Akatsuki (Ash)

The Akatsuki (暁, Literally meaning "Dawn" or "Daybreak") are no longer a simple organization, but rather, an era, an ideal that descended upon the world, shaking it till its very core. It was once a humble vigilante group started by,  with the intent to rid war. However, their innocent goals were corrupted by, whose  threatened to sink the entire world into a state of. Of course, with the advent of the legendary figures and  combined with the, the masterminds were stopped for good.

However, no matter how many are killed, ideals and memories are not so easily rid of. The Akatsuki would soon pervade the minds of people as a force that was very nearly successful in their conquest over the world. Such thoughts would give rise to of such intent. Time and time again, these rising evils would be vanquished. But peace would not pervade in the world forever. Endless struggles revolving around power, wealth, territory and nationalism forced the world into a state of tension. Here, a single man, through nothing more than whispers, gave rise to the advent of Akatsuki once again.

He is now regarded as Nobunaga, an enigma among the world whose infamy now surpasses even those criminals stationed at Hōzuki Castle. The man's ambitions are simple, but their scale sends shivers down the spines of all who hear them. His wish is but one: forcing the world into a perpetual state of chaos. No matter the scale, all the man desires is the wheel of conflict to revolve eternally, for it is only this wheel that can truly allow mankind to prosper, even if sacrifices are littered across the way.

Members
The majority of the members within Nobunaga's Akatsuki are grunts, lowly criminals, illicit business owners, corrupt politicians and the like. They extend from the simple underground all the way to the surface, making it almost impossible for the average individual to determine one's affiliation to the ideal, particularly because, at this point, Akatsuki's monopolization over all underground criminal syndicates has made it next-to-impossible to completely extinguish their membership.

Core Membership
Nobunaga's conquest to bring the entirety of the world's criminal empire under his knees had a specific team of elite, among others, to be successful. As such, much like the previous generations of Akatsuki, their primary membership is constituent of various ninja, each of whom are  of the highest notoriety within their respective nations and even outside of them. Each of these individuals possesses complete authority over a criminal syndicate that epitomizes the functioning of a certain illegal activity, ranging from thievery to terrorism. Accordingly so, all of these individuals are regarded as some of the greatest threats to world stability, particularly given that they act mostly independent of any authority.