Far from a group of shinobi who fell from grace to become hellbent on destruction, I thinkNaruto’s Akatsuki is gravely misunderstood—more than that,they point out something very important about the world they inhabit.Naruto, of course, focuses on the titular character’s quest to become Hokage, the leader of Konohagakure. Because the series' lovable cast all come from Konoha, it probably seems strange to side with Akatsuki, a group wantingto overturn the shinobi system andNaruto’s political status quo.
Naruto’s emphasis on Konoha’s perspective undermines its efforts at world-buildingby making Konoha and its political systems seem callous and exploitative. Take Sasuke’s desire to leave Konoha being treated like a grave, immoral betrayal: the main goal inNaruto Shippudenbecomes bringing Sasuke back to Konohawhile making him conform to Naruto’s (and, by extension, Konoha’s) ideas of peace and unity. There’s a tinge of authoritarianism there, and I’m inclined to think Akatsuki was right to challengeNaruto’s society (even if I disagree with their own vision of “peace”).
From The Very Beginning,Naruto’s Politics Were Doomed
The rise of Akatsuki can be traced to Hashirama and Madara, and by extension,the conflict between the Senju and Uchiha clans. In a literal sense,Madara’s influence on Obito and Nagatowould cement the later directives for Akatsuki. There’s a looser sense, though, which I find more interesting.
Hashirama and Madara’s conflict serves as a sort of founding myth for Konoha and the rest of the world, too, since Konoha established its paradigm. The Valley of the End’s giant facade is a testimony to this myth’s power to justifyNaruto’s social order, and its work as a foundational narrative for Konohaechoes in Naruto and Sasuke’s battles at the site.
There’s an irony in the fact thatNaruto Shippuden’s reincarnation twist was so divisive, becauseits convolution was also totally unnecessary.Naruto’s world destroys itself. From the moment Hashirama had the first inklings that would become Konoha and the Kage system, there was always a flaw that Hashirama was too caught up in his ideals to notice, but which Madara noticed immediately.
The pair were childhood friends with a troubled history because of the constant warfare between the Senju and Uchiha clans. Hashirama was partly motivated by the desire to end such conflicts, uniting different clans under a single village and leader. However,Madara was distinctly aware of how the Uchiha were viewed and treated by other clans, and felt like “peace” and “unity” based on burying past offenses and present discrimination was deeply unfair.
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Madara started to actively organize dissent and resistance to Konoha’s growing authority and discrimination against the Uchiha. Hashirama responded by trying to execute him. It was the final nail in the coffin for the dream of “peace”. Idealist dogma about “unity” would be the guiding ideology masking the actual motivations of those with power and authority. Madara recognized Hashirama’s good intentionsbut also recognized that motivations changed with the leader.
Sure enough, Tobirama was far more suspicious of the Uchiha: despite Hashirama’s well-meaning idealism and wishes for peace and equality, good vibes don’t erase the past and the biases it imprints. Tobirama pushed for them to be enforcers for Konoha and its interests after becoming Hokage, rooting out any Madara sympathizers, turning the Uchiha against themselves, and pushing them to the margins. Through the rhetoric of peace, Tobirama used his authorityto covertly and subliminally bring the Uchiha to heel.
Akatsuki Was An Inevitable Result ofNaruto’s World
Resistance ToNaruto’s Social Order Was Bound To Happen
Just as the Uchiha became victims of Konoha’s authority and Hashirama’s political vision, so too did Amegakure. Amegakure is a minor village that would becomea proxy battleground for the warfare of larger villages. Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan were orphaned as a result, and formed the Akatsuki as a means to self-protection. Even Jiraiya’s efforts to look after and train them were, in an abstract sense, an ambassador ofKonoha’s ideals spreading and enforcing them among possible enemies.
As ofBoruto, Amegakure remains war-torn. A noncommittal order of support by Naruto (acting as Hokage) would never be followed up.
