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Naruto’s Six Paths of Pain Ranked By Their Usefulness in Battle
In the world of Naruto, dangerous enemies lurk around every corner, some more dangerous than others. One of the strongest foes Naruto and the Hidden Leaf Village faced was Pain. However, Pain is not just one normal being. Each Path is a vessel, controlled remotely by the Nagato Uzumaki thanks to his Rinnegan, and has unique, devastating abilities tailored for any combat conditions. Similar to a hive mind, each Path operates with shared vision, making them a synchronized team capable of overwhelming even the most skilled shinobi. The true power of this technique is that each Path has its own terrible power that transforms the 6 into a collective, god-like force.
While all are lethal on their own, some are far more indispensable than others, making the strongest Path an unavoidable force of destruction and true world-changing power.
6) Naraka Path (Jigokudo)
The Naraka Path’s core power is known as the King of Hell—a gigantic head that appears when summoned by its master. This being has 2 interconnected functions: interrogation and the complete restoration of any of the other five bodies, making it an essential threat to neutralize. While the Naraka Path has minimal physical power, it can restrain an opponent to extract a truthful answer or wait for another body to need a repair or revival.
Its power of resurrection is the most significant factor in battle. By consuming a damaged body, the King of Hell can fully repair the Path and send it back into battle, essentially acting as an ultimate healing factor. However, the Nakra Path itself is the most vulnerable and is usually not on the frontlines, making it support rather than an active, high-priority threat.
5) Human Path (Ningendo)
The Human Path boasts a deadly and swift instant-kill ability that is difficult to counteract. By placing a hand over a victim’s head, the Path can read their mind, absorb all knowledge and secrets they hold, and then immediately extract their soul. This technique is an absolute one-hit elimination skill, but only if the Path can make and maintain contact with the enemy—a severe issue in the speed of high-level combat.
While its power is absolute, the Human Path’s skill in the middle of a fight is low compared to the Paths with ranged or defensive attacks. For it to use its technique to work, it requires the enemy to be incapacitated or restrained. Its real strategic value lies in its ability to interrogate and kill with ease. Gaining all of an opponent’s knowledge gives the Path—and therefore, all of the paths—a massive advantage for the entire group, making this Path essential to gather intel before and during a fight.
4) Asura Path (Shurado)
This Path is a heavy-hitter when it comes to physical confrontation, able to transform into a mechanized, multi-limbed, armored weapon. It sacrifices grace for brute force with its incredible strength, high speed, and an arsenal of built-in weaponry. Some of these weapons include devastating missiles, razor-sharp blades, rocket-propelled punches, and powerful energy beams, allowing it to destroy targets from long and short range.
The Asura Path is the most durable of the 6, designed to withstand massive damage and serve as a frontline trooper that can relentlessly attack an opponent. Its unique ability to launch its entire arm or fire an energy blast from a third, concealed head makes it a destructive force unmatched by the other Paths.
3) Preta Path (Gakido)
The Preta Path is the ultimate defensive countermeasure against the majority of high-level shinobi whose techniques rely heavily on ninjutsu. Its core ability is the Blocking Technique Absorption Seal—a jutsu that creates a chakra-absorbing barrier around its body. This defensive shield can nullify virtually any chakra-based attack, from elemental jutsu to massive energy blasts, making it a nearly impassible guard.
Beyond its defensive abilities, the Preta Path is also capable of absorbing chakra directly through physical contact, draining an opponent’s life force, and rendering them powerless in close quarters. This ability allows the Path to replenish its own energy while simultaneously draining its opponent. The power to negate all conventional attacks makes the Preta Path one of the most dangerous of its kind.
2) Animal Path (Chikushodo)
The strength of the Animal Path is found not in its combat skills, but in its tactical versatility. It has a unique summoning ability that bypasses the need for blood and contracts, allowing it to instantly conjure gigantic beasts, all of which share the Rinnegan and have chakra receivers. This gives the Animal Path both offensive power and defensive support.
This Path serves as the essential mobility and reinforcement link for the entire fighting group. It can summon the other five bodies to the battlefield instantly, ensuring the full force is always present when and where they are needed. The ability to summon animals and the other Paths make the Animal Path an indispensable tool dominating the battlefield.
1) Deva Path (Tendo)
This Path stands way above the others, capable of manipulating gravitational forces on an absolute scale. Its signature ability, Almighty Push, allows it to utterly demolish entire villages in an instant, creating a vacuum of destruction no physical force has any chance against. The reverse technique, Universal Pull, is just as devastating, used to draw enemies into a focused attack zone.
The true world-ending threat of the Deva Path is in its ultimate ability: Planetary Devastation. This technique creates an artificial center of gravity, pulling the surrounding earth and rock to form a colossal, inescapable planet-like sphere that traps any target inside of it. This power alone makes the Deva Path the backbone of the fighting unit, as it can counter virtually any enemy. The only reason this Path was defeated was because Nagata chose to surrender, not because Naruto beat it.
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