Pain remains one of the most iconic and charismatic antagonists in Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto series. Initially portrayed as the leader of the infamous Akatsuki group, Pain was later unveiled as a collection of reanimated bodies controlled by Nagato, a shinobi who sought to achieve world peace through acts of violence.
According to Nagato’s beliefs, the only way for the ninja world to reject war was to first experience and comprehend its devastating consequences. However, Nagato himself was unable to physically enforce his ideology due to his permanent disability. Therefore, he utilized the Rinnegan to reanimate six corpses, known as the Six Paths of Pain, to carry out his will by channeling his chakra through them.
Nagato had complete control over his bodies and could manipulate them as he desired. He possessed the ability to see through their eyes, eliminating any blind spots and flawlessly coordinating their movements. Additionally, he had the power to grant each body one of the basic abilities of the Rinnegan. The strength of each individual body, and even more so when combined, made Pain a formidable force to be reckoned with.
The Ranking of the Six Paths of Pain in Naruto Shippuden
Naraka Path: The Path of the Dead
The Naraka Path has the ability to call upon the King of Hell, a deity capable of revitalizing the bodies of the other Paths in the event of damage or destruction. Additionally, it can utilize the King of Hell to question individuals and discern the truthfulness of their responses.
If the victims chose not to respond to the inquiry or to deceive, the King of Hell would promptly execute them by extracting and consuming their tongue. Due to these unique supportive abilities, the Naraka Path is regarded as the most prized among the Six Paths of Pain. However, when it comes to direct combat, the Naraka Path’s accomplishments are underwhelming, making it the weakest of Pain’s bodies.
Despite the fact that the Naraka Path was able to physically dodge Naruto’s Rasenshuriken, unlike the Animal Path, it is still considered weaker overall. This is because the Animal Path possesses more efficient offensive and defensive techniques.
Human Path
The Human Path possesses a legitimate instant-kill capability, as it is able to forcibly remove the soul from its victims and read their minds in the process. Additionally, it boasts enough physical prowess to block a punch from Sage Mode Jiraiya.
Despite this, the majority of ninjas would not be able to break free if the Human Path uses its ability to immobilize them and extract their souls. Nevertheless, the Human Path is limited in its use of long-range techniques, allowing skilled combatants to keep their distance and avoid its attacks.
It should be mentioned that during his encounter with Animal Path, Preta Path, and Human Path, Jiraiya acknowledged that if he had engaged them directly without evasive maneuvers and strategic tactics, he would have been defeated despite being in Sage Mode.
Preta Path
The Preta Path is one of the six bodies of Pain, and it possesses a unique ability to absorb chakra by creating a barrier around itself. This makes it highly effective in neutralizing ninjutsu techniques that are solely composed of chakra or infused with chakra from an element.
The Preta Path can only be defeated through the use of genjutsu, taijutsu, or unique ninjutsu techniques such as Kamui or Shinra Tensei, which utilize chakra. However, it should be noted that defeating the Preta Path with taijutsu is not a simple task. This body possesses a strong resilience and is capable of absorbing chakra when in physical contact with its adversaries.
However, while it possesses the potential to be a powerful tool, this ability also has its drawbacks. For instance, certain types of chakra can prove to be hazardous even when absorbed, as demonstrated by the Preta Path’s absorption of Naruto’s senjutsu chakra. Although its defensive capabilities are exceptional, its offensive and versatile abilities are lacking, ultimately diminishing its effectiveness in combat.
Overall, the Preta Path appears to possess slightly greater individual strength than the Human Path. This makes it a more valuable asset for shinobi, as ninjutsu users make up the majority of the shinobi population and the Preta Path serves as a highly effective defense against most ninjutsu techniques.
3) Animal Path
Despite not being inherently powerful, the Animal Path possesses the ability to summon a multitude of formidable animals to battle on its behalf.
