Far from a group of shinobi who fell from grace to become a ruin, I think NarutoAkatsuki is seriously misunderstood – more than that, They point out something very important about the world they inhabit. NarutoOf course, it focuses on the titular character’s quest to become Hokage, the leader of Konohagakure. Since the loving cast of the series all hail from Konoha, it probably seems odd to side with Akatsuki, a group that wants To overthrow the shinobi system and Narutos political status quo.
NarutoThe emphasis on Konoha’s perspective undermines his efforts at world-building by making Konoha and its political systems seem difficult and exploitative. Take Sasuke’s desire to leave Konoha to be treated as a serious, immoral betrayal: the main goal in Naruto Shippuden Worth bringing Sasuke back to Konoha while making him conform to Naruto’s (and, by extension, Konoha’s) ideals of peace and unity. There is a tinge of authoritarianism there, and I’m inclined to think Akatsuki is right to challenge Narutosociety (even if I disagree with their own vision of “peace”).
Narutos politics had problems from the start
from the beginning, NarutoHis politics were doomed
Akatsuki’s rise 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 Nagato would cement the later directives for Akatsuki. It’s a looser sense though, which I find more interesting.
Hashirama and Madara’s conflict serves as a kind of founding myth for Konoha and the rest of the world, since Konoha established its paradigm. The giant facade of the Valley of the End is a testimony to the myth’s power to justify Narutos social order, and its function as a foundational narrative for Konoha Echoes in Naruto and Sasuke’s battles on the court.
There is an irony in this fact Naruto ShippudenThe reincarnation twist was so divisive, because Her convolution is also completely unnecessary. Narutos world destroys itself. From the moment Hashirama had the first inklings of what 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 immediately noticed.
The pair are childhood friends with a troubled history due to the constant warfare between the Senju and Uchiha clans. Hashirama was partly motivated by the desire to end such conflicts, uniting different clans under one village and leader. however, Madara was distinctly aware of how the Uchiha were viewed and treated by other clansAnd felt like “peace” and “unity” based on buried past transgressions and present day discrimination was deeply wrong.
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Madara began actively organizing dissent and resistance to Konoha’s growing authority and discrimination against the Uchiha. Hashirama responded by trying to execute him. This was the last nail in the coffin for the dream of “peace”. Idealist dogma about “unity” would be the guiding ideology masking the real motivations of those in power and authority. Madara recognized Hashirama’s good intentions But also recognized that motivations changed with the leader.
Sure enough, Tobirama was much more suspicious of the Ohiya: despite Hishima’s well-meaning idealism and wish for peace and equality, good vibes don’t erase the past and the prejudices it imprints. Tobirama pushed them to be enforcers for Konoha and his interests after becoming Hokage, rooting out any Madara sympathizers, turning the Uchiha against him and pushing them to the brink. Through the rhetoric of peace, Tobirama used his authority To secretly and subliminally bring the Uchiha to heel.
Akatsuki was an inevitable result of Narutos world
Resistance to Narutos social order was bound to happen
Just as the Uchiha became victims of Konoha’s authority and Hashirama’s political vision, so did Amagakure. Amegakure is a minor village that would become A proxy battleground for the warfare of larger villages. Nagato, Yahiko and Konan were orphaned as a result, and formed the Akatsuki as a means of self-defense. Even Jiraiya’s efforts to look after and train them are, in an abstract sense, an ambassador of Konoha’s ideals spreading and enforcing them among possible enemies.
Like the Uchiha, too, Amegacure 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 Amegacure is both impoverished as a result of the geopolitical ramifications of Narutos political order, and the minor village reproduced this order eagerly –Akatsuki arose as an attempt to resist, and later reject, Narutos broader policy.
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If the shinobi order can claim that it brings “peace”, just like the Uchiha, Amegacure shows how That claim covers violence, oppression, and disenfranchisement. After Conan and Nagato’s dear friend Yahiko dies in one such confrontation, Nagato takes over Akatsuki. Completely disillusioned with the idea of self-defense that otherwise allows the ninja regime to be, Nagato decides on a different path to peace: use the ten tiles to keep the world in control of fear, similar to how Attack on Titans founding titan meant the rumbling to be used.
Akatsuki reveals a different darker side to Naruto
Behind the Akatsuki lies a strong discontent
I think it’s too easy, however, 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 PsykhushkaWhere Opposition to the Soviet regime was pathologized and dissidents were held indefinitely in asylums..
To become a missing-nin, all you need to do is find something about their village intolerable to leave it. After that one becomes an evildoer.
To become a missing-nin, all you need to do is find something about their village intolerable to leave it. after that, One becomes an evildoer. I mentioned Sasuke at the beginning of this article to plant the seed. To paraphrase Nietzsche, to evaluate something as “good”, “bad”, or “evil” or to evaluate different actions to determine their value is in advance a moral position. Sasuke found revenge on Itachi for being morally valuable enough to leave Konoha, but because he dissented from Konoha’s moral and social order, he became a missing-nin.
Akatsuki is famous for Its plurality of motivations. Nagato, Obito and Kisame all have sociopolitical end goals; Kazuku values money; Deidara holds a certain artistic conviction; Hayden has a religious devotion to slaughter. While I don’t agree with all of their motivations, I think there is something to be said for this fact NarutoIts overarching moral and social order is fairly restrictive and intolerant of difference. It is so restrictive that Akatsuki becomes a unique catch-all group for those seeking to counter itProviding a sense of community in Objection through things like its iconic pairings.
Intolerance to differences can turn into destitution and genocide, As seen with Amegakure and with the slaughter of the Uchiha clan. The righteous claims of moral superiority by the cage and their institutions have only ever been the cover for a system that supports its own authority. Oddly, at the Five Kage Summit, the hypocrisy is on full display when Ounoki insists that 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 cages show that the differences in NarutoThe world is incredibly deep, But her politics hardly makes room for them. Sasuke also breaks his alliance with Akatsuki afterwards, pursuing his own revolutionary crusade. I’m not trying to say that Madara or Sasuke’s different ideas for a better world were better than Hishima’s. But when I take a step back and look at Narutos society, it is clear to me why Akatsuki took a stand against him.