Kakashi Hatake is one of the most beloved characters in the Naruto series. Kakashi’s name was known through the whole shinobi world as “Kakashi of the Sharingan”. By the end of the series, numerous characters died or lost a part of themselves; both mentally and physically, and Kakashi Hatake is one of such characters. Kakashi lost the most iconic part of his appearance and strength, the Sharingan.

 A lot of people know that Kakashi doesn’t have the Sharingan in the Boruto series. But, how did Kakashi lose his Sharingan? I’ll explain! So without any further ado, let’s understand how Kakashi Hatake lost his Sharingan!

How Did Kakashi Hatake Lose his Sharingan? 

Kakashi Hatake lost his Sharingan in chapter 674 of the manga. Madara managed to slip through Naruto and Sasuke’s reach using his Limbos and snatched Kakashi’s Sharingan eye right out of his eye socket! 

Madara had become the Juubi’s Jhinchuriki and was nothing short of a God. With no form of Ninjutsu and Genjutsu working on him, the shinobi world’s only hope was Might Guy and his 8 Inner Gates Jutsu! However, even Guy’s iconic 8 Gates battle wasn’t enough to put down Madara. 

Then, Naruto and Sasuke showed up to the scene with their new powers; granted by none other than the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki. The duo was matching with Madara really well, in fact, they started gaining the advantage over him! Madara knew that he had to do something to win, and fast. Hence, he set his eye on Kakashi’s Sharingan.

While Sasuke tried his best to stop Madara, it was all in vain as Madara stole Kakashi’s eye away in a flash. Madara gouged Kakashi’s eye so quickly that he didn’t even realize it for a few seconds! 
Later, Naruto using his Yin-Yang chakra to perform a far-fetched variation of Creation Of All Things jutsu gave Kakashi Hatake his left eye back.

But, Kakashi Hatake used Susanoo to fight Kaguya, right? So he must have had two Sharingans? Yes! He did! Madara stealing the Sharingan was not enough to keep the Copy Ninja down! There’s a solid reason for that as well. It involves the principle of Ninshu which the Sage Of Six Paths openly practiced and preached.

So, How Did Kakashi Hatake Use Perfect Susanoo?

Kakashi got a pair of Sharingan in chapter 688 of the manga, after Obito’s death. As Kakashi and Obito rushed in to act as shields for Naruto and Sasuke against Kaguya; Obito used his Kamui to save Kakashi. After succumbing to Kaguya’s attack, Obito perished and his soul went into the afterlife.

Over there he met Rin and promised to save Kakashi for the last time. So that Kakashi can carry on Obito’s dream of becoming a Hokage. In order to help Kakashi Hatake, Obito’s soul returns and transfers Sharingan chakra to Kakashi allowing him to manifest a perfect Susanoo.

But how did the transfer of chakra takes place? How did Kakashi Hatake get Sharingan in both eyes? I’ll explain. But first, keep Obito’s promise in mind.

How did Kakashi Hatake get Sharingan in both eyes?

As Obito stated in chapter 688, Obito’s Sharingan would work for a limited time only. As Obito’s chakra ceased to exist in the human world, his spirit left for the afterlife, taking the Sharingan with it as well.

Wait again! The Sharingan works even if the original user dies, right? As seen in the case of Danzo, Shisui, and Itachi. So why didn’t now? 

The reason for Kakashi Hatake getting the Sharingan in both eyes stems from how chakra works. We know that everything in the shinobi world is connected by chakra; even souls are made of Chakra! For example; Minato’s soul was trapped inside the Shinigami’s belly with the Yang chakra of Kurama. This is due to the nature of the sealing jutsu he performs.

However, we still see a chakra copy of him in Naruto’s seal, how? This is due to the nature of the soul in the Naruto universe. Since chakra is shareable and can be split (Shadow Clones) and soul is a chakra. It can exist in multiple places.

The principle of Ninshu comes into play here. The principle of Ninshu itself stems from the principle of The One For All and All For One. As it is well-known, Naruto is filled to the brim with Hinduism and Buddhism principles.

Similarly, the chakra is a binding force in all of Naruto-verse. This means anything and everything has chakra and is connected by it. And in Naruto-lore one can share chakra with each other. Thus, we see some part of Minato’s soul inside Naruto’s seal along with Kushina’s soul.

Also, the reason why Danzo was able to use the Sharingan’s of dead Uchihas is due to him physically having the eyes containing Sharingan. To which, he can provide his own chakra. If this wasn’t the case, then Kakashi wouldn’t have been able to use Obito’s Sharingan in the first place.

Whereas, in the 4th Shinobi War, Obito didn’t transplant his eyes in Kakashi. Instead, he as the soul (chakra) possessed Kakashi with his own Juubi enhanced Sage Chakra granting Kakashi the Sharingan.

He was able to do so due to the soul being chakra and chakra being transferrable. With this, a new question arises,

How Did Kakashi Lose His Sharingan Again?

Obito possessed Kakashi after he died and due to his soul being chakra, Kakashi received all abilities of Obito. The same principle applies to Edo-Tensei jutsu as well. Where a living person is used as a vessel to host the soul of the dead.

Since the soul transfer is forceful in nature the vessel’s personality and soul are overwritten by the incoming soul. And since the soul is a chakra, the newly Edo-Tensei’d body can use all the jutsus of the transferred soul despite not knowing it itself.

Similarly, there was no need to transplant the Sharingan eyes physically; as he could transfer his abilities to Kakashi through chakra itself since he was dead. Thus, we can say that Kakashi became the first Edo-Tensei without actually being an Edo-Tensei. However, due to his promise to Rin, soul Obito didn’t stay for long with Kakashi and rejoined with her.

Hence, taking the Sharingan away from Kakashi.

TL;DR:

Kakashi first lost his Sharingan in the battle against Madara during the Fourth Great Shinobi War. While everybody thought this to be the end of the Copy Ninja Kakashi; Obito gifted his Sharingan to Kakashi again after he succumbed to Kaguya’s attack. This way Kakashi had complete access to the Sharingan’s abilities.

However, this didn’t last for long, as Obito’s soul left to the afterlife; effectively putting an end to the name “Kakashi of the Sharingan”.

We hope that your question “How did Kakashi lose his Sharingan” has been answered!

So, do you think that Kakashi losing the Sharingan is justified? Is he better off with or without the Sharingan?  Let us know in the comments below! Also, to know how he got Sharingan in the first place click here!