What 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 whenOrochimaru defected, he took his ring with him[11] and as such wasn't replaced.[12]
- Right thumb: 零 (rei, "zero"); worn by Pain. Its colour is purplish-grey.
- Right index finger: 青 (Ao, shō, "blue," "green"); worn by Deidara. Its colour is teal.
- Right middle finger: 白 (bya, "white"); worn by Konan. Its colour is white.
- Right ring finger: 朱 (shu, "vermilion," "scarlet"); worn by Itachi Uchiha. Its colour is red.
- Right little finger: 亥 (gai, "sign of the boar"); worn by Zetsu. Its colour is green.
- Left little finger: 空 (kū, "sky," "void"); worn by Orochimaru. Its colour is slate blue.
- Left ring finger: 南 (nan, "south"); worn by Kisame Hoshigaki. Its colour is yellow.
- Left middle finger: 北 (hoku, "north"); worn by Kakuzu. Its colour is dark green.
- Left index finger: 三 (san, "three"); worn by Hidan. Its colour is orange.
- Left thumb: 玉 (gyoku, "jewel," "ball," also the black king in shogi); worn by Sasori and later by Tobi. Its colour is purple.
The rings' exact purpose have not been
revealed.
Akatsuki was originally founded by Yahiko during the Third Shinobi World Warand consisted of Amegakure ninja that wished to create peace for their home country, which acted as a battleground for three of the Five Great Shinobi Countries. Yahiko insisted that his and the rest of Akatsuki's actions were meant only to aid Nagato in bringing world peace, though Konan claimed that it was Yahiko's charisma that held the group together and spurred them on.Madara Uchiha alleges that it was his encouragement which lead to Yahiko forming the organisation, and thus credits himself as the group's creator.
In its early days, Akatsuki gained fame and recognition in Amegakure, drawing the attention of Hanzō, a world-renowned ninja and leader of the country. Hanzō, believing that the group was becoming a threat to his rule, approached the organisation and falsely claimed that he wanted to use them as the axis to negotiate peace between Konohagakure, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure. However, Hanzō betrayed Akatsuki and, working together with Danzō Shimura of Konohagakure's ANBU, kidnapped Konan and orchestrated Yahiko's death. After synchronizing with the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and attempted to exact revenge on Yahiko's killers, Nagato inherited leadership of the organisation and prompted a civil war, eventually killing Hanzō and gaining victory and control of Amegakure. Following the Third Shinobi World War, Akatsuki became a mercenary group for hire and Nagato presumably began taking direction from Madara, who acted as the organisation's collaborator and benefactor. In times of peace most of the ninja villages, rather than increasing 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, and during this time it became widely believed that Akatsuki was founded and based inKirigakure, perhaps due to Madara's influence over the Fourth Mizukage. Eventually, Akatsuki would begin capturing the tailed beasts, in the process antagonizing many of its former clients.
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, with the exception ofNagato and Konan. Members always work in teams of two with the exception of Zetsu, who functions as the organisation'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 organisation 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 thethree-day long technique.
