Over the course of its 15-year run, the universe of Naruto brought fans many iconic villains challenging the protagonists to reach new levels in order to overcome them. The second half of the series, Naruto: Shippuden, introduced us to Nagato Uzumaki, or as he is more commonly known as: Pain. Pain manifested himself in six different versions, based on the six paths or realms of Buddhist existence, each boasting their own unique abilities making them formidable foes. Today, we will be breaking down what the Six Paths of Pain represented.
***SPOILER WARNING: The first section of this breakdown will feature story spoilers. If you have not watched or read Naruto: Shippuden, come back when you have. If you’re solely interested in the breakdown of the Six Paths, skip over the first section.***
Who is Pain?
Before we get started, it’s important to dive deeper into the mastermind controlling Pain: Nagato Uzumaki. A war orphan born in Amegakure, the Village Hidden in Rain, Nagato was revealed to have the power of the Rinnegan given to him by Madara Uchiha. Nagato desired to bring peace to the world, and with the help of fellow orphan Yahiko, they create the Akatsuki with that goal in mind.
Yahiko is killed during a treacherous “peace” meeting with Hanzo, despot of Amegakure. A fight ensues that culminates in Hanzo escaping but reveals Nagato’s hidden ability to summon a demonic entity known as the Gedo Statue. This fight leaves Nagato weak and unable to avenge Yahiko, but through the power of the Gedo Statue, Nagato discovers he can reanimate the dead to do his bidding.
Using the deceased Yahiko as his first subject, he injects corpses with black metal rods to share chakra and bestows his Rinnegan upon them, allowing all of his reanimations to share sight. The death of Yahiko forces a change in Nagato’s beliefs on how peace can be achieved, instead opting to teach peace through suffering.
Nagato reinvents himself to match that belief: renaming himself Pain, killing Hanzo with his reanimated minions, and becoming the ruler of Amegakure with the villagers referring to him as a god. With this power in hand, Nagato turns to using the Akatsuki to bring peace to the world through pain….
Well, at least a number of Pains.
Naruto’s Six Paths of Pain
Deva Path
This Pain is the reincarnation of Yahiko and the “face” of the Akatsuki. This version of Pain can manipulate attractive and repulsive forces to their will, as seen in the anime, with jutsu such as “Almighty Push.” This Pain can also use his abilities to levitate and is famously known for the “Planetary Destruction” jutsu: a technique that summons a black sphere pulling in the nearby environment to create a monstrous planet-sized projectile.
The Buddhist meaning of the “Deva Path” is a realm/path of bliss and is sometimes referred to as the god realm. As the name implies, the inhabitants of the god realm are often way more powerful than those in the human realm and are referred to as gods. However, Deva differs from being absolute gods as they often suffer from human feelings such as pride and are trapped in the human cycle of suffering.
Asura Path
If the Deva Path refers to the gods among us, then the Asura Path refers to the monstrous demons who look to drag us down. This version of Pain was known for being able to augment his body with mechanical weaponry and ballistics changing its appearance in a grotesque manner akin to a demon. The Asura Path can also use a strong chakra blast through either an arm cannon or through its head and possesses immense physical strength.
The common theme of those in the Asura Path is that they suffer from greed for power and envy while often being at war with humans due to those wicked traits. They are characterized by having three heads with three faces each and either four or six arms.
Human Path
The Human Path of Pain is one of the physically weakest iterations of Pain, but its true strength lies in the power to gain information. The Human Path can gain intel by putting its hand on its target’s head or chest and yanking out the target’s soul, inevitably killing them.
This Path refers to the consequences of your human actions; choose to learn, and you will be rewarded with gaining knowledge creating an “enlightenment” within you while choosing the opposite route will net you no gain. Much like its unimpressive physical form, the Human Path is limited by the mandates of abstinence, and must not give in to earthly desires or obsessive behaviors.
Animal Path
The Animal Path is one of “survival of the fittest”; this Pain possesses immense summoning capabilities that manifest itself in the form of feral creatures. The summoned animals also share the Rinnegan similar to Pain. Besides summoning these creatures, the Animal Path can use summoning jutsu to call the other Pain variants into battle as a tactic to overwhelm opponents.
The Animal Path refers to the plane where one is reborn to atone for their sins through reliving their lives as animals. As an animal, one thinks differently and relies on instinct, which explains their aggressive nature upon being summoned.
Preta Path
The Preta Path of Pain acts as a defensive sponge absorbing any ninjutsu-based techniques through a barrier cast around the user. The perfect example of this was shown when Naruto and Killer Bee fight the reanimated versions of Nagato and Itachi; Nagato used this path’s ability to absorb Killer Bee’s second form chakra to restore himself.
The Buddhist meaning of “preta” is equivalent to ghost, however, this ghost is constantly tormented by a desire for hunger and thirst. No matter how much food or drink they consume, they are never satisfied, and this comes as a result of having been greedy and/or stingy in their previous lives.
Naraka Path
The Naraka Path of Pain uses abilities such as restoration and interrogation with the aid of the King of Hell: an ability only available to those who possess the power of the Rinnegan. During the process of interrogation, the King of Hell is summoned and latches onto the target’s soul through an elongated tongue. The summoner proceeds to interrogate the victim, and if they tell a lie, their soul is ripped out and fed to the King of Hell. Conversely, if they do not lie, they are freed.
The King of Hell can also be used to restore the other Paths of Pain by consuming them and then spitting them out rejuvenating. Finally, it can store the souls it has been fed from the Human Path of Pain.
This Path of Pain is based on the Hell Realm: a realm where one goes to atone for their crimes such as lying. Once their term of suffering is complete, they will then be reborn into a higher state.
The backstory behind Pain is some of the most unique content that anime has given us, and if you’re hungry for more Naruto content, be sure to check out what else Twinfinite has to offer! He even ranked amongst the strongest Naruto characters, but only came in at #9. Who could have possibly topped this fearsome adversary??
