Naruto/Characters/Akatsuki

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


The Akatsuki ("sunrise" or "daybreak" [1]) is a criminal organization consisting of no more than ten S-ranked criminal ninja. (Orochimaru was once a member, but defected before the series started. He was never replaced, so the organization has nine members for the series proper.) They all seem to have their own agendas, but the primary group's goal is to Take Over the World by seeking the nine Tailed Beasts Or is it? Turns out the true purpose of collecting the Tailed Beasts is so that Pain can make a Fantastic Nuke...Or is it? Turns out that the REALLY true purpose of collecting the Tailed Beasts is so that Madara can use a genjutsu on the entire world. They work in pairs, with each partner's abilities and temperment complementing the other's. Their signature costume is a dark robe adorned with stylized red clouds, as well as broad-brimmed hats that they discard when discovered. They also wear their original shinobi headbands, but with a deep scratch across the emblem.

They mostly appear in Shippuden—only Itachi, Kisame, and Zetsu appeared in the original series, and in Zetsu's case it was merely a cameo. They become more active in the second series as their plan to capture and seal the Tailed Beasts begins to move forward in earnest.

In General

The organization as a whole provide examples of:

Orochimaru

Former member. See The Legendary Sannin

Itachi Uchiha

"Your hate is not strong enough."


Voiced by: Hideo Ishikawa (JP), Skip Stellrecht (EN, original), Crispin Freeman (EN, current), Roberto Cuenca Rodríguez Jr. (Spain)

Sasuke's Aloof Big Brother is the Akatsuki member with the most screen time to date. He killed his closest friend in order to gain the Mangekyo Sharingan, a more advanced form of the Sharingan with several unique abilities. He then proceeded to kill the entire Uchiha clan save Sasuke for reasons of his own, then abandoned the village to join Akatsuki.

On screen, he rarely moves and rarely speaks, but he's too good a fighter for even high-level ninja to take on. He was a prodigy as a child and has only gotten stronger in the meantime. He is an expert at genjutsu, is a master of the Uchihas' Fire-Style jutsus, and knows most of Konoha's signature jutsu, such as the Shadow Clone Jutsu. (Itachi, uniquely, has demonstrated the ability to detonate his clones as an offensive technique when he no longer needs them.) In addition, the Mangekyo Sharingan gives Itachi three extremely powerful but draining jutsu with which to fight: Amaterasu, a black flame hotter than the sun which can burn anything, even other flames; Tsukiyomi, a genjutsu which can bring its target to complete mental and physical collapse by tormenting them for what seems like days in just a few seconds; and Susanoo, which summons a massive ethereal warrior which can attack and defend on Itachi's behalf. The new abilities that come with the Mangekyo come with a price, however; extended uses can cause the user's eyesight to fade, eventually causing blindness. The only way to combat this is to create a permanent Mangekyo Sharingan with the user's brother's eyes.

His only appearance in the original series was directly after the Chunin Exam arc, when he appeared in Konoha with his partner Kisame to capture Naruto. He and Kisame easily defeated Kurenai, Asuma and Kakashi, but retreated rather than become involved in a general melee. When Sasuke heard his brother was in the area, he immediately rushed out to challenge him, but Itachi easily beat him and Mind Raped him in the process, further feeding Sasuke's inferiority complex. After Jiraiya chased the Akatsuki off, Itachi was ordered not to attempt to capture Naruto again until after the Time Skip.

In Shippuden, Pain creates a clone of Itachi to serve as a delaying action during the Rescue Gaara arc. Team 7 beats it, and Itachi doesn't appear again until directly prior to his fight with Sasuke, where he claims that he left Sasuke alive because he wanted to take Sasuke's eyes for himself. However, Itachi dies before he can kill Sasuke. After the fight, though, Madara Uchiha explains to Sasuke that Itachi was ordered to kill the clan by Konoha's top brass, but that he couldn't bring himself to kill Sasuke, deciding instead to become a Stealth Mentor to his younger brother, motivating him to grow stronger so that he would eventually be able to destroy the clan's enemies. Upon learning that Itachi sacrificed everything that was important to him for him, Sasuke begins to hate Konoha and swears revenge against it.

Kabuto later resurrects him with Edo Tensei. Luckily, the power he implanted in Naruto to use on Sasuke breaks him free in a lucky coincidence. He proceeds to track down Kabuto, apparently having a plan to stop the Edo Tensei. Along the way, he bumps into Sasuke, who pulls a Heel Face Turn and joins him in fighting Kabuto in exchange for Itachi explaining himself.

