Naruto’s Coolest Rasengan Is a Laser — And Even Kishimoto Forgot It
Naruto once fired a Rasengan like a laser—Rasengan Flash, a chakra sniper shot—and then the series moved on as if it never happened. How did one of his coolest jutsu vanish from memory?
File this under cool jutsu the franchise used once and then never called again: Naruto absolutely fired a Rasengan like a laser. It has an unofficial name, Rasengan Flash, and it rules. Somehow, it fell off the face of the Earth anyway.
The day Naruto turned Rasengan into a laser
Flashback to a weird, underrated Naruto Shippuden mini-arc where Konoha gets swarmed by explosive zombies. Yes, zombies that blow up on contact. A regular Rasengan would have turned the whole street into a chain-reaction fireworks show, so Naruto does something smarter: he compresses the Rasengan tighter than usual, locks it into a super-focused whirl, and fires it as a straight beam. Think chakra sniper shot instead of a punchy spinning ball.
'Naruto basically invents a chakra laser mid-fight to neutralize bombs without setting anything off.'
The blast deletes the threat without triggering a single explosion. It is fast, flashy, and looks like someone spliced in a DBZ energy beam. The best part? He improvises it on the spot.
Yes, it has a name (and a legacy nod)
This is not fandom headcanon. The mobile RPG 'Naruto: Shinobi Collection Shippu Ranbu' actually labels the move Rasengan Flash. That 'Flash' part feels like a wink to Naruto's dad, Minato Namikaze, a.k.a. the Yellow Flash. Father-son energy, just with a laser instead of teleportation.
So why did it vanish?
Despite being a smart evolution of the Rasengan, Kishimoto never really brought it back. Outside of popping up again in one of the Naruto movies, Rasengan Flash is a one-and-done in the anime, which is wild considering how cleanly it solves a big Rasengan problem: range. For once, Naruto did not have to sprint into someone’s face to land it. It is also proof of ridiculous chakra control… then poof, gone.
How it stacks up with Naruto’s other Rasengan flavors
Naruto’s Rasengan journey runs from a basic spinning ball to nuke-tier variations. Somewhere along the way, some gems got overlooked. Rasengan Flash is one of them, and it sits near the top for me because it completely changes how the technique works.
- Rasenshuriken - Devastating (Atom-level)
- Rasengan Flash - High precision (explosive beam)
- Big Ball Rasengan - Massive destruction
- Planetary Rasengan - Extreme impact
- Tailed Beast Rasengan - Extreme impact
- Super Odama Rasengan - High-level destruction
- Sage Art: Rasengan Barrage - Enhanced power
- Rasenrengan - Twin impact
- Lava Release Rasenshuriken - Elemental destruction
- Magnet Release Rasengan - Sealing power
- Standard Rasengan - Foundational technique
Why this oddball move deserves more love
Rasengan Flash is a blink-and-you-miss-it reminder that Shippuden could get wonderfully inventive, even in smaller arcs. It is clever, cinematic, and it actually evolves Naruto’s most famous move. It also quietly honors Minato while showing Naruto thinking like a pro under pressure. If the series ever wanted to bring back a deep-cut technique that felt fresh, this is the one.
In case you want to go hunting for it, both Naruto and Naruto Shippuden are streaming on Crunchyroll.