Members of the Akatsuki in Naruto: The Founders and the Full Part II Roster
Counting founders, the core Part II roster, and confirmed departed members honestly puts this group at around a dozen people, not the twenty-plus sometimes claimed. Here’s the actual roster, organized by how the group genuinely changed shape over time.
The founders
The Akatsuki didn’t start as the villain organization most people picture. It began in Amegakure as a genuine peace movement, founded by Yahiko, alongside Nagato and Konan. That origin matters enormously, because the Akatsuki everyone actually remembers from the story is, in a real sense, the corpse of that idealistic original group after it was hollowed out and repurposed.
The Part II roster
Pain is Nagato controlling Yahiko’s body among others, after Yahiko’s own death. Alongside Pain sit Konan, Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, Deidara, Sasori, Hidan, Kakuzu, and Zetsu. And Tobi, who is actually Obito Uchiha, posing as Madara for most of his time in the group.
Orochimaru was an early member who left the organization before the Part II roster above came together, and Sasori is generally understood to have filled the resulting opening.
Affiliates, not core members
Worth being precise here rather than inflating the count: figures like Kabuto and the members of Taka are affiliated with Akatsuki’s broader schemes at various points, but they aren’t core members of the organization in the same sense as the names above. Labeling that distinction clearly is what keeps this roster honest rather than padded.
The two-man cell system
Akatsuki operated deliberately in pairs, a structure specifically designed so that members who couldn’t be fully trusted alone were always paired with someone watching them. Itachi and Kisame. Deidara and Sasori, and later Deidara and Tobi. Hidan and Kakuzu. Understanding that this pairing was intentional, not incidental, makes the roster feel like an organization rather than just a list of names.
The rings
Each member wore a ring bearing a specific kanji, on a specific finger, and the assignment mattered organizationally within the group. This is one of the most searched details about the Akatsuki, and it’s also one of the most consistently misreported: ring kanji and finger assignments get copied incorrectly from source to source until the error is everywhere.
| Member | Finger | Kanji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pain (Nagato) | Right thumb | 零 | Zero |
| Deidara | Right index | 青 | Blue / green |
| Konan | Right middle | 白 | White |
| Itachi Uchiha | Right ring | 朱 | Vermilion / scarlet |
| Zetsu | Right little | 亥 | Boar (zodiac sign) |
| Sasori, later Tobi | Left thumb | 玉 | Jewel |
| Hidan | Left index | 三 | Three |
| Kakuzu | Left middle | 北 | North |
| Kisame Hoshigaki | Left ring | 南 | South |
| Orochimaru | Left little | 空 | Sky / void |
Two things worth flagging honestly rather than glossing over. First, minor kanji readings for a couple of these do vary slightly across sources, most notably Itachi’s ring, so treat the readings above as the commonly cited version rather than beyond dispute. Second, and more interesting: when Sasori dies, his ring and his position in the two-man cell system pass to Tobi, which is why that one slot lists two names rather than one. The ring wasn’t just jewelry, it marked an active seat in the organization, and that seat got refilled.
Where they rank against each other
Rather than assert a rigid numbered ranking, it’s fairer to describe rough tiers. Nagato with the Rinnegan and Obito sit clearly at the top of the group in terms of raw capability. Itachi and Kisame form a dangerous next tier. The rest of the roster is formidable in its own right but sits below that top pairing.
Why the group’s founding ideals mattered even after they were abandoned
The peace movement origin deserves to be taken more seriously than a lot of casual summaries do. Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan founded the Akatsuki out of direct, personal experience with the destruction constant warfare inflicted on ordinary people in the Land of Rain, a place caught between larger, more powerful nations for generations.
That original motivation doesn’t excuse what the organization becomes under Obito’s direction, but it does explain why several of its later members, most clearly Nagato himself, remain sympathetic figures even while committing serious atrocities. The group’s evil isn’t presented as simple or uncomplicated. It’s presented as an idealistic goal that got hijacked and weaponized by someone willing to use the machinery of that original movement for an entirely different purpose.
How the organization paid for itself
An international operation with this many high-profile members has running costs, and the series is unusually specific about how they were covered.
Kakuzu handled the money. He worked as a bounty hunter on the side, collecting payment on the heads of targets the group encountered anyway, and his partnership with Hidan is repeatedly framed around that work rather than around Akatsuki’s larger plan. He is the only member whose stated motivation is straightforwardly financial.
Beyond that, the group took mercenary contracts, hiring out its members for jobs that funded the operation while keeping them moving through territory they wanted access to. That detail is easy to skip past, but it is what makes the organization read as a functioning group rather than a collection of powerful people who happen to wear the same coat.
Why they’re worth taking seriously, not dismissing
Calling this “the most evil organization in anime” undersells what’s interesting about them. Half of the roster has a sympathetic arc once you understand their backstory, and the group’s own founding story is literally about wanting peace. The more interesting read takes the organization’s original idealism seriously, rather than treating every member as a flat, simple villain.
Common questions
How many Akatsuki members are there?
Around a dozen counting founders, the core Part II roster, and confirmed departed members. The Part II lineup is Pain, Konan, Itachi, Kisame, Deidara, Sasori, Hidan, Kakuzu, Zetsu, and Tobi, with Orochimaru having left before that group came together.
Who is the strongest Akatsuki member?
Nagato with the Rinnegan and Obito sit clearly at the top. Itachi and Kisame form a dangerous next tier, and the rest of the roster is formidable but below that top pairing.
What do the Akatsuki rings mean?
Each member wore a ring bearing a specific kanji on a specific finger, marking an active seat in the organisation. When Sasori died his ring and cell position passed to Tobi, which is why that slot lists two names.
Was the Akatsuki always evil?
No. It began in Amegakure as a genuine peace movement founded by Yahiko alongside Nagato and Konan, in response to their country repeatedly being used as a battlefield by larger nations. The organisation people remember is what remained after that original group was hollowed out.
