Akatsuki (暁, lit. "Dawn" or "Daybreak") is a criminal organization composed of ten high-level ninja that have defected from their village of origin.[45] The group receives little attention during the first part of the series, only becoming main antagonists in Part II. Akatsuki members are characterized by their long, dark cloaks bearing red clouds with a chin-high collar.They also have a line through their headband, showing they have defected from their village. Each also possesses a unique ring, which seems to symbolize one's membership in the organization.[46] Members are partnered together in teams of two, each team sticking together as they traverse the Naruto world. Despite this partnership, members tend to have a strained relationship with their peers, only cooperating enough to complete their assignments and showing little concern when another member is killed.[47] Orochimaru defects from the organization before the start of the series, taking his ring with him, and thus Akatsuki never exceeds nine members during the current storyline.[45]
Akatsuki was founded by Madara Uchiha after he was expelled from his hometown of Konohagakure. Though initially meant only to mask Madara's movements,[48] Akatsuki eventually began taking part in assassinations and espionage.[45] By the start of the current storyline, Akatsuki's ambitions grow to plans of world domination. To mark this more dynamic goal, Akatsuki increases its activity throughout the series as it attempts to capture the nine powerful tailed beasts. Each member is assigned to capture a specific beast or its current host, at which point Akatsuki convenes to extract the beast and seal it away for their grand plan.[45] As the Akatsuki leader, Pain, explains it, once all nine beasts have been captured Akatsuki will be able to harness their great strength to start world wars at their leisure. With the world governments unable to deal with the beasts' power, Akatsuki will be turned to for salvation, teaching the world the futility of fighting and giving Akatsuki complete control in the process.[49] Madara's goal, however, is to merge all nine of the tailed beasts into the Ten-Tails so he can become its Jinchūriki and create a massive Tsukuyomi on the moon in order to enslave the world. As of Naruto manga chapter 419, Akatsuki has captured seven of the tailed beasts.
[edit] Itachi Uchiha
Itachi Uchiha (うちは イタチ Uchiha Itachi) is a former ninja of Konohagakure and the partner of Kisame Hoshigaki. Though having spent his early youth as the child prodigy of the Uchiha clan, Itachi is treated as a villain for much of the series. He is initially portrayed as being solely responsible for the killing of his entire clan and family, sparing only his brother, Sasuke Uchiha, with the explanation that he was testing his abilities.[50] Around the time of his death his villainous role is downplayed; not only is he revealed to have had help from Madara Uchiha in killing the clan, but he performed the massacre under the orders of Konoha's leadership so as to prevent an Uchiha coup d'état.[51] In the Japanese anime, Itachi's seiyū is Hideo Ishikawa.[52] His first voice actor in the English anime was Skip Stellrecht, who voiced Itachi in episodes 29 and 30,[53] but in all following appearances, he has been voiced by Crispin Freeman.[54]
[edit] Kisame Hoshigaki
Kisame Hoshigaki (干柿 鬼鮫 Hoshigaki Kisame) is a former ninja of Kirigakure and the partner of Itachi Uchiha. While most Akatsuki partners are hostile towards each other, Kisame and Itachi get along considerably well; Kisame does as Itachi asks of him unquestioningly and always looks out for Itachi's well-being. While he was still loyal to Kirigakure, Kisame was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, a group of violent ninja that use particularly large swords in battle. His sword, Samehada (鮫肌, lit. "shark skin"), is covered in scales that can absorb untold amounts of an opponent's chakra, and only allows Kisame to wield it. Kisame himself has massive amounts of chakra, comparable to a tailed beast, enough so that a clone created by the Akatsuki that held only 30% of his power contained an amount of chakra comparable to Naruto when using the Nine-Tails' chakra.[55] Kisame has a unique appearance, having pale blue skin, a gill-like facial structure, and sharp triangular teeth. These shark-like characteristics extend to his choice of attacks in battle, as he frequently shapes water into the forms of sharks to damage opponents. If there is no water nearby, Kisame can quickly produce his own lake to use at his leisure.[56] His seiyū in the Japanese anime is Tomoyuki Dan,[57] and his English voice actor is Kirk Thornton.[58]
[edit] Deidara
