Nagato

Lore & Background

Nagato was conceived by Kishimoto as a villain, a victim of war, who would show Naruto the impact and gravity of world wars. While Nagato does not fight in the story, he uses a group of corpses known as 'The Six Paths of Pain' (ペイン六道, Pein Rikudō). All of them were given elaborate designs with multiple piercings across their bodies to reinforce the idea that despite his calm demeanor, Nagato is a dangerous person. Orphaned from the war-torn country of Amegakure, the Village Hidden in Rain, Nagato meets fellow orphans that he would become very close to named Konan and Yahiko, before they are all trained by Jiraiya. A descendant of the Uzumaki clan like Naruto, Nagato's Rinnegan is later revealed to have belonged to Madara Uchiha, who transplanted his eyes into the child as part of his plan. Nagato desires peace for the world, helping Yahiko to create the Akatsuki to achieve that shared dream. Following Yahiko's death, which Tobi orchestrated, by the actions of Hanzo of the Salamander, who was the Hidden Rain village leader, and Danzo Shimura of the Hidden Leaf Village, Nagato rethinks the idea that peace can only be attained by teaching the world suffering caused by war. For this, Nagato adopts the name of 'Pain' and kills Hanzo, taking over as the new leader of the Hidden Rain and becoming a 'god' for its citizens. Crippled from both Hanzo's attack and his link with the Gedo Statue, Nagato finds a way to overcome his weakness by remotely controlling the corpses of deceased people as if they were their own. Besides Yahiko, Nagato creates the other Paths from the corpses of five ninja that Jiraiya encountered in the past.

In Their Own Story

Pain is confronted by his former mentor Jiraiya while infiltrating the Hidden Rain, resulting in a fight that ends with his mentor's death and the loss of his Animal Path vessel. Nagato converts the corpse of a Rain kunoichi named Ajisai (アジサイ, Ajisai) into a new Animal Path before beginning his attack on the Hidden Leaf. The rest of the Paths are destroyed in the fight against Naruto, with the Deva Path disabled, and Nagato recovers his faith in Jiraiya and world peace while talking with Naruto. He then sacrifices his life to revive the people he killed in the Hidden Leaf. Konan takes Nagato's and Yahiko's bodies to be placed in a tomb. Tobi desecrates Nagato's resting place to acquire the Rinnegan, which Madara later reclaims once fully resurrected. Nagato is reanimated by Tobi's ally Kabuto Yakushi during the war and sent alongside former ally Itachi Uchiha to battle Naruto and Killer Bee. Though he regains some of his ability to fight again, Nagato gets sealed by the combined efforts of Itachi, Killer Bee and Naruto and is sent back to the afterlife.

Reader's Guide

Nagato's arc concluded with the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique. In a final act of atonement, he expended his remaining life force to revive every soul he had extinguished in Konoha. Rejecting his title as Pain, he died simply as Nagato, restoring the boy who once dreamed of peace alongside Jiraiya. This pivotal moment cemented the series' core theme: that understanding is possible even between enemies, and true peace demands empathy over vengeance.

Did You Know?

• Nagato's alias 'Pain' inspired Kishimoto to add piercings to his body as a metaphor for how he inflicts 'pain upon himself'.
• The Deva Path is actually Nagato's deceased friend Yahiko, one of six animated corpses collectively known as 'The Six Paths of Pain'.
• Nagato's Rinnegan originally belonged to Madara Uchiha, who transplanted his eyes into Nagato as part of his plan.
• Nagato sacrificed his life to revive the people he killed in the Hidden Leaf, using the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique.
• In the English dub, Nagato is voiced by Vic Mignogna, who said 'his story arc is amazing'.