Akatsuki (Naruto)

File:Akatsukispread.jpg

The Akatsuki roster as of Naruto manga Chapter 317.
From left to right: Zetsu, Deidara, Kakuzu, Tobi, Hidan, Konan, Itachi, Pein, Kisame

Akatsuki (暁, meaning "Dawn") is a fictional organization of criminal ninja in the anime and manga series Naruto created by Masashi Kishimoto. All of the members are criminals as they have betrayed their village of origin and banded together for the ultimate purpose of world domination. Akatsuki is initially introduced midway into the first part of the series, though does not begin acting as a major antagonist until the start of the second part.

Overview

Akatsuki, at any given point in time, is composed of no more than ten primary members. There is no known criterion required for joining the organization, though all known members have severed all ties with the village they grew up in and are S-class criminals, the most wanted and dangerous individuals in the series.

Two members, Itachi Uchiha and Sasori are known to have undertaken a challenging task around the time of their joining the organization: Itachi killed almost all the members of his family in a single night, though it is unclear what his true reasons for doing this were. Sasori, during the course of the battle in which he eventually meets his demise, comments that "[he] hadn't had this much difficulty since joining Akatsuki". In Deidara's case, however, he was forcibly recruited by other Akatsuki members as a result of his effective work as a terrorist.

Members of Akatsuki work in teams of two. Teams are built to complement each other's abilities and talents to create a formidable duo. For example, Kakuzu uses Hidan's immortality to his advantage by using large-scale attacks on those Hidan has pinned down; being immortal, Hidan survives what is normally fatal to his opponent. Zetsu is an exception to this, as he operates by himself at all times. Members whose partners have died also operate by themselves until a replacement can be found. At the very least, members maintain a functioning working relationship with their partner, with some form of loyalty to one another being present in most cases. In other instances a member will only work with their teammate so long as it furthers Akatsuki's goals, with all other matters being a source of dispute between the two. In general, Akatsuki members are unconcerned with the fate of their other comrades, their only point of interest concerning someone's death being who was strong enough to kill them.

Akatsuki is a widespread organization, with its members constantly traveling between countries and its agents operating out of various villages throughout the world. These agents work for specific members for varying purposes; Sasori has a number of agents under a form of mind control that he uses as spies, while Kakuzu has a group of people that take care of his finances. Because the various members are often so far apart, making a meeting in person impractical, they can communicate through a form of telepathy. If there is a need for the group to have more of an interaction with each other, members can use a form of astral projection to meet at one of Akatsuki's many secret lairs. When their entire group meets like this at the end of the first part of the series, one member notes that it had been seven years since they had all been together in such a fashion. Their meetings are much more frequent in the second part of the series due to their increased activity.

Wardrobe

Akatsuki members dress in similar clothing: a long, dark cloak bearing red clouds and a red interior with a chin-high collar. All members also wear nail polish of varying colors on their fingernails and toenails. When starting a mission they wear large conical straw hats with small spike-like bells hanging from them to block their faces, but the hats are discarded once they have been discovered. In addition to this more standard wardrobe, members continue to wear forehead protectors from their former home villages, but scratch a line across their village's symbol. This is done to indicate that their ties to the village have been severed and they no longer give allegiance to their former homes. Not all members have their headband visible, and Hidan's headband does not correspond to any known village.

Each Akatsuki member wears a single, unique ring, and no two members wear a ring on the same finger. In total, there are ten rings, and each seems to have some special significance; Tobi believes that he can become a member after finding Sasori's ring, and although Zetsu claims it's not as easy as that, Tobi does indeed become a member. Deidara reinforces the significance of the rings after losing both his arms by expressing more concern for finding the arm with his ring, rather than finding the arm itself. Likewise, when Orochimaru leaves the organization he takes his ring with him, and in the ten years since then he has yet to be replaced. Each ring bears a unique symbol, the first kanji of its name.

