Nagato

**Nagato** (長門) is a shinobi of Amegakure and descendant of the Uzumaki clan. Forming Akatsuki alongside his friends (and fellow war orphans) Yahiko and Konan, Nagato dreamed of bringing peace to the violent shinobi world. However, following Yahiko's death, Nagato adopted the alias of **Pain** (ペイン, *Pein*) and, along with Konan, began leading a new Akatsuki — one that would force the world into peace using any means necessary.

## Nagato

* Pain
* Human
* Young
* Emaciated

### Aliases

長門 NagatoPain (ペイン, Pein)God (神, Kami)[4]Child of the Prophecy (予言の子, Yogen no Ko)[5]Saviour of this World (この世の救世主, Kono Yo no Kyūseishu)[6]Third Six Paths (三人目の六道, Sanninme no Rikudō)[7]

### Relatives

Fuso (father), Ise (mother), Naoto (son), Ayane (wife)

## Appearances

### Portrayed by

Troy Baker, Vic Mignogna, Junpei Morita Ken'yū Horiuchi (Pain)Tomoaki Maeno (Child)

## Background

Nagato lived with his parents: Fusō and Ise on the outskirts of Amegakure. When he was very young, Madara Uchiha secretly transplanted his Rinnegan into Nagato without his or his parents' knowledge. Sometime later, during the Second Shinobi World War, Nagato and his parents took shelter in their home to avoid the fighting going on around them. One day, two Konoha shinobi broke into their home looking for food and Nagato and his parents tried to sneak out unnoticed. When they were discovered, his parents attacked the shinobi so that Nagato could escape. The Konoha ninja killed his parents in self-defence and, upon realising they were only civilians, tried apologising to Nagato. Overcome with grief, Nagato used Madara's Rinnegan for the first time to kill them and avenge his parents.

After burying his parents, Nagato, now an orphan, was forced to leave home and begin wandering in search of food and shelter. With resources scarce due to the ongoing war, no one he met would help him until Nagato, who had collapsed from hunger, was found by Konan and Yahiko, orphans like himself. They banded together, acquired food to survive through any means, and shared dreams of a future where they were in charge and could use their power to eliminate war. Yahiko was particularly passionate about this point, which inspired Nagato to adopt the same goal. In order to accomplish this, the three would need to become ninja. With few options to choose from, they approached Konoha's Legendary Sannin and asked to be taught ninjutsu. Orochimaru offered to kill them in order to end their suffering, but Jiraiya, guilty over his participation in the war, offered to teach them how to look out for themselves.

Jiraiya found a place for them to live and taught them how to fish, but he would not teach them ninjutsu. While the orphans were out one day, they were found and assaulted by an Iwagakure chūnin. Fearing for his friends' lives, Nagato used his Rinnegan to kill the Iwa-nin. When Jiraiya arrived on the scene to help them, he noticed Nagato's eyes for the first time and was reminded of the legends of the Sage of the Six Paths, the original possessor of the Rinnegan. Because of this, Jiraiya changed his mind and began teaching them ninjutsu. Nagato was remorseful for killing the Iwa-nin, but Jiraiya convinced him that sometimes violence and personal pain was necessary to protect others. In time he even shared his belief that Nagato was the Sage of Six Paths' reincarnation and that, like the original Sage, Nagato would use his Rinnegan to usher in a world of peace.

Jiraiya trained the orphans for three years. Because of his Rinnegan, Nagato easily mastered everything he was taught. Once they were able to defeat one of his shadow clones in a fight, Jiraiya decided they were ready to forge out on their own and he returned to Konoha, confident they would bring reform to the country. The three formed an organisation they called Akatsuki, with Yahiko as its leader, and began advocating an end to war. Their message proved popular and they gathered many followers; even Jiraiya would sometimes hear news of their exploits. During the Third Shinobi World War, they were approached by a disguised Obito Uchiha. Introducing himself as Madara Uchiha, he offered to help them in their pursuits and show Nagato how to unlock the full potential of his Rinnegan. Yahiko refused the offer, suspecting Tobi only meant to use them.

Throughout their quest for peace, Akatsuki's ranks swelled and became known throughout Amegakure, so much so that Hanzō of the Salamander, the village's leader, began to feel Akatsuki threatened his rule. He approached Akatsuki, offering to work together with them to help negotiate with the other warring villages. The next day, at a meeting to finalise the arrangement, Yahiko and Nagato were ambushed by Hanzō and his men, with support from Konoha's Danzō Shimura. Using Konan as a hostage, Hanzō threatened to kill her if Nagato did not kill Yahiko. Unwilling to let Nagato have that on his conscience, Yahiko impaled himself on Nagato's kunai, using his dying breath to state his faith that Nagato would change the world. Enraged by Yahiko's death, Nagato took Konan back from Hanzō, though his legs were badly damaged in the process. He then summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and, upon linking with it, used it to slaughter Hanzō's men, though Hanzō himself escaped. Afterwards, Nagato severed his ties with Amegakure by slashing the village's symbol on his forehead protector, no longer wishing to be affiliated with Hanzō's village.

