he is a god whos power surpasses all."No human can understand one another without them feeling the same pain."Pain (%u30DA%u30A4%u30F3, Pein?) is the leader of Akatsuki, partnered to Konan and the principal figure in the Tailed Beast sealing ceremony as he can summon the Ged%u014D Demon Statue (%u5916%u9053%u9B54%u50CF, Ged%u014D Maz%u014D?). When first introduced Pain is shown as nothing more than a shadowy outline. As Part II of the series progresses, parts of his face are shown; culminating in the revelation that the Pain that is seen is actually Deva Pain, one of six different bodies collectively known as The Six Paths of Pain (%u30DA%u30A4%u30F3%u516D%u9053, Pein Rikud%u014D?). Controlled by a single conscious mind, each of the six bodies are individually named after one of the six Buddhist paths of reincarnation.[86] All but one of the bodies have orange hair and a number of body piercings that, from a design standpoint, give Pain a "more dangerous" appearance and relate the pain of their installation to the character's name.[78] Each also has a Rinnegan (%u8F2A%u5EFB%u773C?, lit. "Sa%u1E43s%u0101ra Eye"), the unique eye technique possessed by the Sage of the Six Paths. As a result, the six Paths use the Rinnegan to share visual information and coordinate attacks.[87] Discovering the secret behind Pain forms a major component of the plot in Part II, and through the efforts of ninja from Konohagakure the identity of Pain's base mind is revealed.

The Paths of Pain are controlled by Nagato (%u9577%u9580?) who, like Konan, was an Amegakure orphan that was trained by Jiraiya alongside Yahiko (%u5F25%u5F66?) before he became Deva Pain. During his time with Jiraiya, he awakened his Rinnegan, later revealed to have been provided by Madara in secret, and came to desire peace for the world.[88] After Yahiko dies as a result of the three falling into a trap by Hanzo years later, Nagato came to the realization that peace could only be attained by teaching the world the pain caused by war. To that end he adopted the name "Pain" to conquer Amegakure before killing Hanzo and his loved ones, becoming a "god" in the eyes of Amegakure's citizens.[89]

By fitting corpses with a unique type of body piercing, Nagato can channel his chakra into the bodies to animate and control them remotely, giving them unique abiltites.[87] Controlling six bodies puts a great strain on Nagato, who is frail, emaciated, and confined to a six-legged mobility device. All six bodies are eventually defeated by Naruto. It is ultimately revealed that Nagato is Naruto's de facto namesake, having been the inspiration for the hero of Jiraiya's first book, after whom Naruto was named. Naruto is able to renew Nagato's faith in his late master and in the possibility of peace, prompting Nagato to sacrifice his life in order to revive the people he killed in Konoha. Konan takes the Nagato's body, along with Yahiko's, back to Amegakure before Madara takes the body to retireve the Rinnegan. In the Japanese anime Pain's seiy%u016B is Ken'y%u016B Horiuchi, while Nagato's seiy%u016B is Junpei Morita. In his cameo appearance in episode 135 of the English adaptation, he is voiced by Dave Wittenberg,[90] and in the Shippuden anime he is voiced by Troy Baker.