Itachi vs. Pain: Who Is More Powerful & Would Win in a Fight?

The Uchiha Clan is very specific in the world of Masahi Kishimoto’s Naruto. It was massacred by its own kin and left only with a few surviving members. Itachi Uchiha massacred his own clan, sparing only his younger brother, Sasuke. And while Itachi will be the focus of this article, we will not compare him to Sasuke but rather to another very powerful villain from the series, Nagato (Pain), one of the Akatsuki leaders. If you want to find out who wins in this match-up between Pain and Itachi, keep reading!

Itachi would win in a fight against Pain due to being more intelligent and talented. And while Pain might be physically more powerful than Itachi, Itachi is more intelligent and more talented, and that is why he would ultimately be able to defeat Nagato (Pain) in a fight. Pain is exceptionally strong, but raw powers aren’t everything; Itachi Uchiha has some amazing talent, and his skills are among the best in the whole series. When paired with his intelligence, it would be enough for Itachi to find a way to defeat Pain.

Now that you have the short version of the answer, the rest of the article will be divided into three sections, with the first two introducing the characters, their powers, and their abilities. In the end, we will give our final verdict and explain why Itachi would ultimately be able to defeat Pain in a direct fight.

Chakra and physical prowess

Itachi Uchiha demonstrated extraordinary qualities from a young age, such as his intellect and exceptional talent for all ninja disciplines. He managed to graduate from the ninja academy at the young age of 7, become a Chūnin at age 10, and be an ANBU squad captain at age 13. The teachers also admired him, who ensured that his progress needed no help. It’s hard to name all of his accomplishments, but that can’t be said to measure Itachi’s true ability.

His true potential could only be understood by those who approached his level. In the few battles he was seen participating in, he proved to be an incredibly strong ninja, defeating many powerful shinobi with great ease. Despite his modesty regarding his abilities, his Akatsuki teammate Kisame Hoshigaki and Orochimaru recognized that Itachi was much stronger than them. Even Obito said that Itachi never ceased to amaze him, even when he was dead.

As the leader of Akatsuki, Nagato was an extremely powerful ninja the other members considered to be the strongest in the organization. His partner Konan claimed that he had never lost a battle. Nagato could master any jutsu at an early age. Not only did he master all the techniques that Jiraiya also taught him, the five basic chakra natures, something impossible for a normal shinobi, and he did it in just ten years.

This is notable as he managed to kill Amegakure’s Leader Salamander Hanzo, Kakashi Hatake, defeated and captured Utakata, the six-tailed jinchuriki on his own, and finished off Jiraiya after revealing all of their six bodies (though Pain admitted that killing Jiraiya had not been easy), he destroyed Konoha by killing hundreds of high-level shinobi and even after all that he defeated Naruto in Sage Mode who was accompanied by Gamabunta, Gamahiro, Gamaken and the two Sage Toads: Fukasaku and Shima.

This is a category where we ultimately had to split the points. First of all, Pain is physically stronger than Itachi, but Itachi’s talents with chakra are higher than Nagato’s, which is why we had to split the points.

Points: Itachi 1, Pain 1

Ninjutsu

Itachi was a great connoisseur of all the techniques of the Uchiha Clan, especially the capabilities of the Sharingan. He could use high-level ninjutsu, such as the Great Clone Blast. Crows were a common motif both in his ninjutsu and genjutsu techniques. For example, he could create a clone that split into large numbers of crows, which would then assault the opponent with various shurikens.

Also, he could summon ravens to use as a distraction. Itachi was also a common user of the Shadow Clone Jutsu and the Crow Clone Jutsu. During his battle with Sasuke, when they were continuously performing a shuriken attack, Itachi created a shadow clone and attacked his brother with it. As an experienced member of the Uchiha Clan, Itachi was a great user of the Fire Release.

He knew jutsu like the flames of the phoenix or the great ball of fire, a jutsu characteristic of his clan. He was also shown to be a user of the Water Release, whereby he could use jutsu such as the Water Dragon Missile jutsu without needing to be near pre-existing water. As a fully trained ANBU from Konoha, Itachi was also proficient in Kenjutsu, mainly demonstrated in his battle with Kabuto Yakushi after reincarnation. Itachi also had great skill with Fūinjutsu, as seen when he performed the Transcription Seal: Amaterasu on Sasuke just moments before his death.

One of the most remarkable qualities Rinnegan grants its users is the ability to empirically learn control over the five basic transformations of nature: fire, wind, lightning, earth, and water. Thanks to this, Nagato was an impressive prodigy. He was able to master all of them when he was only ten years old, an impressive feat that only the greatest shinobi have been able to perform.

Nagato could use the wind element to create blasts of compressed air that could easily knock out a human being or enhance attacks, with Kunai and Shuriken increasing their danger and creating air bullets powerful enough to defeat a large group of people. The great chakra that he had allowed him to use the water element on a larger scale, creating an amount of water so huge as to cover an immense part of Konoha.

This is another category where we couldn’t determine a proper winner, so we had to split the points. These characters are exceptionally skilled in ninjutsu, and we couldn’t pick the winner.

Points: Itachi 2, Pain 2

Dōjutsu

As Itachi was born into the Uchiha Clan, he developed his clan’s Kekkei Genkai, the Sharingan. However, unlike the other members, Itachi was able to awaken him at the young age of 8, being considered one of the most skilled of his clan. Like all carriers of this Dojutsu, Itachi could use its capabilities, but to a high degree, being able to attack three Sharingan-carrying ninjas in a second.

This shinobi was mainly characterized by having the ability to study his opponent’s movements from a long distance and respond quickly, almost always using genjutsu. Like all Sharingan wielders, he could induce his enemies with mere eye contact. Furthermore, he had trained his eyes so much that he could have the Sharingan activated for a long time with minimal chakra drain.

Nagato derives her immense power from the Rinnegan Dōjutsu. With the help of Zetsu and Obito, who identified the Uzumaki as the real “Madara,” Madara Uchiha agreed to this to carry out the Moon Eye Plan. The Sage of the Six Paths, the world’s first ninja and self-described “Founder of Modern Ninjutsu,” is credited with developing this technique. The Rinnegan’s powers are completely unknown, although it gives the user access to Yang and the other five types of elemental chakra: Fire, Water, Lightning, Earth, and Wind.

And while the Rinnegan certainly cannot be ignored, Itachi definitely surpasses Pain when Dōjutsu skills are concerned. This is the only category in which Itachi is the clear winner.

Points: Itachi 3, Pain 2

The winner of the fight between Itachi Uchiha and Nagato (Pain)

And now for our article’s most important and interesting section – the analysis. Here, we will use what we have learned about these two characters and analyze how all these facts would (or would not) help them in a fight against each other. Let us continue.

Ultimately, it all comes down to Itachi being a talented genius. The points suggest a very close match-up, and we can only agree that a fight between Pain and Itachi would be very close and that the winner is not completely clear. Both are exceptional fighters and where we can agree that Pain is physically stronger than Itachi, it still seems that Itachi is the more talented and skilled one of the two.

It is a known fact that Itachi was a talented genius and that in that aspect, he would probably be able to come up with a solution for Pain, despite the latter’s strengths and chakra abilities. Pain is a truly powerful fighter, but he would have to face one of the most talented and skilled characters in the franchise, a character who was able to massacre one of the strongest clans. And this is why we had to give a slight advantage to Itachi and why we think that the Uchiha could come out on top in this duel.