Akatsuki
Akatsuki (暁; Literally meaning "Dawn" or "Daybreak") is a criminal organization of S-Class missing-nin and is the most wanted group in all of the shinobi world. Their main goal is to collect all of the tailed beasts for their plan of world domination. As such, Akatsuki, despite initially having a minor role during Part I, have become the primary antagonists in Part II.
Akatsuki at any given time is composed of no more than ten primary members, all of whom were S-Class criminals of their own respective villages. Members always work in teams of two with the exception of Zetsu, who functions as the organization's spy, and make use of their unique skills to the team's advantage. Team members must function very well or at least to accomplish their task even though they have a mutual problems with each other. The organization is rarely fully assembled, as seen in the end of Part I, when one member said it was the first time in seven years when they were all together.
Akatsuki is widespread, spanning several countries with agents in various places. When one team finds a tailed beast and has to begin the job of sealing the beast, they have hidden hideouts with many traps ready, to do the three-day long jutsu.
Akatsuki was created for the purpose of collecting the nine tailed beasts. Both Madara Uchiha and Nagato have claimed to be the creators of the organization, the former after leaving Konohagakure, the latter some time after the Third Great Shinobi World War. Nagato is regarded as the "leader" by most of Akatsuki for as long as he is alive, though he takes orders from Madara, who replaced him as leader after his death. Regardless of who created Akatsuki, it is believed that Akatsuki was first formed in Kirigakure. Although there is no known evidence for this rumor (though Madara was apparently once a Mizukage), other villages blame Kirigakure for Akatsuki's actions.
In its early days, Akatsuki was a mercenary group for hire. In times of peace most of the ninja villages, rather than increase their own armaments, employed Akatsuki to fight in wars, spy on enemies, or carry out assassinations. The Fourth Raikage claims that only Kumogakure has never used Akatsuki's services. Eventually, Akatsuki would begin capturing the tailed beasts, in the process antagonizing many of its former clients.
Events relating to Akatsuki before the start of Part II have only been given in pieces. Sasori and Orochimaru were partners for a time and were apparently very effective. Kakuzu had a number of partners that he killed in fits of rage. For this reason he was partnered with Hidan shortly before the start of Part II, Hidan's immortality meaning there would not need to be constant replacements. Itachi Uchiha apparently joined before carrying out the Uchiha Clan Massacre for which he defected from Konoha, though his membership seems to have come with the stipulation that Akatsuki could make no direct movements against Konoha. When Itachi joined, Orochimaru attempted to steal his body in order to gain the Sharingan. This failed and he was forced to defect. Deidara was recruited to replace Orochimaru as Sasori's partner, but because Orochimaru took his Akatsuki ring with him he could not also replace Orochimaru's position. Akatsuki also captured two tailed beasts before Part II, which in the anime are indicated to have been the Five-Tails and the Seven-Tails.
Akatsuki becomes much more active in Part II. At its start they assault Sunagakure to capture the One-Tail, but Sasori is killed. Madara, disguised as "Tobi", replaces him. Next are the Two-Tails and Three-Tails, though Hidan and Kakuzu are lost during an unrelated scuffle with Konoha ninja. After obtaining the Four-Tails, Deidara dies during his fight with Sasuke Uchiha, who soon afterwards kills Itachi too. After Madara's conversation with Sasuke regarding their shared legacy of hatred as Uchihas, the latter then begins working with Akatsuki with his personal team Taka. Although Akatsuki lost five members at this point, Madara claims it was worth it in order to gain Sasuke's loyalty. Despite this, their diminished numbers forced Akatsuki to become more drastic in their efforts.
In the anime, Nagato goes to Kirigakure to capture the Six-Tails (the beast having been caught at some earlier point in the manga). He and Konan are then sent to Konoha to capture the Nine-Tails. Konoha is destroyed, but they fail in their assignment; Nagato dying and Konan leaving the organization. At the same time, Sasuke and his team are tasked with capturing the Eight-Tails, but they fail too complete the assignment. Akatsuki's actions finally provoke a response from the ninja villages, who hold a Kage Summit to discuss what should be done. Madara, wishing to accelerate his plans, infiltrates the meeting and declares war against the great nations, promising to use the seven tailed beasts Akatsuki has already captured as weapons. The villages and their associated countries form a Shinobi Alliance to combat Akatsuki, beginning the Fourth Great Shinobi World War.