The various rings are:

• Right thumb: 零 rei, "zero"; worn by Pein.
• Right index finger: 青龍 Seiryū, the Azure Dragon; worn by Deidara.
• Right middle finger: 白虎 Byakko, the White Tiger; worn by Konan.
• Right ring finger: 朱雀 Suzaku, the Vermilion Bird; worn by Itachi Uchiha.
• Right little finger: 玄武 Genbu, the Black Tortoise; worn by Zetsu.
• Left little finger: 空陳 Kūchin, the Void; formerly worn by Orochimaru.
• Left ring finger: 南斗 Nanju, Sagittarius (lit. Southern Star); worn by Kisame Hoshigaki.
• Left middle finger: 北斗 Hokuto, the Big Dipper (lit. Northern Star); worn by Kakuzu.
• Left index finger: 三台 santai, "three levels"; worn by Hidan.
• Left thumb: 玉女 gyokunyo, the Virgin; currently worn by Tobi, formerly worn by Sasori.

Goal

Akatsuki initially operate in the shadows, carrying out assassinations and espionage that draw little attention. Some members use their time with Akatsuki to further their own goals; Kakuzu, for example, joined because it makes it easier for him to collect bounties. Soon after the start of the series, however, Akatsuki becomes increasingly more active as its members start to carry out the tasks needed to achieve their ultimate goal: domination over the Naruto world. The leader, Pein, has created a three-step process to work their way towards this goal. First, they plan to obtain a large amount of money to support their organization. Second, they plan to set up a mercenary group loyal only to Akatsuki. To build their reputation, they plan to accept any mission below the usual cost and operate off of the excess funds earned in the first part of their plan. Because there haven't been any wars in some time, the established shinobi villages can't afford to charge such low prices, leading the smaller countries to hire Akatsuki over the more expensive shinobi villages. By using the tailed beasts, Akatsuki can start wars and then immediately quell them, solidifying their reputation and convincing every country to depend on them. Without any business, the other shinobi villages would collapse due to a lack of funds. Finally, after Akatsuki is the only major shinobi force in existence, they could easily conquer the other countries. Despite the severity of this plan, members do not automatically learn of it upon joining; Hidan did not find out about it until asking.

The tailed beasts, nine gigantic demons of immense power, are the focus of much of Akatsuki's effort and screen time within the series. Each Akatsuki member is assigned to capture alive one of the nine beasts or, in most cases, the person that beast has been sealed into. Akatsuki has so far obtained seven of the nine: the One-Tailed Shukaku, the Two-Tailed Demon Cat, the three-tailed beast, the four-tailed beast, and three others.

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The Akatsuki members in their respective positions on the sealing statue

Once one of the demons has been captured it is taken to the nearest Akatsuki lair where the remaining members then assemble through astral projection. Pein summons a giant statue of a humanoid monster while the beast or its host is placed before it. The members then take their place on the finger of the statue that corresponds to their respective ring, and the group prepares to seal the beast into the statue. For the sealing, nine dragon-like effigies pour from the statue's mouth to surround the captured host, forcefully remove the tailed beast from them, and seal it into the statue. In the case of an unsealed tailed beast, the same thing happens to the beast itself. The sealing process takes three days to complete. Kisame Hoshigaki notes that the demons must be sealed in a specific order, as he states that sealing the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox before the other eight beasts would destroy the statue. Tobi, the character shown giving Pein orders, hints that the tailed beasts have a purpose beyond global conquest, implying that acquiring all nine would allow his Sharingan to return to full power. Pein, however, has different plans on using the tailed beasts, wishing to use them to create a weapon of mass destruction that will force the world to learn the pointlessness of fighting.

Current members

Itachi Uchiha

• Age: 17-18 in Part I, 20 in Part II
• Ring: 朱 ("scarlet", "bloody", "crimson")
• Ring position: Right ring finger
• Partner: Kisame Hoshigaki
• Seiyu: Hideo Ishikawa
• Voice actor: Skip Stellrecht (Episodes 29-30), Crispin Freeman (Episodes 80+)

