Kakashi’s Potential For The Rinnegan, Explained

This article contains spoilers from the Naruto series.

Key Takeaways

• Kakashi’s potential for the Rinnegan remains unexplored due to Naruto preventing Sasuke from passing it to him.
• Kakashi achieved great power through the Mangekyo Sharingan and was offered the Rinnegan by Sasuke.
• It is unlikely that Kakashi will gain any new Dojutsu in the future, as the authors do not seem interested in developing his character further.

Kakashi is a very powerful character from the Naruto series, and also one of the crucial ones when it comes to driving the plot forward. Over the years, fans have come to love Kakashi, not just for his role, but also for the incredible strength that he has displayed time and again throughout Naruto. Kakashi has always been famed as a genius, and the vast majority of his strength, at least throughout most of Naruto, came through his Sharingan. Kakashi has always been extremely reliant on Dojutsu, and it would certainly have been incredibly fun for fans to see him with an even stronger power, such as the Rinnegan.

In fact, some fans even wonder where the Kakashi could have gone on to achieve the Rinnegan himself, although this eventually never came to be but it would still be a very exciting idea.

Kakashi’s Mangekyo Sharingan Powers

Kakashi Gained The Mangekyo Sharingan At A Very Young Age

Kakashi gained the power of the Sharingan in the Third Great Ninja War. Specifically, this happened after Obito Uchiha ended up being crushed by the Shinobi of the Hidden Rock Village. His remaining Sharingan was given to Kakashi, who had lost his own eye shortly before that. Rin was the one who performed the medical transplant, and ever since that day, Kakashi of the Sharingan came to be known as a legend. Over the years, Kakashi continued to grow in terms of power, and it was in the very same war that he actually managed to achieve the Mangekyo Sharingan as well.

My left eye… take it. You can have it as a gift. – Obito

Kakashi’s Mangekyo Sharingan awakened when Rin was killed by his own hands. The trauma of the event was so great that he forgot he even had the Mangekyo Sharingan until many years later. It is unknown how Kakashi remembered that he had access to this power. But, after the timeskip of the Naruto series, Kakashi revealed his new eye in the battle against the Akatsuki. Kakashi’s Mangekyo Sharingan gave him great powers. He gained the ability of Kamui, specifically its long-ranged version. Using this power, he could warp anything he set his eyes on and send them to a separate dimension. His control over this technique was quite poor in the beginning, but as the story continued, it improved drastically and Kakashi became incredibly strong.

By the time of the Fourth Great Ninja War, Kakashi could instantly transport things to a different dimension, and do it on something as big as the head of the Gedo Statue. At the same time, Kakashi could even utilize Kamui multiple times a day, essentially making it as if the limit that he had on the jutsu was removed by the author. Unfortunately, Kakashi lost the Mangekyo Sharingan in the Fourth Great Ninja War. This was when Madara snatched this eye from him, and eventually, it was returned to Obito Uchiha. With that, the legend of Kakashi of the Sharingan came to an end, and fans knew that he had no more hope for further growth in terms of Dojutsu. That said, Kakashi still had the opportunity to gain the Rinnegan at one point later down the line, although the idea was quickly squashed by the author.

How Kakashi Could’ve Gotten The Rinnegan

Sasuke Wanted His Rinnegan To Go To Kakashi

After losing his Mangekyo Sharingan, Kakashi temporarily received a massive power boost. This came through Obito Uchiha, who gave him his remaining Six Paths chakra, and access to both the Sharingan, granting him the ability to fight back against the likes of Kaguya. At this point in the story, Kakashi was incredibly powerful and fans absolutely could not believe the performance that he put up against Kaguya. Unfortunately, this power-up was temporary. After a while, Kakashi lost access to this power and with that, his near invincibility as well.

Kakashi might’ve lost access to all the Sharingan jutsu after, but he certainly did have the opportunity to gain the Rinnegan. That said, this opportunity was crushed by Naruto. When Sasuke and Naruto fought, the latter actually presented the opportunity to Kakashi to receive the Rinnegan. To be more specific, Sasuke knew that the weight of what he had done was absolutely monstrous and because of that, he did not want to live. His idea was to give the Rinnegan to Kakashi, and have him end the Infinite Tsukuyomi by forming the seal with Naruto.

Technically speaking, this would’ve worked. Kakashi could have gained a different dojutsu, and at the same time, he would easily have completed the seal with Naruto. Of course, the burden of bearing the Rinnegan is far greater than the burden of bearing the Mangekyo Sharingan, but if Obito could manage it, then Kakashi could have managed as well.

You can undo the Infinite Tsukuyomi after I’m dead by transplanting my left eye into Kakashi. – Sasuke

Unfortunately for Kakashi, this idea was squashed by Naruto, when he showed his refusal to give up on his best friend. Naruto was adamant that he wanted to save Sasuke throughout the series. But, if what Sasuke wanted was allowed to happen, then he would have died and the Rinnegan would have passed on to Kakashi, making him much stronger than ever before.

Will Kakashi Ever Gain Any Dojutsu?

Kakashi Gaining A Dojutsu Is Unlikely

As fans know, Kakashi is without a Dojutsu now. Ever since the conclusion of the war, Kakashi assumed an even more important position as the Sixth Hokage of the Village. But, that certainly doesn’t mean that he wasn’t strong. In fact, if anything, it is highly implied in the story that Kakashi managed to gain further strength after the war, and he got even stronger after losing the Sharingan. Kakashi trained his mind and body in ways beyond comprehension and attained even stronger jutsu. By the time of the Boruto era, Kakashi might be old, but he’s still a very powerful fighter who can even push enemies on the level of Kashin Koji on their back foot.

As far as Kakashi gaining a Dojutsu in the future goes, the idea is exciting, but it is likely never going to happen. This is because Kakashi will likely not get a major role in Boruto, as the authors simply don’t seem to be excited about this character. If Boruto had been handled properly, this series could have incorporated many fighting individuals from the past era into the story in exciting manners and then given fans even more exciting abilities from those characters. Unfortunately, that never happened, and even if it did, fans will likely only see him fight without any of these abilities.

The fact is that the Rinnegan currently exists only within the shinju in boruto, and it is on this eye through any other way. Regardless, Kakashi will always be remembered as a legendary ninja who sacrificed much for peace, and at the same time, raised the greatest generation of ninjas to ever live. He will go down as one of the greatest hokage as well, and overall, his legacy will remain for years to come. Fans can only hope that he shows up in the Boruto series more often and plays more important roles, although that seems unlikely.

Boruto is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus app. The release date for the next chapter of Boruto, Boruto: Two Blue Vortex chapter 17, is set to be December 20, 2024.