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Main Goal
Although some members joined Akatsuki to further their own goals, all are united in Akatsuki's ultimate goal of gaining world domination. Nagato has mentioned a three-step process to work their way towards this goal. First, they plan to obtain a large amount of money to support their organization. Second, they plan to set up a mercenary group loyal only to Akatsuki. To build their reputation, they plan to accept any mission below the usual cost and operate off of the excess funds earned in the first part of their plan. Because there haven't been any wars in some time, the established shinobi villages couldn't afford to charge such low prices, leading the smaller countries to hire Akatsuki over the more expensive shinobi villages. By using the tailed beasts, Akatsuki would start wars and then immediately quell them, solidifying their reputation and convincing every country to depend on them, thus cornering the market in shinobi labor. Without any business, the other shinobi villages would collapse due to the lack of funds. Finally, after Akatsuki is the only major force of shinobi in existence, they can easily conquer the other countries. Members do not automatically learn of the plan upon joining; Hidan didn't find out about it until he had been a member for quite some time.
The tailed beasts, nine gigantic demons of immense power, are the m ain focus of much of Akatsuki's efforts and screen time within the series. Each member is assigned to capture one of the nine beasts alive or, in most cases, the person that beast has been sealed into. Akatsuki has sealed seven of the nine beasts before the start of the Fourth Great Shinobi World War.
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Akatsuki Rings and Ring Positions
What seems to be most important, however, are their rings. In total, there are ten rings given to each of the ten main members of Akatsuki. The rings apparently signify one's membership and ring position, since when Orochimaru defected, he took his ring with him and as such wasn't replaced. The rings' exact purpose have not been revealed.
The ring positions of the members
The various rings are:
Right thumb: 零 (rei, "zero"); worn by Pain. Its color is purplish-gray
Right index finger: 青 (Aoi, shō, "blue," "green"); worn by Deidara. Its color is teal.
Right middle finger: 白 (bya, "white"); worn by Konan. Its color is white.
Right ring finger: 朱 (shu, "vermilion," "scarlet"); worn by Itachi Uchiha. Its color is red.
Right little finger: 亥 (gai, "sign of the boar"); worn by Zetsu. Its color is green.
Left little finger: 空 (kū, "sky," "void"); worn by Orochimaru. Its color is slate blue.
Left ring finger: 南 (nan, "south"); worn by Kisame Hoshigaki. Its color is yellow.
Left middle finger: 北 (hoku, "north"); worn by Kakuzu. Its color is dark green.
Left index finger: 三 (san, "three"); worn by Hidan. Its color is orange.
Left thumb: 玉 (gyoku, "jewel," "ball," also the black king in shogi); 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 (Nine Syllable Seals): a collection of nine hand postures used in meditation. These kuji-in have found their way into ninja folklore as a kind of magic spells. 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, both in the manga and the data books.
In Part II, Taka aligns themselves with Akatsuki. They wear Akatsuki cloaks, but they seem to have hoods instead of high collars. None of them wear headbands, nail polishes, nor the rings, which signify them being unofficial members. Their inter-group relationship is also fragile, as Sasuke claimed that he is only using Akatsuki, and once severed connections with them when they thought Killer Bee was captured. In turn, Madara threatens to kill them for any attempts of betrayal.
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Exclusive Info
- All members of Akatsuki who have died have either lost or removed their Akatsuki coat before dying. While Nagato is never seen wearing a cloak prior to his death, his Six Paths of Pain are.
- Itachi and Kisame were the first two members of Akatsuki that have been introduced in the series, unless Orochimaru, a former member, counts.
- Hidan and Kakuzu were the only Akatsuki two-man team to have both members eliminated simultaneously.
- In the manga, they seal the Three-Tailed Giant Turtle just before the Two-Tailed Monster Cat,[13] while in the anime, due to the more detailed capture of the Three-Tails, they seal it just before the Four-Tailed Monkey.
- In the anime, after the sealing of the Two-Tailed Monster Cat, Pain stated there are four tailed beasts remaining. Later in the anime after the Three-Tailed Giant Turtle and Four-Tailed Monkey were sealed (making it two tailed beasts remaining) and Taka joins forces with Akatsuki, Kisame states there are three tailed beasts remaining. This retcon was put in place to allow a filler arc, featuring the Six-Tailed Slug.
- Kumogakure is the only one of the five great nations that doesn't have any missing ninja in Akatsuki.
- Konohagakure has the most missing-nin that are or were affiliated with the Akatsuki: Orochimaru, Kabuto Yakushi, Itachi Uchiha, Madara Uchiha and Sasuke Uchiha.
- The three remaining Uchiha after the Uchiha Clan Massacre eventually joined Akatsuki: Itachi, Madara and Sasuke Uchiha.
- Despite suggesting to kill him and his friends when he first met them, Nagato allowed Orochimaru to join Akatsuki.
- Both leaders of Akatsuki, Pain and Madara wear their rings on their thumbs.
