Akatsuki (暁, Literally meaning: "Dawn" or "Daybreak") was a group of shinobi that existed outside the usual system of hidden villages. Over the course of several decades, Akatsuki took different forms and was led by different individuals. Though each iteration is viewed as either subversives or criminals, all seek to make the world a better place through their own means. Each Akatsuki tends to have multiple lairs across the world, inaccessible either due to their remoteness or the various security measures that protect them

Under Nagato, each member of Akatsuki is given one of ten rings, to be worn on a specific finger. Other than apparently signifying one's membership, the rings seem to have some role in sealing the tailed beasts into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, indicating which of the statue's finger the members should stand on. The rings are apparently important and irreplaceable: when Orochimaru defects he takes his ring with him, and for that reason he is never officially replaced; when Deidara loses the arm that his ring is on, he has greater interest in recovering the ring than the arm itself; Zetsu and Tobi specifically seek out Sasori's ring after his death, needing it for Tobi to replace him. When Tobi takes over, the rings are no longer important, as he simply discards it along with his damaged robe after battling Konan. Despite all this, the rings' exact significance is never explained.
The various rings are:
Right thumb: "zero" (零, rei); worn by Pain. Its colour is purplish-grey.
Right index finger: "blue", "green" (青, ao, shō); worn by Deidara. Its colour is teal.
Right middle finger: "white" (白, byaku, haku); worn by Konan. Its colour is white.
Right ring finger: "vermilion", "scarlet" (朱, shu); worn by Itachi Uchiha. Its colour is red.
Right little finger: "sign of the boar" (亥, gai); worn by Zetsu. Its colour is green.
Left little finger: "sky", "void" (空, kū); worn by Orochimaru. Its colour is slate blue.
Left ring finger: "south" (南, nan); worn by Jūzō Biwa (anime only) and later by Kisame Hoshigaki. Its colour is yellow.
Left middle finger: "north" (北, hoku); worn by Kakuzu. Its colour is dark green.
Left index finger: "three" (三, san); worn by Kakuzu's Partner and later by Hidan. Its colour is orange.
Left thumb: "jewel", "ball", also the black king in shogi (玉, gyoku); worn by Sasori and later by Tobi. Its colour is purple.
Eight of the ten kanji of the rings are taken from a kuji-in, a collection of nine hand postures used in meditation. Pain's "rei" and Zetsu's "gai" are not from this kuji-in. However, the only unused kuji-in kanji, 玄 (gen, "mysterious"), bears a strong resemblance to Zetsu's "gai", suggesting an error. It would be a consistent error, however, since the "gai" kanji has been used in every instance the ring's kanji has been shown.

Akatsuki was originally founded by Yahiko during the Third Shinobi World War, alongside his childhood friends Nagato and Konan. Orphans of the Second Shinobi World War, the three created Akatsuki as a way to bring peace to their home country of Amegakure, which too often got caught in the crossfire of the Five Great Shinobi Countries' many conflicts.Their desire for an end to war attracted many fellow Ame ninja to their cause and, in time, word of their exploits began to travel beyond Amegakure's borders. Akatsuki's early fame was owed largely to Yahiko's leadership and his natural charisma, which kept the group united and motivated them to persevere despite the difficulties of their goal. Yahiko, however, viewed himself as merely a facilitator for Nagato, who would ultimately be the actual source of world peace because of his Rinnegan.
In time, Akatsuki's fame began attracting unwanted attention. They were first approached by Tobi, who claimed to be Madara Uchiha and offered to lend his assistance to Akatsuki, specifically Nagato. Yahiko was wary of Tobi and refused his offer, though Tobi claims Yahiko eventually agreed.Ame's leader, Hanzō, also became aware of Akatsuki and perceived them as a threat to his rule, a belief encouraged by Danzō Shimura in the anime. Hanzō approached Akatsuki offering to help them broker peace between Konohagakure, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure. When Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan arrived to meet with him, however, they were ambushed by Hanzō's men and Danzō's Root, who took Konan hostage and forced Yahiko to commit suicide in order to save her. Enraged by Yahiko's death, Nagato summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and used it to slaughter their attackers, though Hanzō himself escaped.
In the anime, the other members of Akatsuki were tipped off to Hanzō's plan and attempted to provide backup to Yahiko and the others. Tobi intercepted them and killed them all.

With Yahiko's dying breath he entrusted the pursuit of peace to Nagato. Nagato, grieved by Yahiko's death, came to believe that the world would never willingly consent to peace and that Akatsuki's previously pacifist approaches were therefore futile. He concluded that the only way the world would turn away from its constant warfare would be to experience such catastrophic death and destruction that it could never again stomach the idea of conflict. Intending to be the one to show these horrors to the world, Nagato began using the alias "Pain" and formed the Six Paths of Pain, into which he integrated Yahiko's corpse so that he could symbolically continue leading Akatsuki. Nagato sought out Obito, under the guise of Madara Uchiha, and accepted his earlier offer of support, which he provided in secret.
After the Third Shinobi World War, Akatsuki began recruiting S-rank missing-nin, its members' competing personalities and aspirations unified behind Nagato's claimed objective of world domination; this may involve a certain level of force, as Deidara experienced. Once Akatsuki recruited its target of ten members, Akatsuki began following a three-step process to achieve this stated objective:
Obtain enough money to support their organisation.
Provide mercenary services at well under the competitive rate, using the money gathered in the first step to offset costs. This will make countries increasingly dependent on Akatsuki's services, corner the entire market for shinobi missions, and eventually put all of the shinobi villages out of business because they can't compete with Akatsuki's prices. By capturing and strategically deploying the tailed beasts, Akatsuki could quickly start and then quell wars, thereby speeding up the process.
Once all other major shinobi forces have dissolved, Akatsuki will be able to quickly conquer all the countries of the world.
The early years of Nagato's Akatsuki were very successful, as the hidden villages increasingly hired Akatsuki to fight in wars and perform assassinations that the villages themselves were unwilling to get involved in during times of peace. The Fourth Raikage claims that only Kumogakure never hired Akatsuki, while the Third Tsuchikage in particular became a frequent employer. Despite being such a popular and successful group, Akatsuki was largely a mystery to those outside the organisation, with many (incorrectly) coming to believe they operated out of Kirigakure. Akatsuki experienced some turmoil amongst its members over the years: Kakuzu regularly killed his partners in fits of rage and stole their hearts for his Earth Grudge Fear; only being teamed with the immortal Hidan prevented him from continuing to do this. Orochimaru attempted to steal Itachi Uchiha's body after the latter joined the organisation, and when that failed he was forced to defect. Despite this, Akatsuki was able to begin working towards capturing the tailed beasts.
Nagato's actual objective behind acquiring the tailed beasts was to harness the tailed beasts' chakra to create a powerful kinjutsu, using it to wipe out one side in a conflict and, from the display, frighten the other side and the world at large to stop the fighting. If and when the fears abated and conflicts renewed, the kinjutsu would be deployed again, creating small periods of peace in an endless chain of hatred.Because all but one of the tailed beasts were in the possession of the hidden villages, their capture risked antagonising many of Akatsuki's former clients. Despite this, Deidara claims that the previous owners of the first two tailed beasts captured by Akatsuki (indicated in the anime to have been the Five-Tails and the Seven-Tails) were glad to be rid of them.
Akatsuki's mission to capture the tailed beasts gradually elevates them from the shadows of the world and, in turn, prompts a growing resistance by the hidden villages. After Deidara captures the One-Tail, Sasori is killed in battle with the Suna and Konoha forces sent to rescue the One-Tail's jinchūriki. Obito takes this open position as an opportunity to officially join Akatsuki as "Tobi", helping capture the Three-Tails. Around the same time, Hidan and Kakuzu capture the Two-Tails, but both are subsequently defeated in unrelated confrontations with Konoha's Nijū Shōtai. Kisame Hoshigaki later acquires the Four-Tails, after which both Deidara and Itachi separately die in battle against Sasuke Uchiha.
Because of their shrinking numbers, Tobi pressures Nagato into taking a more active role in capturing the remaining tailed beasts. In the anime, he and Konan are first sent to capture the Six-Tails, which was captured at some earlier point in the manga. They are afterwards sent to Konoha to capture the Nine-Tails, and in the course of the resultant Pain's Assault the village is destroyed. When he finally locates and meets with the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, Naruto Uzumaki, Nagato begins to doubt the direction he has taken Akatsuki in since Yahiko's death. After Nagato's Six Paths of Pain are defeated, Naruto convinces him that a bloodless peace is worth pursing no matter how impossible it may seem. To make up for all the missteps he took, Nagato gives his life to revive the Konoha villagers that died during his attack, using his last breath to encourage Naruto to achieve the peace that he was never able to. With Yahiko and Nagato gone, Konan opts to leave Akatsuki.

