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Akatsuki (暁, Literally meaning: “Dawn” or “Daybreak”) was a group of shinobi that existed outside the usual system of hidden villages. Over several decades, Akatsuki took different forms and was led by different individuals. Though each iteration is viewed as either subversive or criminal, all seek to improve the world through their means. Each Akatsuki tended to have multiple lairs across the world, inaccessible either due to their remoteness or the various security measures that protected them.
The initial concept of Akatsuki was devised by Madara Uchiha to enact his Eye of the Moon Plan. Akatsuki was originally founded by Yahiko during the Third Shinobi World War alongside his childhood friends, Nagato Uzumaki and Konan. As citizens of Amegakure who had been orphaned by the Second Shinobi World War, the three created Akatsuki as a way to bring peace to their home country, which too often got caught in the crossfire of the Five Great Shinobi Countries’ many conflicts.[1] In time, the three were approached by Tobi, who introduced himself as Madara Uchiha.[2] Tobi claimed Nagato was the next Sage of Six Paths and offered to teach him to control the power of his Rinnegan, though Yahiko distrusted him, prompting Nagato to turn down his offer.[3] Nevertheless, Tobi would later claim that it was he who encouraged Yahiko to form Akatsuki, unbeknownst to Konan.[4]
Akatuski’s desire for an end to war attracted many fellow Ame ninjas to their cause and, in time, word of their exploits began to travel beyond Amegakure’s borders. Akatsuki’s early fame was owed largely to Yahiko’s leadership and his natural charisma, which kept the group united and motivated them to persevere despite the difficulties of their goal. Yahiko, however, viewed himself as merely a facilitator for Nagato, who would ultimately be the actual source of world peace because of his Rinnegan. Ame’s leader, Hanzō, also became aware of Akatsuki and although he originally believed in them, he later perceived them as a threat to his rule, a belief encouraged by Danzō Shimura who convinced him Akatsuki was a threat to his power. Hanzō approached Akatsuki offering to help them broker peace between Konohagakure, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure by using Danzō who had disguised himself as a ninja. When Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan arrived to meet with him, however, they were ambushed by Hanzō’s men and members of Danzō’s Root, who captured Konan while on patrol for Akatsuki and was holding her hostage. Hanzō forces Yahiko to commit suicide when Nagato refuses to kill him in exchange for Konan’s life. Enraged by Yahiko’s death, Nagato summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and used it to slaughter their attackers though Hanzō himself escaped, but not before Danzō and most of his Root departed before the slaughter.
Pain’s Akatsuki[]
With Yahiko’s dying breath, he entrusted the pursuit of peace to Nagato who grieved over his death alongside Konan. The Uzumaki came to believe that the world would never willingly consent to peace and that Akatsuki’s previously pacifist approaches to achieving that goal were therefore futile. He concluded that the only way the world would turn away from its constant warfare was to experience such catastrophic death and destruction that it could never again stomach the idea of conflict. Intending to be the one to show these horrors to the world, Nagato began using the alias “Pain” (ペイン, Pein) and formed the Six Paths of Pain, into which he integrated Yahiko’s corpse so that he could symbolically continue leading Akatsuki. Nagato sought out Obito, under the guise of Madara Uchiha, and accepted his earlier offer of support, which he provided in secret.
After the Third Shinobi World War, Akatsuki began recruiting S-rankmissing-nin; mostly through strong-arming them and promising protection to carry out their respective goals. Orochimaru and Itachi joined for their reasons, while Kisame and Zetsu joined to secretly ensure the Eye of the Moon Plan. Once Akatsuki recruited its target of ten members, Akatsuki began following a three-step process to achieve this stated objective:
Obtain enough money to support their organization.
Provide mercenary services at well under a competitive rate, using the money gathered in the first step to offset costs. This will make countries increasingly dependent on Akatsuki’s services, corner the entire market for shinobi missions, and eventually put all of the shinobi villages out of business because they cannot compete with Akatsuki’s prices. By capturing and strategically deploying the tailed beasts, Akatsuki could quickly start and then quell wars, thereby speeding up the process.
Once all other major shinobi forces have dissolved, Akatsuki will be able to quickly conquer all the countries of the world.
Nagato’s initial Akatsuki.
