Summary

• Akatsuki, led by Nagato, became powerful, twisted by trauma & Madara's influence.
• Certain Akatsuki (Hidan, Sasori, Kakuzu) stood out with unique powers & personas.
• The Akatsuki gang in Naruto was a collection of the mightiest, enduring across adaptations.

The Naruto franchise features multiple groups of villainous shinobi with their sights set on the Hidden Leaf Village. The Seven Deadly Swordsman, the Kara, the Taka, and the Sound Five are but a few of these organizations. However, none are as powerful as the Akatsuki. The Akatsuki began in Naruto's 80th episode, when Kisame and Itachi infiltrated the Hidden Leaf to capture the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and their reign of terror would only spread from there.

Originally founded by Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan to protect the Village Hidden in the Rain from Hanzo, the Akatsuki had noble intentions. After Yahiko's death, the second order of the group was assembled under Nagato's command to carry out Madara Uchiha's plan for world domination. Despite its many setbacks, the Akatsuki group survived across the years, most recently because of Shin Uchiha's actions in Boruto. From one incarnation to another, the Akatsuki gang has featured some of the shinobi world's mightiest warriors, capable of jutsu no one else could even dream of.

Updated on April 10, 2024 by Jenny Melzer: The Akatsuki as most Naruto fans know them had some incredibly powerful members. From Sasori to Pain, each of them left a lasting mark on the Hidden Leaf Village and its ninjas. One could almost claim that the original Akatsuki started out as a noble organization, but grief and pain, combined with the manipulative whisperings of Madara Uchiha, twisted it into something much darker.

12 Hidan's Immortality Made Him a Powerful, Albeit Arrogant Foe

Most fans remember Hidan because of the emotional role he played in Shikamaru Nara and Asuma Sarutobi’s storyline. However, his powers of immortality made him one of the most unique — and complicated — Akatsuki members. He may not have been the strongest of them, but Hidan's spiritual connection to Jashin made him incredibly powerful--and immortal. This made him arrogant, cocky, and dangerous, and he used this power to take out Team 10's leader, Asuma Sarutobi

Because of his immortality, Hidan didn’t actually have to be the best fighter to win a battle — he just needed to outlast his opponent. Shikamaru was forced to perform a lot of planning and utilize some inventive techniques to bring Hidan’s reign of terror to an end, and even then, all Shikamaru did was bury him. Somewhere out there in the Narutoverse, Hidan is still buried alive and in pieces, plotting, waiting, and raging at the injustice of his defeat. While that alone is enough to land him a spot on the list of the Akatsuki's most powerful members, there are still plenty far more powerful than Hidan.

11 Sasori of the Red Sand Learned to Create Puppets From Living People

Sasori was a ninja from the Hidden Sand Village who worked as both a puppet maker and an assassin before joining the Akatsuki. His most impressive assassination was his killing of the Third Kazekage, whom Sasori turned into a puppet shortly afterward. He transformed many people into puppets over the years, including his own parents, and even himself. His masterful manipulation as a puppeteer made him a powerful foe, which Sakura and Sasori's own grandmother, Lady Chiyo, found out first hand when they went toe to toe with him.

Because Sasori turned himself into a puppet when he was young, he still had the appearance of a young boy. He skillfully expanded the parameters of his chakra control beyond that of any regular ninja, and he was capable of wielding a hundred puppets at a time. On top of that, Sasori could imbue his weapons with poison and attack with millions of microscopic homing projectiles at the same time.

10 Kakuzu Wiped Out Entire Villages Single-Handedly In His Time

Kakuzu joined the Akatsuki in hopes of expanding his fortune, and he was known to be one of the greediest people in the Shinobi World. He defeated multiple Jinchuriki, including Fuu and Yugito, and has slain entire villages alone without any help from Hidan.

Kakuzu effectively made himself immortal by keeping five hearts spread throughout his body, each of which is represented on his body as a mask that uses different chakra natures. He was so durable that even Matatabi and Kakashi were incapable of damaging him under normal circumstances.

9 Deidara's Obsession With Artful Explosions Made Him Incredibly Dangerous

Deidara's skillset was pretty strange, even for a shinobi from the Naruto franchise. Prior to defecting from his village, Deidara was a member of the Explosive Corps, and he offered his services for hire to various warring nations. When the Akatsuki got wind of his abilities, they brought him into the fold, though there is evidence it was against his will. As the youngest member of the organization, he was partnered with Sasori until his death, and then paired with Tobi until Deidar himself died.

He possessed one mouth on each of his hands, and when he fed them clay, those mouths could form an array of devastating explosive tools. Deidara was incredibly stealthy, and thanks to his clay weapons, he was able to go toe-to-toe with some of the strongest characters in the entire series. He fought Gaara and Sasuke both on equal footing, defeating the former with ease and almost taking out the latter before bringing on his own demise.

8 Konan Was a Founding Member of the Original Atkatsuki with Nagato and Yahiko

Konan is one of only two Akatsuki members to survive the first iteration of the team. She also ranks incredibly high in the organization, even if the members like to think they are all equal in their pursuits. She is, after all, an advisor to both Yahiko and Nagato during their time as leader of the group, and both of them deeply valued her intelligence and insight.

Konan's ability to channel her chakra through paper, as well as transform into those pieces of paper, is incredibly unique for the series. Enemies might have misjudged her, but as evidenced by her fight with Obitio Uchiha, she is a threat against almost anybody when she has the time to prepare. That being said, there are other members of the Akatsuki who are far more powerful than she is, including her friend Nagato.

