The Rinnegan Was Not An Evolution of the Sharingan

The Rinnegan is the strongest Doujutsu in Naruto. The first time we saw the Rinnegan was in the end of Naruto part 1, and obviously it got much more developed in Naruto Shippuden. However, there was a Rinnegan retcon. Out of the several Naruto retcons this is a subtle one. The Rinnegan was not an evolution of the Sharingan.

It's clear that Kishimoto's plans for Rinnegan changed because when we first saw the eye its design was completely different frmo what we got later. So let's take a look at how the Rinnegan retcon happened and analyze if it was a good decision for the Naruto Manga.

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[DygoKnight]

Who's was the strongest Rinnegan user?

[Omnigreen]

Talking about old Rinnegan design without showing it more than a 1 millisecond, genius editing skills

[BamaMophi]

I personally would have liked the Rinnegan being a third Dojutsu better because it would have been the first significant dojutsu we see come outside of the leaf village. As weird as it was that a random unrelated clan had this heavenly dojutsu ability, it would have been even weirder that most of the major jutsu strengths came from the Leaf Village. All the major ninja villages were collecting the tailed beasts as bargaining chips or deterrence between the other villages, but only the leaf village had the strongest one that dwarves the others combined, and they had the clan with the eye jutsu that can control even the strongest one, and they had the clan with the Byakugan that can serve as a nearly perfect detection, and they had this or that and what exactly are the other major villages supposed to have up their sleeves? I wish more clans from other villages had these unique legendary bloodline abilities that only their clan could utilize.

[SunlightGwyn]

The funny thing is the retcon isn’t even needed for the story to turn out the same. When Madara comes back via Edo Tensei he is more than strong enough to beat the 5 Kage without the Rinnegan. Nagato could have been born with the Rinnegan and unlocked it when he was kid, Obito could have stolen it from him after he died, and Madara could have taken it from Obito after he revived himself. Sasuke got his from Hagaromo anyway so it doesn’t have to be an evolution of the Sharingan.

The same stuff happens with no unnecessary plot twist about Madara getting the Rinnegan right before death and Obito secretly implanting the Rinnegan into a child with nobody noticing.

[takeshikujo]

I remember back in the days people liked to write in fanfics that the Rinnegan was a dojutsu belonging to the Uzumaki clan, even then it was rare. Nagato turning out to be an Uzumaki as people speculated after Kushina’s debut added more fuel to the fire. Good times. Good~ times.

[TheElderScrollsFan]

I hated it that Rinnegan turned out to be just another evolution of Sharingan. Always liked the idea of it being a separate dojutsu but not even like Kekkei Genkai, but more like a one-in-a-million random mutation or a divine blessing. Wouldn't it be cool if Naruto wasn't this destined hero but instead an underdog? Working hard till he beats the supposed chosen one - Pain?

[planetbob]

Back then I thought Naruto would awaken the rinnegan. Sasuke already had the op sharingan and the tailed beast equivalent Susanoo that came with it. Naruto having the (at the time possibly) Uzumaki counterpart would have been a mirror for the two.

[anonymousgaslighter]

What's wrong with Nagato being special and awakening the Rinnegan? That would have been miles better than giving the Sharingan more power. The dojutsu that was originally supposed to be an evolution was the Sharingan being an evolution of the Byakugan but then Kishimoto completely forgot about that. I completely believe this retcon was one of Kishimoto's worst mistakes...on par with Kaguya.

[forcecaptainoverlordsuprem]

When this retcon was first mentioned by "Madara" to Konan I was so so angry because it was basically ruining Pain. I've since come to terms with it but I remember nearly dropping Naruto at the time, that's how much I despised it.

[zedorian]

I personally hate how much the Byakugan got shafted especially when it was hyped up to basically be the Sharingan’s equal in many ways and even superior in terms of visual prowess. Same thing goes with Gentle Fist vs Strong Fist in terms of Taijutsu. Basically the Hyuga got done extremely dirty and they should have been at the very least in a similar category to that of the Uchiha in terms of power and importance

[arrownoir]

Nagato got shafted and still ended up being the best rinnegan user. Everyone else feel like cheap copies. Very pale imitations as well.

[ChrisMALUKAI]

I loved the myth of the rinnegan appearing at some precise times and/or just being a mutation..
apparently there was a discussion about it in the Naruto world.
it would've been cool to keep exploring that way imo

[ivankrylov]

It should have been the third doujuitsu from the Kaguya clan. Which would mean orichimaru was trying to unlock the 6 paths through kimimaru
And since eye transfer is as complex as screwing in a light bulb, not much of the later story has to change
Edit: AND put the name of kaguya back into our heads so she doesn't appear out of nowhere

[hanu]

it wouldve been cool if the rinnegan was the uzumaki dojutsu. much more powerful than the other two, but only appearing once every few generations. that couldve been the reason the uzumaki were so feared, and why their rivals wiped them out to prevent a new user from being born. that couldve been part of nagatos tragic backstory- being smuggled from town to town to hide his eyes, eventually being discovered and attacked, awakening his powers but losing his family...

[Grayson-Winchester]

The Rinnegan was made prominent by Nagato who expanded the basic 6 path upon 6 avatars.
Sasuke and Madara have a powerful unique technique to them and them alone

[drowning.macaco]

tbh i dont like that one bit, not only it makes byakugan feel absolutely and otherly irrelevant, but it also makes uchiha in general way too broken

I like it being the legendary eye, something that doesn't depend on your clan, something that no one can achieve but hagoromo but can be cheated with mixing indra and asura's chackra

[andreizamfir]

16:13 I think the Deva path fits Obito quite well. It Would make him even more like Darth Vader while having it's own unique flavor on a Force like ability.

[UltimateDude]

Kabuto's hypothesis was outright debunked by Hagoromo and Black Zetsu. Hagoromo stated that the Rinnegan is the result of combining Indra's and Asura's chakra, no Sharingan required. Black Zetsu approached both Indra's and Asura's reincarnations over the years to awaken the Rinnegan. The Sharingan and Rinnegan are separate dojutsu that come from the Rinne-Sharingan

[Dave]

I hated the fact it became just another op form of the Sharingan, and then both got linked to fucking boring aliens.

[phoenixfletnix]

Since Nagato was an Uzumaki the Rennegan could be a rare trait for the Uzumaki