The early years of Nagato’s Akatsuki were very successful, as the hidden villages increasingly hired Akatsuki to fight in wars and perform assassinations that the villages themselves were unwilling to get involved in during times of peace. The Fourth Raikage claims that only Kumogakure never hired Akatsuki, while the Third Tsuchikage in particular became a frequent employer. Despite being such a popular and successful group, Akatsuki was largely a mystery to those outside the organization, with many (incorrectly) coming to believe they operated out of Kirigakure. Akatsuki experienced some turmoil among its members over the years: Kakuzu regularly killed his partners in fits of rage and stole their hearts for his Earth Grudge Fear;[5] only being teamed with the immortal Hidan prevented him from continuing to do this. Orochimaru attempted to steal Itachi Uchiha’s body after the latter joined the organization. When that failed, he was forced to defect. Despite this, Akatsuki was able to begin working towards capturing the tailed beasts.
Nagato’s actual objective behind acquiring the tailed beasts was to harness the tailed beasts’ chakra to create a powerful kinjutsu, using it to wipe out one side in a conflict and, from the display, frighten the other side and the world at large to stop the fighting. If and when the fears abated and conflicts renewed, the kinjutsu would be deployed again, creating small periods of peace in an endless chain of hatred.[6] Because all but one of the tailed beasts were in the possession of the hidden villages, their capture risked antagonizing many of Akatsuki’s former clients. Despite this, Deidara claims that the previous owners of the first two tailed beasts captured by Akatsuki (indicated to have been the Five-Tails and the Seven-Tails) were glad to be rid of them.
The various members of Nagato’s Akatsuki.
After years of inactivity,[7] the Akatsuki’s return with the mission to capture the tailed beasts gradually elevates them from the shadows of the world and, in turn, prompts a growing resistance by the hidden villages. After Deidara captures the One-Tail, Sasori is killed in battle with the Suna and Konoha forces sent to rescue the One-Tail’s jinchūriki. Obito takes this open position as an opportunity to officially join Akatsuki as “Tobi” (トビ), helping capture the Three-Tails. Around the same time, Hidan and Kakuzu capture the Two-Tails, but both are subsequently defeated in unrelated confrontations with Konoha’s Nijū Shōtai. Kisame Hoshigaki later acquires the Four-Tails, after which both Deidara and Itachi separately die in battle against Sasuke Uchiha.
Because of their shrinking numbers, Tobi pressures Nagato into taking a more active role in capturing the remaining tailed beasts. He and Konan are first sent to capture the Six-Tails before they were sent to Konoha to capture the Nine-Tails, and in the course of the resultant Pain’s assault the village is destroyed. When he finally locates and meets with the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki, Naruto Uzumaki, Nagato begins to doubt the direction he has taken Akatsuki in since Yahiko’s death. After Nagato’s Six Paths of Pain are defeated in battle and Konoha and its population saved, Naruto after hearing Nagato’s story is swayed not to kill Nagato and instead convinces him that a bloodless peace is worth pursuing no matter how impossible it may seem. To make up for all the missteps he took, Nagato gives his life to revive the Konoha villagers who died during his attack, using his last breath to encourage Naruto to achieve peace that he was never able to. With Yahiko and Nagato gone, Konan opts to leave Akatsuki.
Tobi’s Akatsuki[]
Tobi’s Akatsuki.
Tobi approached Akatsuki to get close to Nagato, whose Rinnegan he needed to complete the Eye of the Moon Plan. Over the years, he remained in the shadows, allowing Nagato to stay as Akatsuki’s leader while Obito manipulated him towards his desired ends, specifically capturing all nine tailed beasts so that he could restore the Ten-Tails and use it to cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi on the world, ending all conflict by trapping everyone in a dream. Obito follows the Eye of the Moon Plan under instructions of the real Madara Uchiha, whose identity Obito assumed after Madara’s death. Madara intended Obito to have Nagato revive him in the final stages of the plan, though Obito had no plans to uphold that end of the plan and intended to use Nagato to revive himself should anything happen to him; however, this subterfuge was rendered moot by Nagato betraying Obito and using the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to revive everyone he killed during his invasion of Konoha.
Even before Nagato’s death, death, Obito takes a growing role in Akatsuki’s activities, due in large part to Itachi Uchiha’s death. He reveals himself to Kisame, who worked with him during their time in Kirigakure and is happy to collaborate with him yet again. He also convinces Sasuke Uchiha and his team, Taka, to join forces with Akatsuki, an alliance that Obito believes is worth the losses of all the other Akatsuki members. While Nagato goes after the Nine-Tails, Obito sends Taka after the Eight-Tails, the only other remaining tailed beast. Although Taka initially appears successful, they are discovered to have been tricked by the Eight-Tails’ jinchūriki, Killer B. When Zetsu shortly afterward reported Nagato’s death, Obito is deeply agitated by the setbacks, particularly Nagato’s betrayal, and increasingly irritated by Naruto’s constant thwarting of his plans.
