Akatsuki...

[Mut]

Originally posted by: Mae
No, in the AonE translation of ep 82 (at 17 min) Jiraiya just said that after they lost Orochimaru they split up into 4 groups of 2 and went to collect "techiniques and other things." Kakashi asks if one of those things is Kyubi and Jiraiya says probably.

So Kyubi is just one of their targets. It's likely that the other teams are off after those other targets (like maybe Gaara). I don't think they even went after Naruto first. This is because Jiraiya shows up after Akatsuki splits up to start their collection and Itachi doesn't come for Naruto until a few months after that. Itachi probably crossed a few other items of Akatsuiki's wish list in that time and is just now getting to Naruto.

I also noticed when I was checking this that Jiraiya said they were "mostly" S-ranked criminals. So one or two must be something else. *shrugs* I was bored....

nice! well put [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

[?igma]

Originally posted by: Mae
No, in the AonE translation of ep 82 (at 17 min) Jiraiya just said that after they lost Orochimaru they split up into 4 groups of 2 and went to collect "techiniques and other things." Kakashi asks if one of those things is Kyubi and Jiraiya says probably.

So Kyubi is just one of their targets. It's likely that the other teams are off after those other targets (like maybe Gaara). I don't think they even went after Naruto first. This is because Jiraiya shows up after Akatsuki splits up to start their collection and Itachi doesn't come for Naruto until a few months after that. Itachi probably crossed a few other items of Akatsuiki's wish list in that time and is just now getting to Naruto.

I also noticed when I was checking this that Jiraiya said they were "mostly" S-ranked criminals. So one or two must be something else. *shrugs* I was bored....

Sigh I really got to get those episodes back.. my memory is very flawed [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[Zabuza No Jutsu]

I'm not sure whether there's a leader or not but i was wondering...do all of them have those odd rings which Itachi and Kisame had?

[ShinobiNeko]

I think they all probably have rings, all the members that have showed up so far have...but does seem to hint there probably is a leader

[orn210]

yeah they all have rings and their forehead protectors are messed up like the lines on them but not sure if there was a leader he/she'll be different

[jGz`93-o6]

i think there are no leaders, and each pair does a different mission

[DarthEnderX]

But....there's 9 of them....

[poopdeville]

But....there's 9 of them....

Yeah, and they're pretty obviously after all 9 bijou, of which the Kyuubi is strongest. If their plan succeeds, the strongest member is going to want the Kyuubi inside of him.

I think you have to look at Akatsuki like a pirate crew. They're all strong enough to deserve each other's respect, but there's certainly a hierarchy. Look at how Kisame defers to Itachi's judgements in their episodes in the 80s. So I think the strongest guy in a given situation will have the final say.