Nagato

**Nagato**, also known as **Pain**, was an orphan from Amegakure and a student of Jiraiya who grew up during the Second Shinobi World War. Orphaned by conflict, Nagato banded together with his fellow war-orphans to form Akatsuki, an organization whose goals were to stop the endless cycles of death. He is also the current leader of the group after his friend, Yahiko's death.

## Statistics

* **Name**: Nagato, Pain, God, Child of the Prophecy, Savior of this World, Third Six Paths
* **Origin**: Naruto
* **Gender**: Male
* **Age**: 35
* **Birthday**: September 19
* **Classification**: Human, Missing-nin, Akatsuki Leader, Village Head of Amegakure
* **Blood Type**: A
* **Height**: Male
* **Height**: 175.5 cm (5'9.1")
* **Weight**: 40.1 kg (88 lbs)
* **Skin Color**: Pale White
* **Hair Color**: Red
* **Relatives**: Unnamed Parents (deceased)
* **Alignment**: Netural
* **Status**: Deceased
* **Class**: **Transcendent**
* **Notable Attacks/Techniques**: Almighty Push, Universal Pull, Six Paths of Pain, Planetary Devastation
* **Voice Actor**: Junpei Morita, Kenyū Horiuchi (Pain), Shiho Hisajima (Female Pain)

## Appearance

Nagato is a relatively tall and lanky man with pale white skin and straight red hair, a color owing to his Uzumaki heritage. When he was very young, his hair covered his eyes, preventing his Rinnegan from being visible. When he started training to be a ninja, he parted his hair so that only his right eye was covered. He wears a red long cloak with long sleeves on both sides and a hood, and dark blue pants. He does however, lacks footwear and walks bare-foot.

## 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 realize 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 "*Savior of this World*"; the villagers of Amegakure believed him "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.

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 honored 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. He is humbled by Naruto's view, and goes from viewing himself as a god to viewing himself as the failed middle volume of a trilogy started by Jiraiya and ended with Naruto.

## Power

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 his body being restored and rejuvenated using the Tailed Beast chakra he absorbed from Bee, he simultaneously overwhelmed and immobilized the Eight and Nine-Tails jinchūriki with ease. Despite his effectiveness being reduced due to Kabuto Yakushi's direct control, it still required a combined effort of Naruto, Killer Bee, and Itachi Uchiha to defeat and seal him. As Pain, he was regarded as unbeatable by various individuals, whose strength allowed him to defeat and kill Hanzo, though Hanzo'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 the Hidden Leaf and destroy it single handily, only losing one of his Paths in the various battles with Hidden Leaf ninja. Before he faced Naruto, Nagato had never lost a single battle.

## Abilities and Equipment

**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 him to use the Rinnegan to their full potential; his skill was great enough to earn recognition as the "*Third Six Paths*". Among the many benefits granted to him, the Rinnegan allowed him to see all forms of chakra and made him immune to visual genjutsu. The greatest advantage of the Rinnegan was the access it gave Nagato to all of the Six Paths Jutsu: 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 mechanization 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.