Itachi Uchiha (うちは イタチ, Uchiha Itachi) is a missing-nin from Konohagakure and is partnered with Kisame Hoshigaki. Itachi tends to use formal Japanese, applying proper titles (-san, -kun, etc.) even with his enemies. Although he frequently talks to Kisame, he rarely speaks with the other members unless ordered to. During his time in Konoha, Itachi's prodigious talents and rapid development into a skilled ninja earned great attention from his family, the Uchiha clan. His skills were such that his family focused all of its attention on him, ignoring Itachi's younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha, in the process. Over time Itachi began to distance himself from the village and his family, eventually becoming a prime suspect in his best friend, Shisui Uchiha's, death. Before the death could be properly investigated, Itachi killed all the members of the Uchiha clan in a single night so that he could "test [his] ability". Itachi decided to spare Sasuke, however, stating that he was not worth killing; instead, prior to leaving, Itachi told Sasuke to live hating him and to grow strong enough to avenge the clan. At some point in time Itachi joined Akatsuki. While it stands to reason that he joined after massacring the Uchiha clan, the timeline that has been given throughout the series coupled with his age suggests that he joined the organization prior to killing his clan.

Although he is a member of Akatsuki, Itachi does not find great interest in fighting. He instead prefers to avoid battle or, if that is not possible, end it as quickly as possible while exerting as little effort as he can, which is a major contrast to his partner Kisame, but Itachi doesn't seem to have any problems with his partner's violent nature. When he does fight Itachi remains stationary, attacking only in defense and to otherwise avoid damage. He also studies an opponent's movements with his Sharingan eyes, using them to properly assess an opponent's actions and respond accordingly. In addition to his Sharingan-based abilities, Itachi is very skilled with genjutsu. Itachi's skill with genjutsu is such that he can trap others within an illusion by merely pointing or looking at them, as well as turning their own genjutsu against them. Itachi is also noted to be very fast with his techniques and movements, extending to his hand signs and weaponry as well.

Itachi's Sharingan abilities are further enhanced when he activates his Mangekyo Sharingan, which he aquired after he killed Shisui Uchiha. With the Mangekyo Sharingan, Itachi is able to use the two most powerful jutsu of the Uchiha clan. The first is Tsukuyomi (月読), named after the Shinto moon god, Tsukuyomi. Upon making eye contact with an opponent, Itachi can use Tsukuyomi to transport them to an illusionary world where days amount to a mere moment in the real world. Because Itachi is in control of this world, he can torture an opponent in any way imaginable, leaving them crippled and in a state of mental collapse. The second jutsu is Amaterasu (天照), named for the Shinto sun goddess, Amaterasu. It creates a jet-black flame that is capable of burning through any material. Both of these jutsu, however, use up massive amounts of chakra; Itachi becomes exhausted from using just one, and using them both consecutively forces him to deactivate his Sharingan, a rare occurrence for him.

What up foo!

Konan

• Ring: 白 ("white")
• Ring position: Right middle finger
• Partner: Pein

Konan (小南) is the only female ninja in Akatsuki. She is also the only member to call her partner and the Akatsuki leader, Pein, by his name. When she was younger, Konan, Pein , and Yahiko were left orphaned by one of Amegakure's many wars, forcing them to fend for themselves. The three eventually encountered Jiraiya, who looked after them and taught them basic ninjutsu. Jiraiya had believed Konan to have died with Nagato and Yahiko some time later.

Konan has a natural talent for origami, as seen with the paper flower she keeps in her hair. This talent extends to her type of jutsu, as she can divide her body into countless numbers of paper sheets. These sheets can be controlled individually and formed into various shapes for a number of purposes, such as butterflies for scouting or generic weapons for attack. Konan can even form wings that mirror her title as "God's Angel" amongst the villagers of Amegakure, as she often carries out Pein's will. Her abilities are constrained while wet, as paper clings to itself and loses its stiffness.

