As the Naruto anime progressed, Naruto himself reached new heights, increasing and perfecting his chakra forms to become the world's most powerful shinobi. While Naruto is famous for the various transformations that grant him god-like power, making him nearly invincible, he doesn't activate his ultimate form until much later in Boruto. Here's why Naruto's Baryon Form is his strongest form and how it works.
Baryon Mode's Origin and Appearance
First appearing in the Boruto manga, Naruto's Baryon Mode makes him more powerful than ever before. "Baryon" is a physics term used to label a subatomic particle with a mass greater or equal to that of a proton. Similar to its name's origin, Baryon Mode works like nuclear fusion, where two atomic nuclei come together to create one greater nucleus and its byproducts are dispelled in a major release of energy. In this case, Naruto and Kurama fuse their individual chakras to create a new and much larger chakra energy that grants them immense power.
When Naruto activates Baryon Mode, his hair becomes longer and he grows two black and yellow spikes that mimic fox ears, representing the Nine-Tails' chakra. Also resembling Kurama in this ultimate form, Naruto develops his classic red eyes with vertical slits -- a nod to one of his oldest Tailed Beast modes. His iconic three whiskers also change style in this form, all of them becoming thicker while the top whiskers curve upward to unite with the black pattern surrounding his eyes. Similar to past forms, his chakra takes the form of tails jutting from his back, with a golden-orange hue radiating from his body. Given this elaborate transformation and intricate character design, it's visibly clear to audiences just how powerful Naruto is in his Baryon Mode.
Baryon Mode's Strengths and Weaknesses
As Naruto's overall strongest form, Baryon Mode gives him god-like power that allows him to surpass Isshiki Ōtsutsuki himself. In this mode, Naruto has incredibly heightened power, speed and reflexes that make him next to invincible. Given the chakra absorption and fusion that creates the Baryon Mode, an opponent's chakra is also incorporated, strengthening the mode while draining the opponent's lifeforce whenever they're near Naruto. Therefore, Baryon Mode can be used as a last resort when Naruto believes his lifespan will outlast that of his opponent. Naruto and Kurama's deadly capabilities when working together in Baryon Mode are so overpowered that it leaves even Sasuke in awe.
Despite Baryon Mode being Naruto's ultimate form, it comes with some major drawbacks. Due to the sheer amount of chakra required to activate this form, Naruto and Kurama cannot maintain it for long durations. This greatly limits how long they can last in battle, making a quick and easy defeat necessary. Since time is of the essence, their movements must be calculated and well thought out to reduce the time needed in the form and avoid exerting unnecessary energy. With immense amounts of chakra put into it, Baryon Mode uses both Naruto and Kurama's very lifeforce to work. Therefore, this mode is extremely dangerous and can ultimately kill its user. Kurama is at the greatest risk of becoming completely drained and meeting his permanent demise if Baryon Mode is used too frequently.
While Naruto reveals several other insanely powerful forms like Nine-Tails' Sage Mode and Asura Kurama Form, these pale in comparison to his leveled-up Baryon Mode. However, given the major risks of using this sacrificial form, Naruto and Kurama can only activate it in do-or-die situations, such as their battle with Isshiki Ōtsutsuki. However, although Baryon Mode currently stands as Naruto's ultimate form, there's no telling whether a new and more powerful one is waiting to be unleashed later in the series.