* **Six Paths Jutsu**: The power granted by the Rinnegan to manifest the various abilities of the Six Paths. Nagato created the Six Paths of Pain to utilize these techniques through the use of six separate corpse bodies implanted with chakra receivers. These chakra receivers, which take on the appearance of piercings, allow Nagato to control the bodies of Pain freely and utilize a single path ability per body. Each body has been given its own set of Rinnegan eyes, linking their vision to help eliminate blind spots.
	+ **Deva Path**: This path grants the user the ability to manipulate gravity to repel or attract objects, using their body as a center point. These techniques cannot be used in quick succession, however, and require a recharge time equal to the power of the previous attack.
		- **Almighty Push**: Deva Path emits a large shock-wave of gravity capable of large scale destruction. If Nagato cuts off chakra to all of the other bodies and focuses it through Deva Path, this technique is capable of massive destruction on a much larger scale. The Almighty Push has five second cool-down. The full-powered Almighty Push shortens Nagato's life, however, as it causes a massive strain on his main body.
		- **Universal Pull**: This ability allows Deva Path to manipulate the force of attraction of an object by controlling its gravitational pull. As opposed to Almighty Push which pushes objects away, Universal Pull attracts objects towards the caster.
		- **Planetary Devastation**: Deva Realm launches a dark-colored gravity-generating sphere into the air. The ball tears up the local landscape and forms the rocks, dirt, trees, etc. into a mountain-sized sphere around it, trapping and crushing anyone who was standing on the landscape. If the ball at the center is destroyed, the technique will be cancelled.
	+ **Animal Path**: This path gives the Rinnegan user the ability to summon various gigantic immortal creatures in to battle. This summoning technique doesn't require the blood of the caster to call forth an animal summon. Each of Pain's summoned creatures have the Rinnegan as well, granting them shared vision.
		- **Summoning Jutsu**: Animal Realm can summon various giant creatures, including a chameleon that can turn invisible, a dog that multiplies when attacked, a rhino, a bull, a bird, and a panda with high durability properties. All Pain bodies may also be summoned at any time, and subordinates such as Konan can be summoned. Nagato himself can also summon the Gedo Statue.
	+ **Human Path**: Grants a Rinnegan user the ability to read the mind of a target by placing their hand on the target's head. As a result of this ability, the target's soul is ripped from their body, killing them.
		- **Soul-Sucking Jutsu**: A soul sucking technique which rips the soul out of a target's body once Human Path places his hand on the victim's head. Ideal for gathering information as it reads the target's memories, however, the target is killed during the process.
	+ **Preta Path**: This path grants the Rinnegan user the ability to absorb chakra. This power can suck the chakra out of ninjutsu, thus rendering such forms of offense futile.
		- **Jutsu Absorption**: An advanced sealing technique unique to Preta Path. This path can absorb all forms of chakra manipulation including nature transformation, and can also drain the chakra out of a target's body by coming in to contact with them. Edo Nagato was able to absorb stolen chakra in to his body, which regenerated his withered and weakened state, restoring him to his prime.
	+ **Asura Path**: The abilities of this path give the user robotic and cyborg-like qualities. Described as summoned mechanized armor, these body augmentations allow Asura Path and Nagato to make use of various mechanized weaponry. The machine-like attributes granted by this path allows the user to further transform their body, such as growing additional limbs.
		- **Asura Attack**: The Asura Path allows the user to transform a part of their body in to a laser cannon. Asura Path can open up his head to reveal a laser apparatus which can destroy an area at least as large as a city block. Edo Nagato can use this ability to transform one of his arms in to a laser cannon.
		- **Asura Missiles**: Asura Path stores various missiles through out his body, such as a dozen in his right arm and one located near his back. Once fired, these missiles can lock on to a target via some sort of homing mechanism, and can cause large building level explosions once detonated.
		- **Arm Cannon**: Due to his body augmentation attributes, Asura Path can detach his lower arm and fire it with incredible force and speed. The power is enough to level a large building, and the detached arm can be called back and reattached via chakra.
		- **Mecha Augmentation**: The mechanized portions of Asura Path allows him to transform his body in to a shape best suited for combat. This path can grow up to six arms and three faces, plus a two meter long razor blade tail with serrated edges.
	+ **Nakara Path**: A path in which its powers allows the user to call forth the King of Hell. The entity known as the King of Hell takes the shape of a large head surrounded by dark flames, and also sports the Rinnegan, giving it shared vision among the rest of Pain's bodies and summons.
		- **Mind Violation Judgement**: To initially cause the King of Hell to appear, Naraka Path must first grab his target. Once the King of Hell is in the presences of target, they will then succumb to paralysis leaving them open to interrogation, pulling out their life essence in the shape of an elongated blob. The King of Hell will open its mouth and extend a long, tentacle-like arm which will proceed to grab on to the victim's life force and pass judgement.
		- **Naraka Path Revival Jutsu**: Naraka Path has the ability to repair damage to any of the bodies of the Six Paths of Pain which have been rendered unusable. The damaged body will be ingested in to the King of Hell's mouth and restored over a short period of time.
	+ **Outer Path**: The seventh path, an ability granted to a wielder of the Rinnegan, allows the user to control the flow of life and death. The user can also preform the Demonic Statue Chain technique, which manifests strong chains made out of chakra that are powerful enough to bind several bijuu. The greatest ability of this path is the Rinne Rebirth Jutsu, which can resurrect the dead.
		- **Black Receivers**:
		- **Rinne Rebirth Jutsu**: This ability merges the crossroads between life and death. Using the power of the King of Hell, the caster can infuse life force energy in to the bodies of beings who have passed on. It does so by summoning souls back from the afterlife and placing them back in to their physical bodies. This technique require a massive amount of chakra to preform. A weakened Nagato activated this jutsu after his long battle against Naruto and died shortly after its casting due to severe physical strain.
* **Six Paths of Pain**: With the Outer Path, Nagato could form what he calls his "Six Paths of Pain". By embedding chakra 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 Jutsu, 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 specialized in taijutsu, but all were able to keep pace during hand-to-hand combat with even the most practiced 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, share the same vision, allowing Nagato 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. 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 him.

## Weaknesses

Each body only has a handful of abilities.

They're weaker if they're isolated from the others.

The Deva Path has a 5-second window between repels. Almighty Push drains Deva Path, and a full-powered Almighty Push temporarily disables all of his bodies.

Planetary Devastation uses up a lot of chakras.

As Nagato, he lacks mobility (unless he absorbs someone's chakra).