Like the Uchiha, too, Amegakure would become a major force upholding the shinobi order. For example, of all the minor villages, Amegakure sent the most shinobi to the Chunin Exams. In the contours of this contradiction—that Amegakure is both destitute as a result of the geopolitical ramifications ofNaruto’s political order, and the minor village eagerly reproducing that order—Akatsuki arose as an attempt to resist, and later reject,Naruto’s broader politics.
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If the shinobi order can claim it brings “peace”, then just like the Uchiha, Amegakure shows howthat claim covers violence, oppression, and disenfranchisement. After Konan and Nagato’s dear friend Yahiko dies in one such confrontation, Nagato takes over Akatsuki. Completely disillusioned with the idea of self-protection which otherwise lets the ninja regime be, Nagato decides on a different path to peace: using the Ten Tails to keep the world in check out of fear, similar to howAttack on Titan’s Founding Titan meant the Rumbling to be used.
Akatsuki Reveals A Different Darker Side To Naruto
Behind The Akatsuki Lies A Potent Discontent
I think it’s too easy, though, to say that Nagato and Madara turn against the otherwise righteous shinobi order because of stray events distorting their moral compass. It reminds me of “drapetomania”, the mental illness proposed by Samuel Cartwright in 1851 to explain slave flight, or “oppositional defiant disorder”, today used to pathologize resistance to authority figures. It also reminds me of the Soviet Union’spsikhushka, whereopposition to the Soviet regime was pathologized and dissenters were held indefinitely in asylums.
To become a missing-nin, all one has to do is find something about their village intolerable enough to leave it. After that, one becomes an outlaw.
To become a missing-nin, all one has to do is find something about their village intolerable enough to leave it. After that,one becomes an outlaw. I mentioned Sasuke at the start of the article to plant that seed. Paraphrasing Nietzsche, to evaluate something as “good”, “bad”, or “evil” or to evaluate different actions to determine their worthiness is inherently a moral position. Sasuke found revenge on Itachi to be morally valuable enough to leave Konoha, but because he dissented from Konoha’s moral and social order, he became a missing-nin.
Akatsuki is renowned forits plurality of motivations. Nagato, Obito, and Kisame all have sociopolitical end goals; Kazuku values money; Deidara holds a certain artistic conviction; Hidan has a religious devotion to slaughter. While I don’t agree with all of their motivations, I think there’s something to be said about the fact thatNaruto’s overarching moral and social order is fairly restrictive and intolerant of difference. It’s so restrictive thatAkatsuki becomes a lone catch-all group for those looking to resist it, providing a sense of community in abjectionthrough things like its iconic pairings.
This intolerance to difference can turn into destitution and genocide,as seen with Amegakure and with the Uchiha clan’s slaughter. The righteous claims of moral superiority by the Kage and their institutions have only ever been the cover for a system supporting its own authority. Funnily, at the Five Kage Summit, this hypocrisy is on full display when Ounoki argues Akatsuki must be destroyed and the other Kage call him out for paying off the Akatsuki to do his dirty work.
At the same summit, the ideological arguments that break out between the Kage show that the differences inNaruto’s world run incredibly deep,but its politics hardly make room for them. Sasuke also breaks his alliance with Akatsuki afterward, pursuing his own revolutionary crusade. I’m not trying to say that Madara or Sasuke’s different ideas for a better world were any better than Hashirama’s. But when I take a step back and look atNaruto’s society, it’s clear to me why Akatsuki took a stand against it.
Naruto
Naruto is a franchise spawned from the manga series penned by Masashi Kishimoto that began in 1999. Generating several tv series, games, movies, and more, Naruto follows the exploits of a young outcast ninja harboring the spirit of a demon fox who seeks to become the Hokage, the leader of his ninja village, to break the stigma against him. Upon the conclusion of the initial series, Naruto expanded into Boruto, following many series protagonists' children and returning faces.
