Naruto vs Pain
Complete Fight, Episodes, Winner & Comparison
Naruto vs Pain is one of the most important battles in Naruto Shippuden, bringing Naruto face-to-face with the man responsible for attacking Konoha and killing his master, Jiraiya. The battle is not just about strength; it tests Naruto’s Sage Mode, determination, and understanding of what it means to achieve peace.
The main fight takes place across Episodes 163–169, with several major turning points involving the Six Paths of Pain, Hinata, Kurama, Minato, and finally Nagato. Below, you’ll find the complete battle story, episode guide, winner, and a detailed comparison of both fighters.
Why Did Pain Attack Konoha?
Pain attacks the Hidden Leaf Village while searching for Naruto, who is the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails. His goal is connected to the Akatsuki’s plan to capture the tailed beasts, but Pain also wants to demonstrate his own idea of peace through overwhelming power and fear. The attack becomes personal for Naruto because Pain is also responsible for the death of Jiraiya. Jiraiya had traveled to Amegakure to investigate Pain’s identity and later died after discovering information about his former student. When Naruto returns to Konoha and discovers the destruction caused by Pain, the confrontation becomes much more than another ninja battle.
When Does Naruto vs Pain Happen?
The main battle occurs during the Pain’s Assault arc of Naruto Shippuden. Naruto arrives after completing his Sage Mode training at Mount Myōboku and enters the battlefield against Pain’s Six Paths. The fight develops over several episodes, with each part revealing more about Pain’s abilities and pushing Naruto closer to his limits.

Naruto vs Pain Fight Episodes
Episode | What Happens |
|---|---|
163 | Naruto arrives in Konoha and confronts Pain |
164 | Naruto continues fighting the Six Paths of Pain |
165 | The battle becomes increasingly difficult for Naruto |
166 | Hinata confronts Pain |
167 | Naruto loses control and transforms into the Six-Tails |
168 | Naruto encounters Minato within his subconscious |
169 | Naruto returns to the battle and the conflict reaches its conclusion |
These episodes contain the core Naruto-Pain confrontation, although the wider consequences of the battle continue afterward.
Naruto vs Pain Fight Explained

Naruto Enters the Battle in Sage Mode
Naruto arrives in Konoha after mastering Sage Mode. Instead of immediately attacking Pain without a plan, he enters the battlefield with support from the toads and uses the information collected about Pain’s abilities. The Six Paths of Pain are especially dangerous because they share vision and operate as a coordinated group. Naruto therefore has to identify their individual abilities instead of treating them as six ordinary opponents. Naruto manages to defeat several Paths using Sage Mode, his enhanced physical abilities, and carefully planned attacks.
Naruto Fights the Six Paths of Pain
The battle becomes difficult when Naruto’s Sage Mode time and available resources start becoming limited. Pain’s different bodies provide different abilities, making the fight unpredictable. Naruto has to decide which Path should be targeted first while avoiding attacks from the others. The Deva Path is particularly dangerous because of its control over gravitational techniques, including Shinra Tensei and Chibaku Tensei.
Deva Path Pushes Naruto to His Limit
The Deva Path eventually becomes the biggest obstacle for Naruto. Shinra Tensei can repel incoming attacks and opponents, while Chibaku Tensei can create a massive gravitational sphere that traps its target. Naruto’s Sage Mode gives him the power to compete, but Pain’s abilities and tactical control make the battle extremely difficult.
Hinata Faces Pain
One of the most emotional moments occurs when Hinata steps forward to protect Naruto. She knows that Pain is far stronger than her, but she refuses to simply stand aside. Her intervention has a major emotional impact on Naruto and becomes one of the biggest turning points of the battle.
Six-Tails Naruto vs Pain
Naruto’s anger triggers a transformation involving the Nine-Tails’ chakra. He eventually reaches the Six-Tails form and becomes much more aggressive. At this point, the battle changes completely. The controlled Sage Mode fighter is replaced by a Naruto who is struggling against the Nine-Tails’ influence. His increased power allows him to push Pain much harder, but it also puts Naruto himself in danger.
Pain Uses Chibaku Tensei
As the battle escalates, Pain uses Chibaku Tensei in an attempt to contain Naruto. The technique creates a huge gravitational mass around its target. Naruto struggles against it while the Nine-Tails’ influence continues growing. This moment demonstrates why Pain remains such a dangerous opponent even after losing several of his Paths.