Pein

• Ring: 零 ("nothing", "zero")
• Ring position: Right thumb
• Partner: Konan

Pein (ペイン) is the leader of Akatsuki. When he was younger, Pein, then known as Nagato (長門), Konan, and Yahiko were left orphaned by one of Amegakure's many wars, forcing them to fend for themselves. The three eventually encountered Jiraiya, who looked after them and taught them basic ninjutsu. Sometime after Jiraiya left the three to pursue their own goals, Pein began to believe that his childhood traumas had enlightened him and started to view himself as a god. Believing that it was his obligation as a god to usher the world into an age of peace, he began plans to create a weapon of mass destruction that has the power to force the world to realize the meaninglessness of fighting. Pein eventually began a civil war within Amegakure, which he subsequently ended by singlehandedly killing the village's leader, Hanzo. To make sure there were no sympathizers of Hanzo remaining in the village, Pein killed all of Hanzo's family, friends, and affiliates, elevating him to god-like status amongst the townspeople. He now uses the village as his base of operations for Akatsuki, where he is partnered with Konan. Although he directs the actions of the other members and maintains authority over them, Pein takes orders from Tobi.

During his time training with Jiraiya, Pein, in order to save Yakiho from an enemy ninja, awakened his Rinnegan (輪廻眼, literally "Samsara Eye") eyes, which are characterized by a number of concentric circles around Pein's pupil. It was first possessed by the Sage of the Six Paths (六道仙人, Rikudō Sennin), said to be the founder of the ninja world, and the first ninjutsu were derived from his abilities. Its power is said to be enough to save or destroy the world, although what sort of powers and techniques this entails have not been stated in detail. Like with Sharingan users, Pein seems to be able to pick up on the mechanics and use of jutsu quickly. In addition, Pein was able to master every jutsu Jiraiya taught to him as a child and utilize all six of the different types of elemental chakra through the use of the Rinnegan eyes.

In later years Pein exhibits the ability to clone his subordinates with the Shapeshifting Technique (象転の術, Shōten no Jutsu), in which he uses human sacrifices to create a perfect copy of another person, controlled remotely by the original. The clones formed possess any unique genetic traits or weapons the original has, but its abilities are proportionate to the amount of chakra given to the clone. Pein can control rain and can detect the movements and chakra levels of people traveling within it. He also has a large array of different summons that he can quickly switch between, each of which possess a number of large piercings and Rinnegan-pattern eyes. Pein's known summons are a giant crusteacean, a chimera chameleon, a giant dog, a giant bird, a ram and two humans in Akatsuki cloaks who appear to be his own bodies, both having the same piercings and Rinnegan eyes.

Pein is shown to have six bodies in total that he is able to switch between. The bodies he is not currently using are kept in a type of machine, though it is unknown if the machine itself plays any role in the process. Of the four bodies he has been seen in, a number of similar characteristics have been seen, including the same orange hair color, a number of different piercings (they differ in each body), and the Rinnegan. The bodies seem to have unique functions, as he switches to a body with a large ponytail solely to kill an intruder. Another, fatter body, is also capable of absorbing attacks. Pein can summon bodies he is not currently using to remotely control in battle, even sharing their eyesights to protect one another from attack.

Tobi

• Ring: 玉 ("jewel", "ball"; "jade"; also the king in shogi)
• Ring position: Left thumb
• Partner: Formerly Deidara
• Seiyu: Wataru Takagi

Tobi (トビ) is a former subordinate of Zetsu. After Sasori's death, Tobi takes his ring, position, and partner (Deidara) in Akatsuki, thereby becoming a full member. Tobi's personality is at odds with the standard amongst Akatsuki members; while most are dedicated and serious, Tobi is more carefree and goofy. These personality traits tend to irritate Deidara, who often attacks Tobi in a comical fashion whenever Tobi unintentionally annoys him. Kisame Hoshigaki, on the other hand, appreciates Tobi's ability to brighten up their "gloomy organization".

After Deidara blew himself up to attempt to kill Sasuke Uchiha, Zetsu assumed that Tobi died as well because he was believed to be near the area in which Deidara blew himself up in. However, Tobi is later shown to be alive and giving orders to Pein, the leader of Akatsuki. During their conversation, he refers to himself as Madara Uchiha, a name mentioned previously by the nine-tailed demon fox. Ever since being revealed as Madara Uchiha, Tobi's personality and speech have become completely different, as he speaks much less formally and is more serious and arrogant, having discarded the very formal and correct manner of speech he had used prior, as well as his childlike facade.