  • The Ace: Let's be honest: Even if you took how people keep talking about how awesome he is out of the equation, Itachi would still be one of the best ninjas the Leaf has ever produced. He was the third strongest shinobi in the Akatsuki Organization (right under Nagato and Tobi). His abilities include all the regular Sharingan abilities, such as being able to copy various techniques he sees, predict another person's movements, and trapping people in illusions. Beyond this, however, his Mangekyou Sharingan granted him access to Amaterasu, which casts eternal black flames of intense heat, Tsukuyomi, an illusion that manipulates a person's perception of time, and Susano-o, a chakra avatar that defends his entire body, while also being able to attack opponents as well; Itachi's particular version also holds a nigh unbreakable mirror that could adjust to all of the different Chakra natures and a blade that could seal anyone it stabbed away in an illusion. Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi are both hailed as some of the most powerful ninjutsu and genjutsu in existence and, when combined with his Susano-o, were enough for Black Zetsu to claim that Itachi was invincible. He also understands the essence of what it means to be a true shinobi. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third God of Shinobi, even claimed he had the mindset of a Hokage when he was just seven years old.
  • Affably Evil: Always polite, offers his opponents the chance to escape (unless they are his target) and never uses more power than to disable, without lasting harm if possible. He is also an unrepentant mass murderer with history of mentally torturing several protagonists of the series, especially his little brother (who was 7 years old the first time, 13 the second).
    • Subverted in that he's not actually evil and is completely torn up by guilt. It is revealed (albeit by an Unreliable Narrator) that the reason he went back to Konoha was to check on Sasuke to make sure he was alright after Sarutobi's death. It just turned out that he had to actually harm Sasuke in the process, though mind-raping him wasn't really necessary.
  • Aloof Big Brother: One of the Anime poster boys for this trope. Even before his family's death, he was always detached. His father remarked that Itachi just wasn't good with people.
  • Always Someone Better: To Sasuke.
  • And I Must Scream: Tsukuyomi is essentially And I Must Scream no Jutsu.
  • Animal Motifs:
    • Ravens and Crows: Itachi will often dissolve into a murder of crows which Sasuke remarked was his favorite jutsu.
    • Wicked Weasel: His first name is a homonym of the Japanese word for "weasel."
  • Anti-Villain: What he truly was all along.
  • Arc Words: "Your hate is not strong enough".
  • The Atoner
  • Awesomeness By Analysis
  • Back from the Dead
  • Badass: Kills an entire clan of elite ninja and Becomes an S-rank missing-nin at age 13, while blackmailing Danzo. Wins every fight we've seen him in without breaking a sweat, including "battles" against Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke and Orochimaru, until he meets Sasuke in Part II. Beats Sasuke while terminally ill, literally dying in front of him.
    • Now he was resurrected under Kabuto's control, but promptly breaks free by using Shisui's eye.
      • He's still an Edo Tensei zombie, so on top of how broken he was before, he's now immortal...
    • Badass Boast: His answer for Kabuto's supposedly perfect Edo Tensei technique: "This jutsu's weak point and risk... Are me!"
  • Bash Brothers: He and Kisame make an excellent team, even when they aren't actually fighting alongside each other.
  • Big Brother Mentor: Seems to be this way to Naruto.
  • Big Damn Heroes: When he rescues Naruto and Killer Bee from certain death at the hands of edo Nagato after Nagato defeated the two Jinchuriki in a Curb Stomp Battle.
    • As if this was not enough, he proceeds to find out Chibaku Tensei's weakness and destroys it, assisted by Naruto and Bee. And tops this off by perma-sealing Nagato with the Totsuka sword.
  • Big Brother Instinct: The reason he didn't kill Sasuke and didn't kill him during their final fight.
    • Zigzagged later His plan was to make Sasuke a thrall for the rest of his life if he faced Naruto. Sasuke would still be aware of what happened after this.
  • Bloodbath Villain Origin
  • Blue and Orange Morality: His acts with his goals and his desires are in such contradiction with each other that he not only skirt, but happily jumps to this category.
  • Broken Ace
  • Characterization Marches On: Complete Monster in his first apparition, then we can see fragments of his past, then we learn that everything he did was for the sake of Konoha and Sasuke.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: While he is renowned for his Genjutsu and Ninjutsu skills, he is extremely talented in Taijitsu and strong enough to throw enemies flying through walls with a kick.
  • The Chessmaster
  • Chewing the Scenery: YOU, SASUKE! YOU WILL BECOME MY NEW LIGHT!
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: Itachi mentally tortures his foes with genjutsu, among his victims are Kakashi, Naruto, and especially Sasuke. He does it as a standard fighting technique, apparently without wrath or pleasure.
  • Crazy Prepared: The number of steps he's taken to protect Sasuke either directly or indirectly definitely qualifies him. He even had a backup plan in case Madara survived his trap and won Sasuke over.
    • Subverted in that most of his plans, while fairly thought out, simply didn't work like he wanted and in some cases backfired. In particular, Sasuke ends up doing the EXACT opposite of what he'd wanted, the trap he set for Tobi failed, and the failsafe he left Naruto ended up being used on himself (long story) instead of Sasuke. At this point he's down to his last backup plan which is basically "trust Naruto to fix this somehow".
  • Creepy Monotone
  • Cryptic Conversation: Pretty much everything Itachi EVER said.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: Seems very fond of this. Till date he has curb-stomped Kakashi, Kurenai and Asuma (three of them together), Orochimaru (twice), Deidara, and Sasuke (multiple times).
    • Itachi faced Sasuke while terminally ill and intending to lose and still ends up schooling Sasuke!
    • Itachi has also literally one shotted Naruto twice with his genjutsu though none of the incidents resulted in a true defeat for Naruto because Itachi never really intended to capture him for Akatsuki.
  • Cursed with Awesome: His Susanoo possesses the Yata Mirror, an indestructible shield and the Sword of Totsuka, the mightiest genjutsu forged weapon in history. The drawback is that it pretty much destroyed his eyes and put severe strain in his body.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Especially after his resurrection.
    • Justified in that he doesn't have to pretend to be evil anymore, so his real personality is more apparent.
  • Didn't Think This Through: ZigZagged. He certainly thought through much of his Gambit Pileup, but a posteriori one can say his methods to implement it were contradictory with his goals.
  • Dirty Business: He's constructed around this trope.
  • Disc One Final Boss: For Sasuke.
  • Driving Question: The technique he used to escape Jiraya teased fans for years before he revealed Amaterasu in his fight with Sasuke.
  • Dying Moment of Awesome: Not actually his defeating of both Sasuke and Orochimaru back to back, but his using his last seconds of life to put a defense against Madara in Sasuke.
  • Easily Forgiven: By Sasuke who went from loathing him to protecting his legacy (albeit in a completely opposite way of what Itachi wished) in the matter of a night. Ditto with the Fandom. It helps that he was popular before The Reveal.
  • Evil Eye: The Sharingan and then later the Magenkyou Sharingan. They grant the following abilities:
  • Evil Genius: He's a genius. He's evil. Pretty self-explanatory. May also play this role within Akatsuki, given his Master of Illusion powers.
    • Subverted later on, when we learn he just pretending to be evil. He was certainly willing to Shoot the Dog though.
  • Excuse Me While I Multitask: He was capable of doing Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijitsu and Shurikenjutsu simultaneously against a level S opponent without any strain.
  • Exotic Eye Designs: His Mangekyo Sharingan.
  • Fallen Hero: He was the pride and joy of the Uchiha clan and the idol of Sasuke before the massacre.
  • Feather Motif: His Genjutsus almost always include a shower of Crow Feathers.
  • Gone Horribly Right: He deliberately made Sasuke full of hate and power-obsessed in order to have him strong enough to kill him and redeem the Uchiha clan. The first part worked beyond any expectation, the second...not so much.
  • The Gift: Obviously. He graduates from the Academy at age 7, masters the Sharingan at 8, becomes Chuunin at 10, joins the ANBU at 13, besides already being an S-ranked criminal and one of the strongest members of Akatsuki, who thinks this guy is normal?
  • Glass Cannon: Very powerful, but suffers from an extreme lack of stamina and defensive power.
  • Go Out with a Smile: "Sorry, Sasuke. There won't be a next time" .
  • Good All Along
  • Good Is Not Nice
  • Groundhog Day Loop: He uses the genjutsu Izanami to place Kabuto in one.
