About

Pein (ペイン), is the recognized leader of Akatsuki and a missing-nin from Amegakure. He is referred to as "leader" by all Akatsuki members except for Konan, who refers to him by his name. Although he directs the actions of the other members and maintains authority over them, Pein takes orders from Tobi, who is actually Madara Uchiha. In addition to acting as Akatsuki's leader, Pein was the leader of of the winning faction in the Land of Rain's latest civil war


Background
Pein's true identity is still unknown. He is at first believed to be a boy named Nagato, who, like Konan, and Yahiko were orphans from Amegakure, forcing them to fend for themselves. The three eventually encountered the Sannin, who at first where less than willing to help them. Orochimaru even suggested to kill them as they were orphans of war and as such would only live their lives full of misery. Jiraiya however decided he would care for the three and took them in. One day for dinner, Nagato cried because eating dinner together reminding him of his family and later that night he ran away with Yahiko.

The two where attacked by a Rock shinobi, who injured Yahiko. Seeing this, Nagato activated his Rin'negan, and killed the Rock Chunin, a feat that is normally impossible for someone who has never trained as a ninja or never had any military training or martial arts training. Jiraiya decided then and there he would train them in ninjutsu. Nagato was very emotional about killing the shinobi, and asked Jiraiya for help so he can protect Konan and Yahiko, where Jiraiya said he must grow up. After three years, Jiraiya felt they were strong enough to fend for themselves and told the three he will see them again when they grow into adults. Jiraiya believed Nagato to have died with the others under unexplained circumstances, but has told Konan whenever their names were mentioned outside their village, it was always about someone being killed when they opposed them.

Pein has since led one side of Amegakure to taking over the village and has become a sort of god in that village. When he, and Madara Uchiha, founded Akatsuki is unknown but he is situated within Amegakure. The members of Pein's faction wear their Amegakure forehead protectors with a scratch through it the way the full members of Akatsuki do.

Akatsuki's Goal
For the most part, Pein has kept away from active Akatsuki business, only revealing himself whenever they have captured a tailed beast and even then he only appears as a shadowy illusion. However after Deidara's suicide, Pein was ordered by Tobi that it is his mission to now capture the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. Before the mission could begin however, Jiraiya infiltrated the village to try to get more information on the Akatsuki. After feeling this threat because it disturbed his rain, Pein sent Konan to deal with it while he changed bodies. When Jiraiya fought Konan, Pein appeared with murderous intent, his eyes set on Jiraiya.

During the first half of his battle with Jiraiya, Pein fought the Sannin off with unique summons. It wasn't until Jiraiya activated Sage Mode and summoned two toads to help him fight did Pein reveal two more of his bodies and quickly began to fight Jiraiya back. Jiraiya attempted to bring down all three of the bodies using the toad elders to preform a genjutsu, then pierced each body through the heart with a giant sword. When Jiraiya prepared to go back to Konoha, Pein reappeared and attacked him, cutting off his left arm. When Jiraiya looked back up, he looked at the Six Paths of Pain, and all six bodies attacked. Not long after, Jiraiya managed to kill the long haired body of Pein, only to have his throat impaled by the other five. As Jiraiya died, he sent the message of Pein's identity. Though the toad escaped, Pein called for Zetsu to come out and filled him in on his order to hunt the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.

Personality
Nagato possessed a kind, yet confused personality. He desired to help those he cared about, but never knew how. This is nothing like Pein's personality. Like many Akatsuki, Pein has a calm, serious, and cold personality. He also possesses a great deal of arrogance, believing himself to be a god and the only person who understands the world around him. His main belief is that pain is the only way to understand the world, and anyone who doesn't can't grow. According to him, if pain is felt by all, the world will stop their conflicts.