Tobi approached Akatsuki in order to get close to Nagato, whose Rinnegan he needed to complete the Eye of the Moon Plan. Over the years, he remained in the shadows, allowing Nagato to appear to the world as Akatsuki's leader while Obito manipulated him towards his desired ends, specifically capturing all nine tailed beasts so that he can restore the Ten-Tails and use it to cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi on the world, ending all conflict by trapping everyone in a dream. Obito follows the Eye of the Moon Plan under instructions of the real Madara Uchiha, whose identity Obito assumed after Madara's death. Madara intended Obito to have Nagato revive him in the final stages of the plan, though Obito had no plans to uphold that end of the plan and intended to use Nagato to revive himself should anything happen to him. However this subterfuge was rendered moot by Nagato betraying Obito and using the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to revive everyone he killed during his invasion of Konoha.
Even before Nagato's death, Obito takes a growing role in Akatsuki's activities, due in large part to Itachi Uchiha's death. He reveals himself to Kisame, who worked with him during their time in Kirigakure and is happy to collaborate with him yet again. He also convinces Sasuke Uchiha and his team, Taka, to join forces with Akatsuki, an alliance that Obito believes is worth the losses of all the other Akatsuki members. While Nagato goes after the Nine-Tails, Obito sends Taka after the Eight-Tails, the only other remaining tailed beast. Although Taka initially appears successful, they are discovered to have been tricked by the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki, Killer B. When Zetsu shortly afterwards reports Nagato's own death, Obito is deeply agitated by the setbacks, particularity Nagato's betrayal, and increasingly irritated by Naruto's constant thwarting of his plans.
With their ranks so diminished and with the Five Great Shinobi Countries finally starting to mobilise against Akatsuki, both because of the attack on Konoha and the botched capture of Killer B, Obito is forced to start taking drastic actions. He first sends Kisame to capture B and then sends Taka to attack the Five Kage Summit. Sasuke does not perform as well against the Five Kage as Obito wished, as he had hoped they would be weakened enough to be forced to negotiate. Instead, he must approach them diplomatically, asking that they help him complete his Eye of the Moon Plan by surrendering the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails. They refuse, prompting Obito to initiate the Fourth Shinobi World War.
While preparing for war, Obito is approached by Kabuto Yakushi, a former subordinate of Sasori and Orochimaru. Kabuto offers to bolster Akatsuki's fighting strength with the Impure World Reincarnation, reviving Akatsuki's past members and several other once-notable shinobi. Obito is reluctant until Kabuto blackmails him by reviving the real Madara Uchiha, on whose name Obito has been banking the credibility of his threats against the hidden villages. Obito is forced to agree. He then goes to Amegakure to take Nagato's Rinnegan, killing Konan in the process. News eventually reaches them of Kisame's death, but Kisame is at least able to send them intel that enables Kabuto to strengthen Obito's White Zetsu Army.
In the two days of the war between Akatsuki and the Allied Shinobi Forces, both sides suffer heavy casualties, yet Naruto and Killer B elude capture. When most of the White Zetsu are defeated and Kabuto is made to end the Impure World Reincarnation, Obito, having no more options, prematurely revives the Ten-Tails. Madara, having escaped Kabuto's influence, lends a degree of support, eventually leading Obito to become the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki. He is defeated by Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke (who has since sided against Akatsuki) before he can perform the Infinite Tsukuyomi, and as a result Obito stops pursuing the Eye of the Moon Plan.
With Obito's surrender, Akatsuki's schemes officially end. Madara perseveres, sealing the Ten-Tails into his body and successfully performing the Infinite Tsukuyomi. He is afterwards betrayed by Black Zetsu, who has been scheming for centuries to revive Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, with first Madara, then Obito, and then Akatsuki itself being mere pawns used in pursuit of that goal.Kaguya is restored using Madara as a medium but, with Obito's help, she and Black Zetsu are defeated by Naruto and Sasuke and the Infinite Tsukuyomi is ended.

