There are tons of theories about Sarada awakening the Rinnegan later in the Boruto series and I find the theories and speculations absurd.
Now I’m not saying it’s not possible, I mean she was able to unlock the Mangekyo Sharingan at a very young age which is impressive but if you’ve been following the Naruto series, you ought to know that the Rinnegan is completely different from the Sharingan/Mangekyo entirely and it’s almost impossible to awaken.
In other to get the point, let’s explore the process of how the Rinnegan can be awakened by talking about characters, that were able to awaken the Rinnegan and how they awakened it.
1. Hagoromo Otsusuki
Hagoromo Otsutsuki a.k.a the sage of six paths, is the son of Tenji, the leader of the land of ancestors and Kaguya Otsusuki, the alien that arrived earth with her superior Isshikki Otsutsuki. He’s also the half brother of Hamura Otsutsuki and the father of Indra and Ashura Otsutsuki.
Enough with the intro, so let’s talk about how Hagoromo awakened his Rinnegan. Hagoromo is a prodigy, he was able to use the five elements of nature at a very young age without weaving signs, had insane physical strength, he can heal any kind of sicknesses(a gift Hamura also possess) and was able to master sage mode in no time.
He awakened the sharingan after realizing that the people that his mother chooses to perform the divine tree ritual were actually sacrificed in the process and among them was a girl he had feelings for named Haori. The pain he felt seeing her dead body and many others triggered the awakening.
After learning about the secrets of the divine tree from Gamamaru, he vowed to get stronger in order to stop his mother and the divine tree from destroying earth. So he remained in the land of toads to learn sage mode while Hamura returned to the village.
Hagoromo was able to master sage mode and after a few years, he returned to the village to challenge his mom. Both parties exchanged words and when it seems like they aren’t willing to agree to disagree, Hamura jump out of nowhere clearly out of his mind and attacked his big bro.
Hamura, mind-controlled by his mom attacked Hagoromo but the Sage of Six Paths was able to overpower his sibling and after summoning the courage to strike Hamura with a lightning release, the pain he felt seeing his brother fatally injured triggered the awakening of his Rinnegan and Mangekyo Sharingan simultaneously.
Now Hagoromo was able to awaken these great doujutsu mainly because he’s an Otsutsuki, his mom is a freaking alien and when she was pregnant, she ate the divine fruit. So that means that the Otsutsuki brothers ate from the divine fruit as well. So Hagoromo has more than what it takes to possess the Rinnegan.
2. Uchiha Madara
Uchiha Madara is one of the most powerful shinobi from the Uchiha clan. He’s Hashirama’s friend and rival, the co-founder of the Hidden leaf village, a reincarnate of Otsutsuki Indra, the caster of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, once the jinchuriki of the ten tails and of course the second shinobi in the series to awaken the Rinnegan.
During his deadly battle against Hashirama, Madara bit off a piece of Hashirama’s flesh before dropping to the ground. Knowing that Tobirama would not dispose his corpse, he switched his body with a shadow clone, throw-up the piece of flesh he ripped off of Hashirama and used it to tend to his wound and then went into hiding.
It was at his old age that he realized he’d awaken the Rinnegan, this means that it took Madara decades to awaken the Rinnegan. After awakening the doujutsu, he summoned the Gedo statue from the moon, which he then used to preserve his life until he came across Uchiha Obito.
I could confidently say that Madara went through the normal process of awakening the Rinnegan. He understands that in other to have a chance of unlocking the doujutsu, the blood of Indra and Ashura has to be combined/attached/mixed.
3. Uchiha Sasuke
So Sasuke was the third to possess the Rinnegan, this was made possible because of the powers he received from Hagoromo, that’s it. Later in the Boruto series was when we realized that Sasuke cannot use the Rinnegan anytime he wants. Using the Rinnegan depletes his chakra quickly and when he’s chakra’s about to run out, the Tomoe on the Rinnegan deactivates indicating that it can’t be used at that moment and then activates when his chakra has been recharged.
So can Uchiha Sarada awaken the Rinnegan?
Well unless it’s what the writers wanted. Personally, it think she has the potential but lacks the full requirements, if you know what I mean. We were made to know that unless the blood of the Otsutsuki brothers (Indra & Ashura) mix, the Rinnegan cannot be awaken.
Sarada is an Uchiha, which is linked with Otsutsuki Indra, so that’s one of the requirements but she needs the cell of someone from a clan linked to Otsutsuki Ashura for the process to be completed.
So unless there’s another way to awaken the Rinnegan, I don’t see Uchiha Sarada awakening the Rinnegan in the series. Let me know what you think.