Naruto Regains Control
Inside his subconscious, Naruto encounters Minato Namikaze. Minato helps Naruto understand what is happening and prevents him from completely giving himself over to the Nine-Tails. Naruto is then able to regain control and return to the battle with a clearer mind.
Naruto Finds the Real Pain
After dealing with the Six Paths, Naruto realizes that the bodies he has been fighting are not the actual Nagato. Using the information he has gathered throughout the battle, Naruto tracks down the real person controlling Pain. This changes the nature of the confrontation from a physical battle against six bodies into a conversation between Naruto and Nagato.
Naruto Meets Nagato
Naruto finally meets Nagato, the person behind Pain. Instead of simply killing him, Naruto listens to Nagato’s story and learns about his connection to Jiraiya. Nagato explains how his experiences of war and loss shaped his belief that peace could only be achieved by making people understand pain. Naruto rejects Nagato’s philosophy but chooses not to continue the cycle of hatred.
Naruto vs Pain Full Fight
The complete battle is best understood as a series of escalating stages rather than one simple fight. Naruto begins with Sage Mode, battles multiple Paths simultaneously, loses control after Hinata’s intervention, reaches the Six-Tails state, and eventually returns to his senses before confronting Nagato.
Six-Tails Naruto vs Pain
The Six-Tails transformation is one of the most memorable sections of the battle. Naruto’s increased power allows him to challenge Pain at a completely different level, but the transformation also shows how dangerous the Nine-Tails’ influence can be. Naruto is not simply becoming stronger; he is also losing control over himself.
Who Won Naruto vs Pain?
Naruto ultimately defeated Pain, but the victory was more complicated than simply overpowering him.
Naruto defeated the Six Paths of Pain in battle and later confronted Nagato, the person controlling them. Instead of killing Nagato, Naruto convinced him to reconsider his beliefs and end the cycle of revenge. So, in terms of the actual story, Naruto is the winner of the confrontation.

How Did Naruto Defeat Pain?
Naruto’s victory came from a combination of preparation, Sage Mode, strategy, determination, and the information he had gathered about Pain. The main factors were:
The final victory was therefore a combination of combat ability and Naruto’s willingness to understand the person behind Pain.
What Happened to Pain After Naruto Defeated Him?
After Naruto finds Nagato, the battle changes from physical combat to a discussion about peace, hatred, and revenge. Nagato reveals his connection to Jiraiya and explains why he created his version of Pain. Naruto realizes that both he and Nagato were influenced by Jiraiya, but they reached very different conclusions about how peace could be achieved. Naruto refuses to kill Nagato despite everything that happened.
Instead, he chooses to believe in Jiraiya’s ideals and promises to find a different answer to the cycle of hatred. Moved by Naruto’s determination, Nagato uses his remaining power to revive the people who died during Pain’s attack on Konoha. For readers who enjoy Naruto-inspired fighting games after watching this battle, Naruto Senki APK offers another way to experience Naruto characters and battles in a fan-made mobile game.
Naruto vs Pain — Complete Power Comparison
After looking at what actually happened in the story, the next question is whether Naruto was genuinely more powerful than Pain. The answer depends heavily on which version of Naruto and which version of Pain are being compared.
Category | Naruto | Pain |
|---|---|---|
Strength | Extremely high in Sage Mode | Extremely high through the Six Paths |
Speed | Excellent reactions and movement in Sage Mode | Strong coordination and reaction through shared vision |
Battle IQ | Creative and adaptable | Highly strategic and experienced |
Durability | Strong, especially with enhanced chakra | Multiple bodies make Pain difficult to eliminate |
Chakra | Large reserves with Sage Mode and Nine-Tails chakra | Nagato possesses enormous chakra and controls six bodies |
Jutsu | Rasengan variants, Shadow Clones, Sage techniques | Shinra Tensei, Chibaku Tensei and multiple Rinnegan abilities |
Special Abilities | Sage Mode and Nine-Tails transformations | Six Paths system and shared vision |
Experience | Experienced for his age | Much more experienced and strategically mature |
Versatility | Extremely adaptable | Six different Paths provide a wide range of abilities |

Strength
Naruto’s physical power increases significantly through Sage Mode, allowing him to fight the Paths directly.
Pain’s strength comes from the combined abilities of the Six Paths. Each body contributes a different capability, making the overall fighting system extremely difficult to deal with.
