. . . . . . "The Akatsuki (\"sunrise\" or \"daybreak\" ) is a criminal organization consisting of no more than ten S-ranked criminal ninja. (Orochimaru was once a member, but defected before the series started. He was never replaced, so the organization has nine members for the series proper.) They all seem to have their own agendas, but the primary group's goal is to Take Over the World by seeking the nine Tailed Beasts Or is it? Turns out the true purpose of collecting the Tailed Beasts is so that Pain can make a Fantastic Nuke...Or is it? Turns out that the REALLY true purpose of collecting the Tailed Beasts is so that Madara can use a genjutsu on the entire world. They work in pairs, with each partner's abilities and temperment complementing the other's. Their signature costume is a dark robe adorned w"@en . . . . . "Naruto/Characters/Akatsuki"@en . . . . . . . "The Akatsuki (\"sunrise\" or \"daybreak\" ) is a criminal organization consisting of no more than ten S-ranked criminal ninja. (Orochimaru was once a member, but defected before the series started. He was never replaced, so the organization has nine members for the series proper.) They all seem to have their own agendas, but the primary group's goal is to Take Over the World by seeking the nine Tailed Beasts Or is it? Turns out the true purpose of collecting the Tailed Beasts is so that Pain can make a Fantastic Nuke...Or is it? Turns out that the REALLY true purpose of collecting the Tailed Beasts is so that Madara can use a genjutsu on the entire world. They work in pairs, with each partner's abilities and temperment complementing the other's. Their signature costume is a dark robe adorned with stylized red clouds, as well as broad-brimmed hats that they discard when discovered. They also wear their original shinobi headbands, but with a deep scratch across the emblem. They mostly appear in Shippuden -- only Itachi, Kisame, and Zetsu appeared in the original series, and in Zetsu's case it was merely a cameo. They become more active in the second series as their plan to capture and seal the Tailed Beasts begins to move forward in earnest."@en .