Naruto's Rinnegan Explained: How Madara Unlocked Them And Their Powers (2024)

Warning: spoilers for Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden series

The Naruto series' Rinnegan eyes bestow many god-like abilities, but most fans don't understand how they really work. Ever since the Uchiha's Sharingan was introduced early in Naruto's storyline, the clan's mysterious and powerful eyes continued to fascinate readers with the many abilities they granted users like Sasuke, Itachi, and Kakashi. However, after the series' time skip, the Rinnegan eyes were introduced, and they outclassed what was shown of the Sharingan.

Pain's Rinnegan eyes debuted in the final panel of Naruto Part 1 in chapter #238. The eyes granted Pain's puppet master, Nagato, what he needed to become the leader of the Naruto series' deadly Akatsuki organization and the ability to back up its fearsome reputation. However, the Rinnegan were not something Nagato was born with but were planted in him at a young age by the only shinobi to accidentally unlock the legendary eyes, Madara Uchiha. How the iconic Naruto villain achieved this and how the eyes function can seem convoluted, but several hardcore Naruto fans like Revold have helped clear it up.

On Accident, Madara Became the Only Ninja To Fully Unlocked the Rinnegan

After hiding in the shadows for decades, Madara successfully evolved his Sharingan into two Rinnegan before he was about to die of old age. Chapter #606 of the Naruto manga provides a lot of information that Madara shares with Obitio to set up his plan of using the Rinngan to end all war by hypnotizing the entire planet. "The Rinnegan cannot be awakened without possessing both Uchiha and Senju powers," Madara explained. The legendary Sage of the Six Paths, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, directly assisted Sasuke in unlocking his own after being healed with Hashirama cells from Kabuto. However, the method Madara used took a lot longer.

Considering the requirements to unlock them, it's clear why Rinnegan eyes are so rare and powerful. A shinobi must unlock the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, which can only be gained after enduring traumatic experiences and an eye transplant. The EMS can then evolve into a Rinnegan after the potent Uchiha chakra successfully bonds with Senju chakras. Madara successfully did this by implanting his rival Hashirama Senju's cells into his body to heal and gain more power. However, he could not successfully bond the two energies together until he was an elderly man whose body could not hope to take advantage of the eyes' powers entirely—power that could easily devastate or save countless lives.

Everything the Naruto Series' Rinnegan Eyes Can Do

Pain's assault on Konoha and his epic battle against Naruto demonstrated many of Rinnegan's abilities. The user can easily master most jutsu from any of the six nature types and access the powerful Six Paths techniques. Each path contains unique abilities, which were utilized by controlling six separate puppet-like corpses. Because Nagato's eyes were not his own, his primary body was incapable of using each of the Six Paths. This is a big reason he had to use the bodies of dead shinobi, who could each focus on one path. These puppets were used to summon creatures (Animal Path), control souls (Human Path), manipulate gravity (Deva Path), draw mechanized weapons (Asura Path), absorb energy (Preta Path), and heal things (Naraka Path).

Nagato utilized his own body to control an Outer Path that enabled him to use the black chakra receivers and revive the dead at the cost of his own life. Still, because the Rinngegan was not originally his, his powers were less potent than the Rinnegan could be. Their full devastation was showcased after Madara's plans came to fruition. He was fully revived and quickly decimated the tired remnants of the Allied Shinobi Alliance with only one of his original eyes. After careful analysis, no Naruto character has demonstrated all Six Path abilities while only having one Rinnegan eye. Each eye is likely responsible for three paths, while the Outer Path techniques have been usable with only one Rinnegan.

After Madara effectively killed Naruto and Sasuke, he grew even stronger after becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki. He would only become more fearsome after reclaiming both of his naturally awakened Rinnegan eyes. After he became whole and absorbed the God Tree, Madara officially became the Second Sage of the Six Paths, which seemingly multiplied the powers of the Six Paths techniques. After those conditions were met, a third eye manifested on Madara's forehead that looked like a Rinnegan with multiple Sharingan-like swirls or "Tomoe" resting on the lines. The God-like eye is known as a Rinne Sharingan, which grants its user separate abilities from the traditional Rinnegan.

The Rinne Sharingan Is Above the Rinnegan

The Rinne Sharingan's name comes from the Fourth Naruto Databook. It is technically still qualified as a Rinnegan but a more leveled-up version. It manifests after a genuine Rinnegan user absorbs the chakra from each Nine-Tailed Beast or eats the God Tree's chakra fruit. Madara, Kaguya, and Sasuke unlocked this eye, which grants access to techniques that are not within a standard Rinnegan's arsenal. This includes the Infinite Tsukuyomi, as well as teleportation techniques like Kaguya's Dimensional Shifts (Amenominaka) and Sasuke's swapping ability (Amenotejikara). These skills take up massive amounts of chakra, represented by the number of Tomoe swirls that deplete in the user's eye after a Rinne Sharingan technique is utilized.

Sasuke's one Rinne Sharingan awakened after his eye reacted to the half of Hagoromo's chakra that was gifted to him. His Time-Space abilities mimic Kaguya's, further supporting the idea that those abilities are unique to the RS and are a separate moveset from the Rinnegan's arsenal. Madara's Limbo technique may seem overpowered enough to be considered an RS ability, but it is a unique move to Madara gained by unlocking his own two Rinnegan. It's an ability that allowed him to make two invisible clones with one Rinnegan and four clones after he regained both.

The Naruto series' Rinnegan continues to be challenging to explain because there are fewer examples of its use compared to the Sharingan. Madara was the only person to successfully combine Uchiha and Senju energies, effectively recreating the chakra of the Sage of the Six Paths. This power dwarfed the already impressive Sharingan. Still, the legendary Rinnegan eyes were said to bring about either a God of Creation or Destruction to troubled times. After seeing everything they are capable of in the Naruto series, the statement rings true.

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Source: Revold/GameSpot, Cablelinenetwork/YouTube