With their ranks so diminished and with the Five Great Shinobi Countries finally starting to mobilize against Akatsuki, both because of the attack on Konoha and the botched capture of Killer B, Obito is forced to start taking drastic actions. He first sends Kisame to capture B and then sends Taka to attack the Five Kage Summit. Sasuke does not perform as well against the Five Kage as Obito wished, as he had hoped they would be weakened enough to be forced to negotiate. Instead, he must approach them diplomatically, asking that they help him complete his Eye of the Moon Plan by surrendering the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails. They refuse, prompting Obito to initiate the Fourth Shinobi World War.
Members of Nagato’s Akatsuki wear long, black cloaks with red clouds, a red interior, and a chin-high collar; Tobi and the members of Taka wear a similarly marked hooded mantle. The red clouds represent the rain of blood that fell in Amegakure during its wars and were viewed as a symbol of justice by its original members.[9] The robes are very distinctive, allowing members of Akatsuki to be identified even from a distance. Though the robes are a standard feature throughout Nagato’s tenure (with Konan even continuing to wear it after leaving Akatsuki), the robe falls out of use under Obito’s leadership: Kisame stops wearing it owing to circumstances of faking his death, Obito does not replace him when it is destroyed by Konan, and Zetsu ceases using a robe once its two halves begin operating separately.
Another trend started with Nagato is for members to cross out the symbol on their forehead protectors to symbolize the severed ties with their former villages, though some opt not to wear a forehead protector at all. All members also wear nail polish on their fingers and toenails (colors vary in the anime). When traveling, members sometimes wear conical straw hats with small ornamental torques and tassels hanging down over their faces, possibly to go unnoticed by the general population as most are S-class criminals.[10]
Rings[]
The ring positions of the members.
Under Nagato, each member of Akatsuki is given one of ten rings, to be worn on a specific finger. Other than signifying one’s membership, the rings seem to have some role in sealing the tailed beasts into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, indicating which of the statue’s fingers the members should stand on. The rings are important and irreplaceable: when Orochimaru defected, he took his ring with him, and for that reason, he is never officially replaced;[11] when Deidara loses the arm that his ring is on, he has greater interest in recovering the ring than the arm itself; Zetsu and Tobi specifically seek out Sasori’s ring after his death, needing it for Tobi to replace him. When Tobi took over, the rings still held importance as Obito revealed they were directly connected with the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Left pinkie: “sky”, “void” (空, kū): worn by Orochimaru. Its color is slate blue.
Left ring finger: “south” (南, nan): worn by Kisame Hoshigaki. Its color is yellow.
Left middle finger: “north” (北, haku): worn by Kakuzu. Its color is dark green.
Left index finger: “three” (三, san): worn by Kakuzu’s previous partners and later by Hidan. Its color is orange.
Left thumb: “jewel”, “ball”, also the black king in shōgi (玉, gyoku): worn by Sasori and later by Tobi. Its color is purple.
Eight of the ten kanji of the rings are taken from a kuji-in, a collection of nine hand postures used in meditation. Pain’s “rei” and Zetsu’s “gai” are not from this kuji-in; however, the only unused kuji-in kanji, 玄 (gen, “mysterious”), bears a strong resemblance to Zetsu’s “gai”, suggesting an error. It would be a consistent error, however, since the “gai” kanji has been used in every instance the ring’s kanji has been shown.
Teams[]
Under Nagato, Akatsuki members are organized into teams of two, usually paired based on perceived similarities (such as Itachi or Kisame) or advantageous combinations (such as Hidan and Kakuzu). Although some pairs get along better than others, few seem to like each other; Sha no Sho notes that members always have separate rooms when staying at hotels. Hostilities tend to exist even between members who are not partners, though they so rarely meet that this is rarely an actual problem.[13] Teams travel the world pursuing Akatsuki’s goals, only convening when summoned by Nagato, typically to seal a tailed beast.
As childhood friends and fellow members of the original Akatsuki, Nagato and Konan are the only members who consistently get along. Because Nagato is Akatsuki’s leader, Konan tends to defer to him, doing as he instructs even when she disagrees. In Nagato’s rule of Amegakure, Konan acts as the “angel” to his “god”, communicating his will to Ame’s villagers. Nagato’s true identity is concealed from the rest of the organization, and instead, the Deva Path is used as his representative.
Black Zetsu & White Zetsu[]
Black Zetsu and White Zetsu.