  • Hannibal Lecture: Master of this.
  • Happiness in Slavery: The ultimate fate he prepared for Sasuke though he couldn't implement it. He had to use Shisui's eye in himself after Kabuto Edo tensei.
  • Heel Face Turn: A variant in that he was an Anti-Villain all along. He was definitely still wrong, though, and admits it to Naruto later.
  • Hero-Killer
  • Hero with an F In Good: Between his Mind Rapes of Sasuke and Kakashi, general brutality, and a pretty serious lack of social skills, Itachi sucks at being the good guy.
  • Hidden Agenda Villain: Since the first act it has been confusing which are his goals or if indeed he has any beyond messing with Sasuke's life. We learn of them... by a third party after his death..
  • I Did What I Had to Do: And he hated it.
  • I Let You Win
  • Ill Boy
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: Defense: Counter Shuriken Rain
  • Instant Armor: Susanoo
  • Japanese Mythology: All his special abilities (and most of the Uchihas) are named after Japanese Gods.
  • Jerkass Facade
  • Kick the Dog: His mental torture of Sasuke and Kakashi.
  • Knight in Sour Armor: If his comments after Kabuto resurrects him are anything to go by.
  • Leitmotif: "Many Nights". It's very fitting... somehow.
  • Master of Illusion: The best genjutsu master we've seen so far.
  • Mental World: Tsukuyomi.
  • Mind Rape: Tsukuyomi
  • Morality Chain: Itachi's existence notably keeps Sasuke's sanity anchored to this world. Back when Itachi was alive, Sasuke may have been angsty, but not insane. After he killed Itachi was when he began to lose it, but, now that Itachi is..."alive" again, Sasuke is acting far more sane than he has in 100 chapters.
    • And now that he realizes that Itachi is about to go back to being dead (as a result of ending the technique that revived him), he's right back to talking about destroying Konoha...
  • My Country, Right or Wrong: "The village does have its dark side and inconsistencies. But I'm still the Leaf's Itachi Uchiha."
  • Necessarily Evil: YMMV of how much "necessary" his evil acts where. He certainly viewed himself this way, though, and hated himself for it. Then, after his resurrection, he realizes how horribly wrong he was.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: All of his actions seemed to have been aimed at making Sasuke realize that the village is more important than his family's pride. He couldn't have failed more if he had done it on purpose. He at least accepted the possibility of failure and left Naruto, Shisui's other eye, as a safeguard, only for that to fail, too..
  • Oh Crap: His reaction to Kirin during his final fight with Sasuke and to Sage Mode Dragon Kabuto.
  • Omniscient Morality License: Hey, listen, I have an IDEA! I'll join an international criminal organization, inflict a tremendous amount of trauma on the person I love the most in the world and murder lots and lots of people. Hey, why the face? It's all for the greater good He pretty much gets it revoked later, and admits his attempts to do everything himself created a gigantic mess.
  • Only Sane Man: He and Kisame together make up this as part of the Akatsuki.
  • Playing with Fire
    • Fireballs: As big as a house and strong enough to let a trail in the ground.
  • Power Degeneration: Mangekyô Sharingan.
  • Proud Warrior Race Guy:Deconstructed. He annihilates the entire Uchiha Clan when they were about to go forward with their betrayal, antagonises and tortures his pre-teen little brother into hating him, casts himself as the vile traitor so that one day his brother will be led to kill him, all to tie up everything and making everybody believe that the Uchiha Clan save him were a proud and noble clan devout to Konoha, when he knew full well that he was the only one left in the clan that was actually like that.
  • Quick Draw: Shuriken flavor. Capable of throwing dozens of thousands of Shuriken with perfect accuracy in milliseconds without any effort.
  • Sanity Slippage: Implemented a really fake one during his fight against Sasuke.
  • Self-Made Orphan
  • Shell-Shocked Veteran: After the Third Ninja War. At four years old.
    • Although he is said to have witnessed it, not taken part in it. It's already horrible enough.
  • Sibling Team: He and Sasuke against Kabuto. Hopefully it will stick.
  • Spanner in the Works: Itachi has foiled or complicated the plans of pretty much every single organization or chessmaster he's encountered in the series. Short list: the Uchiha clan, Danzo, Orochimaru, Team 7's attempts to rehabilitate Sasuke, Tobi, and Kabuto. Sadly, this includes a few of his own plans too -- needlessly pushing an already vengeance-minded Sasuke over the edge and accidentally triggering his own failsafe in Naruto on himself. He further complicates Kabuto's plans by intending to force him to end the Edo Tensei, and seemingly puts a cork in Sasuke's Kill Konoha plan by promising to finally explain his motivations in exchange for his help in stopping Kabuto.
  • Stealth Mentor:
  • The Stoic
    • Not So Stoic: During his final fight with Sasuke. Subverted in that it was actually fake.
  • The Strategist: So good that all his fights degraded into well oiled choreographs eventually.
  • Suicide by Cop: Subverted. He kept himself alive despite being eaten up with disease so that 1)Sasuke could kill him, become a hero for Konoha and redeem their clan and 2)to punish Itachi for his sins. Ultimately, he died from by a combination of his disease and fighting Sasuke.
  • Super Reflexes: So fast with his hand seals that the two other Ninjas with Super Reflexes can barely see a blur.
  • Super Speed
  • Tall, Dark and Handsome
  • Tall, Dark and Snarky: Along with Bleach's Ulquiorra is the anime poster boy of this trope.
  • Teach Him Anger And Hate: Twice to Sasuke with a heavy dosis of powerhungry obsession so the latter could become a well adjusted human being, a loyal Shinobi of Konoha and redeemer of the Uchiha clan... yeah.
  • Technical Pacifist: After the third war, he became a Pacifist above all else. His slaughter of the Uchiha clan was to prevent them from throwing Konoha into chaos and starting another war. He's one of the least violent fighters, only ever using enough power to accomplish his ultimate goals, of which just victory is a rare one...
  • Teen Genius
  • Thanatos Gambit:He had an emergency plan to stop Madara (Amaterasu) from manipulating Sasuke. It failed. However, Itachi had a backup plan since he knew there would inevitably be a confrontation between his brother and Naruto. His plan was to brainwash permanently Sasuke to be loyal to Konoha forever with Shisui's Eye that implanted in Naruto with the crow, which would activate during their fight. However, the one thing he did not count on was being resurrected and turned into a thrall by Kabuto. He then decides to use the power he gave Naruto on himself, which allows him to break Kabuto geis with another. His Plan C appears to be "trust Naruto."
  • Theme Naming: His Mangekyô Sharingan powers are named after Japanese gods. Of note is that these are the exact same gods who slew Orochimaru of the legendary Sannin of Konoha.
  • The Comically Serious: Despite his traumatic past and the lifetime of guilt that accompanies it, he has a sense of humor, believe it or not.
  • Those Two Bad Guys: With Kisame, early on. Par for the course for Akatsuki, who generally go about their grim business in pairs. Later on he strikes up quite the rapport with Nagato, whom he helps about the battlefield as they involuntarily serve Kabuto.
  • The Unfettered: He will do anything to protect Sasuke and the Land of Fire.
    • Subverted later. Not with the Land of Fire but he deemed Sasuke free will as an acceptable sacrifice.
  • War Is Hell: His real motivation for killing off his clan. They were on the verge of starting a civil war (that would likely lead to a world war) and he was unable to convince them to call it off.
  • Was It All a Lie?: Yes and no, depending on which "it" is being referred to. The insane, unrepentant murderer we first meet? Yeah, that's a huge lie. As for the loving (if extreme) brother Sasuke remembers? No, it wasn't.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: In chapter 576 Sasuke tries to do this to him, trying to understand why his brother left him alive. Due to Itachi both being in a hurry to stop Kabuto and feeling he's messed Sasuke up too much already, Itachi keeps shutting Sasuke down with curt yet vauge replies. He does at least confess that he wanted Sasuke to kill him so he could find redemption for the clan, but massive miscommunication still seems to be these two's standard.
  • Worf Had the Flu: Subverted. He couldn't fight Sasuke at full force for two reasons: 1) he didn't want to ; 2) he was terminally ill. And still, even Kirin couldn't give Sasuke the upper hand in the fight.
  • You Are What You Hate: Vividly believed this at one point in his life, but then accepted himself for who he was and acknowledged his mistakes in death.
  • Not Now, Kiddo He does this to Sasuke after his reunion.
  • Hurt a child: he tortures Sasuke twice and kills the rest of the uchiha children, accepting Danzo's word, that these children could be a problem in the future and that they should die.
  • Draco in Leather Pants: Probably the biggest of the whole manga. His fans even believe he deserves a statue for massacring an entire clan and torture his brother and kakashi.

