Pain arc is one of the best arcs in entire Naruto Shippuden. A single human has enough power to practically destroy an entire Nation and its most capable fighters.
A human strong enough to take down tailed beasts and capture their jinchuuriki.
Yes, I am talking about the successor of the Sage of Six Paths, the leader of the Akatsuki, Pain.
Pain is the most interesting character that has not been completely understood by everyone.
He might have turned evil and destroyed the Hidden Leaf Village and even killed Kakashi, and we all hate him for that.
But, after reading this article, I am sure that you will see Pain (a.k.a Nagato) from a new perspective.
So let’s understand how an innocent child Nagato turned into Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki, the most feared terrorist organization among the five great nations.
Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki. Nagato used his dear friend Yahiko’s body to hold the strongest power of the Rinnegan. The ability to push and pull objects and stop any attack. (Image Credit: Pierrot)What is Rinnegan?
Rinnegan is the strongest and, as said by master Jiraiya, the noblest of the top three Dojutsu.
The other two are the Sharingan and the Byakugan.
Rinnegan holds the power of the legendary sage of six paths, the first being to harness chakra and the creator of Nishu (Ninjutsu).
Rinnegan has a rippled pattern and even has the power to bring back the dead from the afterlife.
It can be used to revive others.
But it is not only a method to revive the dead.
Its power is so immense that the user of Rinnegan can kill thousands of people with a single attack.
Pain alone destroyed the Hidden Leaf Village and changed its landscape forever.
Madara Uchiha, when revived, was able to summon huge asteroids from space to attack the joint Shinobi alliance.
And this was when he was not even at full power or using the actual Rinnegan.
Rinnegan gave Nagato six abilities that made him super powerful.
The first and foremost is the ability to summon beings and creatures.
Second is the ability to absorb any Ninjutsu-based attack. The third is the ability to revive the dead.
Next is the ability to weaponize its body to attack.
And the most powerful one is the ability to push and pull things.
Using this ability, Pain destroyed the Hidden Leaf Village completely.
Rinnegan was the legendary dojutsu of the sage of the six paths.
After saving the world from his mother, the progenitor of chakra, Kaguya Ottsusuki, The sage established Ninshu and spread the knowledge of chakra as the bond of love that will bind people together.
Later he had two sons, The older one named Indra and the younger Ashura.
Indra inherited his father’s dojutsu prowess in the form of Sharingan, while Ashura inherited his will and strength.
Indra was turned evil by the Black Zetsu. Thus began the rivalry between Indra and Ashura, which was carried on for generations.
They both reincarnated hundreds of times to continue their battle, with the last reincarnation being Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju.
Indra’s bloodline came to be known as the Uchiha, while Ashura’s bloodline came to be known as the Senju.
The Hyuga Clan inherited the Byakugan, while the Uzumaki Clan gained its immense chakra control.
The Six Paths of Pain. Each has a different ability and a unique skill. They singlehanded defeated Hanzo of the Salamander, the strongest shinobi in Hidden Rain Village and one of the most powerful shinobi in the entire Naruto series. (Image Credit: Pierrot)How did Nagato obtain the Rinnegan?
The Rinnegan was divided into Indra’s and Ashura’s descendants.
Thus the Uchiha blood and Senju blood must be required to again obtain the Rinnegan.
But it is not that easy. Only the strongest man can hold the power of Rinnegan.
Even Obito could not withstand the power of two Rinnegans during the Fourth Great Ninja War. He transplanted only one in his left eye.
During his final battle against the First Hokage Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha managed to get a mouthful of his flesh and fake his death.
Using the flesh, he obtained the Senju cells and implanted them in his body in the hope of creating the Rinnegan.
But it was not until decades later that he awakened the Rinnegan.
Madara Uchiha was one of the greatest shinobi to ever live and the strongest.
His battle with the First Hokage Hashirama Senju was legendary.
But, he was very old now, and his body could no longer utilize the Rinnegan to his full strength.
Thus he made a great plan to revive himself and chose Obito Uchiha to complete it.
He then found Nagato and decided to pass on the Rinnegan to him till he was old enough to be able to utilize the Rinnegan’s powers to revive Madara.
Obito was to guide Nagato in the correct direction so that the plan does not fail.
The reason why Madara chose Nagato was simple. It was because Nagato was an Uzumaki.
The Uzumaki Clan has huge amounts of chakra and can control a lot of power. They were feared by all nations and thus killed out of fear.
The Uzumaki Clan is recognized for being the most suitable candidate for Jinchuriki, and thus Madara decided to give Nagato the Rinnegan.
This is how Nagato obtained the Rinnegan.
The rest of the story was pure luck. It was his destiny to meet the Legendary Sannin, Master Jiraiya and become his student.
Nagato’s paths changed when his dear friend Yahiko died, and then came Pain.
The Gedo Statue was sealed on the moon along with Kaguya Ottsusuki to prevent the ten tails from getting revived again. But, Nagato summoned it without knowledge and unleashed the full power of Rinnegan. (Image Credit: Pierrot)How did Nagato become Pain?
After Jiraiya left Nagato and his friends, they formed an organization called Akatsuki to free the Hidden Rain Village from the wars between the five great nations.
They did a lot of good for people around the Hidden Rain village who were affected by the Great Ninja Wars.
They earned the recognition of Hanzo, the leader of the Hidden Rain Village and one of the strongest shinobi to ever live.
Even the Legendary Sannin of hidden mist could not defeat him altogether.
But, watching them grow so strong and powerful made them a lot of enemies as well.
One such enemy was Danzo of the Hidden Leaf Village.
Danzo found out that Nagato possessed the Rinnegan and wanted it for himself.
So he tricked Hanzo of the Salamander and killed Yahiko, Nagato’s friend and the leader of the Akatsuki.
After the death of his best friend, Nagato lost himself to darkness and wanted to avenge Yahiko’s death.
He unleashed the full power of Rinnegan and was able to summon the Gedo Statue, which had sealed the power of the Ten-Tails.
His Pain and sorrow lead him to accept Obito’s (Disguised as Madara Uchiha) thoughts and that this world needs to be changed.
Nagato accepted the idea of using the powers of the Tailed Beasts to change this world and took it upon himself to make things right.
Nagato now had unlocked the full potential of the Rinnegan, and being an Uzumaki, he was able to use its power too.
He used six dead bodies and using special chakra rods.
He controlled them. He divided himself among the six bodies and controlled all of them to create the six paths of Pain.
The real body of Nagato Uzumaki after becoming a pain. He controls all the pains through the chakra rods inside their bodies. (Image Credit: Pierrot)One of them was Yahiko, his best friend and the one person he loved the most.
The tragic past and suffering turned Nagato’s warm heart into a stone cold and gave birth to Pain.
But in the end, Naruto’s words reached Nagato’s heart, and he realized his own self.
He revived all those whom he killed in the attack and gave up his life in doing so.
Nagato passed on his and Yahiko’s dreams to Naruto and believed in him that Naruto would not go down the wrong path.
Do you think Nagato’s decision was wrong? Doesn’t this world actually need to be changed?
Well, I personally think that he did the right thing, but this world definitely needs to be changed.
If you can change my mind, comment down your thoughts below. Also, write down which member of the Akatsuki you like the most in the comments below.
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