Akatsuki (Seireitou)

"That's not good. You're all gravely misunderstanding Sannotō-sama's abilities. Sannotō-sama isn't feared because he can use Sharingan. Yes, the Sharingan's power is terrifying. But that alone would not have been enough to subdue those who would rather die than to obey. There was only one reason why those powerful Shinobi were able to function together as the Akatsuki, despite their personal motives. Because he's strong. All of Sannotō-sama's abilities are far beyond anyone else's. You're going to take precautions against his Sharingan? Your plans aren't good enough. You're going to take precautions against everything else? Still not good enough. Even if you gather your minds, and take precautions for every misfortune, such as the Sky falling or the Earth splitting. Sannotō-sama's power still is far superior."

- Seoyū's comments on their leader.

Akatsuki (暁, literally "Dawn" or "Daybreak") was once a criminal organization of S-Class missing-nin and is the most wanted group in all of the shinobi world. They originally plotted to collect all of the tailed beasts for their plan of world domination. Under the commandeering of Sannotō Uchiha, it was consisted of powerful Shinobi that sought to change the world to fit the ideals of the founder of Akatsuki, Yahiko.

Akatsuki at any given time is composed of no more than ten primary members, all of whom were originally S-Class criminals of their own respective villages. Members always work in teams of two with the exception of Sannotō, who functions as the organization's leader, and an unnamed member that serves as their spy. Team members must function very well or at least to accomplish their task even though they have a mutual problems with each other. Unlike the Akatsuki under Nagato's leadership, Sannotō gathers the members all together once a year. However, this once-per-year can be bypassed if an emergency comes up, such as war. Akatsuki is widespread, spanning several countries with agents in various places.

History
Akatsuki was originally founded by Yahiko during the Third Great Shinobi World War and consisted of Amegakure ninja that wished to create peace for their home country, which acted as a battleground for three of the Five Great Shinobi Countries. Yahiko insisted that his and the rest of Akatsuki's actions were meant only to aid Nagato in bringing world peace, though Konan claimed that it was Yahiko's charisma that held the group together and spurred them on. Madara Uchiha alleges that it was his encouragement which lead to Yahiko forming the organization, and thus credits himself as the group's creator. However, the true purpose of Akatsuki came to light upon the death of Nagato, as Madara commandeered the remains of the group to initiate the Eye of the Moon Plan.

Madara's defeat in the end of the war resulted in the official disbanding of the Akatsuki. Sannotō was one of the few who fought in the war on neither side, merely wishing to see how the war would end, with Madara's dominance, or the Alliance's victory. Sannotō, following the years after the fourth war, gathered Shinobi from several different nations in order to