Kisame Hoshigaki

"The weak are meat, the strong eat."

Voiced by: Tomoyuki Dan (JP), Kirk Thornton (EN), Pedro Tena (Spain)

One of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Polite, but a savage warrior who loves to fight. Good friends with Itachi. Owns a sentient sword called Samehada ("Sharkskin" in the dub and as a rough translation) which can absorb chakra from anything it shreds shaves. Possesses an enormous amount of chakra that is compared to the level of a tailed beast.

In Shippuden, a clone of his is beaten by Guy, then he doesn't do too much but hang around Itachi. He later gets assigned to go after the Eight-Tailed Ox and seemingly gets killed for his troubles. It is later revealed that was just a clone and Kisame manages to infiltrate Kumogakure by hiding in his sword. His cover ends up blown and he fights Guy again, but rather than give up the information upon losing he commits suicide by having his own shark summons eat him.

  • Actually a Doombot: Happens twice.
  • Affably Evil: Very polite and soft-spoken. And a bastard. Even after getting decapitated, he uses his apparent last words to cheerfully compliment his opponent's speed... though it turns out he survived.
  • Anti-Villain
  • Badass
  • Become Your Weapon: With Samehada, in a very Arrancar-esque way.
  • BFS: If you can really count that thing as a sword. It is known as the Samehada ("sharkskin").
  • Blood Knight
  • The Brute: Serves this role in the Akatsuki up until Pain dies (see the Five-Bad Band page)
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Inverted. He is loyal enough to his partner Itachi and Akatsuki, and fanatically devoted to what he thinks is Madara. However, while he was a Mist-nin he had a severe case of this, slaughtering his allies at the drop of a hat and murdering his superior to get a hold of Samehanda.
  • Cyanide Pill: Instead of getting captured, he opted for suicide so as to not give any information he may hold to the enemy.
  • Empathic Weapon: Samehada's hilt will sprout spikes if anyone other than Kisame picks it up. It can also return to his hand. it turns out to be a living, sentient sword with a toothy mouth.
  • Energy Absorption: His sword lets him absorb the chakra of anyone it touches, or of any technique that launch into the air.
  • Everything's Even Worse with Sharks: His face, attacks and more.
  • Exact Words: He was ordered to protect an Intel squad carrying important codes, and above all to prevent those codes from falling into enemy hands. At the first sign of trouble, he massacres the squad, so they can't tell anyone the codes they are protecting. His attitude at the time suggests he was actually hoping they would be attacked just so he could do this, which would mean he did it For the Evulz.
  • Faking the Dead: After his original seeming death by decapitation, it was revealed several months later that what actually died was a clone created by Zetsu.
  • Fusion Dance: With his sword.
  • Genius Bruiser: Rarely seen, but he is very quick to pick up on weaknesses and has shown a decided knack for quick yet highly successful plans.
  • Gradual Grinder : His preferred method of taking down powerful foes.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Terrifyingly fast, and strong enough to trade blows with Guy without any real difficulty.
  • Loners Are Freaks: His backstory has elements of this, such as refusing to have lunch with the Intel group he was protecting, and slaughtering them at the first sign of trouble to prevent their info falling into enemy hands.
  • Lovecraftian Superpower: Samehada's released form.
  • Making a Splash: Kisame specializes in flashy water jutsu.
  • Meaningful Name: "Same" means shark in Japanese.
    • The "ki" part of his name is written with a kanji character meaning ogre or demon. Therefore, his given name is "demon shark."
  • Names to Run Away From Very Fast: Kisame means "demon shark".
  • Nietzsche Wannabe: He believes the world is based on nothing but lies, so he has no particular reason to trust or be loyal to anyone. He only follows Madara because the latter agrees, and because he appears to validate his opinions for example, by the revelation that he was controlling the 4th Mizukage, thus showing that the Mist was based on a lie and not run by the man everyone was following, because Kisame believes him when he says he can change all that.
  • Not-So-Small Role: For a long time he was just considered as The Brute and Itachi's sidekick. In the end, he was the last member of Akatsuki (except for Zetsu) to be taken down, dying after Itachi and even Nagato and Konan. He also turned out to be just as close to Tobi as Itachi was before he left Konoha, apparently.
  • Off with His Head: When the clone of Kisame goes up against the Raikage and Killer B, he gets struck with the manliest move ever used in the Naruto universe. His head flies off like a champagne cork.

Kisame: Water Release: Super Shark Bo--(sickening thud)
A and Killer B: DOUBLE LARIATOOOOOO!

(screen flashes white)

Kisame's disembodied head: Well...you guys are just too fast for me.

  • Older Sidekick: To Itachi
  • One-Winged Angel: Can fuse with Samehada.
  • Only Sane Man: With Itachi and Konan, among the Akatsuki.
  • Thanatos Gambit / Taking You with Me: The scroll he stole back and made Guy fight so hard for... was booby trapped. As soon as it was opened it sealed everyone within range with the Water Prison Technique, complete with shark summonings in each individual prison, while one of the summonings takes the scroll to Madara.
  • Shark Man
  • Unknown Rival: Guy has a hard time remembering just who Kisame is for Kisame's whole life.
  • Worthy Opponent: To Guy.


Zetsu

"Seems palatable..."

Voiced by: Nobuo Tobita (JP), Michael Sorich and Brian Beacock (EN, original), Travis Willingham (EN, current)

Split personalities that talk to each other. Spy and lookout. Only Akatsuki member who is never shown with a partner, because he can be his own partner. Can perfectly blend into the background (sometimes by use of a Venus flytrap thing). Cannibal. Observed both Naruto and Sasuke's fight at the Valley of the End and Sasuke and Itachi's final battle.

Knows Tobi's identity and status as the true leader, and thus works closely with him. Showed ability to split his two sides apart which he used to have his white side lead Sasuke to the Kage summit while the black side stayed behind with Tobi. The white half interrupted meeting and revealed that Sasuke was in the building, after which the Raikage strangled him until he lost consciousness.

White Zetsu managed to escape the summit and heals the wounds Sasuke has been receiving in his battles with Danzo, Kakashi and Naruto. Both halves appear to be looking for Kisame's dead body, only to reveal that the body was just a White Zetsu clone, which was created so Kisame could infiltrate Kumogakure. During the Fourth Great Shinobi World War, Zetsu is the main source of Tobi's army. It is eventually discovered by Sakura that White Zetsu was created using the 1st Hokage's DNA.

Deidara

"Art is a blast!"

Voiced by: Katsuhiko Kawamoto (JP), Quinton Flynn (EN, original), Roger Craig Smith (EN, current), Sergio García Marín (Spain), Jesus Barrero (Mexico)

Mad Artist and Mad Bomber. Likes Stuff Blowing Up. Former student of the Third Tsuchikage. Deidara has mouths in his palms, which shape explosive clay, along with a stitched mouth on his chest. He defected from his village of Iwagakure and worked for various anti-government terrorist groups because they readily supplied him with chances to show off his "art". He was forcibly recruited into Akatsuki by Itachi, and hates him and the Sharingan for his dismal defeat. His former partner was Sasori, and then Tobi. Sasori and him frequently argued about what "true art" was (Sasori vouching for 'eternal' art in the form of puppets, and Deidara siding with 'fleeting' art in the form of his bombs). Single-handedly captured Gaara during the first arc of Shippuden. Has one arm crushed by in the process and another sent to another dimension when confronted by Kakashi and Naruto. Manages to successfully fight against the entirety of Team Guy with no arms. Beats the Three-Tailed Beast (along with Tobi). After a pitched battle with Sasuke, Deidara tries to defeat him by using his own body combined with his clay as a mini-nuke. He fails; Sasuke survived by summoning the giant snake Manda to block the explosion. Later revived by Kabuto's Edo Tensei, joining Kabuto in finding Killer Bee and Naruto. Retains at least some of his original personality. Believes he killed Sasuke with his final attack.