Target(s): None
Black Zetsu and White Zetsu are allies of Tobi who helped him approach Nagato and officially joined Akatsuki seemingly long before Tobi. Although they exist as two separate identities, most of the time they are merged and act as the singular Akatsuki member, Zetsu. The two sometimes argue, but it never interferes with their duties: spying, evidence disposal, and resource acquisition. Zetsu is often the only member of Akatsuki other than their partners that members meet in person. Zetsu typically helps transport a jinchūriki to one of Akatsuki’s hideouts to extract the tailed beast.
Orochimaru & Sasori[]
Sasori and Orochimaru.
Target(s): None
Orochimaru and Sasori were one of the earlier Akatsuki teams to be formed. Little is known of their deeds, but they were quite effective together. They also got along well enough that Orochimaru knew how Sasori’s actual “body” looked beneath his typical Hiruko carapace, although their relationship eventually deteriorated to the point of both of them wanting to change partners. Sasori held a grudge against Orochimaru after he defected from Akatsuki and took a personal interest in his activities afterwards.
Kisame thought their partnership was appropriate as both were notorious for killing their fellow countrymen. Despite conflicting personalities, Itachi and Kisame get along well: Kisame has a greater predisposition towards violence, but always follows Itachi’s instructions, even when it denies him an opportunity to kill someone. Kisame is sad after Itachi dies, and Itachi, once reincarnated, displays some regret upon learning of Kisame’s death.
Deidara is forcibly recruited (with help from Itachi) to replace Orochimaru as Sasori’s partner. Each view himself as an artist, though have little respect for the other’s preferred art form: Sasori believes art is eternal, as in a puppet, while Deidara believes art is fleeting, as in an explosion. Deidara pays some deference to Sasori since he has more experience but is very disappointed by Sasori’s death.
After Kakuzu killed all of his previous partners in fits of rage, he was paired with Hidan, an immortal he could not kill. Whereas other teams at least have moments of cooperation, Hidan and Kakuzu actively hate each other: Hidan believes Kakuzu’s obsession with money is sacrilegious and Kakuzu desperately wants to kill Hidan because his habits constantly waste Kakuzu’s time. Despite this, the two are arguably the most effective of Akatsuki’s teams, variously called the “Immortal Combo” (不死コンビ, Fushi Konbi)[14] and the “Zombie Combo” (ゾンビコンビ, Zonbi Konbi).[15] If Hidan is dismembered, Kakuzu can sew him back together. Kakuzu, meanwhile, can launch indiscriminate attacks without needing to worry about Hidan being killed in the crossfire. Shikamaru Nara believes they are unstoppable so long as they are together.
When Tobi replaces Sasori in Akatsuki he also becomes Deidara’s new partner. Per the persona he assumes, Tobi regularly annoys Deidara, either through open disrespect or out of apparent ignorance. Deidara attempts to kill Tobi several times out of irritation but never manages to succeed, or at least follow through. Deidara, unaware of Tobi’s true identity, takes him on as a sort of disciple, instructing him on the ways of the world and how to succeed in Akatsuki. Deidara even displays a certain fondness for Tobi at the end of his life, instructing him to get to a safe distance from his C4 and then apologizing for what he assumes will be Tobi’s death before using C0.
Associates[]
In addition to its core members, Akatsuki has several affiliates spread across multiple countries. Almost all of them associate only with specific members rather than the entire organization.
Tobi - ally of Madara, Obito, White Zetsu, and Black Zetsu
Trivia[]
In Sha no Sho, Masashi Kishimoto stated that he originally planned on making Akatsuki a group of monsters with almost no human characteristics, with Zetsu emphasizing that specifically.
In the manga, the Three-Tails is sealed just before the Two-Tails.[16] In the anime, the Three-Tails capture receives its own arc, causing it to be sealed after the Two-Tails.
In the novel, the Three- and Two-Tails were captured simultaneously, with the former sealed first because was roaming free. The Five-Tails was sealed before the Seven-Tails, while in both the anime and manga, it was the other way around.
In the anime, after the sealing of the Two-Tails, Pain states there are four tailed beasts remaining. Later in the anime, after Taka joins forces with Akatsuki, Kisame states there are three tailed beasts remaining. This retcon was put in place to allow an arc featuring the Six-Tails.
In the anime, within Tsunade’s Infinite Tsukuyomidream, the Akatsuki’s goal is different as they are not searching for tailed beasts for world domination. The man behind the scene is not Obito, but Sasori, and he takes over Akatsuki after Nagato’s defection. Sasori’s motives are also different than Obito’s.
Despite a maximum of ten members being possible under Nagato’s leadership, that number was never reached before Part I; even when Orochimaru was part of the group, they only totaled nine. Only in the game film Formation of the Akatsuki is the roster fully complete.
Yahiko
Karin Uzumaki (Briefly)