Yahiko's death ultimately convinced Nagato that his philosophies about achieving peace were foolish; the world would never willingly end the cycle of death and hatred it had operated on for so long. Only through direct experience of war and all the losses and agonies it brought could anyone truly desire peace. Intending to personally bring that level of despair to the world, Nagato took on the name of "Pain". As the damage he'd received from Hanzō's attack and the link with the Demonic Statue left him frail and immobile, Nagato created the Six Paths of Pain out of corpses that he controlled remotely. For the Deva Path he used Yahiko's body — still wanting him to lead the organisation in spirit — and for the other five he used the corpses of other miscellaneous shinobi that, without his knowing it, had met Jiraiya when they were alive. Pain began leading Akatsuki in a new direction, secretly accepting Obito's earlier offer of support. Akatsuki composed itself with S-rank missing-nin and started offering its services as a mercenary group to ninja villages, earning the money necessary to fund its long-term plans.

Years later and still loyal to his own version of Amegakure, Pain and Konan began a civil war in the village to overthrow Hanzō. Much of the village rallied behind Pain, believing him to be a god because of his immense power. The Six Paths of Pain eventually cornered and killed Hanzō, earning control of the village, but not before expressing his disgust with how Hanzō had fallen from the man he admired and the fact he cannot even understand how, in his self-preservation, his skill and conviction have diminished. In order to prevent anyone from challenging him, Pain proceeded to eliminate everyone even remotely connected to Hanzō, from members of his family to distant acquaintances. Because of Amegakure's already secretive nature, news of Hanzō's death never made it outside of Amegakure and the village was believed to still be divided by the civil war. Pain embraced the villagers' idea of his being God and single-handedly crushing remnants loyal to Hanzō whenever they surfaced. Every Sunday, Pain would make it rain within Amegakure or if he had to be away.

## Personality

Nagato was a sensitive child, prone to crying over the sufferings of himself and others. When he met Yahiko he tried to break this habit by following Yahiko's philosophy that crying wouldn't change anything, but the attempt was unsuccessful. Jiraiya later pointed out to him that his sensitivity was actually a strength, as it allowed him to understand pain better and, in turn, be kinder to others. This view resonated with Nagato and caused him to realise that he wanted to take on all of his friends' pain so that they wouldn't have to. It also finally succeeded in ending his crying; when Jiraiya left their group it was Yahiko who cried to see him go, while Nagato only thanked him for all the guidance he'd provided.

In one form or another, Nagato spent his entire life placing the needs of others before his own: his main motivation for becoming a ninja in the first place was so that he could protect Yahiko and Konan; he viewed his role in the original Akatsuki as a powerful tool meant to help Yahiko bring peace to their country; as leader of his own version of Akatsuki, he felt it was his responsibility to save the world from itself, inflicting pains of such magnitude that nobody would ever harm anyone else ever again. While this indicates a growing self-importance Nagato regarded himself with, it was encouraged by the similarly growing esteem others regarded him with due to his Rinnegan: Jiraiya believed he was the reincarnation of the Sage of the Six Paths; Yahiko and the rest of Akatsuki believed he was the "Saviour of the World"; the villagers of Amegakure believed in him as if he were a "God".

As a child that grew up in the middle of other countries' wars, Nagato did not like killing and was horrified by his early acts of violence against those who had harmed his friends and family. He supported Yahiko's Akatsuki because it wanted to end the wars and deaths that he hated so much. After Yahiko's death, Nagato compromised his aversion to killing to a large extent, believing the deaths of specific individuals or even hundreds at a time could be justified if it served a greater and/or long-term purpose. But Nagato remains very clear in this distinction, as he shows mercy to those willing to cooperate with him and discourages others from defying him because it will only force him to strike them down. Minato Namikaze believes that, at some point along the way, Nagato's views were corrupted and subsequently manipulated by Tobi.

As leader of Akatsuki, Nagato projected a great charisma through his public mask of the Deva Path so that even Akatsuki held him in great awe. Despite his power and self-appointed divinity, Nagato was incredibly patient with defiance from the group, likening Hidan's open threats against him to those of a child who needed guidance. Utterly confident in his own abilities, Nagato showed no hesitation in fighting even the strongest opponents, nor in asserting himself against powerful Akatsuki members when need be. When speaking of Akatsuki's goals, Nagato demonstrated a contemplative side as to the nature of war and peace, matching his belief that war was the inevitable result of the nature of humanity. While he declared his godhood to his enemies, Nagato would privately admit that he was never anything more than an ordinary man who was seeking peace through the best means he knew how. When encountering enemies who disagreed with his philosophy, Nagato would often request their own solution to the problems of the world before almost inevitably being dissatisfied with the response due to his low opinion of human beings as a whole. Despite this, Nagato is stated to have gone as far as kill anyone from Amegakure who even questioned his ideals and even went as far as to kill infants of people who were even remotely associated to Hanzō.

