AKATSUKI
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| Akatsuki (暁; Literally meaning "Dawn" or "Daybreak") is a criminal organization of S-Class missing-nin and is the most wanted group in all of the shinobi world. Their main goal is to collect all of the tailed beasts for their plan of world domination. As such, Akatsuki, despite initially having a minor role during Part I, have become the primary antagonists in Part II. Akatsuki at any given time is composed of no more than ten primary members, all of whom were S-Class criminals of their own respective villages. Members always work in teams of two with the exception of Zetsu, who functions as the organization's spy, and make use of their unique skills to the team's advantage. Team members must function very well or at least to accomplish their task even though they have a mutual problems with each other. The organization is rarely fully assembled, as seen in the end of Part I, when one member said it was the first time in seven years when they were all together. Akatsuki is widespread, spanning several countries with agents in various places. When one team finds a tailed beast and has to begin the job of sealing the beast, they have hidden hideouts with many traps ready, to do the three-day long jutsu.
HistoryAkatsuki was created for the purpose of collecting the nine tailed beasts. Both Madara Uchiha and Nagato have claimed to be the creators of the organization, the former after leaving Konohagakure, the latter some time after the Third Great Shinobi World War. Nagato is regarded as the "leader" by most of Akatsuki for as long as he is alive, though he takes orders from Madara, who replaced him as leader after his death. Regardless of who created Akatsuki, it is believed that Akatsuki was first formed in Kirigakure. Although there is no known evidence for this rumor (though Madara was apparently once a Mizukage), other villages blame Kirigakure for Akatsuki's actions.In its early days, Akatsuki was a mercenary group for hire. In times of peace most of the ninja villages, rather than increase their own armaments, employed Akatsuki to fight in wars, spy on enemies, or carry out assassinations. The Fourth Raikage claims that only Kumogakure has never used Akatsuki's services. Eventually, Akatsuki would begin capturing the tailed beasts, in the process antagonizing many of its former clients. Events relating to Akatsuki before the start of Part II have only been given in pieces. Sasori and Orochimaru were partners for a time and were apparently very effective. Kakuzu had a number of partners that he killed in fits of rage. For this reason he was partnered with Hidan shortly before the start of Part II, Hidan's immortality meaning there would not need to be constant replacements. Itachi Uchiha apparently joined before carrying out the Uchiha Clan Massacre for which he defected from Konoha, though his membership seems to have come with the stipulation that Akatsuki could make no direct movements against Konoha. When Itachi joined, Orochimaru attempted to steal his body in order to gain the Sharingan. This failed and he was forced to defect. Deidara was recruited to replace Orochimaru as Sasori's partner, but because Orochimaru took his Akatsuki ring with him he could not also replace Orochimaru's position. Akatsuki also captured two tailed beasts before Part II, which in the anime are indicated to have been the Five-Tails and the Seven-Tails. Akatsuki becomes much more active in Part II. At its start they assault Sunagakure to capture the One-Tail, but Sasori is killed. Madara, disguised as "Tobi", replaces him. Next are the Two-Tails and Three-Tails, though Hidan and Kakuzu are lost during an unrelated scuffle with Konoha ninja. After obtaining the Four-Tails, Deidara dies during his fight with Sasuke Uchiha, who soon afterwards kills Itachi too. Sasuke then begins working with Akatsuki. Although Akatsuki has lost five members at this point, Madara claims it was worth it in order to gain Sasuke's loyalty. Despite this, their diminished numbers force Akatsuki to become more drastic in their efforts. In the anime, Nagato goes to Kirigakure to capture the Six-Tails (the beast having been caught at some earlier point in the manga). He and Konan are then sent to Konoha to capture the Nine-Tails. Konoha is destroyed, but they fail in their assignment, Nagato dying and Konan leaving the organization. At the same time, Sasuke is tasked with capturing the Eight-Tails, but he fails too. Akatsuki's actions finally provoke a response from the ninja villages, who hold a Kage Summit to discuss Akatsuki. Madara, wishing to accelerate his plans, infiltrates the meeting and declares war against the great nations, promising to use the seven tailed beasts Akatsuki has already captured in battle. The villages and their associated countries form a Shinobi Alliance to combat Akatsuki, beginning the Fourth Great Shinobi World War. GoalMain GoalAlthough some members joined Akatsuki to further their own goals, all are united in Akatsuki's ultimate goal of gaining world domination.[1] Nagato has mentioned a three-step process to work their way towards this goal.[2] First, they plan to obtain a large amount of money to support their organization.[2] Second, they plan to set up a mercenary group loyal only to Akatsuki.[3] 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.[3] Because there haven't been any wars in some time, the established shinobi villages couldn't afford to charge such low prices, leading the smaller countries to hire Akatsuki over the more expensive shinobi villages.[3] By using the tailed beasts, Akatsuki would start wars and then immediately quell them, solidifying their reputation and convincing every country to depend on them, thus cornering the market in shinobi labor.[4] Without any business, the other shinobi villages would collapse due to the lack of funds.[4] Finally, after Akatsuki is the only major force of shinobi in existence, they can easily conquer the other countries.[4] Members do not automatically learn of the plan upon joining; Hidan didn't find out about it until he had been a member for quite some time.[2]The tailed beasts, nine gigantic demons of immense power, are the main focus of much of Akatsuki's efforts and screen time within the series. Each member is assigned to capture one of the nine beasts alive or, in most cases, the person that beast has been sealed into.[5] Akatsuki has sealed seven of the nine beasts before the start of the Fourth Great Shinobi World War.