Abilities
Although he has not been seen in battle until his battle with Jiraiya, Konan states that Pein has never lost a fight. The only named ability he is seen using, the Shapeshifting Technique, allows him to clone his subordinates using human sacrifices that they control and can use to engage enemies without risking their own lives.[8] The clones formed are perfect copies of the original, possessing any unique genetic traits or weapons they may possess. The clone's abilities are proportionate to the amount of chakra, given to the clone. Pein has also displayed the ability to detect the movements and chakra levels of people traveling within rain, as well as the ability to control rain, such as stopping it or keeping it going for long periods of time. Pein has several bodies, apparently for different purposes, that he has stored away. He can apparently switch these bodies at will, as he switches to one body solely to kill an intruder. In all Pein has six bodies ready for use, and of the six bodies he has been seen in, the only consistent physical characteristics are a large number of piercings and his Rin'engan eyes. When he was first trained by Jiraiya, he learned Wind Release: Violent Wind Palm (風遁・烈風掌, Futon: Reppusho). At some point, Pein learns the Summoning Technique, and appears to have made several contracts as he summons a giant crustacean, an armored chameleon, a cerberus-like creature, a large bird and probably more.

His most important technique in regards to the Akatsuki is the Illusionary Dragon Nine Consuming Seals. When used with the aid of all surviving Akatsuki members, they begin the three day trial to forcibly extract the tailed beasts from its host and forces it into a statue. There seems to be a limit on which tailed beast they can seal at once however as they are unable to seal the demon fox without sealing the other beasts as it would destroy the statue, possibly freeing all the captured beasts.


The Six Bodies of Pein.When all six bodies are together he calls it Six Paths of Pain (ペイン六道, Pein Rikudō). Each one of Peins bodies appear to have a special ability, one being able to absorb ninjutsu, another capable of using many summons, and a third body is able to use his arm as a missle-like attack, all of which with the Rin'negan. In addition, each body also wields a long sword-like weapon that can disrupt chakra. The body he uses most of the time when not in battle has been recognized as Yahiko's body by Jiraiya, even though Pein insists that Yahiko is dead. One of Peins body's interestingly enough, is often shown with his eyes closed (shown at second from the right), which is due to a jutsu done by Jiraiya to block out his eyes.

Jiraiya also remembers fighting the summoner Pein before who was once a Fuma clan member. All of Peins bodies have been recognized as shinobi Jiraiya has encountered before, shortly after the Great Toad Sage's prophecy.

Jutsu
Shapeshifting Technique
Summoning Technique (multiple)
Illusionary Dragon Nine Consuming Seals
Rin'negan
Wind Release: Violent Wind Palm
Projectile Hands
Chakra Detecting Rain
Absorption

Konan (小南) is the only female ninja in Akatsuki and the only member to call her partner, Pein, by his name.[edit] Background
When she was younger, Konan, Nagato, and Yahiko were left orphaned by one of Amegakure's many wars, forcing them to fend for themselves.The three eventually encountered the Sannin, who gave them some food. Konan impressed them by making an elaborate flower out of the paper wrappers left behind. After Nagato killed the Rock Chunin, Jiraiya took them up on their offer and began to teach them ninjutsu. Jiraiya believed Konan to have died with Nagato and Yahiko some time later, and upon seeing her again years later he comments on how beautiful she has become.

Akatsuki's Goal
Similar to Pein, Konan has spent the most of their mission at the Akatsuki base in Amegakure. There she has been known as "Pein's Angel" by doing Pein's bidding.When Jiraiya infiltrated the village, Pein stopped the rain for Konan to find and kill him. Although she found him, Jiraiya quickly covered her in oil leaving her defenseless until Pein arrived.

Abilities
Konan has a natural talent for origami, as seen with the paper flower she keeps in her hair. This talent extends to her type of jutsu, as she can divide her body into countless numbers of paper sheets.These sheets can be controlled individually and formed into various shapes for a number of purposes; butterflies for scouting, spears for attack, or darts with which to pummel opponents. Konan can even form wings from that allow her to fly. This has led to her title as "Pein's Angel", a reference to her wings, and the fact that she "serves Pein". Like all paper, Konan is unable to use her abilities while wet.

Jutsu
Origami style ninjutsu

Itachi Uchiha (うちは イタチ, Uchiha Itachi) is a missing-nin from Konohagakure and is partnered with Kisame Hoshigaki. He is one of only 3 surviving members of the Uchiha clan.

Itachi (鼬) can also mean weasel. To some degree of Japanese belief, weasels are considered a harbinger, often signifying ill fortune. His surname, Uchiha, is another way of pronouncing uchiwa, or a paper fan, which is actually the Uchiha clan symbol. An uchiwa can be used to fan flames, making the flame hotter, referring to the fact that the Uchiha is a clan of fire-jutsu users.

