From a retrospective review of Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto, many would agree that the Pain's Assault Arc is one of the highlights of Part II. Pain's Assault was the payoff for many of the plot threads revolving around the Akatsuki, set up in Part I of Naruto. It was Naruto's greatest victory till that point, featuring the first instance where the entire Hidden Leaf Village saw him as a hero.