Yahiko (弥彦, Yahiko) was a shinobi from Amegakure. Alongside his fellow war orphans, Nagato and Konan, he founded and led the Akatsuki in an attempt to bring peace. Following Yahiko's death, Nagato would turn his body into the Deva Path of his Six Paths of Pain, which he used as the continued public image of Akatsuki's leadership.
Yahiko was orphaned during the Second Shinobi World War, forcing him to steal food in order to survive prior to teaming up with a fellow war orphan named Konan. Soon after they found a place to call home, Yahiko expressed his displeasure from Konan bringing another war orphan, Nagato, into the group.However, Yahiko eventually accepted Nagato and his dog Chibi into his group.Angered by how unfair the world was to them, Yahiko declared that he would become a god to end the fighting.Soon, after the death of Chibi, Yahiko and the others eventually encountered Jiraiya, who looked after them and taught them basic ninjutsu. At one point, Nagato saved Yahiko after an Iwagakure chūnin attacked them. Afterwards, Yahiko vowed to become strong enough to protect Konan, Nagato, and eventually all of Amegakure.
During their time with Jiraiya, he created a defence system so they could protect themselves, should enemy ninja find their hideout. It was comprised of four planks, each with one red side and one white which had a frog picture on it. The four planks were attached to a part of a wall of the hideout with their names underneath each respective plank (Nagato's on the left, Yahiko's in the middle and Konan's on the right while Jiraiya's was on a separate wall). The purpose of the planks was a defence mechanism: if one of them were in the hideout they would simply turn their plank to the red side. If for some reason the red plank was turned yet the person was not there it could alert the others that that member had been kidnapped. If one of them were to leave the hideout they would simply have to flip their plank to the white side. If it should happen that a plank is turned on to the white side yet the person is in the hideout it could mean that an enemy has transformed into said person and has infiltrated the hideout. Jiraiya had also built a trapdoor hidden among the floorboards leading to an hidden room and emergency escape route, just in case.
Yahiko asked why Jiraiya always tried to force his frog ways on them and that they only tolerated it because he was the "Frog Sage". Konan then explained the possible reasons for implementing a code like that which Jiraiya praised her for. He then declared that it was time for training to which Yahiko responded to enthusiastically claiming that one day he would get stronger and change the country before running outside. After hearing his words Konan blushed at him to which Yahiko responded with a perverted smile reminiscent of that of his master's.[8] This also demonstrated his benkei persona where he was a braggart while in his own home, but demonstrated a more reserved demeanour in public. Over time the three would train to be talented shinobi and it is hinted that Yahiko and Konan developed romantic feelings for each other.
Some time after Jiraiya's departure from Amegakure, the three gained a reputation as a talented shinobi team. Still desiring to create a world of peace, Yahiko and his friends went on to become fully fledged Ame ninja. Around this time, during the Third Shinobi World War, the trio met Obito Uchiha, who was acting under the guise of Madara Uchiha, and Zetsu. Listening to the results of what would happen from the Eye of the Moon Plan, Yahiko did not trust the masked man, and urged Konan and Nagato to stay away from him.
Later, gathering many supporters who shared their ideals, Yahiko established the Akatsuki, though Obito claims to have played a role in the group's creation.Akatsuki spread their beliefs to stop war without violence, and news of their actions would reach Jiraiya from time to time. When their group became too big, they were forced to find another hideout, and leave their current one where they once lived with Jiraiya. When they were about to leave and flip over their "Hop-In" planks, a ninja squad attacked the hideout creating an explosion which resulted in a hole in the roof which they used to infiltrate the hideout. Yahiko (after Konan flipped her plank and just before he was about to flip his), noticed the attack in time and used the escape route just before ninja entered the hideout.
Seeing the Akatsuki's ideals becoming a threat to his regime over Amegakure, Hanzō conspired with Danzō Shimura to eliminate the Akatsuki's three leading ninja. Springing the trap, Hanzō forced Nagato into a position where either the dictator killed Konan in front of them or he murdered Yahiko. However, without hesitation and not wanting Nagato to be put in such a position, Yahiko drove himself into a kunai that Nagato was holding. With his final breath, he told Nagato to continue their mission of finding peace.
Yahiko had the ability to use water-based techniques, although the only example of this shown in the series was Water Release: Wild Water Wave, in which he was able to shoot a jet of water from his mouth. In the anime, he demonstrated considerable control in manipulating the water as shielding pillars. Yahiko also had the elements of fire and wind at his disposal. The fact that he was seen carrying a large sword in the flashbacks implied that he was skilled in kenjutsu. He also had good leadership skills, as he was respected by all the Akatsuki members of his time, and although he viewed Nagato as the bridge of peace, everyone else viewed him to be the person who would lead them to true peace.
Following Yahiko's death and Nagato's subsequent immobility, Nagato, using his Rinnegan and chakra receivers, incorporated Yahiko's corpse into his Six Paths of Pain technique. As the Deva Path, Yahiko's body acted as Pain's main body, it being the one he most commonly used and spoke through; this is because Nagato and Konan still saw Yahiko as the leader of Akatsuki and used his body to symbolise this. In addition to the control of gravity that is central to the Deva Path's abilities, Yahiko's body is used for many of the miscellaneous techniques that Nagato performs for Akatsuki meetings. The Deva Path was held in higher regard during combat, as some of the other bodies were unhesitatingly sacrificed to ensure its survival.
Over the following years, the Deva Path is used for a number of different purposes: shortly after Yahiko's death it and the other Six Paths of Pain were used to overthrow and kill Hanzō; when Jiraiya infiltrates Amegakure in order to find out more about Akatsuki, the Deva Path fights him and ultimately contributes to his death; in the anime, the Deva Path assists in the capture of the Six-Tails; during Pain's Assault, it is used to destroy Konohagakure and is the last of the Six Paths of Pain to be defeated by Naruto.
Following Deva Path's defeat and Nagato's death, Konan took both of their bodies back to Amegakure and created a shrine for them, placing their bodies on a bed of paper flowers. It was later desecrated by Tobi who stole Nagato's body. Yahiko's corpse is currently the only one that is lying in repose there.

"Daibutsu", as his name is written, is a word to describe large Buddha statues.
Daibutsu had capable skill in wielding a bō and a big club. He could also use it in conjunction with his Water Release to quickly perform techniques like the Water Prison.
Daibutsu is by all indications a quiet person, only nodding in response to what his leader Yahiko tells him.
Daibutsu was a bald man with tanish-coloured eyes and large ears. He had thin eyes, wide lips, and a wart centred just above his eyes. Overall, his appearance bore resemblance to Buddha statues found on buildings throughout Amegakure.
At some point in the past, Daibutsu joined the original Akatsuki. Some time later, Daibutsu teamed up with Kyūsuke to fight Tobi and Zetsu but to no avail. He was later killed after a failed attempt to try and defeat Tobi.

In search of peace, Kie joined the independent group called Akatsuki. During one of the ordeals he and his comrades had to go through, Kie was injured and had to wear a sling on his arm. Later, during a gathering of Akatsuki members, he reaffirmed to Konan his own and the others' endorsement of Nagato and Yahiko.
He was presumably killed afterwards when Madara Uchiha attacked the members of Akatsuki, who were on their way to save Yahiko, Nagato and Konan from Hanzō and the Konohagakure Anbu.
Kie was a very faithful person and he had great faith in Nagato and Yahiko. He cared deeply about the Akatsuki. He strongly supported Yahiko and the other's wishes, he continued to strive to change Amegakure.
Kie had black eyes and long brown-coloured hair that he had tied in a bun in the back. He wore an Amegakure forehead protector with which he let two strands of his hair hang over on the sides of his face. He wore a black-coloured zip up robe with the zipper part being red. He also had a white sash wrapped around him from the right side of his waist up around his left shoulder.
"Kie" (帰依) is Japanese for "devotion."
Prior to fourth databook's release, Kie was listed as Monjin (紋沈, Monjin) in the anime credits.