7 Kisame Hoshigaki Didn't Just Look Like a Shark, He Acted the Part Well

Kisame Hoshigaki was a man who held many shark-like qualities. Trained by Fuguki Suikazan, a member of the Seven Deadly Swordsman and the former wielder of the sword Samehada, Kisame killed his master and took the blade for himself after discovering Fuguki was selling information to enemy ninja villages. Kisame eventually tamed Samehada and learned to merge with the blade at will, increasing his already epic abilities.

Known as the "Tailless Tailed Beast" among allies and enemies, Kisame was noted to have both the chakra reserves and power of a Tailed Beast, securing his position as one of the strongest Akatsuki members of all time. He fought by draining the chakra of his opponents constantly during battle, and he briefly comes out victorious in combat against Killer B.

6 Orochimaru Was One of the Leaf Villages Most Powerful & Slippery Shinobi

Orochimaru traveled all over the Shinobi World, and he was perhaps the most knowledgeable ninja since Hagoromo — better known as the Sage of Six Paths — about the secrets of ninjutsu. Many have noted that despite his villainous approach, he was known to be one of the strongest shinobi to have ever existed. He joined the Akatsuki to study their techniques, and in the long-term, his ultimate goal was to become truly immortal and master every possible jutsu.

One of Orochimaru's most fearsome techniques was Edo Tensei, which allowed him to summon mighty shinobi like the Hokage to fight against potential opponents. Orochimaru could also "shed" his skin to escape harm and continue the fight in a backup body, and he could summon Manda the giant snake to finish off any opponent. His skill coupled with a remarkable intellect that allowed him to easily outsmart nearly every opponent he ever faced--even cheating death multiple times over the years.

5 Nagato Endured So Much Pain In His Life He Became the Living Embodiment of It

Pain was the animated corpse of the villainous Yahiko, the founder of the original Akatsuki, and he was controlled by the second leader of the Akatsuki — Nagato. Nagato's Rinnegan allowed him to control the Six Paths of Pain, and while controlling them, he not only killed Jiraiya but also destroyed the entire Hidden Leaf Village. He served as the leader of the second order of the Akatsuki, though he was actually being remotely controlled by Nagato Uzumaki.

Nagato had the power to control gravity using the Shinra Tensei and the Chibaku Tensei techniques, and he was capable of using the Six Paths, which allowed him to summon powerful animals, use the God of Death, pull out people's souls, turn his body cybernetic, and employ several other techniques. Were his body not failing him from decades of overuse, then even Sage Mode Naruto likely could not have defeated him.

4 Itachi Uchiha May Have Been a Spy Within the Akatsuki, but He Was One of Their Most Powerful Members

Itachi Uchiha was undoubteldy one of the strongest members of the Akatsuki, primarily because he spent years among them as a spy, and no one ever rooted him out. Because of the Uchiha Clans' plan to overthrow the Hokage, Itachi was forced to assassinate his entire clan years before the events of Naruto. However, Itachi could not bring himself to kill his little brother, Sasuke, so he spared Sasuke's life before defecting to the Akatsuki in order to spy on the organization from within.

Itachi possessed some of the most formidable ocular jutsu of the Akatsuki, and he was capable of using the Tsukuyomi, which created a genjutsu world in which Itachi could control all matter, space, and time. He could also use the Susano'o technique, the Izanagi, and the Izanami, speaking to his status as one of the Uchiha Clan's finest warriors.

3 Obito Uchiha

Obito, posing as Madara Uchiha, was the founder of the third order of the Akatsuki. Having been a disciple of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, he spent the latter half of his life presumed dead by his team. Saved by Madara Uchiha, the elder Uchiha brainwashed him into committing the legendary shinobi's bidding, including turning on his own village.

Obito Uchiha's genjutsu was even greater than the Kotoamatsukami, and he was capable of keeping Yagura under his control for many years without any other shinobi noticing. He inherited the Rinnegan, awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan, possessed Hashirama cells, and even briefly gained control of the Ten-Tails. Were it not for the combined efforts of the Allied Shinobi Forces, he would have almost certainly defeated every hero in the series.

2 Zetsu Was the Most Dangerous and Manipulative Members of the Akatsuki

Zetsu was undoubtedly one of the most intelligent characters in all of Naruto. As one of Kaguya Otsutsuki's "sons", he spent millennia plotting her return. He actually carved some of the prophecies on the Uchiha Stone, setting in motion the events that led to the second order of the Akatsuki.

In his White Zetsu form, Zetsu could create an army of clones that are capable of quickly overwhelming their enemies. Black Zetsu was capable of leeching onto powerful people, to the extent that Madara was defeated because Zetsu latched onto him and caught him off guard with a finishing blow.

1 Madara Uchiha May Not Have Been An Official Member, But He Orchestrated Everything

Madara Uchiha was the first notable person whom Zetsu involved in his plan to resurrect Kaguya Otsutsuki, and coincidentally, Madara was one of the few characters who may have been able to stand up to her overwhelming strength. Madara was capable of using the Infinite Tsukiyomi, the Izanagi, the Izanami, and a host of Rinnegan-related abilities.

Madara developed his Susanoo further than any character in the series, and by cloning this creation, he effortlessly wiped out the Five Kage. His power as the Ten-Tails jinchuriki rivaled even that of Hagoromo Otsutsuki, making the co-founder of the Hidden Leaf Village the most powerful member Akatsuki member, as well as arguably the strongest shinobi of all time. Though Madara wasn't officially a member of the Akatsuki in the same way the others were, he did have a hand in guiding it down the path it took, and between his manipulative abilities and his incredible power as a ninja, he is undoubtedly the strongest of the Akatsuki.