Six Paths Technique

This article is about the original technique granted by the Rinnegan. For the technique which uses different bodies, see Six Paths of Pain.

Six Paths Techniqueedit
六道の術­ (Rikudō no Jutsu)
Name
English anime	Six Paths Jutsu
Debut
Manga	Volume #41, Naruto Chapter #379
Anime	Naruto Shippūden Episode #132
Movie	Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie
Game	Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3
Appears in	Anime, Manga, Game, Movie
Data
Classification	Kekkei Genkai, Ninjutsu, Dōjutsu
Class	Offensive, Defensive, Supplementary
Derived jutsu
Animal Path Summoning Rinnegan Asura Path Asura Attack Flaming Arrow Warhead Flaming Arrow of Amazing Ability Deva Path Banshō Ten'in Chibaku Tensei Shinra Tensei True: Chibaku Tensei Human Path Naraka Path Outer Path Demonic Statue Chains Outer Path — Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique Six Paths of Pain Preta Path Blocking Technique Absorption Seal
Related jutsu
Six Paths of Pain
Users
Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki Madara Uchiha Nagato Obito Uchiha Sasuke Uchiha

The Six Paths Technique (六道の術, Rikudō no Jutsu) is the origin of the unique techniques bestowed by the Rinnegan. All wielders of the Rinnegan have access to each of these paths. Despite its name, there are actually seven of these paths that grant the user powerful and near god-like abilities:

• The Deva Path (天道, Tendō), which allows the user to manipulate both attractive and repulsive forces.
• The Asura Path (修羅道, Shuradō), which grants them mechanised limbs, weaponry and armour.
• The Human Path (人間道, Ningendō), which gives them the ability to remove a soul and read a person's mind.
• The Animal Path (畜生道, Chikushōdō), which lets them summon a wide variety of creatures.
• The Preta Path (餓鬼道, Gakidō), which can absorb all forms of chakra, including most ninjutsu.
• The Naraka Path (地獄道, Jigokudō), through which the user can summon and control the King of Hell.
• The Outer Path (外道, Gedō), which rules over both life and death.

Nagato, who was crippled early on in his lifetime, would utilise the Outer Path to create the Six Paths of Pain. Doing so, he was able to control six corpses as additional bodies and channel one of the first six of the aforementioned abilities into each, thus compensating for his physical limitations. However, while the strength and speed of the techniques are greater when used through the main body than when used through the corpses, and multiple paths can also be activated simultaneously by the main body, there are advantages granted by the use of corpses. As the main body's vision is linked to the Rinnegan possessed by the corpses, the user is able to easily coordinate their movements and is given a form of protection, since the user can control the corpses from a distance, rather than putting their own body at risk. Also, if the user is a skilled sensor type, they can constantly change their chakra frequency to avoid being traced back.

Influences

Based upon the six Buddhist Paths of Reincarnation, each technique was named after one of the different "Paths": Deva, Asura, Human, Animal, Preta, and Naraka. Each of these Paths, or realms, represents one of the realms a being is reborn into after death, determined by the accumulated karma of their past lives. While the two lower Paths, Preta and Naraka, are hellish, and the two higher Paths, Deva and Asura, are heavenly, all six are considered to be Paths of suffering because they perpetuate the cycle of Reincarnation; the only way to break it and ascend to a higher state of existence is to attain enlightenment.

Trivia

• In Naruto Shippūden: Shinobi Rumble, a technique called "Six Paths Technique" is used by Nagato's Six Paths of Pain. In this variant, Nagato generates a moderately sized sphere of debris overhead, then thrusts his arms downward, sending it crashing into the ground like a meteor. An enhanced, "Full Throttle" version of the technique called "Six Paths Technique: Collapse" (六道の術・崩壊, Rikudō no Jutsu: Hōkai) can also be performed.