Naruto Pain Arc [LIMITED]

After Naruto defeats Pain, he doesn't kill Nagato. He walks to the crippled, skeletal man connected to the machine, and he sits down. He listens.

Naruto holds up Jiraiya’s book, The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi. He acknowledges that he has no answer to Nagato’s suffering. He admits that if he were in Nagato’s shoes, he might have become Pain himself. He offers no solution except to break the cycle by choosing not to hate.

And Naruto, covered in dirt and blood, simply nods. Because he knows. He finally knows. naruto pain arc

Pain’s logic is terrifyingly sound: "In this world, wherever there is light, there are always shadows. As long as the concept of winners exists, losers must exist. The selfish desire of wanting to maintain peace causes wars, and hatred is born to protect love."

And then? Pain impales Naruto.

As Nagato says before his final sacrifice: "When you grow up, you'll understand. The pain of losing something... is the same for everyone."

He isn't trying to destroy the world; he is trying to fix it with a nuclear deterrent. The "Eye of the Moon" plan was ridiculous, but Pain’s "fear of God" philosophy (giving everyone a shared enemy via a massive Tailed Beast bomb) felt chillingly plausible. One of the most brilliant moves Kishimoto made was denying us the catharsis of Naruto saving the village in real-time. After Naruto defeats Pain, he doesn't kill Nagato

We are introduced to Pain through the tragic lens of Jiraiya’s memories. We see a kind, red-haired boy trying to survive the hellscape of the Hidden Rain. We see his best friend, Yahiko, die to create a false peace. By the time Pain sits atop the toad statue and explains his plan to Naruto, the viewer is conflicted.