Itachi is relatively popular among many fans of Naruto, often having ranked in the top ten in Shonen Jump magazine's popularity polls since his introduction. He was first ranked in the third character popularity poll ranked in 11th place. He was ranked 9th place during the fourth popularity poll, and 6th place in the fifth popularity poll. During the sixth, most recent popularity poll, he again was ranked in 11th place.
History
Itachi has been considered a genius since a young age, graduating at the top of his Academy class at age 7, mastering the Sharingan by age 8, becoming a Chunin at age 10, and a squadron leader of the ANBU at age 13. These accomplishments led the members of the Uchiha clan to think of Itachi as the clan's strongest member and, in turn, the clan's future. Itachi's father, Fugaku Uchiha, was the biggest proponent of this idea and focused much of his effort into bettering Itachi's career and status within Konoha.

Because of his focused attention on Itachi, Fugaku paid little attention to his other son, Sasuke Uchiha. As a result of the neglect he felt, Sasuke did all in his power to win his father's attention, which largely came in the form of trying to outdo Itachi. To help him achieve this goal Sasuke would frequently ask Itachi to help him train, and while his older brother agreed and occasionally took Sasuke with him to train, he never took the time or interest to truly train Sasuke. Despite this, Itachi did force their father to spend time with Sasuke by refusing to carry out his other tasks unless his father complied. While Fugaku did so, much of the time he spent with Sasuke was still focused around Itachi, and Sasuke continued to desire his father's attention.

Approximately six months after joining the ANBU, Itachi's standing within the clan began to falter. In addition to no longer doing the things he was assigned to do, Itachi became a prime suspect in the death of Shisui Uchiha. While Shisui was a good friend of Itachi and appeared to have committed suicide, the clan's older members began to suspect the suicide was faked and that Itachi killed Shisui. In response to these claims, Itachi attacked the investigation team and easily defeated them under the guise of losing faith in the clan. After being confronted by his father he apologized, though the damage had been done. From that point forth Fugaku's relationship with Itachi became estranged, and Fugaku spent his time training Sasuke in an attempt to steer him away from following in Itachi's footsteps.

Not long afterwards, Sasuke returned home one day to find all the members of his clan dead and Itachi standing over the bodies of their parents, explaining to have killed them "to test his ability". Claiming that he had never loved Sasuke and had only pretended to fit the role of a caring brother, Itachi decided that Sasuke was not worth killing. Before leaving he encouraged Sasuke to live a life of hate and get strong enough to defeat him and avenge the clan. To help in this regard, Itachi told Sasuke of how to gain the Mangekyo Sharingan: one must simply kill his or her closest friend, just as he had done to Shisui Uchiha. Itachi also revealed to Sasuke the location of the clan's secret meeting hall, within it is a tapestry that reveals the truth of the Sharingan.

At some point in time Itachi joined the organization Akatsuki and was partnered with Kisame Hoshigaki. While it stands to reason that he joined after massacring the Uchiha clan, the timeline that has been given throughout the series (coupled with his age) strongly suggests that he joined the organization prior to killing his clan. As a result, the exact time at which Itachi joined is as of yet uncertain. After joining Akatsuki, Itachi was confronted by Orochimaru who attempted to steal his body for his own use. With his Sharingan, Itachi was able to negate Orochimaru's efforts and sever his left hand, forcing him to flee the organization. He later proves instrumental in recruiting Deidara to Akatsuki, forcing him to join by defeating him in battle.

Personality
Itachi is a relatively mysterious character, and rarely becomes troubled by anything, finding the goings on in the world around him to be of little significance. He only does things that he deems are important to him, and does nothing out of impulse. According to the Naruto databooks, Itachi has a "smart and cold" personality, and knows what he wants and does whatever it takes to achieve his goals.

Itachi does not display any open enjoyment of violence or combat. Itachi instead prefers to avoid battle or, if that is not possible, end it as quickly as possible while exerting as little effort as he can. When he does fight Itachi remains stationary, attacking only in defense and to otherwise avoid damage. He also studies an opponent's movements with his Sharingan eyes, using them to properly assess an opponent's actions and respond accordingly.

