The body Pain used most prominently and considered his favorite was that of his childhood friend, Yahiko.
Nagato, crippled after his encounter with Hanzō, created the Six Paths of Pain to act as his extensions. These Paths were controlled through chakra receivers and were all corpses reanimated by Nagato's Rinnegan. While Nagato used six different bodies, Yahiko's body was the central and most recognizable Path of Pain – the Deva Path, which possessed the power of Shinra Tensei and Bansho Ten'in. This Path was the leader of the Akatsuki after Yahiko's death and during Pain's reign. The other five paths included:
- Asura Path: A mechanic puppet-like body.
- Human Path: Used to extract souls.
- Animal Path: Used to summon various creatures.
- Preta Path: Used to absorb chakra.
- Naraka Path: Used to summon the King of Hell, which could restore the other Paths.
Ultimately, it was Yahiko's body, as the Deva Path, that symbolized Pain and his message of bringing peace through pain.