[6] Madara's GoalMain article: Moon's Eye Plan Since the early years of Konoha, Madara has shown great interest in destroying it for the betrayal of his own Uchiha clan and the defeat by Hashirama Senju. He has also stated that he wants people to acknowledge the Uchiha clan and plans to use Sasuke to do so. Another one of Madara's goals is to become "complete" by collecting the tailed beasts. All of this seem to be part of his "Moon's Eye Plan" (月の眼計画, Tsuki no Me Keikaku). His plan is to gather all of the tailed beasts so he can fuse them and bring forth the Ten-Tailed Beast and become his Jinchūriki, then cast an Infinite Tsukuyomi on the moon to control the world. Currently the body of the Ten-Tailed Beast is sealed in the moon due to Sage of the Six Paths using Chibaku Tensei. To this end, Madara declared a world war to succeed in his goal.Pain's GoalPain later goes into further detail on the tailed beasts' role in his plans. The beasts would be used to create a deadly Kinjutsu technique that could wipe out one of the five great nations in an instant, so if countries go to war and do not have ninja villages to fight for them, they would turn to Akatsuki and their "weapons". Whichever side makes Pain use the technique first would wipe out the opposing country, which would scare them into never using their weapon again, and scare the other countries to never start a war or they would be wiped out too. Through the mutual fear, war would cease to exist and the world would know peace, until the people forget that fear and use the weapon again. Thus the cycle would repeat, creating small periods of peace in an endless chain of hatred.[7]Apparently, Pain and Konan were the only Akatsuki members aware of this. After Pain's death and Konan's defection, this goal has been ceased. Itachi's GoalAfter the Uchiha Massacre and leaving Konoha, Itachi, instead of using the tailed beasts for his own self-interest, continued to protect the village by joining Akatsuki and keeping an eye on them, especially Sasuke, from the outside. During his time in the group, Itachi would delay his own attempts to capture the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, indirectly leaked information about the organization to Konoha, and attempted to kill Madara through Sasuke. Before his death, Itachi gave Naruto some of his "power", telling him to continue protecting Konoha and Sasuke, should the event occur that Sasuke would plan for their village's destruction. The "power" that Itachi gave to Naruto remains unknown.WardrobeAkatsuki members have a similar way of dress, which could give them away if a village is alerted of their presence. Members wear long, dark cloaks with red clouds, a red interior, and a chin-high collar (although at one point, Madara wears one with a hood and no sleeves). All members wear nail polish of varying colors on their fingers and toenails, and may wear a conical straw hat with small spike-like balls hanging down to cover their faces. The hats may be used to move around in the general population unnoticed, or for when the weather requires one.[8] Some members tend to wear their village headband with a slash across to symbolize the broken ties with their former villages, while others cease wearing them for several reasons. Everyone also wears a ring with a kanji on different fingers depending on who the member is.Akatsuki Rings and Ring PositionsWhat seems to be most important, however, are their rings. In total, there are ten rings given to each of the ten main members of Akatsuki. The rings apparently signify one's membership and ring position, since when Orochimaru defected, he took his ring with him[9] and as such wasn't replaced.[10] The rings' exact purpose have not been revealed.
In Part II, Taka aligns themselves with Akatsuki. They wear Akatsuki cloaks, but they seem to have hoods instead of high collars. None of them wear headbands, nail polishes, nor the rings, which signify them being unofficial members. Their inter-group relationship is also fragile, as Sasuke claimed that he is only using Akatsuki, and once severed connections with them when they thought Killer Bee was captured. In turn, Madara threatens to kill them for any attempts of betrayal. Members
Associates
TeamsAkatsuki teams are put together in teams of two to exploit combined strengths for the organization's goals to be met.
Sasori claimed that he and Orochimaru worked well together during their partnership. However, when Orochimaru defected from Akatsuki after his failed attempt to steal Itachi's body, Sasori developed a grudge against his former partner.
When Akatsuki's ranks are thinned to five members, Madara enlists the aid of Taka, who shares the desire for the destruction of Konoha. To complete their goals, Madara has ordered Taka to hunt down the Eight-Tailed Giant Ox while Akatsuki (particularly Pain) hunts for the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. Technically, the members of Taka are not full members of Akatsuki, as they do not possess the rings worn by each of the primary members. However, they have been wearing Akatsuki cloaks, signifying their affiliation with the organization. After catching what appeared to be Killer Bee, Sasuke claimed that Taka was no longer affiliated with Akatsuki. Out of all the members, however, only Sasuke chooses to remain affiliated with Madara and Akatsuki after Taka's disbandment. TRIVIA
TAKA
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Although their team was originally one of necessity, they came to consider each other teammates and risked their lives to protect each other as time went on. However, as Sasuke became more corrupt and focused in his revenge against Konoha, he abandoned Jūgo and Suigetsu in the Land of Iron to pursue Danzō, and critically wounded with the intent to kill Karin when she became a burden to him, effectively disbanding Taka.
edit MotivesSasuke was initially driven by the desire to avenge his clan by killing his brother, and after learning the truth about his brother, avenging it by destroying Konohagakure. Each member indicates having their own motive for joining the team upon its formation:[1]
edit NameThe name "Hawk" likely derives from the Japanese proverb "a hawk born from a kite" (鳶が鷹を生む, tobi ga taka o umu). It normally means that an extraordinarily gifted child can be born from ordinary parents. However, here it gains an extra meaning, since Tobi (whose name means kite) was responsible for the reformation of Hebi into Taka.edit Trivia
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