Kyūsuke (鳩助, Kyūsuke) was once a shinobi from Amegakure and one of the original founding Akatsuki members.
In the anime, Kyūsuke at some point left Amegakure, having grown tired of Hanzō's rule. He and his comrades began stealing from villages to survive. One day, they came to the village that was protected by a newly-formed and small group called Akatsuki. As the trio easily repelled Kyūsuke and his comrades, Kyūsuke asked if they were working for Hanzō. The leader of the group, Yahiko, said they are not, but do share his goal of creating peace. Kyūsuke was untrusting of Yahiko and his views but after seeing the sincerity of Yahiko, Kyūsuke and his comrades ultimately decided to join Akatsuki. While offering to be subordinates, Yahiko refused to think of them as anything less than comrades. Kyūsuke soon became responsible for spreading the reputation of Akatsuki and handling requests for the Akatsuki's assistance. He was also presumably responsible for most of the reconnaissance for Akatsuki, having claimed his legs are incredibly fast and would gladly take on any intel gather job. At some point, Kyūsuke developed feelings for Konan of the Akatsuki's founding trio. She politely rejected his request to accept his feelings, saying she was too busy striving for peace to have a relationship, to which Kyūsuke politely accepted.
Sometime later, a messenger from Hanzō came with a request for Akatsuki to meet with him and form an alliance. Kyūsuke and the others were quickly overjoyed and celebrated their success in beginning to realise their dream. The following day, Kyūsuke learned that Konoha Anbu were sighted near Hanzō. Finding this suspicious, Kyūsuke and the others quickly went to meet with their allies. Before they could reach them, Tobi and Zetsu intercept the group, determined to let Hanzō's plan to murder the Akatsuki's leader succeed in order to fully awaken Nagato's Rinnegan.
Noting that Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan had given him a sense of purpose and hope he had long since lost, Kyūsuke was determined to defeat his assailants. Ultimately, Tobi's intangibility made Kyūsuke's attacks useless. Mortally wounded by his own sword, he teamed up with Daibutsu for a final team attack. He held Tobi in place for Daibutsu to trap them with water, and used his own quicklime technique in an attempt to petrify them both, knowing that he would die in the process but Tobi escaped by teleporting away which resulted in Kyūsuke's sacrifice and eventual death being in vain.
Kyūsuke was a very reserved individual. He would usually only speak when having something important to say. Despite this, he was shown to have a jovial side, regularly referring to his leader Yahiko as "brother" (兄貴, Aniki). When he was younger, he was notably more aggressive, willing to rob a minor village for supplies, yet was still hesitant to use unnecessary force. Kyūsuke was also a very brave individual in both the battlefield and in love as shown in how quick he was to confess his feelings to Konan, which irritated Yahiko who also had a crush on her. At the same time, he was very mature, calmly accepting Konan's rejection and did not let it affect their working relationship and still saw her as a comrade in arm.
Kyūsuke had long black hair and black-coloured cat-like pupils. He wore a black Amegakure forehead protector and had black markings around and below his eyes. Extra distinguishing light purple features, dark black slanted cat like eye irises, worn a simple sleeveless light brown kimono with light black sleeves, a light grey scarf covering his neck, and a sword on his back. He later wore the classic Akatsuki cloak consisting of a black-coloured zip up robe with the zipper part being red in the anime.
Kyūsuke's skills were unknown in the manga. In the anime, he was an extremely fast-moving shinobi whose speed earned him his nickname, Swift Foot Kyūsuke (韋駄天の鳩助, Idaten no Kyūsuke). Proving his speed in battle, he showed himself to be highly evasive against the numerous Zetsu clones. He was also noted to be highly skilled in intelligence gathering. His preferred tactics in battle appeared to be kenjutsu, implying he was capable in wielding a sword in combat.
Kyūsuke was able to combine earth and fire-natured chakra to use Lava Release ninjutsu, which took the form of quicklime via Lava Release: Quicklime Congealing Technique.

Konan (小南, Konan) was a kunoichi from Amegakure and a founding member of the original Akatsuki. After Yahiko's death, she was partnered with Nagato, who had since taken control of Akatsuki, and was the only member to call him by his name. After Nagato's death, Konan defected from the Akatsuki and became the de facto village head of Amegakure.
When she was young, Konan's family was killed during the Second Shinobi World War, and she was left to fend for herself.Some time later, Yahiko found her, and the two worked together to survive. Not long after that, Konan went for a walk and found a young, dying Nagato and his dog, Chibi. She rescued him and brought him back to their hideout. Gradually the three became best friends. They eventually encountered the Sannin, who gave them some food. Konan impressed them by making an elaborate flower out of the paper wrappers left behind as a sign of gratitude. When Orochimaru suggested to kill them so they would not have to suffer the horrors of war, Jiraiya instead opted to stay and teach the three how to look after themselves.
During their time with Jiraiya, he made a defence system composed of four planks, each with one red and one white side, attached to a part of a wall of the hideout they shared at the time with a string and a nail, each one above one of their names, which he called "Hop-In" planks. The purpose of the planks were that when they were in the hideout, they turn their planks to the red side and they leave, they flip their plank to the white side, so when a plank's on the red side and the person's not in the hideout, it means they could have been captured by the enemy and when a plank's on the white side and it appears that the person's in the hideout, it could mean that an enemy has transformed into said person and has infiltrated the hideout, along with a trapdoor hidden among the floorboards leading to a hidden room and emergency escape route he left just in case.After Jiraiya was confident they could take care of themselves, he told Konan that she will be very beautiful when she grows up and to come see him when she turns eighteen. With that said, he left for Konoha and the three continued to bring peace to their land.
Over time, the three formed the Akatsuki and became renowned for their strength and effectiveness, with news of their actions even reaching Konoha. When their group became too big, they were forced to find another hideout, and leave their current one. When they were about to leave, two Iwa ninja attacked the hideout but Yahiko noticed in time and they used the escape route to escape. Through out their time together, Konan became close with Yahiko.During the Third Shinobi World War, their group was approached by a man calling himself "Madara Uchiha". He offered to help them in their pursuits but Yahiko refused the offer, suspecting he only meant to use them.
Through out their quest for peace, Akatsuki's ranks grew and became known throughout of Amegakure, so much so that Hanzō began to feel that Akatsuki threatened his rule so he approached the group and offered that they work together. The next day while on patrol, Konan was abducted by Hanzō's men and was brought to the meeting where he ordered Nagato to kill Yahiko in exchange for her life. Konan cried out for them to flee without her, but they refused to leave her behind. Nagato was paralysed in shock by the order but Yahiko stabbed himself with the kunai in Nagato's hand and in a fit a rage, Nagato saved Konan by slaughtering the Anbu and Hanzō's subordinates.
Accepting Tobi's earlier offer of support, Nagato and Konan began recruiting S-rank missing-nin into the Akatsuki and started offering its services as a mercenary group to ninja villages, earning the money necessary to fund its long-term plans. Some time later, Nagato under the alias of Pain, began a civil war within Amegakure, and as his messenger, Konan promised to the villagers that he would bring change to their village and other nations.Nagato eventually killed Hanzō and Konan assumed his identity to make it appear to the world that he was still alive and in control of Amekagure. In the anime, Konan aided in recruiting Hidan into the organisation.
An S-rank criminal who grew up in war-torn times, Konan was a very powerful kunoichi whose skills were held in high regard by her partner, Pain, and even highly praised by her former teacher, Jiraiya. In Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution, she was able to defeat Sasori, an extremely powerful shinobi who wielded his most powerful puppet. After Nagato's death, she became the leader of Amegakure. She was nearly able to kill Obito, only surviving due to using the kinjutsu Izanagi.

