatly and eventually positioned him as the hero of the Hidden Leaf Village. For its significance in showcasing Naruto’s upgrade once again and for helping him defeat Pain, this variant deserves its credit.
8) Twin Rasengan
While producing even a single Rasengan proved to be a challenge for many shinobi, Naruto was able to create two Rasengan at once, effectively doubling the destructive output and maximizing the potential of his technique. This demonstrated that Naruto was on a different level from other shinobi from a young age.
There are different sub-variants of this technique as well, particularly emphasized in Naruto’s Sage Mode. Naruto can create two Rasengan simultaneously in both hands thanks to his Shadow Clone Jutsu, and although it may sound simple, he was the first to accomplish this. He deserves credit for this simple yet uniquely powerful Rasengan variant.
7) Magnet Release Rasengan
Naruto’s final form in Shippuden was the Sage of Six Paths Mode, where he was effectively granted the power of all the tailed beasts and became a sage akin to Hagoromo. While Naruto’s Nine-Tails Mode created several Rasengan variants inspired by its existing properties, his final form introduced its own distinct version.
With the power of the tailed beasts, Naruto could also use their chakra natures, as shown with the Magnet Release Rasengan. He combined the Rasengan’s form with Shukaku’s Magnet Release nature, resulting in one of the most memorable techniques from the final moments of the series. For this reason alone, this Rasengan variant deserves a slightly higher place than the others.
6) Vanishing Rasengan
The Boruto series, following in the footsteps of the original Naruto, had a lot to live up to, especially since the protagonist is Naruto’s own son. With Boruto also using the Rasengan as one of his signature moves, much like his father, originality was necessary. Interestingly, Boruto’s initial lack of ability to properly form a Rasengan resulted in the creation of the Vanishing Rasengan.
The Vanishing Rasengan isn’t a special variant so much as a failed one, as it eventually disappears due to insufficient chakra. However, with traces of chakra still present, it becomes a vanishing-type attack. This technique also aided Naruto and Sasuke in taking down Momoshiki. Despite being a failed variant, it earns a higher ranking because it can be used as a stealth tool, a crucial weapon for shinobi, making it deserving of its placement.
5) Compressed Rasengan
While Naruto only thought of making the Rasengan bigger by infusing as much chakra as possible, Boruto added nuance by doing the opposite. Boruto was able to condense a normal Rasengan into a smaller version. This was a difficult technique to pull off, as it required compression from a different hand, which could also end up exploding and injuring the user.
Nevertheless, Boruto managed to pull off this feat, proving his own uniqueness as a shinobi. Furthermore, a sub-variant of this Rasengan was revealed, with Boruto using it as a bullet-like projectile attack. For Boruto’s opposite approach to the technique, this variant deserves its high ranking among the others.
4) Nine-Tailed Modes Rasengan
Naruto’s Nine-Tails Mode is where he was able to produce many different Rasengan variants within a single form. By being fully cloaked in Kurama’s chakra and having access to an immense amount of it, Naruto was able to experiment with new Rasengan variants, most of which were based on the foundations of previously established techniques.
Examples include the Planetary Rasengan, where Naruto created a large Rasengan with two smaller Rasengan orbiting around it. Other variants, such as the Mini Rasenshuriken, Absorption Rasengan, and various Tailed Beast Rasengan, were also part of Naruto’s Nine-Tails Mode arsenal. For this reason, Naruto’s Rasengan variants during his Nine-Tails transformations are grouped under one category and ranked accordingly, as they highlight the specialty of his new form and serve as a culmination of his journey.
3) Rasengan Uzuhiko
The Boruto series introduced another Rasengan variant, and it is easily the most distinct and possibly the strongest on the list. Boruto shocked everyone with Rasengan Uzuhiko, a technique that inflicts seemingly permanent damage by disrupting the target’s orbital and centrifugal forces.
Boruto achieves these unique effects by drawing on the Earth’s chakra itself, using it as a force to cause lasting damage. The technique is clearly Shinjutsu-level and built upon the foundations of the standard Rasengan. However, despite its overwhelming power and the assumption that no one could escape it, Jura was able to erase its effects, suggesting that he countered it through his own Shinjutsu-level abilities.
2) Rasengan
The simplest form of the Rasengan, first created by Naruto’s father, Minato, serves as the foundation for every other Rasengan variant. Because of its narrative significance, this basic form is ranked higher than many others, despite its simplicity. Minato was inspired by Killer Bee’s Tailed Beast Bomb, using the spherical nature of that attack as the basis for the Rasengan’s form.
Minato’s goal was to control both the shape and the nature of chakra, but he was never able to achieve the latter. As a result, the Rasengan he passed on, which later shinobi used as a base, was an incomplete technique meant to be perfected over time. This is why, despite its importance, it is not ranked as the highest on this list.
1) Wind Release Rasengan
Minato’s original vision was to combine chakra form and chakra nature to create the perfect Rasengan. Although he was unable to achieve this himself, his son later fulfilled that goal by integrating his Wind Release chakra nature into the technique, exactly as Minato had intended. Through intense training under Yamato and Kakashi, Naruto successfully released his wind nature into the Rasengan, creating a more advanced form of the technique.
Naruto went even further by perfecting it into the Rasenshuriken, which became the first truly complete version of the Rasengan as Minato had envisioned. Because of its major story implications and the fact that Naruto fully mastered and made the technique his own, this variant stands as the best among all Rasengan forms across both the Naruto and Boruto series.
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