When leading the Akatsuki, Nagato could also be possessed of a cold, wrathful side. He showed no hesitation in attempting to kill his former teacher Jiraiya, stating that all love for Jiraiya had long since died. When he attacked Konoha, Nagato demonstrated cold fury at Tsunade for defying his proclamations as to the justice of his attack on the Leaf. Believing that the only way humans could understand one another was through shared pain, Nagato showed no hesitation in obliterating the Leaf village or attempting to kill Hinata Hyūga when she came to Naruto's defence in order to demonstrate a lesson on pain and the inability of human beings to understand one another. Despite this, he had a high value in comrades as he chastised Kisame for speaking ill of Hidan and Kakuzu.

One further constant in Nagato's life was the esteem he placed in his childhood friends. Nagato viewed himself as having inherited Yahiko's will to change the world and kept Yahiko's corpse as his most treasured and powerful Path of Pain. Konan, his partner and childhood friend, remained his most ardent supporter. Nagato likewise demonstrated equal esteem and concern for her, with Konan as one of the few who could sway or influence his decisions to the extent that Tobi confided in Zetsu a fear of what Nagato might do without Konan's calming influence on him.

Despite the number of personal changes Nagato went through during his life, he always remained fundamentally kind and respectful. With his fellow members of Akatsuki, he mourns those who die in the pursuit of Akatsuki's goals and disapproves of name-calling amongst peers. He extends similar courtesies to his opponents, being honoured to meet one so strong as Kakashi Hatake, despite also being determined to kill Kakashi because that very same strength would inevitably interfere with Akatsuki's plans. For all his kindness, Nagato has a certain prejudice against Konoha because its ninja have played a role in a number of his life's tragedies. He tried to change this opinion because of Jiraiya's positive influence, but ultimately decided that Konoha's successes were predicated on the misfortunes of others.

Despite his conviction in Akatsuki's goals, Nagato is re-convinced of his former pacifism by Naruto Uzumaki, who believes the struggle for peace is worth any personal cost to the point of sacrificing his life to atone for his actions. Recognising the person he once was, Nagato decides to believe in Naruto's answer for peace, also regaining his faith in Jiraiya. Upon his revival, Nagato demonstrates a far friendlier side, joking with and praising Naruto. Before he is sealed away, Nagato reveals that he has gone from viewing himself as a god to viewing himself as the failed middle volume of a trilogy started by Jiraiya and ended with Naruto. He also regains his high regard for Jiraiya as he referred to Jiraiya was the "perfect first volume".

## Shinobi of The Sea

At some point, Nagato joined the Avatar Program.

## Abilities

Nagato's position as the leader of Akatsuki was well-deserved, being regarded as its most powerful member. Despite his fragile state and damaged legs, Kabuto Yakushi regarded Nagato as his second most powerful reincarnated shinobi, second only to an enhanced Madara Uchiha. Upon restoring and rejuvenating his body using the Tailed Beast chakra he absorbed from B, he simultaneously overwhelmed and immobilised the Eight and Nine-Tails jinchūriki with ease although his legs remained weakened. Despite his effectiveness being reduced due to Kabuto Yakushi's direct control, it still required a combined effort of Naruto, Killer B, and Itachi Uchiha to defeat and seal him. As Pain, he was regarded as unbeatable by various individuals, and his strength allowed him to defeat and kill Hanzō, though Hanzō's skills had long since diminished. He was also able to defeat Jiraiya, his former teacher, though he notes that he may have lost if Jiraiya knew his true identity. Not only that, he could face the entire village of Konohagakure and destroy it single-handedly, only losing one of his Paths in the various battles with Konoha ninja. Before he faced Naruto, Nagato had never lost a single battle, still pushing Naruto to employ the most powerful abilities he had at his disposal.

### Chakra and Physical Prowess

As a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, Nagato's chakra was naturally resilient. His actual chakra reserves were unusually vast, enough that he could perform various, chakra-taxing techniques all in the same day. Upon exerting his chakra in the form of a shockwave, one of the Fifth Hokage's Anbu bodyguards suspected that his already powerful chakra was enhanced by his Rinnegan. Nagato also had remarkable control over his chakra and could alter its frequency constantly, negating the possibility of a sensor pinpointing his location when he controls the Six Paths of Pain unless they stab themselves with one of his chakra rods.