Sasori

"Fine art is something wonderful that's left long into the future ... eternal beauty."

Child Voice: Akiko Yajima (JP), Kari Wahlgren (EN), Jesús Barreda (Spain
Adult Voice: Takahiro Sakurai (JP), Johnny Yong Bosch (EN), Jorge García Insúa (Spain)
Hiruko Voice: Yutaka Aoyama (JP) J.B. Blanc (EN)

A Mad Artist and Marionette Master notable for being very impatient. Before being destroyed by Sakura Haruno, Sasori was usually found maneuvering inside a large, hollow puppet called Hiruko as a means of transportation. It crawled on the ground and featured a scorpion tail that—like most of his weapons—was doused in poinson. His grandmother was Chiyo, who taught him how to master puppets in order to divert his attention away from his absent mother and father (who were killed by The White Fang of Konoha.. Sasori did not know this. He was told by Chiyo that they were on another long mission). Developed a technique to convert living humans into puppets, thus creating puppets who could use jutsu. Kidnapped the Third Kazekage and converted him into one of these puppets, somewhere along the way connverted himself into a puppet, and then fled the village to subsequently join the Akatsuki. There he was partnered with Orochimaru, where he admits that they worked well together before he defected. After his partner's betrayel of the organization, Sasori sent Kabuto as a spy to infiltrate Orochimaru's ranks and retrieve information. He was then paired up with Deidara, a fellow art enthusiast. The downside was that they had conflicting views on art, Sasori for "eternal" and Deidara for "fleeting". They frequently argued over this concept, even amidst confrontation with the Leaf ninja sent to retrieve Gaara. Sasori fought his grandmother Chiyo and Sakura, eventually using his own puppet body in battle. He was killed by being pierced in the heart by the first two puppets he ever created: replicas of his Mother and Father. His body serves as Kankuro's newest puppet, but Kabuto has used Edo Tensei to revive his spirit as well. In the first fight of the Fourth Ninja War, Kankuro defeats Sasori, telling him how he should not be a puppet to Kabuto. Sasori, moved by this speech, dissolves from his temporary body, telling Kankuro to take care of his puppets.


Tobi

"Tobi is a good boy!" (Zetsu)

Voiced by: Wataru Takagi (JP, goofy Tobi), Naoya Uchida (JP, serious Tobi), Michael Yurchak (EN, goofy Tobi), Neil Kaplan (EN, serious Tobi), Alex Saudinós (Spain), Nolan North (EN, serious Tobi, Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2)

Deidara's gotten him for a second partner. Comic relief. Nigh invulnerable. Wears a mask. Used to work for Zetsu. Gets beaten up by Deidara a lot. Disappears from the group after Itachi's killed, because he decided to drop his goofy facade. Claims to have been Madara Uchiha; half of Akatsuki seem to be in the know-how of that. He unleashed the Nine-Tailed Fox on Konoha, indirectly caused the deaths of Minato and Kushina, controlled the tyrannical Yagura of the Mist Village, pushed for Yahiko to form Akatsuki, claims to have given the Rinnegan to Nagato, and met with Danzo prior to the Uchiha Clan Massacre.

Present-time, Tobi revealed Itachi's true motives to Sasuke, enlisted Taka as Akatsuki associates, revealed the existence of the Sage of the Six Paths to Naruto, created an army of White Zetsus, used Hashirama's DNA to create his version of Izanagi, reluctantly allied himself with Kabuto, killed Konan in a fight, stole the Rinnegan and revived the Jinchuriki to serve as his Six Paths of Pain. At present, he's currently in a fight between Bee and Naruto.

In addition, as Kabuto indirectly revealed, Tobi is not the real Madara.

Tobi is also the main antagonist of Naruto Shippuden Movie 6. Yep, no filler villain, the Big Bad gets his own movie!