Tobi's actual appearance remains a complete mystery. He wears an odd mask that covers his entire face save for his right eye, which like other Uchiha has the Sharingan. He also has several bolts or pins present on the arms of his uniform, now obscured by his Akatsuki cloak. Furthermore, Tobi does not wear a visible headband, though Madara Uchiha is known to originate from Konohagakure. His fighting style is equally shrouded in mystery, as his only notable trait is the ability to recover from what are presumably debilitating or fatal blows without injury and in a matter of seconds. He is also able to use basic earth jutsu to move under the ground to scatter Diedara's landmines and create a minefield with which to trap a target.

Zetsu

• Ring: 亥 ("boar")
• Ring position: Right little finger
• Partner: None
• Seiyu: Nobuo Tobita

Zetsu (ゼツ) functions as a spy for Akatsuki, a role made easier by his ability to merge with anything and instantly travel to a new location. He has been shown able to move his body and take part in the tailed beast sealing ritual simultaneously which, in addition to being unique to him, allows him to act as a lookout while the sealing takes place. Because of the role he plays, Zetsu is the only member of Akatsuki to act without a partner on a regular basis. Despite this, Zetsu serves as a sort of superior to other members, as they often report directly to him instead of the actual leader, Pein.

Zetsu's head appears to be enveloped in a large venus flytrap, which can also envelop the rest of his body. To further enhance his venus flytrap characteristics, Zetsu is cannibalistic, and as such he is sent to devour the bodies Akatsuki does not want found. This, in addition to his other roles, gives him the function as Akatsuki's hunter-nin, something that is further exercised when he is sent to retrieve the rings of dead Akatsuki members. The right side of Zetsu's body and face is black in color while his left side is white. To go with this, Zetsu seems to have a split personality, as the black half of his face speaks only in Katakana while the white side uses Kanji and Kana. The two halves also seem to converse with each other, and occasionally differ in opinion.

Former members

Deidara

• Ring: 青 ("blue", "green")
• Ring position: Right index finger
• Partner: Formerly Tobi, Sasori before that
• Seiyu: Katsuhiko Kawamoto

Deidara (デイダラ) is a missing-nin from Iwagakure. Before joining Akatsuki, Deidara acted as a terrorist bomber for hire, where his work attracted the attention of Pein. Pein sent other Akatsuki members to recruit Deidara, though he refused. After being defeated by Itachi Uchiha, however, Deidara was forced to join the organization. Deidara maintained a deep loathing for Itachi from that point further and became determined to defeat him, even training one of his eyes to overcome Itachi's signature ability: genjutsu. Deidara was partnered with Sasori upon joining the organization, whose artistic ability and insight Deidara admired. After Sasori's death Deidara is paired with Tobi whom he treats as a disciple. Despite Tobi's habit of accidentally angering Deidara, Deidara takes great care to keep Tobi out of harm's way and even dedicates his final moments to apologizing to him.

In battle, Deidara uses special mouths in the palm of each hand to create Exploding Clay (起爆粘土, Kibaku Nendo), chakra-infused clay that explodes on command. He commonly uses the command "detonate" (喝, Katsu) to trigger it. The blast strength of his creations is determined by how much chakra he adds to them. His clay can take on any size or form, ranging from microscopic in size to copies of himself as tall as a skyscraper. Deidara refers to his creations as art, believing the most beautiful thing about them to be their detonation. His admiration for his art is such that he believes it can't be defeated, leading to overconfidence in battle. Depending on the complexity or potency of one of his works, Deidara applies it a designation from anywhere between "C1" to "C4", the former being the most basic and the latter being his strongest and most complex attack. For his final act, Deidara also has a mouth on his chest that, once provided with clay, turns him into a living bomb that destroys everything in a 10 kilometer radius. Deidara uses this as a last resort during his battle with Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi's younger brother, in an effort to prove his art is supreme, though Sasuke is able to survive.

