Voice actor: Dave Wittenberg (Naruto Episode 135)
Pain (ペイン, Pein?) is the leader of Akatsuki. He exists as six different bodies which share the same mind, known collectively as The Six Paths of Pain (ペイン六道, Pein Rikudō?). The only common physical characteristics amongst them are their orange hair color, a number of piercings that differ between bodies, and the Rinnegan (輪廻眼, Rinnegan? literally "Samsara Eye"). The Rinnegan, first possessed by the founder of the ninja world and characterized by a number of concentric circles around the pupil, allows the wielder to perform any jutsu and manipulate all six types of chakra-nature manipulation. It also allows the six bodies to share visual information seamlessly, giving him the ability to coordinate offense and defense of all six as if they were a single entity. Each of the six entities that are Pain were ninja that Jiraiya encountered as he wandered the world. The first body that is seen (third from the right) is that of Yahiko, and is able to control rain and can detect the movements and chakra levels of people traveling within it. The body with a large ponytail (pictured on the far left) can summon a wide array of creatures as well as the other five Pains. The fat body (far right) is able to absorb ninjutsu as a form of defense. The bald body (third from the left) has displayed the ability to fire his left arm like a missile.
The first possessor of the Rinnegan that Jiraiya met was Nagato (長門, Nagato?), who, like Yahiko and Konan, was left orphaned by one of Amegakure's many wars. Once meeting the three, Jiraiya looked after them and taught them basic jutsu before leaving to continue his exploration of the world. Sometime after this, Nagato began to believe that his childhood sufferings had enlightened him, and started to view himself as a god destined to teach the world the meaninglessness of fighting. It is unknown what happened after this, but the Pain entity soon appeared in Amegakure and began a civil war with the government of the time. Pain subsequently ended the war by singlehandedly killing the village's leader, Hanzo. To make sure there were no sympathizers of Hanzo remaining in the village, Pain killed all of Hanzo's family, friends, and affiliates, elevating himself to god-like status amongst the townspeople in the process. Pain now uses the village as his base of operations for Akatsuki, where he is partnered with Konan. Although he directs the actions of the other members and maintains authority over them, Pain takes orders from Tobi
