Highlights
- Kakashi’s ability to copy jutsu with his Sharingan makes it possible for him to have copied the Rasengan, but it’s unlikely since he developed the Raikiri himself.
- Minato, Kakashi’s former teacher, is the most likely source of Kakashi’s knowledge of the Rasengan.
- Kakashi doesn’t use the Rasengan often because he already has the more powerful Raikiri, and the Rasengan is considered incomplete without an elemental release.
Dubbed as the ‘Copy Ninja,’ Kakashi Hatake is renowned throughout the shinobi world, and his feat of copying a thousand jutsu is widely feared. Despite boasting such a versatile arsenal, Kakashi’s name runs synonymous with the Raikiri, a jutsu that he invented and perfected. Due to this association, fans are often stumped by the fact that Kakashi also has access to the Rasengan.
Since there is only one instance of Kakashi using the Rasengan, and that too for training Naruto, viewers tend to forgo this peculiarity. Kakashi using the Rasengan itself seems like a major oddity in the narrative, yet the actual mystery lies in his method of acquiring the technique. However, chronologically piecing together details from Kakashi’s past paints the true picture of how he mastered the Rasengan.
Did Kakashi Copy the Rasengan?
Fans are quick to jump to the conclusion that Kakashi simply copied the Rasengan through his Sharingan. This may seem like a sound notion at first considering Kakashi is famed for copying more than a thousand jutsu in his lifetime. The Sharingan’s copying capabilities extend beyond jutsu that are dependent on hand signs, since this all-seeing eye can reveal how the target’s chakra is being molded.
This makes the Rasengan a possible candidate for being copied through the Sharingan, since the process through which the user molds their chakra would also be revealed. While the Rasengan lacks hand signs all together, it’s essentially a technique that solely relies on molding chakra in a specific shape and direction, making it likely for Kakashi or any Sharingan wielder to copy the Rasengan.
However, it’s unlikely that Kakashi gained access to this technique via the Sharingan’s copying capabilities, since the Naruto series states that Kakashi developed the Raikiri during the process of imbuing lightning nature into the Rasengan. While Kakashi failed to turn his Rasengan into a lightning release jutsu, he instead discovered the Raikiri. Since Kakashi could utilize the Raikiri long before he received Obito’s Sharingan, it’s entirely impossible for him to have copied the technique via his Sharingan.
Did Minato Teach Kakashi the Rasengan?
With Kakashi’s copying abilities out of the way, the only likely way for him to have access to the Rasengan is via Minato’s tutelage. Minato initially invented the Rasengan based on the concept of Tailed Beast Bombs, and its intended purpose was for Kushina to have a simple technique that could be effective against other Jinchuriki in case she were sent to war. While it was never implied or confirmed that Kushina eventually learned the Rasengan, the series does reveal that Minato taught Jiraiya the Rasengan.
With Minato’s own master learning the technique from him, it isn’t far-fetched to deduce that Kakashi also learned the Rasengan from Minato. While the Rasengan may seem like a simple technique considering the lack of hand signs and minimal chakra requirement, it’s actually an extremely complicated technique, requiring immense practice in molding chakra.
However, Kakashi’s status as a child prodigy and gifted shinobi deemed him a suitable candidate for the technique, allowing him to easily incorporate the Rasengan into his repertoire. This also explains why Kakashi is Minato’s only student who acquired the technique, and is currently one of the few characters in the series to have access to it.
Why Doesn’t Kakashi Use the Rasengan?
Kakashi’s Rasengan can be traced back to the time he was under Minato’s tutelage, meaning he acquired the technique at an extremely young age. Since Kakashi learned the Rasengan before the Raikiri – a technique present in his arsenal even before Obito’s demise – it’s likely that Kakashi had access to the Rasengan for the majority of his screen time in the series. This begs the question of why this technique has remained absent from Kakashi’s arsenal, only to be revealed in Shippuden during Naruto’s training.
It could be argued that Kakashi possessed the Raikiri, making the Rasengan a redundant jutsu in his arsenal. However, the series has cemented that the Rasengan is a stronger jutsu compared to Chidori or Raikiri, a fact that further makes the Rasengan’s lack of usage seem like an inconsistency in the narrative. This aspect could potentially be a retcon as well, granting Kakashi the Rasengan merely for the sake of teaching Naruto how to incorporate his own nature release into the jutsu.
However, Kakashi’s lack of Rasengan usage isn’t an inconsistency, nor is it one of Kishimoto’s recurring retcons. Instead, this oddity is explained by the Rasengan’s status as an incomplete jutsu. The technique is only perfect when the user incorporates an elemental release into the chakra, a feat only achieved by Naruto initially. Despite the base Rasengan being an extremely powerful jutsu, this fact pegs the Raikiri as a superior jutsu, meaning Kakashi never had the need to resort to using the Rasengan.
Naruto is available to stream on Prime Video.
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