Itachi's only noticeable interest is in Akatsuki's goals and his only loyalty is to the organization and its members, putting the organization's success and secrecy before everything else.[12] As such, Itachi gets along with his partner, Kisame, much better than most other Akatsuki members do with their own partners. Kisame, in fact, has a deep loyalty to Itachi, immediately doing as he instructs and constantly looking out for his well-being. Itachi treats all of his fellow Akatsuki members to this same, more respectful personality, though his courtesy is rarely returned by the other members.

Abilities
In the few battles he has been seen in, Itachi has proven to be a fearsome opponent. When faced with a genjutsu, Itachi can use his Sharingan to negate dispel it or perform "Demonic Illusion: Mirror Heaven and Earth Change" (魔幻・鏡天地転, Magen: Kyō Tenchi-ten) and turn the genjutsu against its user. Itachi is also very adept with standard genjutsu, and can trap others within an illusion by merely pointing or looking at them. as well as turning their own genjutsu against them. Its stated by Sasuke that Itachi's signature genjutsu involves crows. Itachi is also noted to be very fast with his techniques and movements, as Kakashi Hatake experienced during their first confrontation in Part I.

Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan enables him to use some of the Uchiha clan's most powerful techniques. With Tsukuyomi, he can trap an opponent in an illusionary world where he can seem to torture them for days on end in only a matter of seconds. Amaterasu allows him to create a black flame that is capable of burning through the strongest of materials. Despite his mastery of the Mangekyo Sharingan, Itachi seems to be falling prey to its side effects. In addition to being left fatigued after each usage, it has been suggested that his eyesight is getting increasingly worse as well.

In terms of standard Ninjutsu, Itachi can create shadow clones to to perform jutsu for him and act as shields from attacks. These clones can also be commanded to explode with "Clone Great Explosion" (分身大爆破, Bunshin Daibakuha), which is easily capable of killing those caught in the blast. As a member of the Uchiha clan he can perform "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique" to catch opponents in a blast of fire, and in the anime can breathe multiple fireballs with Fire Release: Phoenix Immortal Fire Technique (火遁・鳳仙火の術, Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu). With "Water Release: Water Fang Bullet" (水遁・水牙弾, Suiton: Suigadan) he can also catch unwary targets in a circle of crushing water.

Jutsu
Sharingan
Mangekyou Sharingan
Amaterasu
Tsukiyomi
Shadow Clone Technique
Shadow Clone Explosion
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique
Fire Release: Phoenix Immortal Fire Technique
Ephemeral
Demonic Illusion: Mirror Heaven and Earth Change
Water Release: Water Fang Bullet

Kisame Hoshigaki (干柿鬼鮫, Hoshigaki Kisame) is a missing-nin from Kirigakure and is partnered with Itachi Uchiha within Akatsuki. Background
Kisame is a former member of Kirigakure's Seven Swordsmen of the Mist (霧の忍刀七人衆, Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū), an ever-changing group of ninja that wield particularly large weapons in battle. While in Kirigakure, Kisame is known to have formed a connection to Suigetsu Hozuki and his brother. His former country, the Land of Water, now seeks him out for plotting to overthrow its government and being involved in numerous assassinations.Kisame would later join Akatsuki and be partnered with Itachi Uchiha.

Appearance
Kisame has a distinctive shark-like appearance, complete with pale blue skin, small white eyes, gill-like facial structures, and sharp triangular teeth. Even his name, Kisame (鬼鮫), means "Demon Shark".

Personality
Kisame is rather battle-loving, enjoying having to fight others, though, when forced to leave a fight, states to his opponent(s) that they "don't know how lucky they are." Like other characters who have trained to be one of the Seven Swordsmen, Kisame enjoys mutilating his opponents, as seen when he suggests cutting off Naruto Uzumaki's legs to make him easier to carry.

Kisame is also one of the few members of Akatsuki he gets along well with his partner. Kisame has a slight loyalty to Itachi, willing to take any comands he gives without complaints and constantly looks out for his well-being. Although Kisame does have his pride, he acknowledges Itachi as the stronger of their duo.

Weapon & Abilities
Kisame's weapon is called Samehada (鮫肌; Literally meaning "shark skin"), a sentient, scale-covered sword that shaves off skin instead of cutting. Samehada is also capable of absorbing chakra, but requires Kisame's chakra to do it. Only Kisame is allowed to wield Samehada if anyone besides him tries to pick it up, spikes protrude from its handle and it returns to Kisame's side.

