The Strongest Member Of Naruto's Akatsuki According To Fans

In "Naruto," the Akatsuki is an organization made of some of the most powerful missing-nin on the planet. Though missing-nin (rogue ninjas) usually act as independent outlaws, the Akatsuki are united by a shared political goal. Far from being a gang of runaway thugs, they are a full-blown terrorist organization with lofty goals and the ability to achieve them. As such, the Akatsuki acts as the primary villain for large portions of both "Naruto" and (to a much greater extent) "Naruto: Shippuden."

While Naruto himself does eventually dismantle the Akatsuki following the defeat of its leader, Pain, the group still managed to leave a lasting effect on the world around them. Each member was nothing less than one of the most dangerous ninjas in the world, and their actions spread no small amount of death and destruction. It would often take the combined efforts of multiple shinobi on Naruto's side to defeat even a single member.

But while no member of the Akatsuki was by any means weak, some were definitely stronger than others. Itachi Uchiha, for instance, stands out as one of the strongest shinobi in the series period, and is only (somewhat intentionally) defeated by an illness mid-battle. However, even he isn't the member fans usually point to when they look for the strongest member of the Akatsuki.

Whenever fans of "Naruto" discuss the strongest Akatsuki member there is always one issue that has a drastic effect on the final answer. Depending on who you ask, Madara Uchiha either could or could not be considered a member of the Akatsuki. Though he never formally joins the group, Madara did lay the groundwork for its invention, and through Tobi, he manipulated the Akatsuki to achieve his own ends. If he does qualify for the group, then there's little doubt that he would be considered the strongest member. Madara is one of the series' main villains and has shown on multiple occasions that all but a few ninjas could ever hope to stand up to him.

However, Madara is more of a shadowy mastermind than an active member, and as such, many fans leave him out of their ranking — though many lists, such as the ranking done by ScreenRant, leave him as a member. Without Madara, however, there is still some debate as to who deserves the crown amongst the Akatsuki.

Now that Madara has safely been awarded the conditional number one spot, it's not difficult to see which members of the Akatsuki fans single out as the strongest. Out of all of them, only two truly stand out as something incredibly special. The first is Pain, a.k.a. Nagato, whose Rinnegan practically makes him a god among men. In addition to leveling the entirety of Konoha with a single technique, Pain can even revive the dead (though at the cost of his own life) and was once seen as the Child of Prophecy before he turned to the dark side of the ninja world. At least one fan on Quora listed him at the number one spot.

However, the member that charts fans' lists nine times out of 10 is Obito Uchiha, a.k.a. Tobi. Like the Darth Vader to Madara's Emperor, Obito becomes the main instrument through which Madara achieves his goals. With his own Mangekyo Sharingan granting him abilities of teleportation and intangibility, Obito stood as one of the most severe threats to peace in the world. He is the one responsible for releasing the Nine-Tailed Fox on the day Naruto was born, and he even briefly gets a Rinnegan and becomes the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, making him one of the most powerful beings in the world bar none. In the aforementioned Quora thread, more fans pointed towards Obito being the strongest out of all members of the Akatsuki.