Over the past two decades, manga and anime fans have enjoyed a lot of quality storytelling. However, very few series are able to achieve the kind of global popularity that Naruto has — and for good reason. The series follows Naruto Uzumaki on his journey to become the greatest ninja in the shinobi world. While pursuing his goal to become Hokage, Naruto meets several formidable villains.
Fans learn of an organization known as the Akatsuki in Naruto Shippuden. This radical group, which is composed of ten very powerful rogue ninjas, wants to capture all the tailed beasts to force world peace through destruction. Thanks to Naruto and other shinobi, its members were eventually defeated, ushering in peace for the Land of Fire.
Updated May 16th, 2023 by Xandalee Joseph: The Akatsuki shook the shinobi world, and each Akatsuki member’s death made a huge impact on the storyline. As Naruto continues to be a popular shonen staple, we’ve updated this list with more information on each Akatsuki member and their inevitable demise.
10 Sasori
Episode 27 “Impossible Dream”
Sasori was a very skilled and feared shinobi from the Hidden Sand Village. Thanks to his mastery of the Puppet Technique, he was able to kill the Third Kazekage — the strongest shinobi in the Sand’s history. He may have been a terrifying opponent, but Sasori was still the first Akatsuki member to fall in battle.
Sasori‘s defeat came at the hands of Sakura and Sasori‘s own grandmother Chiyo, who taught the Akatsuki member everything he knew. The battle was fierce and involved a lot of puppetry and poison, but Chiyo landed the final blow when she stabbed him through the heart with Sasori‘s parent-puppets.
9 Hidan
Episode 78 “The Judgement”
Yugakure Village’s only major contribution to the Naruto series is Hidan, an Akatsuki member who is capable of avoiding death thanks to his fanatical religious beliefs. His Jashin faith lets him survive things that no normal person, or even a normal shinobi, could.
Tragedy struck when Hidan fought Team 10 and killed Asuma Sarutobi, but his victory didn’t last for long. Team 10’s surviving members returned with Kakashi Hatake, and in round 2, Shikamaru Nara outwitted his scythe-wielding foe and buried his severed head. Hidan didn’t technically die, but he was permanently incapacitated, as close to death as he can get.
8 Kakuzu
Episode 89 “The Price of Power”
Kakuzu was Hidan’s partner and the second-oldest of all Akatsuki members. When the former Waterfall shinobi left his village, he stole a scroll that allowed him to steal other ninjas’ hearts, letting Kakuzu extend his life while using all five elements.
During the fight with Shikamaru and Kakashi’s team, Kakuzu possessed five hearts that sustained his immense power. Kakashi destroyed the first heart with his Lightning Blade, the second was accidentally destroyed by Hidan, and Naruto destroyed the remaining hearts with one Rasenshuriken. To finish him off, Kakashi dealt one final strike using his patented Chidori technique.
7 Deidara
Episode 124 “Art”
Deidara was a member of the Stone Village’s Explosion Corps, a position he earned thanks to his ability to create explosions with his chakra. He also used banned techniques to give himself mouths on his palms and chest, which he used to mold explosive clay.
When Deidara learned that Orochimaru died before he could kill the snake-like character himself, he decided to go after Sasuke instead. When Sasuke showed contempt, an angered Deidara decided to use the mouth in his chest to become a living bomb. Deidara destroyed himself to beat Sasuke, only for the young Uchiha to shield himself by summoning a giant snake.
6 Itachi
Episode 138 “The End”
Itachi Uchiha agreed to slaughter his entire clan to prevent a violent coup in the Leaf Village, but he spared his younger brother Sasuke. He then agreed to join the Akatsuki in order to gather information on the group for the Leaf Village.
As a prodigy of the Uchiha Clan, Itachi was an exceptionally skilled and dangerous shinobi, even among his fellow Akatsuki members. Itachi died while battling Sasuke, but the fight is not what ultimately killed him. Itachi died of an incurable illness, but he still found time to act like a fond big brother one more time before he perished.
5 Pain/Nagato
Episode 174 “Tale of Naruto Uzumaki“
Nagato was one of the Akatsuki’s founding members, and he served as the group’s leader for years. After the death of his dear friend Yahiko, Nagato overthrew the leader of the Rain village and used the bodies of Yahiko and five other shinobi to split his god-like powers.
As Pain, Nagato killed Jiraiya and later went on to destroy the Leaf Village. However, Naruto arrived and defeated all six bodies before tracking down Nagato’s real one. After figuring out that Naruto was the world’s best shot at true peace, Nagato sacrificed himself to resurrect everyone he had killed in the village. That marks Nagato as one of the very few redeemed Akatsuki members, though it cost him his life.
4 Kisame
Episode 251 “The Man Named Kisame”
After Kisame killed his mentor, he became a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Shortly after that, he met Obito/Tobi who convinced him to leave the village and join the Akatsuki, where he was eventually partnered with Itachi. Kisame possessed Samehada, a massive scaled sword that eats chakra.
Kisame’s first on-screen death was a fake-out. His actual death happened a bit later when he emerged from Samehada (now owned by Bee) and fought Might Guy. After getting beaten and trapped in a jutsu, Kisame summoned three sharks to eat him alive, ensuring that his Akatsuki secrets died with him.
3 Konan
Episode 253 “The Bridge to Peace”
Konan trained alongside Nagato and Yahiko and was a founding member of the Akatsuki group. Konan implemented her love of origami into her fighting by developing a style that involved her turning her body into paper, which included the use of paper shuriken.
Following Nagato’s death, Konan decided to leave his dream of peace in Naruto‘s hands. She left the Akatsuki and returned to the Rain Village where she became the interim leader. Tobi went to face Konan to learn where she hid Nagato’s body, and he killed her in a duel between two powerhouse Akatsuki members.
2 Tobi
Episode 472 “You Better…”
Tobi was the secret founder of the Akatsuki, but he didn’t officially join the group until Sasori‘s death. His “Tobi” persona was a lie – he was actually Obito Uchiha, Kakashi’s former squad member. Tobi/Obito helped create the Akatsuki to fulfill Madara Uchiha’s goal of plunging the Earth into a permanent dream world.
Tobi did this so he could be with Rin Nohara again in dreams, and went to extreme lengths to make it happen. After seeing the error of his ways, however, he helped Naruto and Sasuke stop Madara and Kaguya, and he died while saving Kakashi from one of Kaguya’s All-Killing Ash Bones.
1 Zetsu
Episode 474 “Congratulations”
Zetsu was technically two beings, Black and White Zetsu, inhabiting the same body. White Zetsu was killed during the Fourth Great Ninja War when Sasuke used him as target practice while testing out his new eyes. He was killed by an Amaterasu-infused Susanoo arrow that incinerated him.
Black Zetsu was actually a physical manifestation of Kaguya’s will, making him centuries old. During the Fourth Great Ninja War, he fought the Mizukage and Naruto and survived, and he even overpowered a god-tier Madara to resurrect Kaguya Otsutsuki. His fate was sealed alongside hers though, as Naruto threw him into the same jutsu that was used to seal his master.
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