  • Affably Evil: Polite, patient, easy going, pretty laid-back and an excellent boss to have, but never betray him or he will make you regret it.
  • Alien Blood: We've seen blood in this series. Whatever it is that comes out when he cuts off his arm, it's not human blood.
  • Appendage Assimilation: It seems Tobi can swap out arms (and it's implied eyes as well) as needed.
  • Assimilation Plot: His main goal. Kishimoto may have got the idea from his brother.
  • Badass Boast: "... If you want to see what's under my mask... You're gonna have to work for it. Eight-Tails... Nine-Tails... I will capture you both... And complete the Moon's Eye!"
  • Beam Me Up, Scotty: He never actually said "Tobi is a good boy!". It was Zetsu who said it about him.
  • Arch Enemy: to Naruto.
  • Berserk Button: Betrayal. Tobi is general pretty easygoing and laid back, but he does NOT like being betrayed, as Konan can testify. He also has a very low opinion of Orochimaru (who defected from Akatsuki) and was dead serious when he warned Sasuke not to betray him.
  • Big Bad: Tobi, as the secret leader of Akatsuki and the mastermind behind both the Nine Tails' Attack on Konoha and the Fourth World War, is the main antagonist of the series. His actions ruined Naruto's early life and robbed him of his parents and best friend, so he stands alone as Naruto's mortal enemy.
    • Big Bad Duumvirate: Tobi and Kabuto form one during the Fourth World War. Kabuto forced Tobi into the alliance by blackmailing him with Madara Uchiha's body, but now that he's blown Tobi's cover he's lost his hold over him.
  • Blatant Lies: "I didn't unleash the Nine-Tails on Konoha, it was a natural disaster."
    • Averted with him not actually being Madara. The lie was anything but blatant, with several characters, splash pages, and anime credits all calling him Madara, causing everyone, including most fans, to be more than baffled when they find out.
  • Chain Pain:Used a pair of chains on his wrists in his fight with Minato which combined with his intangibility to be pretty deadly.
  • The Chessmaster
  • Complexity Addiction: Seriously, there has been 4 times already that he could have easily abducted Naruto (not to mention many others offscreen with his powers) and avoid the entire 4 World War thing in the first place. The only reason seems to be that it would go against the plan and would not be fair.
    • He claims however that he wants Naruto to fight Sasuke, that he even needs it. Quite a lot of his plan seems to be to set that ultimate battle up, for whatever mysterious end.
    • It makes sense if you remember that the Kyuubi has to be sealed last, or else the Gedo Mazen will break, releasing all the stored tailed beasts. Too many things could go wrong if he tries to secure Naruto without capturing Killer Bee first.
  • The Corrupter
  • Dead Person Impersonation: Whoever he is, he's NOT the original Madara Uchiha.
  • Deadpan Snarker: He has a tendency to make blunt, rude, and disrespectful comments to everyone around him.
  • Determinator: Even if he isn't Madara, you can't deny that he is extremely patient. He seems very old and to have been in the game for a very long time.
  • Diabolical Mastermind: A nice contrast to Orochimaru.
  • Diabolus Ex Machina: Had a second Sharingan eye that allowed him to be still be able to fight Konan after using Izanagi. The existence of it was never foreshadowed before and no reason was pointed out why he walked around wearing a mask with only one eye. Its existence only hinges on keep the Fourth World War Ninja Arc plot going instead of ending it prematurely only days after it started and before any battle even began.
  • Discard and Draw: Sacrificed one Sharingan eye and replaced it with a much more powerful Rinnegan-eye.
  • Dishing Out Dirt: Has been shown to have at least "Earth" for his chakra nature.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: He is repulsed by Kabuto's Edo Tensei spell, though this may more or less be because a large part of his plan hinged on the world believing he was Madara Uchiha and immortal. Proving he was actually dead would have probably forced him into using a backup plan.
  • Evil Costume Switch: Subverted in that he originally kept the same outfit after being revealed as the Big Bad. Played straight when he replaces his old mask with one that resembles the Ten-Tailed Beast's single eye. Also, he now wears the same robes and holds the same giant "fan" that Madara Uchiha wore in the latter flashbacks, as opposed to his old Akatsuki uniform.
  • Evil Old Folks: The only Akatsuki older than him is Kakuzu, supposedly.
  • The Faceless: We've only been able to see a small part of his right eye and there are numerous wrinkles around it. He probably does look very aged. Or tired.
  • Foreshadowing: During the fight between Deidara and Sasuke, he acts all goofy as usual until he gets away from the fight and mentally explains Deidara's C4 technique in all its details for the readers. It's the first clear hint of his Obfuscating Stupidity.
    • There's also a case of foreshadowing by absence. He never uses the Mangekyo Sharingan, presumably because he doesn't have it, which in retrospect, was probably the strongest clue that he isn't actually Madara.
  • Half Truth: A lot of what he has said has come as the complete, plain truth (or as Truth as Milenary old Feuds/Shinobi Politics can get). For other matters the fandom still waits to see, it's pretty obvious he's withholding more than he's claiming.
  • Humanoid Abomination: Implied. Can warp people into a Pocket Dimension, has survived far too many things that would've killed anyone else, is abnormally old-aged, knows facts that others claim as myths, his creases look like scales, half of his face is blackened out like a silhouette, his blood is a mix of human flesh and plant matter, and he integrated entire bloodlines into his body like it was Lego.
  • Immortality: Strongly implied to be a Type II.
  • The Infiltration: A very odd inversion. He seems to have made up an alias (and alternate personality to boot) and infiltrated his own organization for, as far as we know, no particular reason.
  • It Amused Me: We really have no other way to explain why he decided to impersonate Madara like that, along with his usual goofyness that's in a sharp contrast to his usual demeanour.
    • Which also explains the entire Tobi + Deidara partnership, where Tobi is provoking Deidara.
  • It's All About Me: Seems to be leaning towards this as well.
  • Japanese Pronouns: Used boku in his debut, but once he dropped the act and became a more serious villain he started to use ore. Both are masculine pronouns, but ore has the implications of sounding more "mature" and "manly" compared to the boyish boku.
  • Just Between You and Me: It's like crack to him. Although apparently, explaining his plan to everyone was part of his plan...
  • Keet: Usually whenever he's around Deidara. He later drops the act.
  • Made of Diamond: After Minato both shreds him with a Rasengan and stabs him in the gut, Tobi is still standing, and even casually chats for a bit.
  • The Man Behind the Man: He was the real leader of Akatsuki, and controlled the Fourth Mizukage for years.
  • Manipulative Bastard: He may tell you the horrible truth, including his role in it, and still bend you to his will.
  • Mask Power: He's had quite a few masks, usually with a single eye-hole. His latest one is stylized like a big Sharingan.
  • Mismatched Eyes: After his battle with Konan, he has a Sharingan and a Rinnegan.
  • Mr. Exposition: HE IS AN ENDLESS BARREL OF EXPOSITION.
  • More Than Mind Control: A master of this.

Tobi: To control people's heart, you have to use the darkness within them. Nagato was just too easily influenced.

  • Nietzsche Wannabe: "This world is completely worthless...there is nothing left in it but misery."
  • Nigh Invulnerability:
  • No One Should Survive That: Anywhere between Sasuke (unintentionally) setting him ablaze with Amaterasu which Itachi sealed inside him, Konan's attempt to kill him with 600 billion explosive tags, which technically worked, etc.
  • Not-So-Harmless Villain: Initially seems like a somewhat goofy member of Akatsuki, but fans knew something was up when a sword slash passes right through him and he survives a massive explosion.
  • Not-So-Small Role: Seemed like a comic relief type of guy and a Token Good Teammate in Akatsuki, but even then, there was something off about him from the start.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: It's unknown why he made himself act like a goofball if half of Akatsuki's already bought into his impersonation of Madara. He probably he simply enjoys playing silly.

Tobi: I ended up saving you too... I believe a "thank you" is in order.

Konan: .......

  • One-Man Army: See Power Parasite.
  • Oh Crap: Inverted, and it's like meth to him. He seems to delight in messing with peoples mind in the most funny way possible just ask Konan
    • Still, he's susceptible to it himself. After all, apparently Kabuto has known all along that this Madara...isn't the real one. He finally reveals that to the world by summoning the original Madara to the battlefield with Edo Tensei. The mere existence of this knowledge scared Tobi into letting Kabuto join up.
  • The Other Darrin: Even professional seiyuu cannot handle the discrepancy between his two characters apparently. Naoya Uchida had to replace Wataru Takagi when Tobi dropped his act in the anime. Serious!Tobi had three voice actors in English.
  • Paper Fan of Doom: He carries a large and apparently quite heavy fan exactly like the one Madara used in his time.
  • Power Parasite: Up to Eleven. Just by stealing the Rinnegan from Nagato, Tobi's gained the Six Paths of Pain (whom he's replaced with the six deceased Jinchuriki), controls the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and learned how to use Edo Tensei. Furthermore, in addition to acheiving his own Sharingan, he's obtained Uchiha and Senju DNA, allowing him access to Izanagi.
  • Pragmatic Villainy: One of the few in the series. He's extremely good about avoiding pointless and/or unnecessarily risky fights. In addition he's fairly nice to his subordinates (as long as they don't betray him) and will help them out when they're in a jam. Not so much because he particularly cares about them, but because he values loyalty and there's simply no advantage in having your subordinates hate you. It's also notable that he seldom tries to force anyone to do anything and usually just talks people into doing what he wants. Doesn't prevent him from Complexity Addiction though.
    • Also quite ruthless and fond of taking hostages, threatening children, and Obfuscating Stupidity.
    • Although there wasn't really any reason for him to tell the Kages his Moon's Eye Plan or claim to be Madara- some of them might have decided to remain neutral if he hadn't.
  • Reality Warper: He can use the jutsu Izanagi. Apparently, his is a more complete variant than Danzo's.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: To Konan, after she turns on him for Naruto and decides to kill him, fighting for the new hope.

Tobi: There is no peace! There can be no hope! Nagato only believed in Naruto to try to comfort his own pitiful existence!
Tobi: You called me the Darkness, didn't you? Then I will make you wilt. I will take your little rainbow bridge and its seven colors and plunge it all into darkness!.

