Nagato

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Nagato (长门)
Alias(es)	Pain; Deva Path Pain
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Akatsuki
Occupation/Role	Leader of Akatsuki
First Appearance	110

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Rinnegan wielder with Six Paths of Pain	117 119	Controls the six Paths: Deva, Asura, Human, Animal, Preta, and Naraka. The Naraka Path restores the other Paths, making it the key target.
Hashirama Cell enhancement	115	Accepts Hashirama Cells from Obito; his body regains youth, mobility, and strength, while his already immense chakra increases more than tenfold.
Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan access	120	Increased compatibility with the Rinnegan allows him to use Uchiha Madara's Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan power and manifest Susanoo.
Expanded Rinnegan control	162	His control continues to improve after the enhancement; Deva Path Pain can use Preta Path abilities.
Two-hundred-meter Susanoo	168 169	Demonstrates a Susanoo matching Uchiha Gray's in height, reflecting his rapid growth and greater Rinnegan mastery.
Rinnegan removed; residual powers retained	178 191	Gives his Rinnegan to Uchiha Gray. After replacing them with ordinary eyes, he discovers that part of the Rinnegan's power remains imprinted on his soul.

Background

Nagato was orphaned during the war. He and Yahiko later sought to protect and change Amegakure, but Yahiko was killed by Hanzō and Danzō, while Nagato was left physically crippled. The Akatsuki created around their ideals subsequently deviated from its original purpose 118.

By the time Obito visits him in Amegakure, Nagato is skeletal, breathless, and connected to a gigantic entity that continuously drains his chakra and life force. Konan remains at his side as his constant guardian 115.

Obito and Zetsu choose Nagato as their answer to Uchiha Gray's growing threat. Their plan is to inject Hashirama Cells into Nagato, restore his health, and send him against Gray 110. Nagato accepts the cells, rapidly recovering the body and appearance of a man in his twenties while gaining vastly greater chakra 115.

Personality

Nagato is driven by a sincere but uncompromising desire to bring peace to the shinobi world. He sees Akatsuki's collection of the Tailed Beasts and eventual summoning of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path as the path to that peace 162.

His confidence in the Rinnegan leaves him proud, imperious, and deeply unwilling to accept defeat. Before meeting Uchiha Gray, he had never been defeated; Gray's superiority in every area becomes a source of intense humiliation and frustration 166. He responds forcefully when Yahiko is insulted and views attacks on Amegakure as intolerable hypocrisy 167.

Despite this arrogance, Nagato is capable of empathy, trust, and self-sacrifice. Leige Bozhiyu's protection of Gaara convinces Nagato that he may be a like-minded ally, and Nagato ultimately entrusts Gray with his Rinnegan in the hope of achieving peace 162 178.

Appearance

Following his recovery through Hashirama Cells, Nagato appears as a healthy young man rather than the frail, prematurely aged figure Obito first visits in Amegakure 115.

• Long red hair, stated to be longer than in the original version 167.
• Purple, ring-patterned Rinnegan eyes before relinquishing them 115 178.
• Initially skeletal, panting, and dependent on a giant entity draining his chakra and life force 115.
• Later replaces the Rinnegan with ordinary eyes; a faint purple remains visible when he accesses residual Rinnegan power 191.

Abilities & Skills

Rinnegan

Nagato's Rinnegan grants him the Six Paths of Pain and tremendous chakra-based power. Although he initially believes the eyes awakened naturally within him, he later realizes they may not truly be his and that they are rejecting him 116 123.

• Commands the Deva, Asura, Human, Animal, Preta, and Naraka Paths 117.
• Uses Super Shinra Tensei, a powerful repulsive-force technique 120 143.
• Uses the Preta Path to absorb ninjutsu 121.
• Can employ the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique, intended in Akatsuki's plans to revive Uchiha Madara 116.
• Retains some Rinnegan abilities after surrendering the eyes, attributing them to spiritual power imprinted on his soul 191.
• Does not appear to have mastered Limbo: Border Jail; Gray considers it an ultimate ability normally available only to the Rinnegan's original owner 120.

Six Paths of Pain

Nagato remotely operates six bodies, each assigned a distinct Rinnegan ability.

• The Paths are interlinked and can sense one another's condition 119.
• The Naraka Path can revive the other five Paths, making its destruction a critical weakness 117 119.
• The Six Paths are defeated by Uchiha Itachi's Susanoo during the assault on Konoha, forcing Nagato to appear personally 119.

Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and Susanoo

After receiving Hashirama Cells, Nagato gains sufficient compatibility with the Rinnegan to access Uchiha Madara's Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan abilities 120.