Hidan

• Ring: 三 ("three")
• Ring position: Left index finger
• Partner: Formerly Kakuzu

Hidan (飛段) is the foul-mouthed partner of Kakuzu and is the second newest member of Akatsuki at the time of his expulsion. Hidan belongs to the Jashin ("evil god") religion, a religion that worships a deity of the same name and where anything less than utter destruction is considered a sin. Before battles start Hidan prays to Jashin and asks for nothing short of a kill or, when he is not allowed to kill his opponents, for forgiveness. After battles, should he have time, Hidan performs a thirty-minute ritual in accordance with his religion that culminates by stabbing himself in the chest and lying upon the ground. In addition to his religion Hidan has been gifted with immortality, and as such he is able to survive fatal wounds and even retains the ability to speak after being decapitated. Despite this, Hidan needs to be connected to his body in order to control it. Kakuzu assists him in these instances by reattaching his limbs, allowing the wounds to heal with time. Hidan's inability to die is also used to Kakuzu's advantage, as he can attack Hidan all he wants without worrying about finding a new partner afterwards. Although the two dislike working together, this advantage makes them the ideal team.

During battle Hidan makes every attempt to acquire an opponent's blood where, upon consuming it, he draws a symbol on the ground that "links" him with his opponent. Once this link is created Hidan takes on a grim reaper-like appearance and becomes what is essentially a voodoo doll for his opponent; any damage that is done to Hidan is also done to them. Hidan first uses this ability to give himself nonfatal injuries that bring him pleasure due to the pain it causes to him and the opponent. Once he is done toying with opponents in this way he stabs himself in the heart, killing them. Links can be broken prematurely if Hidan is removed from the safety of his symbol, though it can easily be reestablished by simply reentering its borders. After Hidan uses this ability to kill Asuma Sarutobi, Shikamaru Nara faces him in an attempt to gain revenge. Hidan is unable to form a link with Shikamaru and eventually falls into one of Shikamaru's traps. With Hidan captured, Shikamaru blows him up and buries the still-speaking remains under a pile of rubble. While his actual status is currently unknown, Akatsuki no longer considers him a member.

Kakuzu

• Ring: 北 ("north")
• Ring position: Left middle finger
• Partner: Formerly Hidan

Kakuzu (角都) is a missing-nin from Takigakure and Hidan's partner. He is a greedy individual, prioritizing things in terms of how much they are worth and finding money to be the only thing that he can depend on. Kakuzu's favorite source of income is collecting bounties, and he has even memorized the worth and information on some of the more dangerous targets. Due to this view of money, Kakuzu refers to himself as the "Treasurer of Akatsuki", though it is unknown if this is an actual position. Despite finding Akatsuki to be a good source of income, Kakuzu greatly dislikes the fact that he needs a teammate, due in part to his habit of killing anyone near him (partners included) when enraged. Having killed all of his previous partners as a result of this, Kakuzu was partnered with Hidan. Although neither enjoys being paired together Hidan's inability to die makes him the ideal teammate for Kakuzu.

Kakuzu's body is composed of a great deal of thick black threads that he can use to detach his limbs for long-range assaults. The threads themselves are also capable of piercing flesh, which Kakuzu uses to remove the still-living organs from his enemies. Once he has done so, Kakuzu can integrate these younger, healthier organs into his body that, in theory, allow him to extend his life indefinitely. Kakuzu most prominently uses hearts in this way, keeping up to four extra hearts with him at any given time. He keeps these spare hearts stored within animal masks sewn to his back, and each of the masks can separate from his body and attack independently. Once removed from his body, the masks can shoot powerful elemental blasts at opponents. If the heart in Kakuzu's body is destroyed, one of the masks can remerge with him so that he can take use of its heart, causing the mask to crumble away. Kakuzu also has an earth-based defensive technique that makes him virtually immune to physical attacks. Kakuzu's masks are slowly destroyed at the hands of a group of Konohagakure ninja; Naruto Uzumaki is able to destroy two of his hearts simultaneously and bring a third to the brink of failure. Although Kakuzu survives Naruto's attack, he is left unable to move, allowing him to easily be finished off by Kakashi Hatake.