Kisame has also been known to display astonishing speed and incredible physical strength. He uses water-based jutsu in combination with his powerful physical attacks. His shark-like qualities carry over to the type of techniques he uses in battle, as he often shapes bodies of water into the forms of sharks that proceed to attack opponents. If there is no water source where he happens to be fighting, Kisame can use Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave to create a lake's worth of water to be used for attacks. Kisame is also noted to have a particularly large amounts of chakra in his reserves; even when he fights at 30% power in one instance his chakra supply is compared to that of a Nine-Tailed Demon Fox-enhanced Naruto Uzumaki.

Jutsu
Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave
Water Release: Grand Waterfall Technique
Water Release: Water Shark Projectile Technique
Water Prison Technique
Water Release: Water Dragon Projectile Technique

Zetsu (ゼツ) is a member of Akatsuki.Personality
Zetsu is easily distinguished by two large venus fly trap-like extensions enveloping his head. These extensions can envelope the rest of his body as well, giving his a plant-like appearance. When his extensions are open and his head is visible, it is revealed Zetsu has two different colored halves of his body, the left side completely white and the right side black with white dots scattered around. To go with this, Zetsu seems to have a split personality, as in the Japanese version of the manga the black half of his face speaks only in Katakana while the white side uses Kanji and Kana. The two halves also seem to converse with each other, and occasionally differ in opinion. To further his venus fly trap theme, Zetsu is also a cannibal.

Zetsu's main role within the Akatsuki is to function as a spy, often acting as a hunter-nin for Akatsuki. He has been shown able to move his body and take part in the tailed beasts sealing ritual simultaneously which, in addition to being unique to him, allows him to act as a lookout while the sealing takes place. When an agent to Akatsuki, or possibly even a member, dies, Zetsu is sent to devour said bodies as to not have their secrets revealed. Due to the role he plays, Zetsu is the only member of Akatsuki to act without a partner on a regular basis. Despite this, Zetsu serves as a sort of superior to other members, as they often report directly to him instead of the actual leader, Pein. Zetsu is also the one sent to retrieve the rings of dead Akatsuki members.

Zetsu has been shown having his complete loyalty to Akatsuki, to the extent that the leader, Pein, trusts Zetsu with the knowledge of his identity. As a possible reward for his loyalty, Zetsu was once given a subordinate, Tobi, who would later become a member of Akatsuki himself. Zetsu is also shown knowing Tobi's identity as Madara Uchiha. Zetsu is also one of the few members of Akatsuki whose hidden village, if any, has not yet been revealed.

Abilities
Little is currently known about Zetsu's abilities, though it has been seen he uses whatever abilities he has to help his hunter-nin role within Akatsuki. The only technique he has been shown using is Leech All Creation: Attack Prevention Technique, with which he merges with the ground to instantly travel to a new location.Zetsu's eyes are also shown being able to view things over a great distance, similar to the Byakugan.

Jutsu
Leech All Creation: Attack Prevention Technique


Tobi Is An odd character but for some reason after Deidara's death Tobi has become more serious thann his regular Childish Personality. During the recent Chapters Tobi Has shown the power to make enemies or things Phase through him Such as naruto and his Rasengan when he attacked tobi. There has been much controversy over if tobi could be obito or not its extremely likely that he IS tobi but it cannot be confirmed just yet. Also in recent chapters tobi and other akatsuki members have referred to him as "Madara Uchiha" also he possesses the Sharingan in his left eye making it possible that he is obito.


Deidara (デイダラ) was a member of Akatsuki and was partnered with Tobi, Sasori before that. Background
Deidara was once a ninja in Iwagakure, although one day left the village for the hope of using his "art" more frequently. Deidara became a terrorist bomber for hire, seeing it as an opportunity to use his "art" on a regular basis. Sometime after Orochimaru left the organization Akatsuki, Deidara was visited by members Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Sasori, who were under the orders of the leader Pein to recruit Deidara into the organization. Although at first Deidara refused, he quickly got into a small confrontation with Itachi, where Itachi forced Deidara to join by almost fooling Deidara into exploding himself with a clay centipede via genjutsu. Deidara, having been forced into Akatsuki and taking a huge loss to his ego, carried a loathing for Itachi thoughout all of his time in Akatsuki, though still recognized Itachi as a more powerful opponent.

