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Rin'negan (Metempsychosis Eye)

Kekkei Genkai:	Rin’nengan (Metempsychosis Eye) or (Transmigration eye)
Bloodline Limit of:	Sage of the Six Paths (Nagato, Pein)
Type:	Doujutsu
Appearance:	The eyes have several concentric circles.
Note:	It is presumed that Nagato and Pein are the same person, but this is uncertain. There is a theory that the Sage has been migrating from body to body.

Description:

The Rinnengan is considered the greatest of the three most powerful doujutsus. This Kekkei Genkai is said to have belonged originally to the Rikudou Sennin (Sage of the Six Paths), founder of the shinobi world and the creator of modern ninjutsu. A Rinnengan user can easily be recognised because his eyes will have several concentric circles surrounding the pupil.

Not much is known about the Rinnegan, so much of this information is still speculation based on what has been presented in the manga so far.

Conditions

One possibility is that the Rinnengan, like the Sharingan, is a Kekkei Genkai that would remain dormant but can be awakened in a life-threatening situation. This theory is based on Nagato’s history.  Nagato trained under Jiraiya as a normal boy during the Great Ninja War, but when he was attacked by a Rock ninja, his Rinnegan instinctly activated and Nagato was able to kill his attacker.

Another theory is that the Rinnengan belonged exclusively to the “Sage of the Six Paths”, and has been transmigrating from body to body. In this case, the Sage was using the Rock ninja as a vessel and then passed onto Nagato. (Note that the eyes of the dead rock ninja where empty, chapter 372 page 17). Years later, when Jiraiya fought Akatsuki’s Pein, he faced against six people who each had the Rinnegan. Jiraiya claimed that Nagato’s body was not among the six, but he did recognize Yahiko, another former student, amongst them – yet Yahiko was never a Rinnengan user.  

Powers

The Rinnegan was prophesized to be either a weapon of heaven that can bring salvation to a world in chaos; or a weapon of total destruction that will return everything to dust. Users of the Rinnegan are supposed to be the ultimate ninjas because they are able to master any technique effortlessly and have control over all of the six chakra elements.

During his battle with Jiraiya, Pein demonstrated that he can switch between any of his six different bodies or use all of them at the same time.  The six bodies share the Rinnegan, and gain the benefit of sharing their fields of vision.  Pein can therefore see things from many different angles, effectively eliminating any blind spots. Also, each body is specialized in a particular technique such as summoning or taijutsu.  With the ability to share visions, Pein can seamlessly coordinate attacks with some or all of his six bodies.

see Pein, Sage of Six Paths for more information on the characters