Did The Sage obtain the Rinnegan before or after absorbing The Juubi?
To be fair, there's both evidence for him having it either before or after The Juubi incident.
Overall though, is The Juubi required? I believe it is not.
Let's look at Madara; he was able to awaken the Rinnegan. He wasn't attached to the Gedo Mazou when he unlocked the Rinnegan, since you need the Rinnegan to summon the Gedo. So, no Juubi here. Even if he was attached to the Gedo when he unlocked it, The Gedo =\= The Juubi. The Gedo is its hollow husk and lacks The Juubi's power.
On top of that, we have the instance where Obito actually became the Juubi's jin, and didn't obtain his second Rinnegan. Unless Obito resisted the forming of his new Rinnegan (which would be a ridiculous proposition), The Juubi does not invoke the Rinnegan.
To be fair, there's both evidence for him having it either before or after The Juubi incident.
Overall though, is The Juubi required? I believe it is not.
Let's look at Madara; he was able to awaken the Rinnegan. He wasn't attached to the Gedo Mazou when he unlocked the Rinnegan, since you need the Rinnegan to summon the Gedo. So, no Juubi here. Even if he was attached to the Gedo when he unlocked it, The Gedo =\= The Juubi. The Gedo is its hollow husk and lacks The Juubi's power.
On top of that, we have the instance where Obito actually became the Juubi's jin, and didn't obtain his second Rinnegan. Unless Obito resisted the forming of his new Rinnegan (which would be a ridiculous proposition), The Juubi does not invoke the Rinnegan.
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