The multi-headed dog was altered using a special technique that allowed it to continuously divide whenever it was hit. This ability allowed the creature to withstand even the most powerful attacks by multiplying its physical form. The only way to permanently defeat the beast was to defeat its summoner, causing the summoned creatures to disappear.
Despite its lack of strong individual skills, the Animal Path still possesses greater overall strength compared to the other Pain bodies. While the Preta Path is unable to absorb summoned creatures and the Naraka Path is limited in its ability to capture them with the King of Hell, the Human Path’s soul removal technique is time-consuming and can only target one enemy at a time. As a result, the Animal Path would easily overpower its opponents with sheer numbers.
The Animal Path was capable of swiftly executing the Summoning Jutsu, enabling it to intercept Sage Mode Jiraiya’s most rapid offensive move. As a result, this body should have the ability to employ its summoning techniques promptly to protect itself against most adversaries.
2) Asura Path
The Asura Path is widely regarded as the second most powerful form of Pain, surpassed only by the immensely formidable Deva Path. This body serves as a fully-equipped battle machine, capable of unleashing a multitude of robotic enhancements, such as additional limbs, a variety of protruding blades and drills, and other advanced features.
The Asura Path possesses the ability to launch a group of missiles and unleash a chakra cannon strong enough to decimate an entire city block. It is also capable of creating extra faces, providing it with heightened perception and a shared field of view. Furthermore, the Asura Path’s robotic enhancements grant it impressive physical strength.
Despite initially being blitzed by Kakashi, his speed was such that he was able to dodge the Copy Ninja’s subsequent Raikiri attack. Additionally, the Asura Path’s basic physical strikes were strong enough to rip off Sage Mode Jiraiya’s arm and crush his throat, demonstrating its immense raw strength.
The durability of this object is also noteworthy, as it was able to withstand attacks from Kakashi’s Lightning Shadow Clone and Raikiri, as well as being struck by Choji and Choza’s Super Multi-Size Technique.
The Asura Path’s impressive speed, raw strength, durability, and firepower make it a formidable opponent for any Pain body, except for the Deva Path. It has the ability to easily overpower the Animal Path and its summons. The Preta Path is unable to absorb its missiles and other weapons, while the Naraka Path and the Human Path are also unable to defend against them.
1) Personality of the Deva Path
Despite becoming permanently crippled, Nagato chose to channel the highest level of his visual abilities into the body of his late friend Yahiko. This marked the emergence of the Deva Path, the most formidable form of Pain. In terms of techniques, physical prowess, and overall strength, the Deva Path surpasses the other five bodies.
The Deva Path’s remarkable quickness and expertise in taijutsu allowed this body to match the agility of swift individuals such as Kakashi and Sage Mode Naruto. It was even able to evade a Rasenshuriken attack at close range and surpass Naruto’s speed when he tapped into a significant amount of the Nine-Tailed Fox’s chakra.
The Deva Path’s basic skills alone make it a formidable opponent, but when he unleashes his true abilities, it becomes nearly invincible. This form has the ability to control gravity and can repel or attract any target at the user’s command, with a cooldown of only five seconds between uses. The Shinra Tensei jutsu, known for its effectiveness, is a particularly powerful example.
When utilized at maximum strength, the Shinra Tensei of the Deva Path unleashes a powerful gravitational force that obliterates everything in its vicinity, including enemies, incoming attacks, and the surrounding environment. However, this level of force requires a significant exertion and results in a longer cooldown time, temporarily limiting Pain’s combat capabilities.
The Deva Path is also capable of utilizing Chibaku Tensei, a powerful jutsu. This technique creates a large black sphere that acts as a magnet, pulling all surrounding objects towards it and crushing the intended target with a massive satellite composed of debris and rubble.
Despite its impressive abilities, the Deva Path would likely emerge victorious in a one-on-one battle against most Kage and Kage-level ninjas. This is particularly noteworthy considering that the Deva Path is significantly weaker than Nagato, who possesses the same abilities, along with those of all the other Pain bodies, but to a much greater extent.
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