Nagato (長門, Nagato) was a shinobi of Amegakure and descendant of the Uzumaki clan. Forming Akatsuki alongside his friends (and fellow war orphans) Yahiko and Konan, Nagato dreamed of bringing peace to the violent shinobi world. However, following Yahiko's death, Nagato adopted the alias of Pain (ペイン, Pein) and, along with Konan, began leading a new Akatsuki; one that would force the world into peace using any means necessary.
Nagato lived with his parents: Fusō and Ise on the outskirts of Amegakure. When he was very young, Madara Uchiha secretly transplanted his Rinnegan into Nagato without his or his parents' knowledge. Sometime later, during the Second Shinobi World War, Nagato and his parents took shelter in their home to avoid the fighting going on around them. One day, two Konoha shinobi broke into their home looking for food and Nagato and his parents tried to sneak out unnoticed. When they were discovered, his parents attacked the shinobi so that Nagato could escape. The Konoha ninja killed his parents in self-defence and, upon realising they were only civilians, tried apologising to Nagato. Overcome with grief, Nagato used Madara's Rinnegan for the first time to kill them and avenge his parents.
After burying his parents, Nagato, now an orphan, was forced to leave home and begin wandering in search of food and shelter. With resources scarce due to the ongoing war, no one he met would help him until Nagato, who had collapsed from hunger, was found by Konan and Yahiko, orphans like himself. They banded together, acquired food to survive through any means, and shared dreams of a future where they were in charge and could use their power to eliminate war. Yahiko was particularly passionate about this point, which inspired Nagato to adopt the same goal.In order to accomplish this, the three would need to become ninja. With few options to choose from, they approached Konoha's Legendary Sannin and asked to be taught ninjutsu. Orochimaru offered to kill them in order to end their suffering, but Jiraiya, guilty over his participation in the war, offered to teach them how to look out for themselves.
Jiraiya found a place for them to live and taught them how to fish, but he would not teach them ninjutsu. While the orphans were out one day, they were found and assaulted by an Iwagakure chūnin. Fearing for his friends' lives, Nagato used his Rinnegan to kill the Iwa-nin. When Jiraiya arrived on the scene to help them, he noticed Nagato's eyes for the first time and was reminded of the legends of the Sage of the Six Paths, the original possessor of the Rinnegan. Because of this, Jiraiya changed his mind and began teaching them ninjutsu.Nagato was remorseful for killing the Iwa-nin, but Jiraiya convinced him that sometimes violence and personal pain was necessary to protect others. In time he even shared his belief that Nagato was the Sage of Six Paths' reincarnation and that, like the original Sage, Nagato would use his Rinnegan to usher in a world of peace.
Jiraiya trained the orphans for three years. Because of his Rinnegan, Nagato easily mastered everything he was taught.Once they were able to defeat one of his shadow clones in a fight, Jiraiya decided they were ready to forge out on their own and he returned to Konoha, confident they would bring reform to the country.The three formed an organisation they called Akatsuki, with Yahiko as its leader, and began advocating an end to war. Their message proved popular and they gathered many followers;even Jiraiya would sometimes hear news of their exploits.During the Third Shinobi World War, they were approached by a disguised Obito Uchiha. Introducing himself as Madara Uchiha, he offered to help them in their pursuits and show Nagato how to unlock the full potential of his Rinnegan. Yahiko refused the offer, suspecting Tobi only meant to use them.
Throughout their quest for peace, Akatsuki's ranks swelled and became known throughout Amegakure, so much so that Hanzō of the Salamander, the village's leader, began to feel Akatsuki threatened his rule. He approached Akatsuki, offering to work together with them to help negotiate with the other warring villages. The next day, at a meeting to finalise the arrangement, Yahiko and Nagato were ambushed by Hanzō and his men, with support from Konoha's Danzō Shimura. Using Konan as a hostage, Hanzō threatened to kill her if Nagato did not kill Yahiko. Unwilling to let Nagato have that on his conscience, Yahiko impaled himself on Nagato's kunai, using his dying breath to state his faith that Nagato would change the world.Enraged by Yahiko's death, Nagato took Konan back from Hanzō, though his legs were badly damaged in the process. He then summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and, upon linking with it, used it to slaughter Hanzō's men, though Hanzō himself escaped.Afterwards, Nagato severed his ties with Amegakure by slashing the village's symbol on his forehead protector, no longer wishing to be affiliated with Hanzō's village.

Now crippled, Nagato turns Yahiko's body into the Deva Path.
Yahiko's death ultimately convinced Nagato that his philosophies about achieving peace were foolish; the world would never willingly end the cycle of death and hatred it had operated on for so long. Only through direct experience of war and all the losses and agonies it brought could anyone truly desire peace. Intending to personally bring that level of despair to the world, Nagato took on the name of "Pain". As the damage he'd received from Hanzō's attack and the link with the Demonic Statue left him frail and immobile, Nagato created the Six Paths of Pain out of corpses that he controlled remotely. For the Deva Path he used Yahiko's body — still wanting him to lead the organisation in spirit — and for the other five he used the corpses of other miscellaneous shinobi that, without his knowing it, had met Jiraiya when they were alive. Pain began leading Akatsuki in a new direction, secretly accepting Obito's earlier offer of support. Akatsuki composed itself with S-rank missing-nin and started offering its services as a mercenary group to ninja villages, earning the money necessary to fund its long-term plans.
Years later and still loyal to his own version of Amegakure, Pain and Konan began a civil war in the village to overthrow Hanzō.Much of the village rallied behind Pain, believing him to be a god because of his immense power. The Six Paths of Pain eventually cornered Hanzō and killed him and all his guards, earning control of the village, but not before expressing his disgust with how Hanzō had fallen from the man he admired and the fact he can't even understand how he lost to Nagato. In order to prevent anyone from challenging him, Pain proceeded to eliminate everyone even remotely connected to Hanzō, from members of his family to distant acquaintances.Because of Amegakure's already secretive nature, news of Hanzō's death never made it outside of Amegakure and the village was believed to still be divided by the civil war. Pain embraced the villagers' idea of him being God and single-handedly crushing remnants loyal to Hanzō whenever they surfaced. Every Sunday, Nagato would cease the constant rain in Ame as a tribute to Yahiko.

