The Akatsuki was a thorn in the Ninja World's side for nearly the entire run of Naruto's anime, yet which Akatsuki members were strongest? On paper, that may seem like a silly question. After all, we know each of these missing-nin held an S-Rank and were so powerful that, as a collective, they destabilized the entire world. Yet even amongst this deadly team, there was a hierarchy, and it's clear some were stronger than others.
So, I've rewatched all of Naruto in order and looked through every village's records to bring you what's unarguably the definitive ranking of all the Akatsuki members. Well, I say every member; I haven't included Juzo or Orochimaru on this list because Juzo is a Naruto filler character, and we don't know enough about Orochimaru's power level when he was part of the team. If that annoys you, well, I'm sorry, but they'd both be under Sasori (you can argue amongst yourselves as to where).
I've also treated Black Zetsu and White Zetsu as single members because, although they're technically two people, no one in the group treated them as two individuals, so I'm not going to either. Does that make me lazy? Naaaah. Now, let's get into one of the best anime series around: here are the 10 strongest Naruto Akatsuki members ranked!
All the Akatsuki members ranked by strength
10. Zetsu
Easily the weakest member of the Akatsuki, Zetsu himself admits he's not built for combat in the same way his colleagues are. Instead, this sneaky shinobi has several versatile jutsu, most notably the Mayfly technique. This unique jutsu allows Zetsu to merge his body with the ground and travel anywhere he likes while being completely undetectable, even by the most proficient sensor ninjas.
Zetsu also has a powerful transformation technique, which, when combined with his other moves, makes him a master of infiltration and assassination. It's also worth noting that while Zetsu may not be a powerhouse in the league of Itachi and Pain (to be fair, few ninjas are,) he's not going to lose to any random schmuck. His unique physiology gives him the ability to use the Wood Release and every other nature type, so he's more than capable of throwing hands if he needs to.
9. Hidan
Poor Hidan. When your signature jutsu involves dying, you know you're in trouble. Yes, Hidan might be an S-Rank ninja, but realistically, he's a one-trick pony – it's just that his one trick is pretty deadly. You see, Hidan is completely immortal, courtesy of the god Jashin. This means he can be impaled, beheaded, incinerated, and survive. To make matters worse, he's got a technique that allows him to transfer any of the damage he takes on to the person who damaged him.
He's basically a walking, talking voodoo doll. Sounds cool, right? Well, no. Hidan’s technique isn't automatic, and it takes a ritual to perform. This means if you know his secrets and can stop him from setting up his jutsu, he's basically as useless as an ice cream handbag in the desert. Beyond this technique, Hidan has no other jutsu and an IQ lower than Sasuke's mood on the Uchiha massacre anniversary. Basically, he's rubbish, and I presume he was only allowed into the Akatsuki to make up numbers.
8. Konan
A powerful kunoichi, Konan has an incredible power that makes her one of the deadliest ninjas in the world. Through unknown means, she can transform her body into paper, allowing her to form wings, weapons, shields, and anything else she can imagine. In the anime, we see her put this power to deadly use, smoothing and skewering her opponents with terrifying ease.
Konan combines her incredible power with an impressive level of strategy and high analytical skills. It was this that allowed her to work out Obito's weaknesses and push the seemingly invincible Uchiha to the brink of death. So why's she ranked so low? Sadly, we never see her win a fight, and sadly, she has a really lame weakness. Yes, what happens when paper gets wet? It falls apart – just like Konan.
7. Deidara
If we were ranking the Akatsuki by sheer awesomeness, then Deidara would be top of the list, but sadly, this is a power ranking, and I'm afraid he doesn't crack the top five. Why? Well, while his explosive clay techniques are impressive, and he puts them to creative use, the sad fact is that Deidara only really knows how to do one thing, which is blow things up.
Now, I must admit he does that wonderfully; his C4 technique, which releases microscopic bombs, is particularly terrifying, and he did manage to defeat Gaara single-handedly. Yet against an opponent capable of neutralizing his bombs like Sasuke or fast enough to lock him in genjutsu, he's essentially powerless. Indeed, Deidara admitted he was weaker than his master, Sasori… speaking of which.
6. Sasori
By far the most underrated member of the Akatsuki, Sasori had the ignominy of being the first member of the group to die. However, that doesn't mean he's weak. In fact, Sasori was a sort of one-man army that canonically defeated an entire country with his legions of puppets. Oh yeah, you read that right. Sasori uses puppets, but these aren't the puppets you see on Sesame Street. Each of Sasori's puppets is a deadly weapon, full of blades, projectiles, and gallons of poisonous gas, allowing him to fight his opponent from a safe distance.
But wait, there's more because these puppets are made from the bodies of his dead opponents, which lets him use any of their techniques, kekkei genkai, or jutsu. Sounds pretty powerful, right? It gets worse. Sasori has converted himself into a living puppet, so even if you defeat his hundreds of puppets, you have to deal with his most potent weapon yet: himself. So, if he had all that going for him, how did Sasori lose? He let himself lose. It sounds like Kishi just wrote himself into a corner to me.
