Akatsuki is an organization that is filled with nothing but monsters. Every member of this organization is worth at least a hundred regular ninjas and has the ability to cause untold amounts of damage and kill lots of people without breaking a sweat. Needless to say, such a dangerous existence, along with the fact that most of them are S-Class fugitives, makes them infamous all over the world. At least that is the case for most members of the Akatsuki.
There are some members of the Akatsuki that manage to stay under the public radar, such as its leader, Pain. Not many people know what he looks like, but they know his accomplishments, or rather, his dangerous deeds. So he is kind of famous in his own way. But there is one particular member that not many people ever think about. Most people don’t even know who she is, despite the fact that she is one of the founding members of Akatsuki. Her name is Konan, and this is a brief look into her tragic life.
Konan’s Childhood
Konan, along with Yahiko and Nagato, are orphans who are forced to live as petty criminals on the street just to survive. After all, they, along with countless other children, lost their parents during the war. A war that doesn’t really have anything to do with their country. You see, Konan and her friends live at a small village called Amegakure, A Village Hidden by The Rain.
There’s nothing particularly special about Amegakure, other than the fact that it is located right in the middle of three Great Ninja Countries. As such, the confrontation between them often happens in Amegakure. This peculiar situation leads to a village that is constantly becoming the arena of war, which leads to countless local people losing their lives every day.
During one of those conflicts, the young Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato accidentally meet the three Great Ninja from Konoha, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru. Feeling pity for the kids, Jiraiya decided to stay at Amegakure in order to teach basic knowledge and also ninja skills to them. The four of them live together for a couple of years, until the three of them become full-fledged ninja. At that point, Jiraiya decided to say good bye to the kids, and come back home to Konoha. As for Konan and her friends, they are now ready to thread the path that would lead to the betterment of their birthplace.
A Founding Member of The Akatsuki
Akatsuki was founded by Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, with Yahiko as its leader. The initial objective of this small organization is to bring peace to Amegakure through the ninja skills that they’ve learned from Jiraiya. It doesn’t take a long time for fellow Amegakure ninja to also join Akatsuki, and further increase the size of their organization. This is the point when Tobi, who claimed to be Madara, approaches Nagato and offers to train him on how to use his Rinnegan eyes. Thanks to Yahiko, however, Nagato is convinced that Tobi is a suspicious and dangerous man and decides to decline his offer.
At this point in time, Akatsuki only operate within the border of Amegakure, with little to no interaction to the outside world. However, due to the sheer amount of influence that Akatsuki currently have, they become the target of the leader of Amegakure, Hanzo of the Salamander. There are a lot of skirmishes that happen between them, but it all culminates in a bloody event that claims the lives of not only most members of the Akatsuki, but also its leaders, Yahiko, leaving Konan and Nagato as the last members of Akatsuki.
During their time of grief, Tobi once again comes to see Nagato. This time around, he offers much more than just knowledge regarding Rinnegan. He offers Nagato a chance for vengeance. A chance to go against the leadership of Amegakure, against the Five Great Nations that wreak havoc in their hometown, and against the world that let such injustice go rampant. In his moment of rage, Nagato agrees. Konan has her reservations about Tobi’s offers, but she is also filled with anguish and anger at the time, so she decided to stay by Nagato’s side and support him. And thus the Akatsuki is reborn as a much more radical organization that operates all around the world.
Konan’s Role in Akatsuki
Konan is the only person that Nagato, now simply known as Pain, fully trusts. She is the only person that knows and understands Nagato’s thoughts and intentions, and the only voice that Nagato truly hears. But that is not her only role in the Akatsuki. Because contrary to what people may think, Konan is actually a strong and reliable ninja. Not only that, thanks to her paper-based jutsu, she is easily one of the most versatile members of the Akatsuki.
During her time in the organization, Konan is the master of a vast spy network. She would also be involved in infiltration and information gathering missions from time to time. Furthermore, Konan is usually the one who looks for and invites strong ninja to be a member of Akatsuki. Some Akatsuki members that are said to be recruited by Konan are Kisame and Sasori. Other than that, Konan is also the face of the leadership in Amegakure, known locally as “God’s Angel”.
Furthermore, Konan is also an incredibly powerful ninja. One of his most notable fights is when she goes against Tobi. At the time, Tobi was definitely one of the strongest ninja in the world. There’s not many people in the world that can stand against his space-time ninjutsu. Till this day, Konan remains to be one of the only ninja who is not only able to go head-to-head with Tobi, but she also nearly kills him. Sadly, Konan lost her life without many people ever recognizing or even knowing about her ability, her roles within the grand scheme of things, and also her good deeds. And that is why Konan is the most underrated member of the Akatsuki.