Hidan (飛段, Hidan) is an S-rank missing-nin who defected from Yugakure and later joined the Akatsuki. There, he was partnered with Kakuzu, despite the two's somewhat mutual dislike of each other. He was also the second newest member of Akatsuki at the time of Tobi's introduction.Kisame Hoshigaki laughingly referred to Hidan and Kakuzu as the Zombie Combo (ゾンビコンビ, Zonbi Konbi).
After Yugakure deteriorated from a shinobi village to a tourist site, Hidan became infuriated with how things were turning out. He believed that the shinobi that resided there were meant to kill, and thus slaughtered his neighbours before leaving Yugakure, and joining the cult-like faith known as Jashin, a religion that worshiped a deity of the same name.[1] The primary teaching of this faith appears to be outright slaughter, where anything less than utter destruction is considered a sin.Through experiments with Jashin's secret technique, Hidan was granted immortality.
In the anime, Yugakure requested that Akatsuki eliminate Hidan for his homicidal acts, leading to Pain dispatching Itachi Uchiha, Konan and Kakuzu to handle the matter. Upon Hidan encountering the organisation, he attempted to kill Kakuzu, and managed to destroy one of his hearts. The confrontation leads to Konan offering Hidan the chance to join their organisation, to which he accepts,mainly because he took an interest in Kakuzu since he was a pioneer in immortality as well.After joining, he was partnered with Kakuzu, and tasked with capturing the Two-Tails jinchūriki.
Some time later, Hidan and Kakuzu met with Sasori and Deidara to discuss their new missions assigned by Akatsuki. After Kakuzu said they had a choice between a money-making mission and a war-mission, he chose the money mission after Sasori and Deidara showed no interest in it, much to Hidan's annoyance.Having been tasked with capturing the Seven-Tails jinchūriki, Hidan accompanied Kakuzu with tracking his target down. Upon encountering Fū, Hidan was baffled as she wanted to befriend Kakuzu, despite knowing the rogue shinobi's history.
Hidan is a very powerful S-rank missing-nin whose skills were of a high enough standard to be accepted into Akatsuki. Alongside his partner Kakuzu, he captured the Two-Tails' jinchūriki, Yugito Nii, despite her transforming into her tailed beast. Hidan also defeated Asuma Sarutobi, one of Konoha's top jōnin, using his unique skill set.
As a result of extensive experimenting with the Jashin religion's various techniques, Hidan's main advantage is his inability to die from virtually all causes, with the exception of malnutrition.His immortality allows him to survive numerous fatal injuries,and almost any form of dismemberment; he even retained his ability to speak after having his head cut off.However, his head still needed to be connected to his body in order to control it,requiring Kakuzu to reattach it, and other body parts, when needed.Even Shikamaru's attempt to blow Hidan into pieces using hundreds of explosive tags adhered to his entire body only succeeded in decapitating him and damaging his body (after weakening the tendons that Kakuzu used to re-attach his head). Even though he could survive most physical attacks, even ones that actually impaled him, he was still susceptible to pain, which he came to find pleasure in at the expense of his opponents.
This inability to die was the primary reason for Hidan's partnership with Kakuzu. Since Kakuzu couldn't kill him, Kakuzu didn't need to find new partners after his fits of rage.Although the two disliked working together, this advantage made them the ideal team. His immortality was exploited by Kakuzu, whose destructive techniques could be utilised to their full extent without fear of harming Hidan (as demonstrated in their combo involving Hidan distracting an opponent with vicious attacks while one of Kakuzu's hearts used Wind Release: Pressure Damage on both targets).Furthermore, Hidan also has impressive healing abilities, the greatest example of this is how rapidly he healed from numerous physical injuries he underwent during his battle against Asuma and Shikamaru. Mere moments after that battle he had been completely healed from all of his wounds and the damages he was subjected to such as getting his rib cage crushed by two kunai blades,piercing his leg,getting his whole body perforated by Shikamaru's shadow,stabbing his chest with his retractable spear,having his scythe piercing his abdomen and go through his back,and getting his neck sliced then reattached.Even his burn scars inflicted by Asuma's Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning completely vanished mere days later.

Kakuzu (角都, Kakuzu) was an S-rank missing-nin from Takigakure and a member of Akatsuki who was partnered with Hidan. Kisame Hoshigaki jokingly referred to them as the Zombie Combo due to the fact that, in differing senses, they could not die.
When under the servitude of Takigakure as an elite ninja, Kakuzu took on a mission to assassinate Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage. This mission, however, ended in failure against the God of Shinobi. Despite the insurmountable danger faced on the mission, what awaited his return to his village was the stigma and harsh punishment associated with the failure of his objective. In response to this treatment, a wrong levied against a shinobi who had put life and limb on the line for his village, Kakuzu came to hold a violent hatred for Takigakure as he escaped from imprisonment. In his flight from the village, Kakuzu killed the village elders, took their hearts, and fled with knowledge of the village's most prized forbidden techniques.He made a living off bounty hunting on the black market, and tearing out the still-beating hearts of powerful shinobi to extend his own lifespan and arsenal. At some time in the past, he apparently encountered the Gold and Silver Brothers and witnessed Kinkaku's jinchūriki transformation.
Some time after his defection, he became affiliated with, and joined, the criminal organisation, Akatsuki. During his early years in Akatsuki, he had four partners that he eventually ended up killing due to his short temper, and would come to use their hearts for his Earth Grudge Fear. Eventually, he found a new partner, Hidan who was convinced to join, taking an interest in Kakuzu, thinking of him as a pioneer of immortality. This made Hidan a fitting partner for Kakuzu as he could not be killed because of his own, similar immortality despite their mutual dislike of each other.
Kakuzu was greedy and miserly individual. He would arrange goals in terms of the highest profit he could gain from them, and was often unwilling to involve himself in something if there was nothing to gain from it, as well as claiming that he tended to forget opponents who were not worth any money after he was done with them. He even remarked that money is the only dependable thing in the world. Due to this end, he referred to himself as the "Treasurer of Akatsuki". Given his friendly relationship with Zangei, his bounty officer, it would seem he collected bounties rather frequently to earn cash, and did so (or at least tried) during his missions on several occasions. The frequent side-tasks and devotion to money were both major points of contention between Hidan and Kakuzu. He also seemed to respect an opponent who thinks well, as shown with his reaction to Kakashi's counters to Kakuzu's masks, and Shikamaru's quick analysis of Hidan's curse, even mentioning Shikamaru would have been a good bounty in the future.
The only reason that Kakuzu put up with Hidan was because he couldn't get rid of him. Due to his violent temper, Kakuzu often killed anyone close by when enraged, having killed his previous partners and even took their hearts to extend his own life. Hidan, therefore, was the perfect partner for Kakuzu, because of Hidan's inability to die. Kakuzu's somewhat indiscriminate attack style also made Hidan an ideal partner, since Kakuzu didn't need to worry about catching his partner in the crossfire.
Kakuzu held a violent hatred for his village, as despite his loyalty and willingness to risk life and limb on a dangerous mission, his failure was repaid with uncharacteristically harsh punishment. He responded in kind by brutally betraying Takigakure — committing jailbreak, taking knowledge of their most valuable kinjutsu and killing all of the elders before departing.
Kakuzu was an extremely powerful ninja, earning membership into the S-rank organisation of Akatsuki. During his frequent rages, he killed all but one of his partners in the organisation, due to the latter being immortal. His skills were such that he was chosen by his village to assassinate Hashirama Senju, surviving the battle despite failing the mission. Kakuzu's might is such, that had it not been for the interference of Team Yamato, he would have likely killed Team Asuma.
Kakuzu was quite fast, able to cross great distances almost instantly and disappear from unfocused eyes.He could intercept Kakashi when he was attacking Hidan with his Lightning Cutter. His raw strength could catch one of Chōji's enlarged punches with a single hand and easily overpower the latter, as well as lift two people up by their necks with relative ease. Kakuzu was also adept in taijutsu, able to go toe to toe against a Sharingan wielding Kakashi. From all the assimilations he has conducted over the decades of his defeated foes, he has amassed a vast amount of chakra.
Kakuzu's fighting style and unique abilities revolved around the special nature of his body structure, which was composed of hundreds of thick, grey tendrils woven throughout his flesh called Earth Grudge Fear, holding his body together like the stitches of a rag-doll. This lets him separate his body parts at will, perform mid to long-range physical attacks, and sew up almost any injury he suffered. The threads could also be used to repair the bodies of others, as seen when he reattached Deidara's arms. Because of his unique body structure, Kakuzu is a highly enduring man, able to take a direct strike from Kakashi's Lightning Cutter without it hindering his performance. His threads could even compact together to form a giant octopus-like form around his body, used for long-range battle.
Using the Earth Release: Earth Spear Technique increased his durability to withstand otherwise normally fatal attacks, such as Chōji's Spiked Human Bullet Tank. By collecting the hearts of other ninja, Kakuzu was granted their elemental affinities. This is done by connecting his chakra circulatory system to his four extra hearts, one for each chakra nature, granting him the ability to utilise this nature in battle. His efficiency with these different elemental attacks were noted to be impossible without having an affinity to that particular element.

