How did the Sage of the Six Paths obtain his Rinnegan?


It is shown that the Sage of the Six paths was the first to have the Rinnegan.

Now for an Uchiha these are the stages of their eyes:

  1. Normal eyes
  2. Sharingan (activated after facing life threatening situation)
  3. Mangekyo Sharingan (activated after a very close person dies)
  4. Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan (activated after replacing the existing Mangekyo Sharingan with another mangekyo sharingan)
  5. Rinnegan (conditions for activation have not yet been mentioned)

All these stages have covered by Madara Uchiha, he took his brother's Mangekyo
Sharingan to activate the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

Now if the same logic was to be applied to the Sage of the Six Paths, then
whose Mangekyo Sharingan did he take for his own?

He being the first shinobi should not have anyone to take a Sharingan from.




# Awakening the Rinnegan

I think you have misunderstood something here.

[The Rinnegan](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Rinnegan) was the **original
form.** It required **no activation and was permanent** to the [Sage of the
Six Paths](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Hagoromo_%C5%8Ctsutsuki).

His children, the Uchiha and the Senju inherited the two different feats:

  * The life force and physical energy went to the Senju
  * The visual prowess and strength of chakra went to the Uchiha clan.

**_This visual prowess manifested in[the
Sharingan](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Uchiha_clan) as a visible component of
the Rinnegan. The Senju had some second components to the Rinnegan embedded in
their DNA._**

When one brings the DNA of an Uchiha and a Senju together, one can awaken the
Rinnegan.

The problem now is that the possibility to awaken the Rinnegan (when they also
have Senju DNA) is in every Sharingan user, but only "under the radar". To
activate _the Rinnegan_ , it seems one must go through different stages:

The _Mangekyou Sharingan_ and the _[Eien]{Eternal} no Mangekyou Sharingan_

Madara accomplished this. By implanting Hashirama's DNA to his cells when he
was close to death, he finally awakened the Rinnegan.

It may also be possible to awaken the Rinnegan without undergoing the two
higher stages of the Sharingan, but that is only speculative. As of chapter
674 of the manga, the DNA of Hashirama (or moreover, Senju DNA) is not
required to awaken the Rinnegan.

> Sasuke awakens the Rinnegan, even though there is no actual explanation as
> to why. It probably has to do with the fact that Sasuke is possessed by the
> reincarnated spirit of Rikudo's son.

# Origin of the Rinnegan

If you read Chapter 646 of the Naruto manga, you can see

> the Ten-Tails' awakening. And when he opens his eyes, you should be able to
> notice that they have a similar pattern to the Rinnegan. Actually, the eyes
> look like a Rinnegan with some [Tomoe 巴](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Tomoe)
> scattered in the circles of the Rinnegan.  
>  
>  We also witness the Ten-Tails' awakened form (the Tree of God), which uses
> a more complex form of the [Preta
> Path](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Preta_Path) when he absorbs the chakra of
> people he caught.  
>  
>  From this information, we can conclude that the Tree of God/Ten Tails was
> the original "wielder" of the "perfect Rinnegan" (well, it hasn't got a name
> yet), and that most probably, the chakra was not the only thing the Sage got
> at birth.




# Awakening the Rinnegan

I think you have misunderstood something here.

[The Rinnegan](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Rinnegan) was the **original
form.** It required **no activation and was permanent** to the [Sage of the
Six Paths](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Hagoromo_%C5%8Ctsutsuki).

His children, the Uchiha and the Senju inherited the two different feats:

  * The life force and physical energy went to the Senju
  * The visual prowess and strength of chakra went to the Uchiha clan.

**_This visual prowess manifested in[the
Sharingan](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Uchiha_clan) as a visible component of
the Rinnegan. The Senju had some second components to the Rinnegan embedded in
their DNA._**

When one brings the DNA of an Uchiha and a Senju together, one can awaken the
Rinnegan.

The problem now is that the possibility to awaken the Rinnegan (when they also
have Senju DNA) is in every Sharingan user, but only "under the radar". To
activate _the Rinnegan_ , it seems one must go through different stages:

The _Mangekyou Sharingan_ and the _[Eien]{Eternal} no Mangekyou Sharingan_

Madara accomplished this. By implanting Hashirama's DNA to his cells when he
was close to death, he finally awakened the Rinnegan.

It may also be possible to awaken the Rinnegan without undergoing the two
higher stages of the Sharingan, but that is only speculative. As of chapter
674 of the manga, the DNA of Hashirama (or moreover, Senju DNA) is not
required to awaken the Rinnegan.

> Sasuke awakens the Rinnegan, even though there is no actual explanation as
> to why. It probably has to do with the fact that Sasuke is possessed by the
> reincarnated spirit of Rikudo's son.

# Origin of the Rinnegan

If you read Chapter 646 of the Naruto manga, you can see

> the Ten-Tails' awakening. And when he opens his eyes, you should be able to
> notice that they have a similar pattern to the Rinnegan. Actually, the eyes
> look like a Rinnegan with some [Tomoe 巴](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Tomoe)
> scattered in the circles of the Rinnegan.  
>  
>  We also witness the Ten-Tails' awakened form (the Tree of God), which uses
> a more complex form of the [Preta
> Path](http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Preta_Path) when he absorbs the chakra of
> people he caught.  
>  
>  From this information, we can conclude that the Tree of God/Ten Tails was
> the original "wielder" of the "perfect Rinnegan" (well, it hasn't got a name
> yet), and that most probably, the chakra was not the only thing the Sage got
> at birth.

