The Naruto series began in the Fall of 1999, and over the next 15 years, it became one of the most popular and successful manga and anime series of all time. The story focuses on a young ninja who grew up in a village where almost everyone hated or ignored him because he was the host of the Nine-Tails, a demon fox that had attacked the village a few years earlier.
Nine of these Tailed Beasts exist in the ninja world, and they all possess immense power, which is why they became coveted weapons. The Akatsuki was a group of powerful rouge ninja from various lands, and they wanted to capture the Tailed Beasts so they could use them to achieve true world peace through fear and conquest. Unfortunately, the organization did a lot of terrible things to make their ideal world a reality.
10 They Attempted To Kidnap Killer B, Twice
When Itachi died, the Akatsuki was significantly low on members, which is why Sasuke and his team were brought in as temporary members, and the organization sent them to the Land of Lightning to capture Killer B, but the 8-Tails' Jinchuriki managed to escape by using a substitution jutsu.
The Akatsuki were determined to capture him though, which is why Kisame was sent to bring him in during the Five Kage Summit, and it ended with Kisame having to fake his own death. Like other Jinchuriki, the Akatsuki wanted to capture B and steal his Tailed Beast, despite knowing that the act would kill him.
9 They Went After The Feudal Lords
The Fourth Great Ninja War had a fair bit of tragedy, and it all started because the five great ninja villages wanted to protect B and Naruto from the Akatsuki and Madara Uchiha. The war was fought on multiple fronts, and Black Zetsu was tasked with capturing the Feudal Lords.
The Feudal Lords are the political leaders of each country, and the ninja villages are only allowed to exist and operate because of them, but they are just ordinary humans with no ninja skills of their own. The Akatsuki wanted to take them hostage so they could use them as bargaining chips during the war.
8 They Kidnapped & Killed Yugito
The Cloud Village was once in possession of the Two-Tails as well, and its final Jinchuriki was a female Jonin named Yugito. She was a wise, proud, and courageous ninja who had a pleasant relationship with Killer B, and she did not fear luring two Akatsuki members into a two-on-one battle.
It was Hidan and Kakuzu who were tasked with bringing her in, and seeing as they were not allowed to kill her, they ended up causing her a lot of bodily harm instead. Not only did she have to endure a small amount of torture, but she also ended up dead thanks to the Tailed-Beast extraction jutsu.
7 They Kidnapped & Killed Utakata
Utakata is the Six-Tails' former Jinchuriki, and Naruto met and befriended him during a 7-episode filler arc. The arc showed the bond between Utakata and his student, Hotaru, but it also showed that the Mist Village was constantly trying to capture him to retrieve their Tailed Beast.
In the arc's final episode, Utakata and Hotaru finally seem to be at peace, and the prospect of a bright future is now ahead of them, but that dream is shattered by Pain, who attacks and subsequently captures Utakata, and the remaining Akatsuki proceed to kill him through the Tailed-Beast extraction.
6 They Infiltrated The Five Kage Summit
Of all the arcs in the series, the Five Kage Summit Arc is one of the best, and it had direct implications for the Akatsuki because the Kage were meeting to discuss how best to deal with the organization. Danzo was sent as Konoha's interim Hokage, and since Sasuke wanted to kill him, the Akatsuki allowed him to crash the summit.
In doing so, Sasuke ended up killing multiple samurai who were on simple guard duty, and he fought four legitimate Kage, which would cause an international crisis even under normal circumstances. Even Zetsu got involved by attaching chakra draining clones onto the Kage.
5 They Attacked The Fire Temple & Killed Chiriku
The Akatsuki needed money in order to operate, and one of the easiest ways to make money in the ninja world is through bounties, which is why the organization sought out Kakuzu. After leaving his village, Kakuzu spent the majority of his life as a bounty hunter, and this is what led him to attack the Fire Temple.
He assaulted the temple with Hidan, and they did this in order to kill Chiriku, a powerful ninja monk who had a significant price on his head. Their mission was a success, and they took Chiriku's body to a bounty station.
4 They Manipulated Yura & Forced Him To Kill His Own Men
There are several ninja who are stronger than Sasori, but that does not mean that he is not a dangerous ninja himself. Sasori was partnered with Deidara, and they were tasked with capturing Shukaku the One-Tail, but to do so, they needed a way to infiltrate the Sand Village.
As a former Sand ninja, Sasori had a way in, and it came in the form of Yura, a high-ranking ninja who served on the Kazekage's council. Before he left the village, Sasori turned him into a sleeper agent with a mind manipulation technique. Yura had no idea he was compromised, and Sasori forced him to kill the men he stationed on guard duty.
3 They Almost Destroyed The Sand Village & Kidnapped Gaara
Gaara may have started out as a villain, but he managed to become a true hero, and this became truly evident when he sacrificed himself in order to save his village from Deidara's attack. Deidara was the Akatsuki's explosives expert, and when it appeared as though he was going to lose his battle with Gaara, he dropped a bomb on the Sand Village.
This bomb would have destroyed a large portion of the village, which would've killed thousands of innocent civilians, but Gaara absorbed the impact with his sand. This left Gaara open for attack, and Deidara took advantage. Not only did the Akatsuki successfully kidnap Gaara, but they also temporarily killed him by removing Shukaku from his body.
2 They Killed Asuma
Hidan is a foul-mouthed individual who killed people without any sort of moral restraints, which is why he is one the Akatsuki's evilest members. He was able to become immortal thanks to his Jashin religion, which encourages its followers to kill, and he uses his religion's forbidden jutsu on Asuma.
Asuma was killed in this encounter, and although his team attacked Hidan and Kakuzu first, the zombie duo ultimately killed him for other reasons. Hidan wanted to kill him for the sheer pleasure of it, while Kakuzu wanted him dead so they could collect the bounty on Asuma's head.
1 Pain Caused Mass Destruction In Konoha
Many fans consider the Pain Invasion Arc to be the best arc in the series because it places Pain at the forefront while also marking a turning point for Naruto and the series as a whole. Pain assaults Konoha because he wants to capture Naruto and the Nine-Tails, and this leads to a lot of destruction and death.
After discovering Naruto's location, Pain visits Tsunade who is healing the other villagers, and he becomes angry at her perceived lack of pain, so he decides to take to the air and unleashes a powerful Shinra Tensei which wipes out most of the village. This attack hits hundreds of innocent villagers, but luckily they are resurrected at the end of the arc.