Gee, thanks for the spoiler...

Totally absolutely agree the next few fights are by far the best part of the series so far

It's not just you. clearly losing the major cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima had an incredible effect on the Japanese view of war. But is Pain wanting to inflict that loss on the world or seeking the detente of mutually assured destruction (ref: Cold War)? It could be both, I suppose.It's struck me that a few anime have central characters who are known as formidible/deadly but in reality have sworn to only fight defensively and avoid taking life at all costs. Japan has a strong military past, going back easily 600 years. But the a-bombs were devastating on a whole new level. In their surrender they made a compact never to raise an army again except for humanitarian purposes.The Naruto world isn't Japan, but it's not at all had to see the effect of World War 2 (the Three Great Ninja Wars in this world). And yeah, this is a complex level right vs wrong, that I really love!