Preta Path (character)

The man whose body was later used as the Preta Path was a Kusagakure ninja, whom Jiraiya met during his travels around the world. In the anime, it was shown that he was both a ninja and a farmer, who had failed to cultivate the land for his family due to his participation in war. After his death, his body was used by Nagato as one of his Six Paths of Pain.

Appearance
He was a stocky man with beady brown eyes. He had brown hair that was hidden by a bandanna-like forehead protector and wore a tan-coloured shirt with a black shirt underneath. His complexion was also noticeably darker when he was alive.

While his corpse was being used as the Preta Path he, like all of the Six Paths of Pain, possessed Nagato's Rinnegan and is covered in piercings which acted as chakra receivers for Nagato to remotely control the corpse. Other than his hair is dyed orange and tied in a short ponytail, Nagato's Preta Path has small spiked piercings covering his entire bottom lip, two vertical spike studs on the front of his nose, one spike stud on each cheek, a spike going through each ear and a stud on each of his shoulders, close to his neck.

Abilities
Serving as the medium for his Preta Path ability, Nagato was able to use his Preta Path vessel to absorb chakra. By using the Blocking Technique Absorption Seal, he was able to absorb any ninjutsu that came into contact with him, which made him useful as a means of defence. He could also absorb chakra from somebody directly by making physical contact with them.

As with all of the Six Paths of Pain, the Preta Path's vision was shared with Nagato, which allowed him to better coordinate their movements. Aside from that, he was also physically strong, able to stun Naruto with a single punch and hold him firm enough to force the latter to use his senjutsu chakra to free himself.

Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant
The Preta Path was one of the two paths summoned by the Animal Path and was used to absorb Jiraiya's Sage Art: Goemon and Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan. It was later caught in a genjutsu along with the Animal Path and Human Path, and subsequently killed by Jiraiya. The three were then revived by the Naraka Path and joined the other three paths in confronting Jiraiya. The Preta Path, along with the others, stabbed Jiraiya with black rods, which ultimately lead to his death.

Pain's Assault
Preta Path is seen in the morgue hovering over the former Animal Path with its chakra receivers in hand. Before he has a chance to move, a flash bomb rolls towards his feet and detonates. Using the moment, Tsume Inuzuka and Kuromaru attacked with Fang Passing Fang but only attack the Animal Path that was used as a shield. Kiba Inuzuka shows up riding on his dog Akamaru and points out where Preta Path was hiding, while his mother comments on how Preta Path didn't like physical attacks. He is shown later being summoned alongside Konan and the other paths before Nagato put all his focus on the Deva Path, though he is reanimated when Naruto finally comes back to Konoha.

As Naruto and the Path's fight, Preta Path tries to stab Naruto with a Chakra Disruption Blades but misses and is thrown back by Naruto's Frog Kata. He is later revived by Naraka Path and appears in front of Deva Path right before it was about to be hit by Wind Release: Rasenshuriken and absorbs the technique. Being one of the last two Paths to survive, Nagato used Deva Path's Banshō Ten'in to pull Naruto to them and Preta Path to grab him. As Preta Path starts to absorb Naruto's natural energy, he is transformed into a frog statue and has his arms broke off his petrified body.