Criminal Shinobis

The Akatsuki

7 Jan 2015 | From Wei Yi of Malaysia

POSTCROSSING FRIEND

Akatsuki is an organization of criminal ninja that serves as the primary antagonistic force of the second part of the Naruto series. It was founded by Yahiko, Nagato and Konan under instruction from Obito Uchiha.

Akatsuki seeks to capture the Bijuu and their hosts the "Jinchuuriki," meaning the power of human sacrifice. These are the individuals possessing bijuu (tailed beasts) within their bodies. Akatsuki's current base of operation is unknown, however they have multiple bases to which they can travel. These bases are used to summon the gigantic King of Hell statue known as Gedou Mazou. The statue's mouth is bound and his hands are cuffed. Each respective finger of the statue's hand represents the Akatsuki member. 

The members have the ability to project their presence to their base, this allows them to remain out and about and still conduct the business of Jinchuuriki demon extraction. Akatsuki's ultimate goal is to control the world. This would be accomplished through capturing and sealing away the Bijuu into the Gedou Mazou statue.

The Akatsuki members shown in the postcard are Kakuzu, Tobi, Deidara, and Hidan. 

Hidan (former member - neutralized) hails from Hot Springs village. He and his partner Kakuzu were responsible for acquiring the Two-Tailed Jinchuuriki. Hidan practices an evil god cult religion named Jashin. This religion loves chaos and death, and Hidan himself is near immortal due to the Kinjutsu used on him by Jashin.

Kakuzu is a missing-nin from Hidden Waterfall. He was a bounty hunter who often got sidetracked on bounty hunts. His body was stitched together by strange tendrils which he used to rip out the hearts of his opponents and then insert into his own body. This granted him their elemental affinities in the form of masked tendril entities.

Deidara and Tobi share a very strained relationship. Always eager to impress his new teammates, Tobi was prone to excitement. This often annoyed Deidara who tried to do his best to show Tobi what it meant to be an Akatsuki member. Tobi was assigned to capture the Sanbi. Though he boasted that he took out the beast himself, he was helped in his assignment by Deidara. Deidara was unaware of Tobi's true nature during their time together.