Pain forced the protagonist of the Naruto franchise to rethink his worldview, and empathize with a friend of his.
For Naruto fans, Pain’s popularity is obvious. The leader of the Akatsuki organization possessing the Rinnegan eye and taking command of everything through his fearsome presence, his conception of the true and only path to peace is also memorable. While not the most popular character in the series, Nagato Uzumaki played an important role that no other Naruto villain could play, and that resulted in one of the most enjoyable arcs of all. series.
In search of the power to make his dream of revenge come true, Sasuke Uchiha left Konoha along with the Sound Village Four Monsters to join Orochimaru’s side. Naruto, along with the other Genin Shikamaru, Kiba, Choji and Neji began a pursuit, believing that Sasuke was kidnapped. When they caught up with them, the Genins battled the Sound Four, and Naruto faced Sasuke. In the end, Naruto’s rescue mission turned into a life-or-death battle and when they fought, Sasuke showed Naruto the difference between the two.
As they fought, Naruto tried to convince Sasuke to return to Konoha. He compared Sasuke’s situation to his own, reminding his friend that they were both orphans and somewhat empathetic. But Sasuke looks down on Naruto and thinks the two have nothing in common. He describes his pain as greater than Naruto’s because he has felt the love from his family and family members before. As for Naruto, he was always alone, and Sasuke believed that his own situation was much worse than Naruto’s, because he had been happy before, and then it was brutally lost.
Sasuke’s statement also made a lot of sense. Before joining Team 7, Naruto had very few friends in Konoha. The people he had, including Sasuke and Sakura himself, had never been taken away by anyone. Naruto couldn’t fully understand the hatred Sasuke had for Itachi, so he couldn’t ask his friend to give up his revenge. Naruto still couldn’t understand Sasuke’s feelings, until Jiraiya passed away.
Naruto was heartbroken over his teacher’s death at the hands of Pain. Jiraiya was very close to Naruto, like a father, so he swore to avenge Pain. Their battle at Konoha became legendary, and Naruto fought well, but after hearing Pain’s clear explanation of the enmity, he did not personally finish off his teacher’s killer. Instead, Naruto chose the other way, he spared Pain’s life, which was more than revenge, and still the same way Naruto advised Sasuke to do years ago.
This aspect of Naruto’s relationship with Sasuke perfectly illustrates Pain’s concept of never being able to understand a person until they’ve experienced the trauma they’ve suffered. This was the first time Naruto knew how Sasuke felt after losing his family.
Ultimately, choosing to forgive Nagato honors the words Naruto said to Sasuke when they were children. When he repeated them to Sasuke during their final battle, it wasn’t just the advice of an immature child, desperately trying not to lose his best friend, it was are words of wisdom, shared by someone who has suffered, who understands the weight of what they are saying, and that will be the only way to quell their inner turmoil. Sasuke.
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