Following his first fight with Hanzō, Nagato's legs were badly damaged and his body was left frail. This limited his mobility for the rest of his life and rendered his original body largely defenceless. He regained some of his former mobility after being reincarnated and restoring his body and legs with some of the Eight-Tails' chakra. When not handicapped, Nagato could rapidly move around a battlefield, closing the gap between himself and his opponents fast enough to force them to retreat.

### Ninjutsu

During his training with Jiraiya, Nagato mastered every technique he was taught, covering numerous styles, all of the basic nature transformations, and Yang Release, accomplishments extremely rare even for adults, let alone ten year-olds. Many of the miscellaneous techniques he was seen performing were used to facilitate Akatsuki's meetings, such as allowing members to meet astrally across great distances, protecting the site of their meetings, and distracting opposing forces. Adept with the Shadow Clone Technique, he was even capable of cloning his summoned creatures. One of his more noteworthy techniques was the Rain Tiger at Will Technique, which allowed him to create perpetual rainfall to monitor everyone moving within Amegakure.

Nagato was also an adept sensor, able to pinpoint the location of others across great distances, even penetrating beyond barriers erected for the express purpose of blocking detection.

### Rinnegan

Nagato's skill in so many types of ninjutsu was due in large part to his Rinnegan. Though he was not the eyes' original owner, being an Uzumaki allowed Nagato to wield both eyes without drawbacks, whereas Obito could barely handle a single eye despite his various modifications and in-depth knowledge of the dōjutsu. Ultimately, Nagato's skill was great enough to earn recognition as the "Third Six Paths" (三人目の六道, *Sanninme no Rikudō*).

The greatest advantage of the Rinnegan was that it gave Nagato access to all of the Six Paths Techniques: the gravitational powers of the Deva Path; the menagerie of summons available to the Animal Path; the limitless absorptive potential of the Preta Path; the control over others' souls with the Human Path; the different options of mechanisation in the Asura Path; access to the King of Hell through the Naraka Path. Because of the limitations of his real body, Nagato had few chances to use any of these abilities directly. When the opportunity arose, though, he could shift between the different Paths seamlessly and instantly, performing the many abilities on a level he wasn't capable of when using them through others.

The one branch of Six Paths Techniques that Nagato reserved for himself was that of the Outer Path. As the Outer Path, Nagato could summon and control the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, produce black receivers into which he can channel his chakra, and use the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to revive the dead.

#### Six Paths of Pain

With the Outer Path, Nagato could form what he calls his "Six Paths of Pain". By embedding black receivers throughout the bodies of six corpses – arranged to resemble body piercings – Nagato was able to control all of them remotely as though they were his own. He could control the Paths across great distances, but for more chakra-demanding techniques, it was necessary for the Path to first be brought closer to his position. An alternative to this was cutting off control of five of the Paths and focusing all of his chakra into one. The Paths can be used to react to threats in mere seconds and, because they are corpses, the bodies are unfazed by all but the most debilitating types of damage.

In theory, each of the Six Paths of Pain could be used to perform any technique that Nagato himself was capable of. In practice, however, he limited each body to one branch of the Six Paths Techniques, the exception being the Deva Path through which he performed a number of miscellaneous jutsu. Each Path served a specific purpose, be it offensive, defensive, reconnaissance or repair. None of the Paths specifically specialised in taijutsu, but all were able to keep pace during hand-to-hand combat with even the most practised opponent. Though he considered all six Paths to be part of the Pain identity he gave himself, Nagato still regarded them as separate entities from himself, referring to them by whichever Path they embody.

Although the Six Paths were individually strong, they were at their most formidable when used together, with the simultaneous use of all six being the primary reason for Pain's infamous invincibility. This was because the six Paths, as well as the Animal Path's summons and the King of Hell, let Nagato share their vision, allowing him to coordinate their movements with maximum efficiency. They could attack from multiple angles and dodge attacks they couldn't have seen but that occurred within another Path's field of vision. During his attack on Konoha, when the Six Paths were dispersed throughout the village to act strategically, they managed to wreak devastation and kill many powerful shinobi, effectively allowing Nagato to almost singlehandedly overpower the village. Each of the Paths had its own importance in a fight – the Naraka Path's ability to restore all the other Paths, making it the most valuable – and therefore, Nagato would sacrifice other Paths to protect those further up the hierarchy.

Despite the advantages the six bodies granted him in a fight, Nagato tried to limit his usage to as few bodies as possible to reduce the likelihood of anyone discovering the secret of how the Six Paths of Pain work. When Konoha began to understand the idiosyncrasies of the ability, he destroyed the village in an effort to kill anyone who might know that none of the six Paths were the real one.