Akatsuki is such an iconic group of villains that I don’t even mind being the villain just to be a part of it!
Akatsuki is not just some group that Kishimoto put together just to go up against Naruto!
Akatsuki had their motives, they had their goals, and possibly the best origin story of any villainous organization in all of anime!
In this article, we are gonna try to rank the members of Akatsuki based on their popularity among the fans and their contribution to the show!
I have had a tough time ranking them all!
I mean come on all of these guys are amazing and powerful.
But nonetheless, I have done it, I have managed to rank them so, Here we go!
14. Yahiko
The man who started it all!
Yahiko had a heart full of desire, he wanted to overcome the adversities he and his brethren faced as children.
He actually wanted to leave a positive mark on this world and so he made the Akatsuki along with Konan and Nagato.
Akatsuki for him was supposed to be an organization that stopped all wars in Amegakure.
Yahiko wanted his village to stop weeping and thus he named his organization, “daybreak” the literal meaning of Akatsuki.
This is exactly why I think Kishimoto is a god-tier mangaka.
*Spoiler Alert* Yahiko, though he had what it takes to lead and he could have brought peace to a bleeding Amegakure.
The world conspired against him and he willingly committed suicide to save one of his best friends in a scene that gave us nothing but chills.
13. Kakuzu
Kakuzu of the Takigakure, a money-obsessed S-rank ninja who you won’t believe this but was tasked with the assassination of Hashirama Senju.
Well, obviously that did not go well but in his failure, the village punished him severely and imprisoned him.
Due to this treatment upon failing a mission that was literally impossible to complete he developed a hatred for the village and soon escaped the village, killing the elders and stealing their hearts.
Kakuzu and Hidan made an amazing team, the Zombie Combo as Kisame calls them.
The name stems from their Ninjutsu abilities that give them near-immortal life but as know, *SPOILER* he did die when all his stolen hearts were killed by leaf ninjas.
12. Hidan
The Immortal devotee of Jashinism, Hidan will follow his religion even in death but the thing is he cannot die!
The experiments of Jashinism cause his body to become immortal.
Other than due to malnutrition he cannot die to any fatal blow or ninjutsu whatsoever!
I liked Hidan for the antiques he pulled in some of the most serious situations ever.
Hidan and Kakuzu seemed to have no trouble capturing the two-tailed beast even in the beast form.
I think most fans including me hate him for what happened to Asuma but well Shikamaru did avenge the death of his beloved sensei.
11. White Zetsu
Techinically speaking, White Zetsu is one half of Zetsu, the other half being Black Zetsu.
I don’t know if I should’ve considered them one member but they are quite different characters so let us hope this way is better.
White Zetsu has a complicated backstory, he was one of the first victims of Kaguya’s Infinte Tsukiyomi.
Later, Black Zetsu pulled him out of the Demonic Statue and infused Hashirama’s DNA in the guy.
He was actually quite an important piece in the Fourth Ninja War and the Akatsuki’s overall plan.
10. Sasori
Akasuna no Sasori was the coolest villain we got to witness in the first part of Naruto Shippuden.
I think he is quite popular among the fans because of his absolute badass ninjutsu style but so are the other members of the Akatsuki.
Growing up Sasori lost both his parents in a battle against the leaf, so he was cared for by grandma Chiyo who taught him the art of puppetry.
Sasori was so intrigued by puppetry that he made his own puppets from his imagination which are still used by other puppeteers from the Sand Village, that’s is quite the legacy.
9. Orochimaru
Altough Orochimaru is more popular than a lot of the Akatsuki members on this list but he is not popular for being a part of the Akatsuki in the main arcs of Shippuden.
Since Orochimaru left the group do his own thing and you know typical villain stuff thus I am ranking him lower since we still do have glimpses from his Akatsuki days.
Most memorable one would be when Itachi and Orochimaru partnered up and Orocihmaru misbehaved, oh boy was he not ready for that! Itachi FTW!
8. Black Zetsu
The other half of Zetsu gave us a shocking twist at the end of the war, I mean I don’t think anyone would’ve seen that one coming.