Orochimaru

Main article: Orochimaru

• Ring: 空 ("sky")
• Ring position: Left little finger
• Partner: Formerly Sasori

Orochimaru is a missing-nin from Konohagakure. After he defects from Konoha he joins Akatsuki and is paired with Sasori. Once Itachi Uchiha does the same, Orochimaru attempts to use one of his abilities to forcefully take control of Itachi's body. Itachi repels his effort and severs his hand as punishment, forcing Orochimaru to flee the organization in defeat. Upon leaving he takes his severed hand and the ring he wore on it with him. Because of this, as well as the fact that he had intimate knowledge of Akatsuki's secrets and plans, the members of Akatsuki began making every effort possible to find and eliminate him.

Sasori

• Ring: 玉 ("jewel", "ball", also the king in shogi)
• Ring position: Left thumb
• Partner: Formerly Deidara, Orochimaru before that
• Seiyu: Takahiro Sakurai, Yutaka Aoyama (Hiruko), Akiko Yajima (as a child)

Sasori (サソリ) is a missing-nin from Sunagakure. After the death of his parents Sasori was left in the care of his grandmother, Chiyo, who taught him all she knew about using puppets in battle. With his newfound knowledge he created puppets in his parents' likeness so that he could feel their love. Since they were only emotionless puppets, his attempt failed, and he left them behind upon leaving the village. Once joining Akatsuki he was paired with Orochimaru, and after Orochimaru's betrayal Sasori took it upon himself to track his movements and plot his destruction. Sasori would come to form a better working relationship with Deidara, as seen by Deidara's admiration of Sasori's abilities. Although the two have differing views of art (Deidara preferring works that depart quickly and Sasori favoring long-lasting pieces), Deidara considers Sasori to be his master until the very end, even though Sasori never appreciated his ideals.

Sasori specializes in creating puppets out of the dead bodies of humans, which is done by removing its entrails and preserving it to prevent decomposition. Sasori is commonly seen with Hiruko, a puppet he wears like a suit so often that many characters can only recognize him while he is wearing it. For battle purposes he favors the puppet of the Third Kazekage, the leader of Sunagakure whom he killed prior to his defection. Because the Third was once a living person, the Third's unique abilities remain intact and Sasori can utilize them at his leisure. His most versatile human puppet, however, is himself, as he has long since converted his body into one. In addition to giving him an unnaturally young appearance, Sasori's puppet body allows him to control hundreds of puppets at once. Since he needs part of his original body to control puppets Sasori has preserved his heart in a cylinder-shaped device that he wears upon his chest. Sasori is able to survive any kind of attack so long as his heart remains undamaged, and he can even use it to switch to new bodies by simply placing the cylinder onto a new puppet. Every weapon that his puppets wield is also laced with a poison of Sasori's own design; the poison instantly numbs the body and kills the target after three days. Despite his large arsenal of weapons, Sasori is defeated after a prolonged battle with his grandmother and Sakura Haruno. In his final moments, however, he is able to feel the love of his parents, their puppet counterparts having been used by Chiyo to stab him through the heart in the form of a hug.

Former agents

Kabuto Yakushi

Main article: Kabuto Yakushi

Kabuto Yakushi is a former spy for Sasori, forced into the position through a form of mind control. Kabuto was sent to gain Orochimaru's confidence and relay information back to Sasori, though Orochimaru was able to remove Sasori's mind control soon after they met. Kabuto is left with the option to swear allegiance to whomever he likes, and Kabuto picks Orochimaru over Akatsuki. Despite this, Kabuto continues to pretend to be Sasori's spy so as to gain information on Orochimaru's behalf.

Yura

• Rank: Jonin
• Seiyu: Hideo Watanabe

Yura (由良, Yūra) is a spy for Sasori who acts as a sleeper agent within Sunagakure. Before his assignment Yura's memories of being an Akatsuki member were wiped to prevent him revealing himself by accident. He is able to work his way into the Kazekage's advisory council, where he serves as a trusted member for four years. Once Sasori finds need of him his role as a subordinate of Akatsuki returns to him; he kills the Sunagakure ninja guarding the village's borders so that Sasori's partner, Deidara, can have safe passage into the village. He is later used as a sacrifice by the Akatsuki leader and becomes a copy of Itachi Uchiha, which is ultimately killed by Naruto Uzumaki.