Re-understanding the Meaning of Peace, Justice, and Revenge in Naruto Anime

At first, Naruto in a high and angry tone asked, why did Pain do all this. First, of course, kill Jiraiya, their teacher. Second, killing innocent people, and third, destroying Konoha village.

Pain's answer surprised Naruto, and myself as a spectator. This very antagonistic character says, "Making peace and bringing justice."

Naruto was getting angrier, he immediately chimed in, "Peace? Justice? Nonsense. Don't ever tell me that. My teacher, my friends, my village… after what you did, you dare to talk about peace and justice?”

Naruto sobbed. Memories of the people he cared about appeared. But Pain's cold eyes remained sharp. As if not paying attention to Naruto, he asked instead,

"Then tell me, what's your goal?"

Looking up, Naruto shouted, "I will kill you, and bring peace back to the ninja world."

"I know your noble cause," Pain continued, his voice still flat, "Of course that's justice. However..."

Pain circled Naruto's prone and locked body. Then continued his unfinished sentence, "My family, my friends, my village...they suffer from the same beliefs you have in this village, Konoha ninja." Shadows of Konoha's collapse appeared.

Pain still didn't want to stop his words, "Is it fair if you are the only one who teaches peace and justice?"

Naruto's face changed. It seemed that confusion hit him, "What are you talking about?!"

Pain replied, as cool as ever, if the surrounding villages grew too large. Including Konoha. So to protect their national interests, various clans in these countries are 'forced' to fight against each other, of course by taking advantage of the situation.

Pain then explained the context in which he spoke. It seems that he is indeed very serious about challenging Naruto in a conversation about peace and justice, “Small countries and villages like ours become battlegrounds for big countries' wars. And during that time, our country perished, and all that was left was rubble.”

Pain's tone rose even more, “After the great war subsided, the great nations stabilized. A small country like ours is left with hurt and pain.”

Naruto was silent, his eyes dimmed for a long time, as if he also wanted to have the memory of the destruction. Pain continued speaking, without giving Naruto a chance to think, this time his tone had returned to an even, cold tone,

“You and I are looking for the same thing. We both try to make peace, something Master Jiraiya's desire is very much. We are not different at all. We act according to our own belief in justice. The justice I sent for Konoha is no different from what you tried to do to me. The wound will lose something that you care about I also experience," Naruto's eyes grew dim, but Pain still spoke,

"And we both know very well what a wound is. You have your justice, and I have mine. You and I are just ordinary people, forced to take revenge in the name of justice.”

Pain's gaze sharpened, "After all, if there is justice in revenge, then justice will only ask for even more revenge," Pain raised his voice, "Instantly a Circle of Hatred begins."

Naruto couldn't get any words out...

“We are living in the midst of such a phenomenon today. We know what happened in the past, we are able to predict what will happen in the future. That's the history we know," Pain's tone never returned flat.

"We can never change it, we can only believe it, that humans will never be able to understand each other," the shadow of war and all the ruins appeared again, Pain continued to look at Naruto, "The ninja world has always been ruled by hatred."

Pain concluded his conversation with Naruto by asking one question, "How can you face this hatred, in order to create peace? I want to hear your answer."

They were both silent for a moment. Pain waited for Naruto to answer, and Naruto closed his eyes as if waiting for himself to answer. Finally a voice left Naruto's mouth, "I don't have an answer to your question." The wind that carried the dust moved again.

In my personal opinion, who followed the Naruto films until Naruto became Hokage, it was Episode Paint Akatsuki which was full of deep philosophical meanings of life and we should think about it carefully.

Image source: self-edited photo