Sometime after defecting from an unknown village, he joined the criminal organisation Akatsuki, becoming Kakuzu's fourth partner. In the anime, during a battle with several shinobi, he was eliminated by Kakuzu, who later, upon being chastised by his teammates, claimed he was too slow and should have simply dodged his attack. Kakuzu later took his heart.

Itachi Uchiha (うちはイタチ, Uchiha Itachi) was a prodigy of Konohagakure's Uchiha clan and also served as an Anbu Captain. He later became an international criminal after murdering his entire clan, sparing only his younger brother, Sasuke. He afterwards joined the international criminal organisation known as Akatsuki, whose activity brought him into frequent conflict with Konoha and its ninja — including Sasuke — who sought to avenge their clan. Following his death, Itachi's motives were revealed to be more complicated than they seemed and that his actions were only ever in the interest of his brother and village, remaining a loyal shinobi of Konohagakure to the very end.
Even within the Uchiha clan, Itachi was a ninja of prodigious talent, consistently showing prowess well-beyond his years and rising rapidly through the ninja ranks. He was highly proficient in all three main ninja skill sets and gained praise from allies and foes alike; Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, openly admitted Itachi was stronger than he was. Obito claimed that despite being crippled by illness, Itachi was fully capable of killing Sasuke during their battle if he wanted to. A pacifist at heart, Itachi did not actually like fighting and would avoid it when he could. When he couldn't, he would end the fight as quickly as possible, all the while holding himself back. Even when restrained in this way, a team of jōnin were still pushed to their limits against Itachi.
Itachi awakened and mastered the Sharingan by the age of eight,demonstrating skill and power superior to most members of his clan. In the anime, his prowess and exploits with it earned him great fame as "Itachi of the Sharingan" (写輪眼のイタチ, Sharingan no Itachi). He keeps his Sharingan active near-constantly with minimal drain on his chakra levels. The Sharingan allows Itachi to see the flow of chakra, predict movements, as well as facilitate his use of genjutsu. Also, with the Sharingan he could perform Izanami, a counterpart to the more dangerous Izanagi.
Itachi awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan after the suicide of Shisui Uchiha. Its design was three spiralling curves around the pupil. With his left eye, he could use Tsukuyomi, a genjutsu that trapped opponents' minds in an illusory world, altering their perception of time to make seconds of torture seem like days. With his right eye he could use Amaterasu, igniting whatever he looked at with black flames that would burn anything, including fire itself. He had the ability to extinguish Amaterasu, but never displayed the sort of shape transformation that Sasuke later would.
Having awakened the Mangekyō in both his eyes, Itachi could also use Susanoo. With its simplest manifestations, he could produce extra arms or bones to improve his options in a fight. When used in full, Itachi was surrounded by a spectral warrior that would protect him from all damage, even jutsu as powerful as Kirin. In addition to the chakra swords and Yasaka Magatama common to all Susanoo, Itachi's Susanoo wielded the Sword of Totsuka – an ethereal sword with the ability to seal any person it pierced into its gourd—hilt – and the Yata Mirror – a shield that was said to reflect any attack by changing its chakra nature to counterbalance an attack. The simultaneous use of both weapons made Itachi's Susanoo essentially invincible.
Using any of these techniques required vast amounts of chakra to perform. If he used these techniques too often in a short span of time, Itachi would become so fatigued that he would deactivate his Sharingan altogether. Every time he used his Mangekyō Sharingan his eyesight deteriorated, a process that would progressively worsen on each occasion. Early uses of the Mangekyō would only cause his eyes to bleed, but by the end of his life he reached the point where he was nearly blind, most things looking to him like mere blurs. He does not suffer these shortcomings after his reincarnation and can use all his Mangekyō techniques without problems.

Jūzō Biwa (枇杷十蔵, Biwa Jūzō) was a jōnin from Kirigakure and a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. In the anime, Jūzō deserted his village and became a member of Akatsuki, where he was partnered with Itachi Uchiha.
As one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Jūzō was one of the most powerful shinobi Kirigakure ever produced, easily in contention to becoming Mizukage himself like the other members. Like all members of his team, he had great battle prowess and was highly skilled in kenjutsu. Wielding the Kubikiribōchō, which can regenerate from the iron harvested from its victims' blood, Jūzō was strong enough to dye battlefields red with his foes' blood and gained international infamy for it.
In the anime, he was capable of surviving Duy's Eight Gates Released Formation, and his abilities allowed for him to be accepted into Akatsuki, an organisation whose members were capable of capturing jinchūriki. He was also a skilled Water Release user, being able to create water clones and envelop his surroundings in thick mist.

