Naruto Shippuden: Ten Members in Akatsuki Reflect Ten Greatest Human Desires
— The hidden virtue behind the organization of villains
PAIN — Peace
Yahiko was the founder of Akatsuki, also the leader of its spirit — his dream was to bring peace and stability to his home country, the Nation of Rain. His country was trapped between the conflicts of superpower states, suffering from dire poverty due to war. But reality didn’t turn to be what he desired. He was left a choice by his foe, forced to choose between assassinating one of his comrades and killing himself. He sacrificed himself to save his comrades. Another close comrade of him, Nagato, who was believed to be the child of prophecy, recycled and controlled Yahiko’s body and turned him into “PAIN” with the power of his Rinnegan, continues to pursue Yahiko’s dream. However, different from Yahiko who believed in real collaboration between nations, Nagato pursues peace with power. He believes power is the only tool to provoke fear and pain, with which real understanding between humans can be achieved once everyone lives under the same pain.
OBITO — Love
Growing up with Nohara Rin and Hatake Kakashi, Obito built strong friendships with them, and eventually he fell in love with Rin. During the third shinobi world war, Obito was thought to be dead after a mission with Rin and Kakashi. What they didn’t know was Obito was saved and trained by Madara, whom was using Obito for his Eye of the Moon Plan. Madara created this plan to bring peace to the world — projecting the infinite Tsukuyomi on the moon to capture the entire world in a dream, which keeps mankind harmless and safe, but at the cost of being trapped in this matrix forever. Madara designed a battle in which he manipulated Rin to kill herself by Kakashi’s Ninjutsu, and deliberately let this to be seen by Obito. Obito was traumatized, he witnessed his best friend killing the love of his life. He cradled Rin’s lifeless body in his arms, and vowed « Rin, I’m going to create a world with you and me in it ». From then on, he joined Madara with his Eye of the Moon Plan, hoping to recreate a new world where he and Rin can reunite. Before Obito met Naruto, he had never accepted the reality he lived in, even his Ninjutsu was able to open up a different dimension to which he can escape. He had always worn different masks, covering his face as if he didn’t know who he was anymore. Once people put on masks, they are capable of every evil deed. Because as long as he avoids reality and abandons his identity, the world would mean nothing to him. Maybe it’s not that Obito didn’t cherish his country, his clan, or his old friends, but that he put all of his faith into the new world he’s creating — no matter how he sabotaged this world, his hope would always be there in his matrix.
SASORI — Childhood
Sasori had a loving family with his parents and grandmother, until he lost his parents in the second shinobi world war when he was a child. To protect him from getting hurt, his grandmother covered the truth from him by telling him that he’ll have to wait for his parents going on a long mission. His grandmother also taught him puppetry so that Sasori wouldn’t feel as lonely. The first two puppets he created were in the image of his parents, attempting to fill the void of missing them while being in the hope of seeing them again. However years after years, his parents never returned. He had been hopeful all his life until he discovered that everything had been a lie. He became devastated. « These things that are called ‘people’, can be made unlimitedly by me, for however many I want », he said. So then he started making puppets out of real people, including the third Kazekage, whom he killed. Konan invited him to join Akatsuki, where he then transformed his own body into a puppet, with only his heart left in the human form. In the battle with his grandmother Chiyo and Sakura after 20 years, Chiyo released the puppets « Parents » he created in childhood. For one moment when he saw the puppets of his parents he had a flashback of them and his own childhood, which turned out to be his biggest weakness. He hesitated to dodge, and the swords from his parents went right through his heart, where the only humanity of his still remained.
DEIDARA — Art
“ Art is an explosion! ”
Different from Deidara’s partner Sasori, who pursued art by creating puppets to preserve the infinity of life, Deidara believed in the philosophy that beauty lasts for only one single moment. He joined Akatsuki for he saw every member as an artist from whom he can get inspiration. With the possession of Explosion Release Kekkei Genkai and stealing the kinjutsu from his village, he was able to sculpture explosive clays and knead his chakra within them. His most powerful explosion, the ultimate jutsu C0, was turning himself into an explosive. He used this ultimate one time only, with the cost of his life: « This time I’m going to detonate myself, in death I shall become art itself, but while I will be admired, you’ll most definitely be dead. » Dying at the age of 19, he was highly respected by the rest of Akatsuki members for his designation of ephemerality.
*The figure of Deidara was inspired by Japanese abstract and avant-garde artist Taro Okamoto, who was known for his paintings, sculptures and potteries.
KONAN — Friendship
“ His dream is my dream. ”
Being the only female member of Akatsuki, along with Yahiko and Nagato, Konan was another founder of Akatsuki as well. She didn’t have the ambition like Yahiko and Nagato did, but going through hardships in war time made her resonate with them, and she would do anything to support their pursuit of peace.
ITACHI — Family
“ Forgive me, Sasuke. ”
Itachi had not only advanced Ninjutsu, but also sophisticated views of the world and his values. When his clan Uchiha was planning to start a revolt against Konoha (their village), as a member of Anbu Black Ops, Itachi was forced to choose between helping his own clan, and saving Konoha from this revolt. Itachi understood that he couldn’t protect his village and his clan at the same time, even if he were to help his own clan, Konoha will fall into chaos and suffering. Growing up in war time, witnessing violence and death, Itachi recognized how precious peace was. So the only bargain he made when he was ordered to kill all of his clan for the greater good, was to keep his younger brother Sasuke alive. From then on, he became the most wanted criminal of Konoha, while he was protecting Sasuke from the dark. He lied to Sasuke his whole life, making Sasuke think that he was the traitor for his village and the murderer of his clan, just to provoke him to grow stronger. He told Sasuke, « You don’t have to forgive me, no matter what you decide to do from now on… no matter where you are… I will always love you ».
ZETSU — Imperation
Zetsu was the biggest conspirator and manipulator in Akatsuki. Since the death of his mother Otsutsuki Kaguya, he had been assigned with the task of resurrecting her. For centuries he seemed to be the observer of every event, but he secretly sowed discord among the Uchiha and Senju clans, manipulating them into gathering 9 Bijuu as his means of reviving Kaguya.
KISAME — Strength
Kisame was nicknamed as the tailless bijuu due to his extremely large amount of Chakra. Even before he joined Akatsuki, he had been very strong and powerful, so he was assigned with many dangerous missions, including the ones that required him to kill his own comrades in order to protect the intel from leaking. Since then, he was trapped in guilt that made him believe he was a worthless and terrible person. He warned everyone he worked with that one day he would kill them. He had been questioning his place in the world, and this disillusionment was what made him support the Eye of the Moon Plan in Akatsuki.
KAKUZU — Money
Kakuzu was originally from Takigakure village, where he was assigned with the mission to assassinate the First Hokage. Despite he risked his life for this mission, the officials in Takigakure gave him harsh punishments and imprisonment only because the mission ended up being a failure. Kakuzu felt that his village betrayed his loyalty so he had been holding hatred for the officials. Before he fled from his village, he stole the forbidden technique which allowed him to store the hearts of the officials he killed. This forbidden Ninjutsu enabled him to always replenish human hearts and in a way, this made him immortal. However people get lost when they reach immortality, when everyone you know in life passes away, all you have left is time. But for Kakuzu, he eventually found something that can last forever — money. Like his immortality, money can never betray him, nor ever fade.
HIDAN — Religion
Growing up as a shinobi, Hidan detested how his village turned from a shinobi village to a tourist destination. He believed that shinobi was meant to fight and kill, so he joined the religion of Jashin, which worshiped the deity of Jashin by feeding him blood. This faith led him to consider everything less than slaughter a sin as a shinobi.