[edit] Personality
Deidara is a very hot-headed person, and is quite a quick person to annoy, especially for Tobi. Relishing battles and fighting is also not uncommon for Deidara either. Deidara's most distinctive trait, however, is his love of art, and will respect any form of art, even if it disagrees with his own. Deidara also has a habit of ending his sentences with a mumble/grunt, usually transcribed as un or mmm, in the same way Naruto ends most of his sentences with -ttebayo.

Deidara refers to his ninjutsu as art, believing each bomb he makes to be such works. He refers to style as superflat (the word itself used to refer to certain types of manga), and claims pop (which is also the name of a manga style) is dead. One of Deidara's catchphrases, "Art is a bang" (or variations therein), was originally coined by famous Japanese abstract artist Tarō Okamoto. Deidara is very proud of his art, to the point that he is simply unwilling to accept that anything could defeat it, leading to frequent overconfidence in battle

Deidara refers to Sasori as Master Sasori (サソリの旦那, Sasori no Danna). This is probably because Deidara greatly respects him as a fellow artist. He also admits that Sasori was a lot stronger. Despite that, Deidara still argued with Sasori about what art is and directly disobeyed his command in spite of a threat to be killed. Deidara held that art is transient, departing quickly. Sasori believed that fine art is something wonderful that's left long into the future. This reflects their individual natures (Deidara makes clay sculptures that explode, Sasori makes long-lasting puppets out of humans). Deidara outwardly seems to respect Sasori's beliefs, but couldn't resist getting a final jab in after Sasori's death: "Like anything that is left for the future as a thing of eternal beauty... He got killed straight off!"

Deidara's partnership with Tobi, however, is largely different. Tobi refers to Deidara as "Deidara-senpai". Tobi's carefree and goofy personality does not please Deidara, who believes that all Akatsuki members should be serious and calm. Tobi unintentionally irritates Deidara frequently, which usually results in Deidara attacking Tobi in a comedic fashion, such as strangling Tobi with his feet when his arms had been severed. In battle, however, the two easily set aside their differences for the most part, and the two work well together. Deidara also seems to have a minor respect for Tobi, apologizing to his partner in his thoughts before he initiated his Self-Destruction.

[edit] Gender Issue
Deidara's gender is sometimes confused due to the Japanese language's sparse use of third person pronouns, which forces translators to use their own ideas of Deidara's gender to make sentences flow smoothly. This caused a lot of confusion, since both "he" and "she" were used to refer to Deidara in early English fan translations. However, Deidara speaks of himself using male pronouns and was initially given a very deep, male voice in the anime. His current anime voice is significantly lighter, but still clearly masculine. Abilities
Deidara wears a scope on his left eye for long-range observation, and he has trained the eye itself to genjutsu, which he did in response to Itachi's powerful genjutsu skills.

A fancy and skillful fighter, Deidara uses special mouths in the palm of each hand and one giant mouth on his chest, which is always kept sewn shut, to create Exploding Clay (起爆粘土, Kibaku Nendo). As the name suggests, Deidara can make the clay explode using the command Katsu (喝). By infusing the clay with chakra and molding it into various forms, Deidara can create living explosives to sneak up on opponents. Deidara can even create clones from the clay, named Suicide Bombing Clones (自爆分身, Jibaku Bunshin), that can be a deadly surprise for opponents. Deidara's clay creations can range from microscopic to gigantic in size, allowing him to adapt to any situation. Deidara can also use the clay for other purposes, as he is frequently seen creating birds to be used for transportation.

Deidara also has a "final attack" of sorts called Self-Destruction, with which he eats a large ball of clay with the mouth on his chest. Large cracks quickly spread across Deidara, and the mouth grows a large black sphere around it complete with two pupil-less eyes. Deidara's cracks then open up and he falls apart into pieces, freeing the sphere to fly up into the air. The sphere then opens up and detonates itself, destroying everything within a ten kilometer radius. It is unknown as of yet if using Self-Destruction will kill the user or not, but given as how Deidara said death will transform him into the ultimate art right before using Self-Destruction[1], it is likely.

