Over the course of the Naruto series, the Rinnegan’s superiority over all other jutsu is made quite evident, setting a precedent for what true power entails in the Naruto universe. As the Rinnegan is said to control life and death itself, the user of this Dojutsu is placed outside this samsara of life, allowing the wielder to take the souls of the living or bring the dead back to life.
The Gedo Art of Rinne Rebirth is one such technique of the Rinnegan, allowing the user to reincarnate the dead by imbuing life into those that have passed away. Despite the jutsu’s apparent strength, the reincarnation comes with a grave price – the user’s own life. The technique has a few other limitations as well, yet the absurd power that lies behind this technique trivializes all its drawbacks. The Rinne Rebirth was a crucial part of Madara’s plans, and it has played a major role as a plot device in the series.
The Gedo Art of Rinne Rebirth
The technique is one of the many powers of the Outer Path, which is primarily known for its abilities that revolve around the cycle of life and death, such as the manifestation of chakra chains to control the dead. Performing this technique requires the user to summon the King of Hell, a deity which rules over life and death. The Rinnegan allows the user to summon this deity through the Naraka Path, with complete control over its actions.
To use the Rinne Rebirth Jutsu, the King of Hell is ordered to release the souls of the deceased, which then return to their bodies completely rejuvenated. The souls of the dead are retrieved from the crossroads between life and death, however, it is speculated that its power of retrieving souls cannot reach those that have passed long ago.
With great power, however, comes an even greater side-effect, as using the Gedo Art of Rinne Rebirth rapidly drains the user’s chakra and lifeforce. This ultimately leads to the caster’s death, meaning the cost of reincarnating the dead is the user’s very own soul. This is evident from the scene where Nagato Uzumaki uses the Rinne Rebirth Jutsu, where his hair loses all pigmentation as a sign of his life force being drained, and death soon follows right after the jutsu is finished.
Madara’s Plans With the Rinne Rebirth
Being an all-powerful technique, it comes as no surprise that this jutsu would be used by those that wish to lay havoc among the lands. Following the same premise, the Rinnegan eventually falls towards the dark side, with Nagato and Obito planning to use the Rinne Rebirth Jutsu to revive Madara Uchiha, and to initiate the infamous Project Tsuki no Me. Although the plot may seem to be spearheaded by Nagato, it was actually set in place by Madara himself before his death, with Obito as his pawn to further the plan under his absence.
The plan was initiated back when Madara had just awakened his Rinnegan, which he then implants into young Nagato without his knowledge. To groom Nagato and use his power to be reborn again, Madara used Obito to act in his place and see through the plan till the end. This involved gathering all the tailed beasts and storing them into the Gedo Statue. This would then allow Madara to be reincarnated, along with him casting the Infinite Tsukuyomi. This plan, however, was foiled by Naruto when he convinced Nagato with his words to change his path, allowing him to see the light. Instead of following through with the original plan, Nagato betrayed Madara and Obito and instead reincarnated all the Hidden Leaf shinobi that died during his invasion.
The Rinne Rebirth’s Limits
As with any jutsu, the Gedo Art of Rinne Rebirth has its fair share of downsides as well. First, the technique requires the caster to lose their life in exchange for bringing back the souls of the dead, meaning it is simply a one-time jutsu. Secondly, many fans have deliberated that Madara could have been revived long ago with the Rinne Rebirth Jutsu by Nagato.
This seems to be another one of the jutsu’s weaknesses, as reviving someone that has died long ago would require an immense amount of chakra, which also explains why gathering all tailed beasts was necessary before reincarnating Madara. This is also proven by Nagato himself who states that he can only revive those that have recently died during his attack on the Hidden Leaf Village. The limits of this jutsu prove that no matter how strong the Rinnegan may be, the user can still never escape the Samsara of life and death.