Advantage: Depends on the form and circumstances.
Speed and Reaction
Sage Mode significantly improves Naruto’s physical abilities and sensory perception.
Pain compensates through coordination between the Six Paths and their shared field of vision. This makes it difficult for Naruto to surprise them.
Advantage: Naruto individually, while Pain gains a major tactical advantage through coordination.
Speed and Reaction
Sage Mode significantly improves Naruto’s physical abilities and sensory perception.
Pain compensates through coordination between the Six Paths and their shared field of vision. This makes it difficult for Naruto to surprise them.
Advantage: Naruto individually, while Pain gains a major tactical advantage through coordination.
Battle IQ
Naruto is extremely creative during combat. He frequently uses Shadow Clones and unexpected strategies to overcome opponents with stronger abilities.
Pain, however, has greater experience and uses the Six Paths system strategically.
Advantage: Pain in experience; Naruto in improvisation and adaptation.
Durability
Naruto can endure tremendous punishment, especially when powerful chakra transformations become involved.
Pain’s biggest advantage is different: destroying one body does not immediately eliminate Nagato. The Six Paths allow him to continue fighting through multiple bodies.
Advantage: Pain’s system provides the greater overall battle advantage.
Chakra and Stamina
Naruto possesses enormous chakra reserves, and Sage Mode gives him another major power increase.
Nagato also possesses exceptionally large chakra reserves and can control multiple bodies simultaneously.
Advantage: Very close, depending on the form being compared.
Jutsu and Special Abilities
Naruto’s strongest tools include Sage Mode, Shadow Clones and different Rasengan techniques, while the Nine-Tails provides another enormous source of power.
Pain has the Rinnegan-based abilities of the Six Paths, including gravitational techniques and specialized abilities assigned to different bodies.
Advantage: Pain for variety; Naruto for explosive power and adaptability.
Versatility
Naruto can change his fighting style quickly and use combinations of clones, Sage techniques and transformations.
Pain has six bodies with different abilities, giving him an enormous range of tactical options.
Advantage: Pain’s Six Paths provide broader built-in versatility, while Naruto has greater adaptability.
For fans interested in seeing Naruto characters translated into a fighting-game format, Naruto Senki Storm 4 is another related Naruto game worth exploring.
Both | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|
Naruto | Naruto’s biggest advantages are his huge chakra reserves, Sage Mode, creativity, resilience, and ability to adapt during a battle. His willingness to keep fighting even after suffering major setbacks is another major advantage. | His biggest weakness during this fight is that Sage Mode has limitations, while losing control of the Nine-Tails creates another serious danger. |
Pain | Pain’s greatest advantage is the Six Paths system. Shared vision, multiple bodies, and different abilities make him difficult to counter. His Rinnegan techniques also give him powerful offensive and defensive options. | However, Pain’s system has limitations, and Naruto’s ability to gather information and identify those weaknesses becomes increasingly important. |
Naruto vs Pain — Who Would Win?
In the actual canon battle, Naruto wins.
However, saying that Naruto was simply stronger than Pain from the beginning would oversimplify the fight. Pain had already attacked Konoha, fought several opponents, and used significant amounts of chakra before Naruto arrived. Naruto also entered the battle with Sage Mode preparation and support.
If we compare Sage Mode Naruto against Pain at full strength, the matchup becomes much closer. Pain’s Six Paths, shared vision, and gravitational abilities create serious problems for Naruto.
If Naruto is allowed to use the Nine-Tails’ power, the balance changes again. So the most accurate conclusion is:
Naruto wins the canon battle, but Pain was an extremely dangerous opponent and the victory depended on Naruto’s preparation, strategy, determination, and circumstances—not raw strength alone.
Why Naruto vs Pain Is One of the Best Naruto Fights
The importance of this battle goes beyond the action.
It represents Naruto confronting someone who experienced many of the same tragedies that shaped him. Both characters lost people they loved, both were connected to Jiraiya, and both wanted an end to suffering. The difference was how they responded to that pain.
Pain believed people needed to experience suffering to understand peace. Naruto chose to break the cycle instead. That combination of high-level combat, emotional stakes, character development, and consequences for the wider story is what makes this battle so memorable. The Naruto universe also has other powerful characters worth exploring, including Madara Uchiha, whose abilities provide a very different kind of power comparison.





