Board Thread:Versus Debates/@comment-24168857-20150708081120/@comment-734582-20150709223705

Uchiahmasters wrote: Naruto stated he became rusty, Kurama stated Naruto was rusty, the fanbase agrees Naruto has become rusty, Sasuke wins relatively easily Considering that he walked through Gaiden like the Third on his afternoon stroll, i don't see the "rusty" part. Considering that unlike Sasuke, his style is Nuke From Orbit and there's kids with him, he might not want to break out the Rasenshuriken yet. He also invited the Shin to become Konoha Ninjas and recognized them when we first saw them in Gaiden, which shows he's aware of the Shin from the start and may in fact have been plotting something like this and hence may not have wanted to kick their ass too hard.

Even so, Sasuke needed the power of 9 tailed beasts just to stand even with Naruto and yet it was a tie. "rusty" naruto would still be on equal footing with Sasuke.