One of Naruto’s biggest mysteries is crucial to the plot, but it’s never explained

Naruto is known to have its fair share of plot holes and mysteries, however One is particularly surprising. Akatsuki is the primary antagonist in the first half of Naruto Shippuden. A renegade group of bandit shinobi who have left their respective villages, Akatsuki’s presence in the story is essential to NarutoIts world and plot, the basis for the end of the original series and is important in establishing the Fourth Great Ninja War, with which Shipuden Continued to a climactic end.

Akatsuki is known for its strict dress code, with the black, white and red robes becoming iconic for Naruto. Each member also owns A unique and irreplaceable ring which must be worn on a specific finger. The rings were made out to be critically important, but were left mostly unexplained before they were eventually forgotten.

The importance of the Akatsuki rings

The Akatsuki rings are one of the coolest things early on Naruto Shippuden

Akatsuki was initially started by Yahiko, Nagato and Konan, orphans from Amegakure, a minor village often caught in the disputes of other larger villages. With Yahiko as their leader, their initial goals are to simply protect each other and their home. After Yahiko dies, Nagato takes over, instigating a new goal: Seal all the Jinchuriki in the Demonic Statue of ​​the Outer PathAllowing Akatsuki to use the power of the Ten-Tails to act as a mediator and keep the world in check.

For this mission, the Akatsuki rings are essential. However, not much is known about them. They enable communication between Akatsuki members through a chakra link. More importantly, though, Akatsuki’s rings help with sealing tailed beasts. Each ring has a character that matches a character etched on a specific finger of the statue. The ring bearer must stand on that specific finger to seal the tailed beast away. The mechanics behind both of these properties have never been fully explained.

Naruto Burying a major mystery in plain sight

Akatsuki’s rings are made to be important, and disappear

Initially, the Akatsuki rings are very important, and the fact that they are irreplaceable plays a huge role in the story. It is not a matter of replication. For example, after Orochimaru leaves Akatsuki, he keeps his ring. The suspicion this causes for Akatsuki’s other members, along with the fact that another ring with the same symbol cannot be made, both show that The rings themselves have some unique, inimitable traits.

Characters go to extreme lengths to retrieve them. After Deidara loses his arm, he is willing to risk his life to get the ring back. When Obito (then known as Tobi) tries to join Akatsuki after Sasori’s death, he has to go with Deidara to retrieve the deceased Sasori’s ring before filling his place. The rings Acts as a major plot device All the way up to the Payne arc, when the rationale behind stealing tailed animals to form the ten-tails is explained through Payne’s backstory.

When Obito takes over as the leader of Akatsuki after Paine’s death, The rings effectively disappear. The statue matching the rings, on the other hand, was important. Never to return, readers and viewers missed out thanks to Narutos failure to show more about the origins and mechanics of the rings.