Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-36221354-20180717114536/@comment-6769189-20180718161622

Georgio722 wrote: I believe that you do need the Sharingan... I think the eye that can awaken the sharingan is needed, mostly because the Sharingan and Rinnegan were once one, and as generations passed, it became more and more watered down.

There is also the fact that it has a different power set and doesnt modify or enhance Sharingan abilities, and actually needs to be turned off to use MS specific abilities.

Basically, an eye that holds the Sharingan also holds the Rinnegan.