  • Red Herring: There were theories and degrees of evidence that he was everyone from Danzou to Obito and several others. Eventually he was revealed to be Uchiha Madara, but even then about half the fandom argued that this was yet another ruse. They were right, but it's a testament to the writing that so many disagreed or couldn't decide either way. Tobi himself claims to be "no one" and that he doesn't care about his own identity, but he does seem to care about concealing his face...
    • That last part is an important (and possibly the only) clue to his identity. Behind his mask, he is clearly someone famous enough to be recognized almost instantly by Kisame when he first takes off his mask.
    • Kurama also seems to recognize him in Chapter 501, when he's about to take control of him.
  • Sempai-Kohai: Considers himself the kohai of Deidara and Kisame. Even though he's really the sempai.
  • Spanner in the Works: Its like cocaine to him. Massively screws up Itachi's postmortem plans for Sasuke by telling him things he was probably better off not knowing.
  • Space Master
  • Shout-Out: His newest mask is similar to Friend from 20th Century Boys.
  • Super Strength: He snapped an arm off of its shoulder with just the grip of his fingers, and blocked a giant ass sword with his forearm.
  • Teleportation: He can teleport himself anywhere he wants, and can teleport others into an alternate dimension that seems to exist within his Sharingan.
  • Trickster Archetype: Likes to act like this.
  • The Unfettered: Whatever his goals are, he will not back down from obtaining them.
  • Unreliable Expositor: He delivers a lot of exposition, and quite a bit of it is suspect. Especially when it comes to himself and his motives, what with him not actually being Madara.
  • Utopia Justifies the Means: Either played straight or Subverted. He claims at one point that this is his goal, but when Naruto accuses him of really just wanting power, he laughs and says that Naruto is probably right. So either he was laughing that Naruto caught him in a lie or was mocking Naruto's accusations. Only time will tell.
  • Villains Never Lie: Played straight most of the time, the rest it depends in how the Manga evolves.
  • Weak but Skilled: He was deemed by Itachi as a "shadow of his former self". He has been shown only to posses above average strength, intangibility and teletransportation that compared to the caliber of Akatsuki, Taka and the (past and present) Kages makes him a complete wimp. But he is also the man that used both Pain and Itachi like puppets and deemed so dangerous that the 5 Greatest Ninja Villages decided to unite for the first time in History to face him.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: If he is truthful about the plan.
  • World's Strongest Man: Even beating out Pain for the title, though the real Madara's about to give both a run for their money.
  • Xanatos Speed Chess /Gambit Roulette: While at first sight it would look like he planned everything that has happened in the series, he is in fact very accomplished in cutting his losses and creating new plans out of his ass as the situation demands. Hell, around 5% of the things happening now were in his plans and he is still at the top of the game.

Hidan

"As the other dies, their agony radiates through my body, and living through it is pure ecstasy!"

Voiced by: Masaki Terasoma (JP), Chris Edgerly (EN), Víctor Martínez (Spain)

Immortal. Wields a Sinister Scythe. Ax Crazy who follows a Religion of Evil. Foul-mouthed. Arrogant. Hates his partner, Kakuzu Hates everyone. Has voodoo-like powers that can transfer injuries to his enemies; being immortal, he survives even losing his head. Kills Asuma with this power. Shikamaru dismembers him and buries the still-speaking pieces alive. And it seems that he's still not dead: Kabuto is able to bring back to life every defeated member of Akatsuki EXCEPT him.

  • Affably Evil: Initially, before he kills Asuma and then gloats about it to the latter's students.
  • And I Must Scream: Buried alive while being kept living by his immortality.
  • Another Man's Terror: Hidan experiences his victims' final moments. Though he doesn't exactly feel terror from the experience.
  • Asshole Victim: His fate is absolutely horrific and would be a clear-cut Moral Event Horizon if it happened to a nicer person, but let's face it, Hidan was a total douchebag who was absolutely asking for it.
  • Ax Crazy: The most openly deranged member of the group.
  • Blade on a Stick: Carried a collapsible spike in order to inflict precise self injury.
  • Blood Knight: Fighting is quite literally all he lives for, and the specific reason why he left his village in the first place.
  • Blood Magic: Uses his opponent's blood to link his body with theirs, and typically uses his own to draw the circle.
  • Bloodbath Villain Origin: Killed his fellow villagers because they made the village into a bathing resort...BECAUSE it meant no more violence.
  • The Brute: He and Kakuzu fulfill this role for Akatsuki early on, although he's more of the traditional Dumb Muscle.
  • Chew Toy: Official Title in Akatsuki. Kakuzu when enraged would kill his partners. Solution: Give him an immortal one. An obnoxious, swearing, religious nut one. A strange amalgamation of stress reliever/punishment apparently.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: In some fan translations.
  • Combat Sadomasochist: "Let me feel your pain!"

Kakuzu

"Hidan, anyone with a brain would know that the world revolves around money!"

Voiced by: Takaya Hashi (JP), Fred Tatasciore (EN), Fernando Elegido (Spain)

Nigh Invulnerable and almost immortal. Bounty Hunter. Cares only about money. Once fought the First Hokage. Can make his body as hard as stone. Can incorporate other peoples' hearts into his body, extending his lifespan and allowing him to use their elements. Crippled by Naruto's newest Rasengan variant, and killed by Kakashi, but has recently been revived by Kabuto's Edo Tensei.

"Sorry, pal. I tend to forget about chump-change shinobi when I'm done with them.

  • Combat Tentacles: Can extend his stitches and arms as weapons.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Asuma decapitates Hidan and when Hidan tries to talk Kakuzu into bringing him his body, Kakuzu instead takes his head by its hair and carries it over to the body, under loud protests from his partner, stating that Hidan's head "is lighter". He says this with a completely straight face after having just razed a building with his bare fists. Later, when Hidan gloats about having killed Asuma as if it was no big deal, Kakuzu points out that Asuma did cut his head off. Hidan is not pleased.
  • Death in All Directions: Many of his attacks do this, which makes Hidan an ideal partner because he doesn't have to worry about accidentally hitting him.
  • Elemental Powers: His multiple hearts let him use all of them.
  • Evil Old Folks: He's 91 years old.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: Especially in the Japanese.
  • Exotic Eye Designs: Green iris. Maroon sclera.
  • Freudian Excuse: Was once a very loyal shinobi, but after his village locked him away for years after a lifetime of loyal service for failing an impossible task, he stole a forbidden technique, killed some of the elders and left, deciding to believe only in money from now on.
  • Genius Bruiser: Collectively, he and Hidan are more or less The Brute for the Akatsuki. This doesn't stop Kakuzu from being very bright, even outsmarting Shikamaru on occasion.
  • Glasgow Grin : After his mask finally comes off, seen better much later in chapter 489.
  • Greed
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: Killed all of his partners this way, until he met Hidan.
  • Leitmotif: "Kakuzu"
  • Lightning Bruiser: Fast even for the series standards.
  • Lovecraftian Superpower: His body strings tear his enemies' hearts so he can fuel his black elemental beasts that emerge from his back. Oh, and he has two very nice One-Winged Angel forms.
  • Mask of Power: Has 5 stitched to his back which can split from him to attack or fuse with him to go One-Winged Angel.
  • Made of Diamond:What his Earth heart does.
  • Miser Advisor: His role in the organization.
  • Money Fetish: Admits this, saying that it'll be useful even in hell.
  • Nothing Personal: He doesn't seem to be particularly mad when he runs into Team 10 again after being revived, even playing along with Shikamaru's shogi metaphors.
  • One-Winged Angel: He has two more powerful forms he uses after losing some of his masks.
  • Only in It For the Money: His motivation.
  • Only Sane Man: His intermittent fits of berserk rage notwithstanding, he's among the more realistic and collected members of Akatsuki.
  • Really 700 Years Old: He's been around since the First Hokage, he's even older than Madara the true Big Bad before he died.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Money: When Hidan warns him that killing a priest is a one-way ticket to hell, he simply replies with "Even hell runs on money, I'd be just fine."
  • Shout-Out Theme Naming: All of his unique techniques are named (and pronounced very similarly in Japanese) after Mobile Suit Gundam mecha used by Zeon in the One Year War, with meaningful kanji replacing the phonetic characters. (e.g. MSN-02 Zeong -> Jiongu -> Earth Grudge Fear; this is Kakuzu's forbidden "body of threads" technique, and the Zeong was a mobile suit that could detach its arms on wires for ranged attacks.) Complete list: Jiongu, Domu, Zukokku, Atsugai, Gian = Zeong, Dom, Z'Gok, Acguy, Gyan
  • Soul Jar: He can't die unless all of his collected hearts are destroyed.
  • Super Strength: Even by Naruto standards.
  • Those Two Bad Guys: With Hidan.


