Naruto’s Deadliest Jutsu Is an Infinite Chakra Hack — So Why Don’t the Otsutsuki Use It?

Edo Tensei is Naruto’s ultimate cheat code: undead vessels with bottomless chakra, battles that never end, all at a summoner’s whim. So why don’t the god-chasing Otsutsuki use it? The answer is simpler — and darker — than fans think.

Every so often I see the same Naruto brainteaser make the rounds: if Edo Tensei makes unkillable soldiers with 'infinite' chakra, why doesn’t the Otsutsuki clan just spam it and call it godhood? Short version: Edo Tensei doesn’t do what a lot of fans think it does, and the Otsutsuki already have a colder, more efficient system that fits their whole divine-conqueror vibe.

What Edo Tensei actually gives you (and what it doesn’t)

Edo Tensei is the reanimation jutsu that binds a dead person’s soul to a living sacrifice. You get a restored body that heals itself, can fight basically forever, and keeps coming back as long as the summoner maintains the technique. Sounds like a cheat code. It isn’t.

The 'infinite chakra' part is where expectations run wild. The chakra isn’t an endless ocean of raw power; it replenishes. That translates to stamina and endurance over time, not a sudden leap in strength. The reanimated can keep going after they would have gassed out alive, but they aren’t automatically stronger than their living prime.

Power also depends on the condition and setup of the body. Most resurrected fighters are noticeably weaker than they were in life. There are exceptions, but even those have ceilings. Case in point: when Madara came back, he had tweaks and the Rinnegan in play, but he still wasn’t at his absolute peak.

The control problem

Edo Tensei vessels are tied to the summoner’s will. That’s a feature for a necromancer, not for a clan of apex predators who see themselves as gods. Being puppeted doesn’t fit the Otsutsuki playbook, and they aren’t in the habit of letting someone else hold the leash.

The logistics problem: where are the corpses?

Edo Tensei needs dead bodies to use as vessels. The Otsutsuki, meanwhile, have a habit of turning their own into food. Literally. The clan cultivates chakra fruit and consumes it to level up, and they’ll even process their own members when it suits them. In Boruto, Momoshiki straight-up converted his guardian Kinshiki into a chakra fruit and ate him. If you’re grinding your people into power snacks, you aren’t leaving behind handy corpses for reanimation.

What the Otsutsuki use instead: Karma

The Otsutsuki already built their own version of reincarnation that’s much more aligned with their goals. Karma is a seal that stores an Otsutsuki’s entire biological blueprint. If they find a compatible host (not easy), the seal slowly overwrites that person until the Otsutsuki is fully back, with their power and their agency intact. While that process plays out, the host can tap into pieces of that power too. This isn’t a Naruto-era trick; it’s a Boruto-era reveal, so if you dipped after Shippuden you might have missed it.

• Edo Tensei stamina is about chakra replenishing, not raw, instant power spikes.
• Reanimated fighters are often weaker than their living selves; even outliers like Madara weren’t truly at full power.
• The jutsu requires actual bodies; the Otsutsuki’s chakra-fruit cannibalism (see: Momoshiki turning Kinshiki into a fruit and eating him) doesn’t leave many.
• Edo Tensei vessels can be controlled by the summoner, which is a nonstarter for a clan obsessed with autonomy.
• Karma gives the Otsutsuki a cleaner resurrection: full control, full potential, and a host who can wield fragments of that power along the way.

So yes, 'infinite chakra' sounds tailor-made for a clan chasing immortality, but the fine print kills the fantasy. Edo Tensei is a grindy endurance tool with strings attached. The Otsutsuki want perfection and sovereignty; Karma delivers both. For them, Edo Tensei would be a downgrade.

Which jutsu would you rather have in your corner, Edo Tensei or Karma? Drop your pick and your reasoning below. And if you want to revisit the evidence: Naruto: Shippuden and Boruto are streaming on Crunchyroll.