Deidara (デイダラ) is a former ninja of Iwagakure. He tends to end his sentences with an audible grunt that is usually translated as "hm", "yeah", or "un". He acted as a terrorist bomber for hire before being forced to join Akatsuki by Itachi Uchiha. Though he came to embrace the organization, Deidara holds a grudge against Itachi and all Uchiha throughout the series, as he feels their Sharingan eyes look down on his abilities.[59] Upon joining Akatsuki he is partnered with Sasori, who Deidara treats as his master due to his artistic expertise. Sasori is replaced by Tobi after his death, and Deidara assumes the master-position as Sasori had before him; although he still abuses Tobi when annoyed by him, he becomes more like Tobi's teacher, and adopts a genuine care for his well-being. By consuming clay with mouths in his hands, Deidara is able to create his own form of art: sculptures that explode with varying intensities. Deidara's creations can take any form he so chooses, and from the time of their creation to their detonation he can bring them to life and control them remotely. He is very confident in his art's ability, such that he believes it cannot be defeated.[60] When Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi's younger brother, is able to systematically nullify and gain the advantage over his art, Deidara transforms himself into a living bomb in an effort to kill Sasuke and prove his art is supreme, but ultimately fails and kills himself.[61]His seiyū in the Japanese anime is Katsuhiko Kawamoto.[62] In his cameo appearance in episode 135 of the English adaptation, he is voiced by Quinton Flynn,[63] and in the anime of Shippuden by Roger C. Smith.[64]
[edit] Sasori
Sasori (サソリ) is a former ninja of Sunagakure and known as "Sasori of the Red Sand" (赤砂のサソリ Akasuna no Sasori). His parents died when he was young, leaving him in the care of his grandmother, Chiyo who taught Sasori the art of puppetry, which he refined to fit his needs over the years. Lacking the love of parents, Sasori left Sunagakure when he got older and joined Akatsuki where he is initially partnered with Orochimaru.[65] After Orochimaru's defection Sasori teamed with Deidara, who looks to him and his artistic knowledge with reverence.[60] In due time he devised a way to convert the corpses of humans into puppets, allowing him to use any of the ninja abilities they possessed during their life for himself.[65] In time he even converted his own body into a puppet, which gives him eternal life and allows him to control hundreds of puppets at once. Each weapon in his puppets' extended arsenal is laced with a poison of Sasori's design that causes extreme pain to the inflicted until they die. Sakura Haruno is able to create an antidote for Sasori's poison, allowing her and Chiyo to fight him uninhibited.[66] They eventually destroy his heart, the only part of his humanity he kept when converting himself to a puppet, resulting in his death. His body is now being used by Kankuro as a puppet, possibly in the same way Sasori used corpses as his puppets.[67] In the Japanese anime, Sasori is voiced by Akiko Yajima as a child;[68] and as an adult, he is voiced by Takahiro Sakurai[69] and the English version by Johnny Yong Bosch.[70] His scorpion-like puppet body, Hiruko, is voiced by Yutaka Aoyama[71] in the Japanese version and in the English version by J. B. Blanc.[72].
[edit] Zetsu
Zetsu (ゼツ) is the only member of Akatsuki to regularly act without a partner. This is in part a result of his ability to merge with any object and quickly travel to a new location, something that few other ninja are capable of. Because of this ability Zetsu serves a variety of different positions in Akatsuki, such as a spy that observes and reports on battles of interest or a lookout during Akatsuki's meetings.[73] He is cannibalistic, and is often sent to dispose of bodies Akatsuki does not want found, mirroring the large venus flytrap that envelops his body.[74] Zetsu's body is split into two different colors, his right side being black and his left being white. Similarly, the two sides have their own personalities and knowledge bases, frequently leading to discussions and arguments between the two.[75] As Kishimoto originally planned Akatsuki to be a group of individuals with close to no human characteristics, he decided to make Zetsu half black and half white to better show his double personality.[76] If necessary, the two halves can split apart and act independently. The black half's dialogue is written in katakana in the Japanese manga, and the white half's dialogue is written in kanji and kana. In the Japanese anime, Zetsu's seiyū is Nobuo Tobita,[77] and in his cameo appearance in episode 134 of the English adaptation, Zetsu has two voice actors: the black half is voiced by Michael Sorich and the white half is voiced by Brian Beacock.[23][34] In Naruto Shippūden: Legends: Akatsuki Rising he is voiced by Travis Willingham.
