The Asura Path (修羅道, Shuradō) was the fifth of Nagato's Six Paths of Pain to be shown. It was destroyed twice during the invasion of Pain, first by Kakashi's Lightning Cutter and then for a second time by Naruto's Rasengan.
Appearance
Asura Path when it was alive.
When it was alive, the Asura Path belonged to a tall, bald man with an unusual body shape, possessing a very thick neck, no ears and a large jaw. The Asura Path, like all of the six paths, possessed Nagato's Rinnegan. It was the only body to not have orange hair, simply because it had no hair at all. It had a vertical ring piercing on its nose, six spike studs all around its head, three studs on the top and bottom of each of its six arms, an enormous cylindrical stud on its chin, and two vertical studs on each of its upper cheeks. The body had three faces, each with a different expression, and two of which appeared from the sides of its head only when it removed its cloak in a fight: happy (its normal face), angry, and neutral. It also had a long, saw-like "tail" which stretched from his back over his head.
Abilities
Asura Path without its cloak.
This body was very different from all other paths, being more like an android, as it had a number of body alterations. It was shown to have robotic inner workings, possessing six arms and three faces, and had a folded, serrated blade-like sash around its waist. It could fire one of its left forearms off as a long-range projectile, and could pull out his arms to reveal and fire a cluster of segmented missiles at its targets. It could quickly propel itself forward with a burst of chakra from its boots, and could protract multiple blades and drills from its right arm in combat. Also, it could open up the crown of its head to release a titanic shockwave that was capable of destroying numerous buildings at once. Its physical raw power was enough to rip Jiraiya's arm off and crush his throat with basic Taijutsu moves, as well as to throw Animal Path all the way into Konohagakure from the outskirts of the village. All of these abilities befitted the "warring demon" name that the Asura Path held, whilst giving it a considerably higher degree of versatility than the other paths had (aside from the Deva Path).
In addition to its immense offensive power, the Asura Path's body was incredibly resilient to damage. It survived a massive punch from Chōza Akimichi and a direct hit from Kakashi's Lightning Cutter. When weakened but not completely disabled, the Asura Path was still dangerous. Kakashi noted that he did not have enough chakra or stamina to completely destroy its body and more powerful attacks, like a Rasengan from Naruto in Sage Mode, were required for it to go down. Despite being used frequently to provide heavy firepower, the Asura Path was readily sacrificed to protect the even more powerful Deva Path, acting as a human shield against Kakashi's Lightning Cutter.
Influences
In Buddhism, the Asura Path is the realm of the demi-divine warring demons. They are sent to this plane because of actions based on jealousy, struggle, combat or rationalization of the world. Following a common depiction of Asura, this path has six arms and three faces, each of which display a different emotion.
Trivia
- The Asura Path has a few similarities to fellow Akatsuki member Sasori. He, too, was a puppeteer ninja (although this was only shown in the anime), whose body was heavily altered into what appears to have been a puppet form. Because of this, he was similarly-resilient to damage, being able to take a Lightning Cutter from Kakashi after already having been damaged numerous times, and still function enough to later fire a missile at Chōji. Unlike Sasori, however, the Asura Path seems to be more robotic. He also cannot pull himself back together when smashed apart, and instead must rely on the Outer Path to do so.