Deidara (デイダラ, Deidara) was an S-rank missing-nin from Iwagakure. During his time in the village, he was a member of the Explosion Corps. After defecting from the village, he was forced into Akatsuki and was its youngest member. There, Deidara was partnered with Sasori until the latter's death, and later with Tobi before his own death.
During his time as an Iwagakure shinobi, Deidara came to know Ōnoki, and became familiarised with his fighting style.He possessed the Explosion Release kekkei genkai which he used as a member of the Explosion Corps.
Though praised highly for his clay sculptures, Deidara's desire to reach even greater heights in his art resulted with him stealing one of his village's kinjutsu that allows one to knead their chakra into substances.Using explosive clay to take out his pursuers, Deidara found the art he had desired: the Art of a Single Moment (一瞬の芸術, Isshun no Geijutsu).Remembering the first moment whenever he detonated his explosive clay, he recalls the process that allowed him to reach this art. Since then, Deidara became a missing-nin and offered his services as a bomber to insurgents in various countries.
Deidara's exploits eventually caught the attention of Akatsuki, and Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Sasori were sent to recruit him. Deidara refused at first until he accepts a challenge from Itachi on the condition that Akatsuki let him be if he won. However, Deidara was easily defeated by Itachi's Sharingan and begrudgingly joined the organisation where he was partnered with Sasori. In the anime, he and Sasori were immediately tasked with eliminating Orochimaru for betraying the organisation. Upon arriving in the Land of Wind and witnessing the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation by Orochimaru, the Sannin retreated after his technique proved incomplete. After Deidara attempted to kill him by blowing up his base, Deidara and Sasori searched the ruins but were unable to confirm his death as they didn't find his corpse.At some point afterwards, Deidara returned to Iwagakure and left it in destruction after detonating a bomb within the village, as he flew away.
With his ego crushed from his defeat at the hands of Itachi's dōjutsu, Deidara carried a murderous loathing for Itachi and his sharingan for the rest of his life.Acknowledging that Itachi was a more powerful opponent, Deidara took steps during his time with Akatsuki to ensure he could get revenge on Itachi, such as training his left eye to counter genjutsu,and devising the means to create C4.
Deidara was a very powerful S-rank missing-nin whose abilities earned him recognition within Akatsuki. Even the organisation's leader, Pain, praised Deidara's abilities, openly admitting that he was something unique, and that his loss was a major blow to the group.[23] Deidara was able to single-handedly defeat Gaara (Shukaku's jinchūriki and the Fifth Kazekage), and Isobu, despite fighting in its home territory. He also fought on equal grounds with Sasuke Uchiha, an Uchiha clan prodigy, despite his techniques being at an elemental disadvantage against those of Sasuke.

Sasori (サソリ, Sasori), renowned as Sasori of the Red Sand (赤砂のサソリ, Akasuna no Sasori), was an S-rank missing-nin from Sunagakure's Puppet Brigade and a member of Akatsuki, where he was partnered with Orochimaru and later Deidara.
When Sasori was young, his father and mother were killed by Sakumo Hatake in battle, leaving him in the care of his grandmother, Chiyo. When Chiyo attempted to cheer him up by teaching him puppetry, Sasori's innate aptitude for the art became apparent, and he even began to devise masterful ways of eliminating a puppet master's weaknesses in battle. His skills even allowed him to create two puppets in the image of his parents in an attempt to discard the terrible loneliness he felt. However, as the puppets were unable to give him the real parental love that he desired, Sasori lost interest in them, and they later fell into Chiyo's possession. Sasori created many other ingenious puppets, including Kuroari, Karasu, and Sanshōuo.
During the Third Shinobi World War, the effectiveness of his puppets in spilling his enemies' blood on the sand gave rise to Sasori's moniker "Sasori of the Red Sand". However, motivated by his desire to make works that last forever, Sasori began experimenting to create puppets out of people. In the anime, his only friend, Komushi, lost his right arm during his border control duty, so Sasori gave him a new puppet arm as a prosthetic limb. After Komushi perished, having accidentally ingested some of Sasori's poison, Sasori proceeded to turn him into one of his first human puppets. Twenty years before his introduction in the series, Sasori left Sunagakure; it was around this time he converted his body into a puppet with his core of living flesh remaining as his only human part, thus appearing to maintain the youth of the time of his departure. Over ten years before his own death, Sasori secretly assassinated the Third Kazekage and made him into one of his human puppets. Despite this, Sasori noted the Third Kazekage did not die without giving Sasori a struggle.
Sasori grew up in a sad and lonely environment due to the absence of parental love. When introduced to the art of puppetry by his grandmother, Chiyo, he grew a little happier. He eventually created puppets in the likeness of his parents, but when he realised that the puppets could not give him the actual love that he desired, he became cold, aloof and led to his general disregard for human life. Sasori even went so far as to state that he would feel nothing if Chiyo died, as he claimed that his heart had become like his puppet body: without any emotions. Neither did Sasori have any loyalty for his village, as he defected to pursue personal interests and even kidnapped the Third Kazekage, which caused severe damage for Sunagakure, and then attack the village again twenty years after leaving. Despite his cruel and nihilistic nature, Sasori was also known to possess a very down-to-earth outlook on life, rarely getting worked up over obstacles that impeded his way. He rarely gave way to any strong emotions, and such instances that happened were often short-lived.
Sasori was a very powerful shinobi, being able to, with effort, defeat and kill the Third Kazekage, the strongest ninja in Suna's history. His use of his puppets was greatly feared throughout the Third Shinobi World War as he turned the sand red with blood, giving him the nickname, "Sasori of the Red Sand". His legacy was such that Kankurō knew of and feared him despite being born after Sasori already left the village.Deidara himself even admitted that Sasori was the stronger of the two of them.
Trained by his powerful grandmother, Chiyo, in the art of puppetry, Sasori was an extremely powerful puppeteer and had great skill in creating and controlling his puppets. He created a number of ingenious ones including the three main puppets that Kankurō uses, which were made in Sunagakure before he fled. At the time of his final battle with Sakura and Chiyo, Sasori had 298 human puppets in his collection. His status as a puppet master offered him a tremendous advantage against other puppeteer shinobi, especially if the puppets they were using happened to be ones that he created, as seen in his battle against Kankurō. As puppets are usually installed with long-range weapons, Sasori was an expert at fighting at long distances. He had tremendous skill with chakra threads, suppressing them to the point that they became invisible and he could control upwards to 100 puppets — a feat thought impossible for ordinary shinobi. Sasori can also control living people as puppets, even against their will, if they are weakened enough. His usage of puppets was at such a high level that he made mere techniques appear as an artistic performance, what he called his "Red Secret Technique".