• Summons a massive Susanoo in battle against Uchiha Gray 120.
• Later manifests a two-hundred-meter Susanoo 168.
• His Susanoo is ultimately overpowered by Gray's Light Susanoo and subsequent light-and-darkness fusion attack 169 171.

Ninjutsu and Summoning

Nagato employs high-level elemental techniques and Rinnegan summons.

• Uses Fire Release: Dragon Sea Technique against Leige Bozhiyu 142.
• Summons the Hell Hound, Yata Bird, and Chameleon during his battle with Gray 121.
• Uses Wind Release: Gale Palm, though Gray counters it with Earth Flow River 121.

Rain Tiger at Will Technique

Nagato monitors Amegakure by mixing chakra into rainfall.

• Detects the traces and movements of people within the rain's range 144.
• This surveillance method previously enabled Deva Path Pain to exploit Jiraiya's lack of knowledge 144.

Relationships

• Konan — His closest remaining family and constant protector; she worries for his health, supports him in Amegakure, and remains protective when he considers giving up his Rinnegan 115 178.
• Yahiko — Childhood friend whose death deeply shaped Nagato; Nagato reacts with fury when Yahiko is humiliated 118 167.
• Uchiha Obito / “Uchiha Madara” — Ostensible ally and manipulator who provides Hashirama Cells to use Nagato against Gray. Their relationship becomes a contest for control of Akatsuki 115 116.
• Uchiha Gray / Leige Bozhiyu — Rival, enemy, and later the subject of Nagato's trust. Gray defeats and challenges him repeatedly, exposes the truth of his Rinnegan, infiltrates Akatsuki under an alias, and eventually takes Nagato's eyes 123 144 166 178.
• Uchiha Shisui — Akatsuki subordinate who acts alongside Nagato during the attack on Konoha and displays loyalty to him 119 125.
• Gaara — Nagato observes Leige Bozhiyu's concern for Gaara and agrees to wait for him to awaken before discussing Tailed Beast extraction 162.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Enhancement and Akatsuki leadership

Obito accelerates Akatsuki's plans in response to Uchiha Gray and has Hashirama Cells administered to Nagato. The procedure restores Nagato's health and awakens greater power, prompting him to challenge Obito and investigate the Rinnegan's hidden abilities 110 115 116.

Assault on Konoha

Nagato sends the Six Paths of Pain against Konoha, but Itachi destroys them after targeting the Naraka Path. Nagato then arrives in person, confident that he could have ended the battle himself 117 119. He battles Gray with Super Shinra Tensei, the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, Susanoo, and Rinnegan techniques, but Gray repeatedly outmaneuvers him 120 121.

Gray reveals that Nagato's Rinnegan is neither unique nor truly his, leading Nagato to question whether his life and tragedies were manipulated by others 123.

Akatsuki recruitment trial

Nagato tests Leige Bozhiyu, Gray's disguised identity, outside the Underground Bounty Office. He uses Fire Release and Super Shinra Tensei, but Gray survives the trial and is accepted into Akatsuki 142 143 144.

Nagato assigns the recruit missions and offers access to Akatsuki's intelligence network in exchange for loyalty. He also pairs him with Kakuzu under Konan's supervision, treating the newcomer as strategically more valuable than Kakuzu 144 148.

Debate over peace and the Rinnegan

Nagato reveals Akatsuki's intended use of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path after gathering the Tailed Beasts. His interactions with Leige Bozhiyu lead him to consider the disguised Gray a potential ally 162.

After Gray's identity is exposed, Nagato is enraged by the deception but continues to debate justice and peace with him. Gray challenges Nagato's willingness to sacrifice individuals for larger numbers and argues that true justice should address the aggressor rather than compromise with them 165 166.

Gray eventually persuades Nagato that ordinary people chiefly desire stable lives. Nagato's self-sacrificing commitment to peace makes him vulnerable to Gray's proposal to take the Rinnegan and seek another power for him 172 174 177 178.

Loss of the Rinnegan

Nagato entrusts his Rinnegan to Gray, believing the transfer may help bring peace to the shinobi world 178. He later receives ordinary replacement eyes and discovers that he can still access a portion of his former powers because their spiritual imprint remains within him 191.

Trivia

• Nagato's chakra after receiving Hashirama Cells is described as having already rivaled a Tailed Beast before increasing more than tenfold 115.
• He believes that, before Uchiha Gray, he had never suffered defeat after obtaining the Rinnegan 166.
• Zetsu considers Nagato easier to manipulate than Uchiha Madara because Nagato is an inheritor of power rather than a pioneer who developed it step by step 168.