[edit] Hidan
Hidan (飛段) is the immortal, foul-mouthed, and masochistic partner of Kakuzu and a former ninja of Yugakure, the Village Hidden in the Steam.[76] He is a member of the Jashin (ジャシン, lit. "evil god") religion, a religion that worships a deity of the same name and where wreaking anything less than death and utter destruction in battle is considered a sin.[78] His religion's experimentations have led to the creation of his unique abilities; by consuming an opponent's blood and then drawing Jashin's triangular-design on the ground, Hidan can create a voodoo doll-like link with his opponent. Once this link is created, any damage done to Hidan's body is reflected on his opponent, allowing him to kill them by giving himself fatal injuries. Because he is immortal, Hidan is not impaired while doing this, instead finding pleasure in the pain it causes him.[79] After Hidan uses this ability to kill Asuma Sarutobi, Shikamaru Nara fights him to avenge his teacher. Their battle culminates in Hidan being blown up, and Shikamaru buries his still-speaking remains in a place Akatsuki will never be able to reach.[80] As such, Hidan is no longer considered a member by the rest of Akatsuki.[47] In the Japanese anime, Hidan's seiyū is Masaki Terasoma and in the English Version he is played by David Vincent.
[edit] Kakuzu
Kakuzu (角都) is the partner of Hidan and a former ninja of Takigakure, the Village Hidden in a Waterfall. Kakuzu is motivated by greed and joins the Akatsuki to seek out valuable bounties. However, his extreme temperament led Kakuzu to dislike having a partner and eventually killing whoever he is partnered with in a fit of rage, being paired up with the immortal Hidan as a result.[81] Kakuzu's body is composed of large amounts of black threads, allowing him to reattach any bodypart, his or another, back onto its owner. The threads are also capable of piercing flesh, which Kakuzu uses to remove the still-beating hearts of his opponents for his personal use while executing a forbidden Jutsu called Jiongu (地怨虞) to integrate their hearts into his body to cheat death and extend his life indefinitely.[76] Claiming to have lived since the time of Hashirama Senju, Kakuzu can store up to four spare hearts in animal masks that are sewn to his back. The masks can be detached during combat situations to shoot elemental blasts at his opponents, and can quickly be recalled to his body if he needs a replacement heart.[82] Kakuzu's hearts are systematically destroyed soon after his introduction by a group of Konohagakure ninja. After Naruto Uzumaki leaves his final heart on the brink of failure, Kakuzu is easily finished off by Kakashi.[83] In the Japanese anime, Kakuzu's seiyū is Takaya Hashi.
[edit] Pain
Pain (ペイン Pein) is the leader of Akatsuki, partnered to Konan. When first introduced Pain is shown as nothing more than a shadowy outline. As Part II of the series progresses, parts of his face are shown; culminating in the revelation that the Pain that is seen is actually Deva Pain, one of six different bodies collectively known as the The Six Paths of Pain (ペイン六道 Pein Rikudō). Controlled by a single conscious mind, each of the six bodies are individually named after one of the six Buddhist paths of reincarnation.[84] All the bodies have orange hair and a number of body piercings that, from a design standpoint, give Pain a "more dangerous" appearance and relate the pain of their installation to the character's name.[76] Each also has the Rinnegan (輪廻眼, lit. "Saṃsāra Eye"), a unique eye technique characterized by a ripple-like pattern around the pupil that enables the six Paths to share visual information and coordinate attacks.[85] Discovering the secret behind Pain forms a major component of the plot in Part II, and through the efforts of ninja from Konohagakure the identity of Pain's base mind is revealed.
The Paths of Pain are controlled by Nagato (長門) who, like Konan, was an Amegakure orphan that was trained by Jiraiya alongside Yahiko (弥彦) before he became Deva Path. During his time with Jiraiya, he awakened his Rinnegan and came to desire peace for the Naruto world.[86] After Yahiko dies as a result of the three falling into a trap by Hanzo years later, Nagato came to the realization that peace could only be attained by teaching the world the pain caused by war. To that end he adopted the name "Pain" to conquer Amegakure before killing Hanzo and his loved ones, becoming a "god" in the eyes of Amegakure's citizens.[87]
In Part II, Jiraiya tries to eliminate Pain to stop him from bringing chaos to the world, but is only able to figure out how Pain works before he is killed. By fitting corpses with a unique type of body piercing, Nagato can channel his chakra into the bodies to animate and control them remotely. He can also give them unique abilities - the Animal Path can summon a wide array of creatures, the Preta Path can absorb chakra related attacks as a form of defense,[85] the Deva Path can attract and repel objects, the Human Path can read people's minds and tear out their souls, the Asura Path can use various high-tech weapons from his own body, and the Naraka Path can revive the other bodies. Controlling six bodies puts a great strain on Nagato, who is frail, emaciated, and confined to a six-legged mobility device. All six bodies were eventually defeated by Naruto, with Deva Pain the last to fight him. It is ultimately revealed that Nagato is Naruto's de facto namesake, having been the inspiration for the hero of Jiraiya's first book, after whom Naruto was named. Naruto is able to renew Nagato's faith in his late master and in the possibility of peace, prompting Nagato to sacrifice his life in order to revive the people he killed in Konoha. Konan takes the bodies of Nagato and Yahiko with her back to Amegakure. In the Japanese anime Pain's seiyū is Ken'yū Horiuchi and in his cameo appearance in episode 135 of the English adaptation, he is voiced by Dave Wittenberg.[88] In Naruto Shippūden: Legends: Akatsuki Rising he is voiced by Troy Baker.
