Who is Pain in Naruto?

As a child, Madara Uchiha transplanted his Rinnegan in Nagato’s eyes, leaving him as a vessel for his eyes which he can claim upon his revival. Nagato, Konan and Yahiko met after their parents died due to the Second Shinobi War.

After three years, Jiraiya left them and returned to the leaf village, entrusting their own future to themselves. To ensure a just, warless world, the three set out and quickly became popular and founded a team called the Akatsuki with Yahiko as its leader. Nobody could oppose them and if they did, they would ‘wind up dead’.

However, this fame spread to the leader of the Village Hidden in the Rain, Hanzo. He took Konan hostage and told Nagato that he would spare her if he killed Yahiko. Yahiko jumps on Nagato’s kunai, sparing him the choice. Enraged, Nagato then unlocks the potential of the Rinnegan and then summons the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to murder the shinobi that assisted Hanzo, with Hanzo himself escaping but saving Konan. Sadly, Nagato badly damages his legs in the process.

The death of Yahiko convinces that true peace is impossible. If the world wanted to desire peace, they had to know the pain of war. This was the logic Nagato had, before he took on the alias ‘Pain’. With the power of the Rinnegan, he used the corpses of Nagato and five other Shinobi to act as himself, as Pain. Upon taking this role, he proceeded to kill Hanzo and took control of the Village Hidden in the Rain, with the support of its people. Due to Pain’s immense power, the people of the village believed him to be a god and he let it stay that way. He would make it rain there every Sunday or when he is away from the village, all while having Konan as his right hand. He then turns Akatsuki into a group which sought the tailed beasts to benefit in the war with the help of Obito Uchiha.

Nagato possesses great abilities which benefit him in achieving his goals. The first gift that Nagato bore was his clan, the Uzumaki clan. This clan is famous for their large chakra reserve, which helped Nagato spend so much chakra on his rinnegan. Naruto also benefits from being a member of the Uzumaki clan as he could be a perfect vessel for the ninetails without it affecting his function. His belonging to the Uzumaki clan is also the reason why chose Nagato as the vessel for his rinnegan.

The Rinnegan is another ability that Nagato possesses. This Kekkei Genkai was implanted into him by Madara when he was a child without his knowledge, secretly. This visual prowess is what gives Nagato most of his abilities. He could use all of the six path techniques: Deva, Asura, Naraka, Pretha, Human and Animal paths. Due to his crippled body, he couldn’t do all of it himself, and instead relied on the corpses he used to use the abilities on his stead. Another ability that the rinnegan gave was the ability to study. All the Ninjutsu that Jiraiya taught him, he could master quickly. He was a fast learner.

In terms of Physical Prowess, Nagato isn’t very strong but Pain is seen to be incredibly strong. During the fight against Naruto, the 6 forms of Pain are seen to be incredibly strong, especially Yahiko’s body, which seems to tank Naruto’s blows back to back with minimal consequences. Nagato also seems to be able to control Pains efficiently all by himself, without losing focus.

Nagato is one of the most gifted characters in Naruto, with the huge chakra reserves along with rinnegan, one of the strongest yet most chakra consuming abilities. His rinnegan has different powers which he could control, giving each corpse one ability:

1. Deva Path: Gravitational Powers.
2. Asura Path: Blades and mechanisation powers.
3. Naraka Path: King of hell, a deity who controls life and death.
4. Pretha Path: Chakra absorption.
5. Human Path: Control over human souls and being able to read minds.
6. Animal Path: Summon beats which can multiply upon being killed.

Uzumaki Naruto vs Six Paths Of Pain

This fight is one of the most iconic fights in anime history. After Pain destroys all of Konoha, Naruto spawns into a barren field where Konoha used to be. This fight is pure action and contains far less flashbacks compared to other fights in the series.

Hatake Kakashi vs Pain

A severely underrated fight where Kakashi not only saves multiple shinobi, but also gathers more than enough information about Pain for Naruto to fight him effectively. This fight scene show’s Kakashi’s prowess of the sharingan and his usage of Kamui despite it not being his own.

Pain vs Konohamaru

Konohamaru is a fan favorite character that many thought to be the predecessor to Naruto. He single handedly defeats Pain and saves his sensei in the process. It shows his growth over the course of the series and how strong Konohamaru really is.

"Sometimes you must hurt in order to know, fall in order to grow, lose in order to gain because life's greatest lessons are learned through pain."

“Love is the reason why there is pain. When we lose someone precious to us, hate is born. Vengeance is the product of that hate and so death follows. But in death there is only more death. This will give rise to more pains. In this cursed world we live in, it is a cycle of hatred that will not cease. You and I seek the same thing that Jiraiya-sensei wanted. Let me ask you this: How will you confront this hatred in order to create peace?”

“Justice comes from vengeance, but that justice only breeds more vengeance.”

"Feel pain, think about pain, accept pain, know pain... Shinra Tensei!"

"Do you hate me now?"

Q. Is Nagato Uzumaki a girl?

A. Nagato Uzumaki is a male character from Naruto Shippuden. However, Nagato does have a corpse of a girl that he uses as Pain.

Q. Are Nagato and Naruto related?

A. Nagato and Naruto are related in two ways; in one way they are related because they both belong to the Uzumaki clan. Another way they are related is that Naruto’s name is based off of the book Jiraiya wrote about Nagato.

Q. Why did Pain kill himself?

A. Pain sacrificed himself in order to save the lives he took during the destruction of the leaf village. He was already exhausted from his fight against Naruto, and he had to revive quickly for it to take effect. This caused Nagato to lose his life.