The Akatsuki are Naruto's most recognizable enemy organization: missing-nin wearing black cloaks with red clouds, working in pairs and hunting the Tailed Beasts. Yet their history is more complicated than a team of villains. Akatsuki began as a movement for peace, and its later leaders transformed that ideal into a campaign of coercion and violence.
This guide explains who founded Akatsuki, why its goals changed, who belongs to the familiar Shippuden lineup, and what Pain and Obito were trying to achieve. Spoilers follow for Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden, including the Fourth Great Ninja War.
What is Akatsuki in Naruto?
Akatsuki, commonly translated as “Dawn,” becomes a criminal organization that recruits powerful rogue shinobi from several villages. Members pursue missions for the organization rather than serving their former countries. The official Naruto: Shippuden overview identifies the kidnapping of Gaara and the capture of Tailed Beasts as its defining early threat.
The members' scratched-out forehead protectors often signal their break from home villages. Their matching cloaks do not mean they share the same motives: Itachi, Kisame, Nagato and Hidan have very different reasons for taking part.
Who founded Akatsuki? Was it originally evil?
Yahiko founded the original Akatsuki alongside Nagato and Konan in the Hidden Rain. The three had experienced the suffering caused by wars between larger nations. They wanted to protect their homeland and bring lasting peace, gathering followers around that political ideal rather than a scheme to collect Tailed Beasts.
After Yahiko's death, Nagato increasingly believes peace can be imposed by making nations experience overwhelming suffering. He adopts the identity of Pain, while Konan remains his closest ally. The organization viewers encounter in Shippuden is therefore a transformed version of the original movement, not an unrelated group.
Why did Akatsuki collect the Tailed Beasts?
The visible mission is to capture jinchuriki, the people who contain Tailed Beasts, and extract those creatures. Extraction can kill their hosts, bringing Akatsuki into conflict with Naruto, Gaara and the hidden villages. VIZ's Naruto Volume 36 discusses the group's larger plan during the Hidan storyline.
Nagato wants a weapon so devastating that nations will fear returning to war. Naruto challenges this reasoning after Pain destroys much of the Hidden Leaf. Their confrontation asks whether causing suffering can ever end the cycle of hatred. Our The Pain Invasion Arc Was Naruto at Its Darkest article explores that argument in detail.
Behind Pain, Obito pursues the Eye of the Moon Plan: gathering the Tailed Beasts to enable the Infinite Tsukuyomi, a worldwide illusion that would replace freedom with manufactured peace. Black Zetsu's later revelations add another hidden agenda. Akatsuki does not have one consistent goal across every period of its history.
Who are the main Akatsuki members?
The familiar Shippuden lineup contains ten recognizable figures: Pain, Konan, Itachi, Kisame, Deidara, Sasori, Hidan, Kakuzu, Zetsu and Tobi. This is not a permanent membership limit. The group also has founders, former members and replacements. The official Naruto website's Akatsuki character collection highlights this best-known lineup.
Pain (Nagato)
Pain is Akatsuki's public leader for much of Shippuden. Nagato remotely controls six bodies called the Six Paths of Pain, combining Rinnegan abilities and shared vision. His attack on the Hidden Leaf reveals both his enormous power and his conviction that the world must learn peace through suffering.
Konan
Konan is a co-founder who fights by transforming paper into weapons, wings and traps. She remembers Yahiko's original dream and stays loyal to Nagato. Her history separates her from criminals who join Akatsuki primarily for money, battle or personal ambition.
Itachi Uchiha
Itachi is feared for his Sharingan and Mangekyo techniques, but his role in Akatsuki is shaped by hidden obligations and his relationship with Sasuke. His public image as a ruthless traitor does not tell the entire story. Read Why Did Itachi Kill the Uchiha Clan? for the later revelations.
Kisame Hoshigaki
Kisame is a former Hidden Mist swordsman who uses the living sword Samehada to absorb chakra. He partners with Itachi and is exceptionally dangerous in prolonged battles. His final choices also show how seriously he takes Akatsuki's secrecy, despite his brutal methods.
Deidara
Deidara molds explosive clay into birds, insects and bombs, declaring explosions to be art. He helps abduct Gaara and later battles Sasuke. His obsession with artistic spectacle makes him memorable even among the group's extraordinary fighters. VIZ Volume 40 covers his fight with Sasuke.
Sasori
Sasori is a puppeteer who turns human bodies into weapons and uses lethal poison. His battle with Sakura and Chiyo during the Kazekage Rescue storyline is a major early confrontation with Akatsuki. He initially partners with Deidara; his death opens a place for Tobi.
