Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-25343176-20141217153708/@comment-734582-20150501120001

Ninjachris wrote: @Greatestsin Naruto assessed the opponent and his strongest mode was not required. What you Said is illogical and unpractical throughout the naruto series how often has a character gone full power at the start of a fight. The circumstances are almost always near death or last resort. I think that the world and his girlfriend at stake would be enough to warrant full power. I think the Kurama explanation is better: Kurama wasn't there so he could not access his full power.

Though to be honest, considering the circumstances i always thought that the Hagoromo powers for Sasuke and Naruto were temporary. Especially since it's from beyond the grave just like Kakashi's Susanoo.

As to Rinnegan versus Tenseigan: This is very difficult to assess because Madara is a God of Shinobi and Toneri didn't seem to even match regular Madara's power. The Tenseigan chakra mode seemed to enact the level of destruction seen by Hashirama and Madara. Which i think is a testament to the latter's power, not the "weakness" of the Tenseigan. After all, Sasuke with a Sharingan beat a Mangekyou Sharingan. A God of shinobi with a Six Paths power is far beyond a powerful (but not Godlike) shinobi with a Six Paths (-like) power. Judging that Pain with the Rinnegan was beaten by a Sage Naruto, and a Tenseigan Toneri by a Kyubi Chakra Naruto, i would say they're about equal in power. Remember that Obito could only use one Rinnegan or it would kill him. Is what we saw of the Tenseigan, truly the limit of the Tenseigan? Madara unlocked a power (limbo) that other Rinnegan users didn't. Do Rinnegan powers only scale with power, or with skill too? Sasuke had his own unique power (Position swap). Is that his skill (he was fast to begin with)? A unique power by Hagoromo? Can Madara learn that power? Can Sasuke learn Limbo?

In the end, there are a lot of unanswered questions. But one should not forget that Madara as a God-level shinobi would beat Toneri (he got beaten by Kyuubi Naruto who got beaten by Madara), and so comparisons between Madara (any form of rinnegan) and Toneri (Tenseigan) aren't exactly fair to begin with. It seems that the Tenseigan is about equivalent to the Rinnegan, or if you refuse to believe that, they're in the same ballpark of power. We've simply seen a lot more of the Rinnegan.