5. Kakuzu
Kakuzu's a super strong ninja who, similarly to Sasori, often gets underestimated. Why don't Naruto fans rate Sasori? Sadly, the Akatsuki's unofficial treasurer had the bad luck to try and fight the show's protagonist right after a training arc (if he'd ever watched an anime, he'd know that's a recipe for disaster). In all seriousness, though, Kazuku was a beast; he had access to every nature type, knew offensive and defensive techniques, and could combine elements on the fly.
However, what made him such a terrifying threat was his signature jutsu, the Earth Grudge Fear, which granted him several unique powers, including immortality (sorry, Hidan), regeneration, and the ability to transform his body into weird black tendrils, which he could manipulate at will. All of this made Kakuzu powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with Hashirama, the First Hokage. So, with all that in mind, why isn't he in the top spot? Well, honestly, Kakuzu might be a beast, but everyone else on this list is a monster.
4. Kisame
Arguably the most inhuman of the Akatsuki, Kisame was completely loyal to the group's mission, which made him a ferocious fighter, especially when backed into a corner. Not that he needed much help in that regard, because Kisame, as befits his shark-like appearance, was an incredibly dangerous ninja. His basic skills were impressive enough; he was a master of water ninjutsu, an accomplished swordsman, and his taijutsu skills were high enough that he could hold off Team Gai using just 60% of his power.
What really made Kisame such a threat, though, was his sword, Samehada. This living weapon had a ravenous appetite for chakra, and with a single swing, Kisame could steal the energy of any opponent he fought. Not only that, the sword could effectively neutralize any jutsu thrown at Kisame. Incredibly, though, that wasn't the limit of the pair's power. Kisame and Samehada could fuse, becoming a horrifying shark-like monster with incredible chakra reserves. This form was capable of bringing ninja as powerful as Killer-B to their knees and made Kisame one of Akatsuki’s top fighters. His only weakness? Well, Samehada is a fickle beast, and let's just say it's not afraid of betraying its master if it finds a more delicious chakra source.
3. Itachi Uchiha
Itachi is a ludicrously powerful ninja. He graduated from the academy at age six and was an Anbu at age 11. Even by the standards of the incredibly talented Uchiha clan, Itachi was seen as a prodigy, a genius among geniuses, who'd lead the clan to great things. Then he murdered them all. Yes, at the tender age of just 13, he wiped out one of the ninja world's strongest clans and cemented himself as a legend. That may seem obscene, but his powers and skill made it child's play. In all seriousness, Itachi has superb taijutsu and ninjutsu skills, but it's his genjutsu abilities that make him such a powerhouse.
With a glance from his Sharingan, he can cast illusions so powerful they're indistinguishable from reality, allowing him to easily defeat even the most powerful opponents. Unarguably, though, what makes Itachi one of the Aktsuki's most prized fighters is his Mangekyou Sharingan, which gives him access to Amaterasu (black fire that can burn through anything), Tsukuyomi (the most powerful genjutsu in the series), and Susano, a sort of kaiju-sized chakra avatar. Itachi also wields the Sword of Totsuka and the Yata Mirror. Oh, and he can rewrite reality by sacrificing the sight in his eyes. So, how was he defeated? Well, he does have one weakness: he loves his little brother.
2. Pain
The self-proclaimed God of the Shinobi world, Pain doesn't just talk the talk. He walks the walk. What makes him very nearly the top dog? Well, he has the Rinnegan, special eyes that are supposedly a gift from the gods, which give Pain powers beyond imagining. He can manipulate gravity, summon unique and powerful animals, absorb chakra, tear people's souls from their bodies, hear your thoughts, shoot missiles from his head (yes, really), and absorb chakra. He's essentially every member of the Akatsuki in one body… actually no. He's every member of the Akatsuki in six bodies because Pain, real name Nagato, doesn't go into battle himself. He splits his power into six bodies (known as the Six Paths of Pain) that he controls remotely, which allows him to stay safe regardless of what happens to his puppets.
Not that much happens to his puppets because of how obscenely strong they are. This guy took down the entire Konoha military single-handedly, killed Jiraiya and Kakashi, and basically made every leaf shinobi who wasn’t called Naruto look like they were fresh out of the academy. Even when Naruto arrived, it turned out that the title character was barely a match for Pain, and it took the combined efforts of the Toad Sages, three kaiju-sized toad summons, and a last-minute save from Hinata and Naruto's ghost parents for them to defeat the Six Paths. The only reason Nagato lost? He fell victim to Naruto's most powerful ability, the talk-no-jutsu.
1. Obito Uchiha
Now I know what you're thinking after Pain and Itachi; how broken must Obito be? Well, he's more broken than a LEGO set that's just fallen off a 30-foot skyscraper into a pool of plastic melting acid. Obito is bonkers. Not only does he have the usual Uchiha abilities – the Sharingan, powerful chakra, and all that good stuff – he was trained by Madara, the strongest Uchiha in history, has the same body as Zetsu, giving him Wood release, and he's got a Rinnegan just like Pain.
Yes, you read that right he's effectively a grab bag of every power we’ve listed so far (Except Hidan's powers because he sucks), but there's more. Like Itachi, Obito has unique Mangekyou Sharingan powers that let him control time and space. Using this power, which is called Kamui, he can teleport himself, become completely intangible, and suck people into fissures into the space-time continuum. He can literally blink you out of existence. Terrifying right?
For more classics, check out our list of the best Crunchyroll anime. Or look ahead with our guide to all the new anime heading our way!