Pain / Nagato Uzumaki

"Those who do not understand true pain can never understand true peace."

(top picture, left to right: Animal Path Pain, Petra Path Pain, Deva Path Pain, Asura Path Pain, Human Path Pain, Animal Path Pain) (bottom picture: His real body)

Deva Path: Kenyuu Horiuchi (JP, Pain), Dave Wittenberg (EN, original), Troy Baker (EN, current)
Nagato: Junpei Morita (JP), Vic Mignogna (EN)

Leader of Akatsuki. Possesses the Rinnegan, the predecessor to the Sharingan and the Byakugan, which allows the user to use all six elements and learn any jutsu. Orphaned by the Land of Rain's civil war. Raised by Jiraiya, who believed him to be the prophecized Chosen One. Believed his suffering had caused him to become enlightened, and his power caused him to become a god. Wants to use the Tailed Beasts to create a weapon of mass destruction which can be used to put an end to war. Has six (actually seven) different bodies, each with different skills, and can't be defeated unless all of them are killed at once. The bodies are all ninja Jiraiya fought as he wandered the earth. His first physical appearance has him engaging his old master in battle in the Hidden Rain Village. Jiraiya killed one of his bodies and sent it back to Konoha (along with a toad bearing the message "The real one isn't there"), but he was eventually overwhelmed and killed.

He quickly replaced the missing body with a new one, and arrived in Konoha in the hopes of capturing Naruto. After his bodies engage - and in some cases, are defeated by - Konoha's villagers, he rounds them all up and uses Shinra Tensei, an ability which nukes the city. He fights the newly-empowered Naruto in a long drawn out battle that bumped the HSQ up a few notches. Finally, he is defeated and after accepting Naruto's ideals about peace, uses a jutsu to revive many of the Konoha ninja he killed, dying in the process; however, Kabuto resurrects him later with Edo Tensei. Is aided in moving around by Itachi in his resurrected state and later on engages Naruto and Bee, where it is revealed that he can now use all of Pain's Jutsu without the bodies. Nearly kills the pair until a liberated Itachi intervened. Is sealed once more through Itachi's Susano'o. He is eventually revealed to be a descendant of the Uzumaki clan just like Naruto..

  • A God Am I: And he has the power to back it up.
  • Affably Evil
  • All Your Powers Combined: Except, Nagato's palette is, for the most part, much more powerful than the originals, and then some! Let's count the ways!
    • Itachi: Utilizes a doujutsu inspired by an asian religion, but much more powerful and versatile than Itachi's. Human Path's mind reading ability also appears to cross over into Mind Rape territory.
    • Kisame: Nagato's chakra absorbtion is very much like Samehada's, only without an upper cap on how much can be taken at once.
    • Zetsu: The rainfall technique is a metrological version of Zetsu's ability to detect things through the land.
    • Deidara: The Asura Path is a blast!
      • Though Deidara's C3, C4, and C0 eclipse anything we have seen Asura Path unleash.
    • Sasori: Nagato's use of the Six Paths of Pain is like a superior puppetry technique, bonus points for the Asura Path which is made of weapons and can emerge from Nagato's body if needed.
    • Hidan: Naraka's ability meant fighting enemies that would not stay dead... And Then Nagato Was Brought Back As An Immortal Edo Tensei.
    • Kakuzu: The Rinnegan's bestows upon its weilder all elemental nature transformations and his Uzumaki inheritage would've given Nagato a very long life.
      • However Nagato himself has displayed elemental jutsu only once till date and that was a Wind elemental one.
  • Ambition Is Evil: Surprisingly inverted: Him wanting to change the world is viewed in a very positive light. How he wanted to change it is where he gets into trouble.
  • Anti-Villain: Vic Mignogna's performance manages to drive this home even further than the original seiyuu.
  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The purpose of the Animal Path is to invoke this trope.
  • Awesome but Impractical: Pain's interrogation methods. He uses two main abilities to try to find Naruto, one of which can instantly read the mind of those it touches. On it's own, this is perfectly practical. His other, however, can kill anybody who either lies to him or refuses to answer his question. Meaning anybody who actually knows ends up dead... This does spare him the trouble of having to look up misinformation, though.
    • His mind reading would be practical if it didn't rip out the person's soul, making it essential that the person had outlived his/her usefulness.
  • Awesome Yet Practical: All of the Rinnegan's powers...
  • Badass:

Konan: Pain has never lost a battle.

Konan

"I have received the will of God and I must kill you."

Voiced by: Atsuko Tanaka (JP), Dorothy Elias Fahn (EN)

The only female in Akatsuki, and the last to be revealed. Uses origami-based powers. Unlucky Childhood Friend of Pain. Orphaned by the Land of Rain's civil war. Trained by Jiraiya. Sides with Naruto after Pain's death. Tries to protect Pain's corpse from ending up in Tobi's hands, but dies in the process.


Yahiko

"If war is going to continue - I will become the God of the world!"

Voiced By: Wataru Hatano (JP, child); Kenyuu Horiuchi (JP) Troy Baker (EN)

The founder and original leader of Akatsuki, until he sacrificed himself to save Konan from Hanzo. He beleved Nagato was the Chosen One, and so sacrificed himself to spare him from making a Sadistic Choice. His body was later used by Nagato and he became the Deva Path, the most powerful of the Six Paths.

Born into the war torn land of Ame, Yahiko was orphaned like so many others. Forced to fend for himself, he soon met Konan and Nagato. They were forced to work together to survive, but became close friends.

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  1. ↑ Or broken down further, "Aka" and "Tsuki" taken as two words can be translated as "red moon"
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