Hidan
Hidan uses a ritual curse to transfer injuries to opponents after obtaining their blood. His apparent immortality makes his technique terrifying, although he can still be incapacitated. His battle against Asuma and Shikamaru makes Akatsuki's threat deeply personal for the Hidden Leaf.
Kakuzu
Kakuzu is Hidan's partner, a mercenary who can steal hearts and use them to prolong his life. His multiple hearts allow varied elemental attacks and make him difficult to defeat. The pair are sometimes called the immortal duo, though their powers work very differently.
Zetsu
Zetsu scouts, gathers intelligence and observes important battles. White Zetsu and Black Zetsu appear together, but the war eventually exposes different origins and purposes. Black Zetsu's hidden involvement changes how viewers understand the organization's long-term manipulation.
Tobi (Obito Uchiha)
Tobi initially behaves like a foolish new recruit, concealing his influence over the group's direction. The masked man is Obito Uchiha, despite claiming Madara's identity. His Kamui technique helps him evade attacks. Our Why Did Obito Turn Evil? article explains his history, while How Does the Sharingan Work? explains the eye powers involved.
Was Orochimaru an Akatsuki member?
Yes. Orochimaru belonged to Akatsuki before the main Shippuden events, but left. He is not part of the familiar ten-member lineup. That history is one reason lists claiming an exact, timeless number of Akatsuki members can mislead readers.
Who was Akatsuki's real leader: Pain or Obito?
Pain visibly leads the organization and directs its operations for much of Shippuden. Obito manipulates the larger plan from behind his Tobi persona and a claimed connection to Madara. Madara matters to the broader scheme but is not simply another member routinely paired with the others. Black Zetsu introduces a further level of deception.
The correct answer therefore depends on whether “leader” means the person issuing orders, the strategist influencing those orders, or the person manipulating the whole conflict. The official Naruto retrospective calls Pain Akatsuki's leader during the Hidden Leaf invasion; the later war story expands the picture.
What do Akatsuki's red clouds and rings mean?
The black cloaks with red clouds are Akatsuki's signature uniform. The red clouds evoke the bloodshed experienced by the Hidden Rain, where the original organization formed. Their meaning becomes bitterly ironic once the movement's promise of peace turns into violence.
Members also wear rings bearing distinct symbols. They help establish the organization's visual identity, but elaborate fan theories about universal supernatural powers for each ring should not be treated as confirmed rules. The story spends far more time explaining the Tailed Beast hunt and the members' individual techniques.
How did Akatsuki fall apart?
Akatsuki loses members through battles, defections and internal conflict. Sasori dies during the rescue of Gaara; Hidan and Kakuzu fall after the Asuma conflict; Deidara dies fighting Sasuke; Itachi's final confrontation exposes motives very different from his reputation. These defeats weaken the group but do not immediately end the larger plan.
Pain's defeat is a turning point because Naruto challenges his philosophy, not merely his techniques. Naruto's Sage Mode is essential in the battle, but his refusal to perpetuate revenge is the deeper challenge to Nagato.
During the Fourth Great Ninja War, Akatsuki's remaining influence becomes tied to Obito, Madara and Black Zetsu's schemes. What began as an attempt to end war has become a project that would deny people their freedom. That reversal makes Akatsuki more than a gallery of memorable villains.
Akatsuki explained in one answer
Akatsuki began as Yahiko, Nagato and Konan's peace movement in the Hidden Rain. After Yahiko's death, Nagato's Pain led a violent group of rogue shinobi that hunted Tailed Beasts. Obito manipulated its wider direction toward the Infinite Tsukuyomi, while Black Zetsu pursued a hidden plan. The famous ten-member lineup describes one era, not everyone who ever belonged to Akatsuki.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Akatsuki?
Yahiko founded Akatsuki alongside Nagato and Konan in the Hidden Rain as a movement for peace.
What does Akatsuki mean?
Akatsuki is commonly translated as Dawn, reflecting its original ambition for change.
Who was the leader of Akatsuki?
Pain, controlled by Nagato, publicly led Akatsuki for much of Shippuden, while Obito influenced the larger plan.
How many Akatsuki members are there?
The best-known Shippuden lineup has ten members, but founders, former members and replacements mean the total changes over time.
Was Itachi truly evil?
Itachi committed terrible acts, but later revelations show his motives and Akatsuki membership were more complicated than his reputation.
Why did Akatsuki want the Tailed Beasts?
Nagato sought power to impose peace through fear; Obito wanted the beasts for the Eye of the Moon Plan and Infinite Tsukuyomi.