[edit] Konan
Konan (小南) is the only female ninja in Akatsuki. As such, Kishimoto originally wanted her to have an obscene appearance showing more of her bust.[76] Being a partner of Nagato, Konan was also a pupil under Jiraiya after she was orphaned as a child by one of Amegakure's many wars and forced to fend for herself. Because she serves under Pain, she is referred to by villagers of Amegakure as "God's angel". Though she worries for Nagato as he was straining himself from having his Pains battle Naruto, she respects his wishes to stand aside so that he and Naruto might meet face to face. While under Jiraiya, Konan learned to take advantage of her natural talent with origami, using it as a key component in her battle style.[86] Konan can divide her body into countless sheets of paper, which she controls and reshapes remotely to scout out an area, form weapons for attack, or create wings that mirror her title. However, Konan's abilities are restricted when the paper is wet; since paper will cling to itself and lose its stiffness. After Nagato's death, Konan withdraws her position in Akatsuki and leaves the organization, pledging the support of Amegakure to Naruto and Konoha.[89] In the Japanese anime, Konan's seiyū is Atsuko Tanaka.
[edit] Madara Uchiha
Madara Uchiha (うちは マダラ Uchiha Madara) is one of the founders of Akatsuki and its current leader. Long ago, Madara became the first possessor of the Mangekyo Sharingan, a rare form of the eye condition unique to the Uchiha which gave him the strength to take control of the Uchiha clan, though it rendered him blind from overuse until he took his own brother's eyes in order to regain his sight.[48] Madara eventually banded together with Hashirama Senju to create Konohagakure. The two founders disagreed on who should lead their new village, and after a momentous battle between the two it was believed that Madara had died.[90] In later years, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox attacked Konoha, an act Minato Namikaze and others said to have been Madara's doing, though he denies it. Once the fox was sealed by Minato, Madara infiltrated Konoha in secret, and subsequently assisted Itachi Uchiha in assassinating the Uchiha clan.[91] Kisame Hoshigaki, upon seeing his face, recognizes him as a former Mizukage.[92]
Much of Madara's role in the series has been under the guise of Tobi (トビ), who replaces Sasori in Akatsuki after Sasori's death. While acting as Tobi he is carefree and goofy as opposed to Madara's usual serious self. Tobi's tendency to take credit for other's work and undermine his superiors annoys his partner, Deidara, who either blows up or strangles him in comical fashion as punishment.[93] After Deidara dies during a battle with Sasuke, the Tobi persona is discarded as Madara takes a special interest in Sasuke's development.[94] However, Madara has not completely outlived the use of his guise as he reassumes Tobi's personality on occasion, such as to delay a group of Konohagakure ninja.[95]
Though Madara's face as it appeared during Konoha's founding has been shown in full at various points in the series, he always wears a mask in the current Naruto storyline. The mask features a swirl pattern focused around his right eye. His black hair (cut back from his earlier years) is the only constantly visible part of his face. When asked how Madara could have survived since Konoha's founding generations ago, Itachi Uchiha states that Madara is immortal.[96] The specifics of his immortality have yet to be touched upon, though Madara implies the potency of his chakra has something to do with it.[97] In battle he has been shown capable of making his body intangible, leaving him visible but otherwise impervious to most forms of damage. He can also teleport over great distances at will.[98] In the Japanese anime, Madara's seiyū is Naoya Uchida and the seiyū for the Tobi persona is Wataru Takagi.[99]. In the English version Tobi is played by Scott McNeil. [100]
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