Chapter 288 : Your Current Strength Is Comparable To Sasuke

It could be said that Riku’s Nine Tomoe Rinnegan was many times stronger than even the Sage of Six Paths’ Rinnegan.

However, it still couldn’t compare to the ocular power of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki’s Rinne Sharingan.

In truth, whether it was the Sharingan, the Rinnegan, or even the Rinne Sharingan, none of them were actually the kekkei genkai of the Ōtsutsuki clan—they were the bloodline limits derived from the God Tree. Kaguya had awakened these powers only after consuming the chakra fruit of the Divine Tree. It was the power of reincarnation that led to the awakening of the Sharingan.

The Sage of Six Paths and his lineage inherited the Rinnegan from Kaguya.

Ōtsutsuki Hamura, the younger brother of the Sage of Six Paths, inherited the Byakugan from Kaguya, which was actually the true bloodline limit of the Ōtsutsuki clan.

Even then, there was a major difference in the ocular power of the Byakugan. Kaguya’s Byakugan could suppress even a standard Rinnegan.

It was similar to how the Three Tomoe Sharingan of the Sage of Six Paths could summon a complete-body Susanoo—something that typically only the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan could accomplish—and his was far more immense than the one Uchiha Madara manifested.

Riku’s Nine Tomoe Rinnegan could rightly be called the strongest ocular ability beneath Kaguya’s Rinne Sharingan.

Yet Riku rarely used it.

Because in the current shinobi world, no one truly forced him to.

His regular elemental ninjutsu was already enough to overwhelm everyone.

As for Sage Mode—it was a power on par with the Rinnegan.

The reason the Sage of Six Paths possessed the Sage Body and passed it on was not because he was born with it, but because he had mastered Senjutsu.

The chakra of Senjutsu and that of the Divine Tree were fundamentally different.

Even if Nagato himself appeared before Riku, there would be no need for him to resort to his Rinnegan. Basic ninjutsu would suffice.

This was why Riku never relied solely on Six Paths Mode, and why he rarely used ocular abilities like spatial teleportation.

He had mastered countless jutsu, developed powerful elemental techniques, advanced combination techniques, and even kekkei genkai like Wood Style.

He simply had no need to reach for greater power unless the situation truly demanded it—like a war on the scale of the Fourth Great Ninja War.

Back then, Riku hadn’t yet mastered either Sage Mode or the Rinnegan.

Against opponents on the level of Six Paths power, elemental ninjutsu wouldn’t have worked.

But against anything below that tier, his arsenal of elemental techniques was more than enough.

Not to mention, Riku’s elemental ninjutsu far surpassed that of ordinary shinobi. He also possessed space-time ninjutsu.

Right now, in the shinobi world, Riku was essentially invincible.

He just didn’t go out much, so even though his name had spread widely, it hadn’t yet reached the legendary status of Uchiha Madara or Hashirama Senju.

He wasn’t called the "God of Shinobi" like Hashirama once was.

Even Hanzō the Salamander held the title of "demigod" in the shinobi world.

But Riku’s name was just that—Riku.

People only knew he was extremely powerful.

Powerful enough to subdue Tailed Beasts—but that wasn’t unheard of. Others had done it before.

So most people simply considered him a Kage-level powerhouse.

You couldn’t really blame them. After all, Riku rarely showed the full extent of his strength.

In most battles, no one had been around to witness them.

Take his battle against that ghost-like entity—once it was sacrificed, it gained true super-Kage-level power, perhaps even stronger than Nagato.

But the only two witnesses had fainted midway through the fight.

So, despite the fact that the battle was on par with the legendary clash between Uchiha Madara and Hashirama Senju, no one knew about it.

The public record of Riku’s feats included suppressing the Three Tails, sealing the fully enraged Nine Tails, killing Sasori of the Red Sand, and defeating Hoshigaki Kisame. And that was it.

Impressive as those were, they hadn’t elevated him to the level of legends who could define an entire era.

Still, to Tsunade, Riku was far stronger than her grandfather.

After dispatching the last of his opponents, Riku turned to look at the Nine Tails. "You should go back. Even if you can’t do much damage to Naruto in your current form, it’s still not good for him. He’s not yet fully able to bear your power—it’s too much of a strain."

The Nine Tails snorted. "If I’d been sealed in your body instead, I’d probably be able to enter Nine-Tails Chakra Mode by now."

Riku wasn’t sure if it was because of their past agreement or something else, but the Nine Tails actually seemed to think that being sealed inside Riku wouldn’t have been a bad thing.

In truth, the fox was smart—and clearly understood that Riku’s current power had already reached—or perhaps even surpassed—the level of the Sage of Six Paths.

With Riku’s strength, as long as he stayed close to Naruto, no one in the ninja world would ever be able to touch him.

But the Nine Tails also knew Riku would never do that.

With a reluctant sigh, the Nine Tails withdrew back into Naruto’s body.

As the beast’s chakra receded, Naruto collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.

Riku walked over and began applying medical ninjutsu.

"You still have a long way to go. You’ll need to keep training hard. Once you transform fully into the Nine Tails, Kyubi consciousness still dominates, and you completely lose control."

Naruto smiled bitterly. "The Nine Tails’ power is overwhelming. I’ve worked really hard, but reaching the complete transformation state... that’s still a distant goal."

"When I go full transformation, I can’t even enter the Nine Tails’ chakra space anymore. My consciousness just vanishes."

As he continued healing Naruto, Riku chuckled softly. "You’ve got time. Don’t stress. Honestly, your strength right now is already on par with Sasuke’s. Once you fully master Kyubi power, you’ll surpass him."

"As long as you gain full control over the Nine Tails’ chakra, even if Sasuke awakens the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, he still won’t be able to cast genjutsu on you."

If a Jinchūriki achieved perfect synchronization with their Tailed Beast—like Killer Bee had—even someone with the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan couldn’t trap them in illusions.

Only a true genjutsu master, paired with immense ocular power, could pull that off.

Sasuke, despite having the Eternal Mangekyō, wasn’t a genjutsu specialist. Against a perfect Jinchūriki, even that level of power wouldn’t work.

Naruto nodded. "I know. Ever since I started gaining partial control over Kyubi chakra, I’ve realized just how terrifying his power really is."

"I had no idea I’d been carrying something so powerful inside me all this time."

Kurama, now resting inside Naruto, rolled his eyes.

"Terrifying? Compared to that guy Riku, I look downright gentle."

Although Kurama wasn’t Riku’s Tailed Beast, the two of them had built a strong bond ever since reaching their pact.

The fox couldn’t help but bring Riku up in every conversation.

It left Riku exasperated.

More often than not, even when the topic had nothing to do with him, Kurama would still manage to shoehorn his name in.

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