*SPOILER ALERT* Black Zetsu is actually not even a person, he is a physical manifestation of Kaguya’s will and he literally finessed everyone in the Ninja World to make sure that Kaguya is revived!
I don’t even know what else to say about Black Zetsu, he literally fooled everyone into thinking that they would attain the Sage’s power all just to revive the deadliest creature.
7. Deidara
The artist who was rightfully proud of his creations, Deidara was a S-Rank Ninja who escaped from Iwagakure.
A young Deidara used to think he had perfected his art and that no one was better than him until he met Itachi.
When he saw Itachi in action he compared Itachi to god and realised that he was far from the best artist of the ninjutsu.
I loved Deidara’s chemistry with Tobi after his old partner Sasori was killed in action.
He possessed Explosion Release Kekkei Genkai, he used explosive clay which he could mould into various shapes and sizes, this was his art.
6. Konan
One of the three that founded the Akatsuki alonsige Nagato and Yahiko, Konan was the quiet one.
She followed Nagato and Yahiko and looked up to them, she tried to save their dreams until the last breath.
I have so much respect for Konan, she went up against Tobi, knowing the result but she still tried to save the dream that Yahiko saw, daybreak in Amegakure.
I am so glad that in her final moments she witnessed the daybreak that all three of them wished for since their childhood days.
That day a rainbow shined brighter than ever over the village hidden in the rain.
5. Kisame
Half man, half shark, Kisame was one of the seven swordsman from Kirigakure also nicknamed The Monster of the Hidden Mist.
Kisame possessed one of the strongest swords of the seven swordsmen, Samehada.
Another anomaly about Kisame is his chakra pool, the man is a walking chakra reserve.
His chakra was so massive that only 30 percent of it was equal to that of entire Naruto’s chakra, for this he was named, The Tailed Beast without a Tail.
I guess his best moments in the anime were his fights with Guy sensei, Kisame was a strong opponent but he failed against Guy-sensei and his Eight Gates technique.
4. Nagato
Nagato gave us possibly the best arc in Shippuden and the best ever quotes from the anime, my favorite is, “The World shall know Pain”.
He made everyone realise that all of them have got it easy in life, they did not go through the suffering and the pain he had to endure.
Another thing Nagato wanted was to bring peace to his village which always found itself in the middle of a war started by bigger countries with no regard to life in the small villages like Amegakure.
*SPOILER ALERT* Nagato used the rods embedded in the six pains to control them and their chakra from a distant location, a truth that Jiraya had to sacrifice his life to find out.
3. Tobi
Tobi is the fake persona that Obito created to hide his real identity while controlling the Akatsuki without them knowing a thing.
We know that Pain was the real leader of the organisation but it was all conspired a decade ago by the two Uchihas, Obito and Madara.
Those two made Pain believe it was all for peace but it was just so that Madara could obtain the power of the Sage of Six Paths.
Tobi partenered up with Deidara after the death of Sasori.
I actually believed that he was a joker because of the things he did and said.
I don’t think anyone would’ve guessed he’d have that big a role at the beginning.
I just thought he was a comedic relief but boy was I dead wrong.
2. Madara
This man single handedlty defeated the leaders of the five nations, I don’t think there is anyone in the shinobi world with thus much swagger who possess the power to back it up.
Literally dropped two meteors like he is some god living amongst puny humans.
I cannot stress this enough but Madara Uchiha might as well be the most popular villain ever written in all of anime.
He did not just possess the power of just he got the big brains too.
Madara played the entire Akatsuki organisation and even Obito his kind of partner to get the power of the Sage of Six Paths.
1. Itachi
I thought a lot about who should be the number one Akatsuki member and only one name came to my mind, Uchiha Itachi.
We all love Itachi so much, his story is unreal and the choices he made were so difficult that had it not been Itachi making those decisions, the village would’ve been no more.
The man who fought Sasuke, one of the most powerful Uchihas when he was literally blind.
Even blind he could’ve thrashed Sasuke but he fought with him just to kill the part of Orochimaru that lived inside of him.
Even in death he loved his little brother so much.
How can you possible hate this guy?
That is exactly why he is the most popular Akatsuki and definitely the most popular Uchiha ever.