[edit] Clay Ranking
Deidara ranks his clay by number in a fashion similar to the C-4 explosive, the weakest being C1 and the most powerful being C4. The other clay ranks are much more dangerous than C1, and any foe that sees Deidara use any rank higher than C-1 is usually one Deidara sees as a strong fighter.

C-1: Deidara's most basic form of clay. Despite being small, they are powerful and can move as well.
C-2: C-2 bombs are like that of C-1, despite being more powerful.
C-3: An immobile clay statue that drops on top of targets from above.
C-4: Deidara releases the clay out of his actual mouth, and makes a copy of himself twice his size. This bomb is actually composed of several miniature bombs that expode individually, but at the exact same time.
Deidara can also use the Summoning Technique summon giant clay animals as battle partners, or to perform basic functions.

Jutsus
Self Destucting Clone Technique
Exploding Clay
Clay Clone


Kakuzu (角都) is a fictional character from the manga series Naruto. The first kanji in Kakuzu's name (角) stands for kakugyō, a bishop in shogi.

[edit] Abilities
Kakuzu is a unique ninja in that his body contains innumerable threads. In and of itself, this is an extremely useful ability; he sews Deidara's arm back on at one oppurtunity, and also stiches up his partner Hidan whenever he happens to lose an extremity, such as his head in the fight against Asuma. His threads allow him to extend various portions of his body during battle, such as his arm. They can also be used to capture enemies, or even pierce vital regions.

However, his most dangerous ability is to use his threads to steal another ninja's heart. He can then transplant the heart to himself, thereby using it to boost his vitality as well as giving him access to the original owner's chakra nature. As long as one of his hearts remains intact, Kakuzu cannot die.

[edit] Background
Kakuzu is a missing-nin from Takigakure and Hidan's partner. Kakuzu is the longest-lived known character in the series, having lived at least since the time of the First Hokage, whom Kakuzu mentions having fought at one point (he doesn't elaborate on the outcome).

Hidan and Kakuzu display the most animosity towards each other out of all members of Akatsuki, neither being very fond of the other's interests. The two often trade barbs with one-another, Kakuzu's usually being better timed than Hidan's. Hidan gets annoyed with Kakuzu's greed and occasional habit of doing or saying blasphemous things, such as attacking a temple and killing the head monk for the bounty on his head. Kakuzu, in turn, dislikes Hidan's religion, believing the rituals associated with it to be a waste of time, and is also impatient with Hidan's drawn-out speeches and battle style. The reason Kakuzu deals with Hidan is because he's quick to anger, and will often kill anyone in sight when enraged. Hidan is the perfect partner for Kakuzu because of his apparent inability to die. Kakuzu's somewhat indiscriminate attack style also makes Hidan a perfect partner, since Kakuzu need not worry about catching his partner in the crossfire.

Kakuzu is a greedy individual, often arranging goals in terms of the highest profit he can gain from them, something his partner cannot stand. He even comments on money being the only dependable thing in the world and that he wouldn't mind going to hell because money probably runs it. Due to this view of money, he refers to himself as the Treasurer of Akatsuki. Given his friendly relationship with a bounty officer, it would seem he collects bounties rather frequently to earn cash, and does so (or at least tries) during his missions on several occasions, which is another point of infuriation for Hidan. He even looks at Hidan's religion through his ability to earn money from it, which is why he puts up with it.
Despite his obsessive personality and violent rage, Kakuzu is much more cautious than his partner, frequently warning Hidan to not let his guard down then teasing him when he inevitably does. Kakuzu is shown to be a keen analyst, as well, which is at least somewhat attributable to his age, which, by extension, gives him several lifetimes of battle experience. He was able to quickly discern the purpose of Shikamaru's various shadow attacks and devise ways to counter them almost instantly during battle, to name one situation. He also seems to be more willing to take orders. When ordered to retreat by the Pein, Kakuzu complied immediately while Hidan attempted to argue, despite the rather large bounty he could have gotten on Asuma Sarutobi at the time. However, he does make it a point to retrieve the case with his bounty. He seems to forget the greater goals of the organization when enraged, however, as he attempted to kill Naruto in spite of Akatsuki's need to capture all the tailed beasts alive.

Jutsu
Iron Body
Fire Release: Intense Pain
Lightning Release: False Darkness
Wind Release: Pressure Damage
Unknown technique using unknown mask