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Other Forces of the World
Topic Started: Dec 25 2007, 12:53 AM (43 Views)
Bennie
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Other Forces
Tailed beasts

The tailed beasts (bijû) are giant demons that serve to drive the plot of the Naruto series. Each revealed tailed beast is around the size of Gamabunta, who is over 100 meters tall. They are differentiated by the number of tails they have, with each possessing an amount from one to nine. The tailed beasts are also known for possessing the "ultimate chakra", as they have chakra levels far beyond what most of the human characters possess. The one-tailed Shukaku has a chakra level several times that of the average shinobi, while the nine-tailed fox's level is practically infinite. However, this immense strength is tempered due to their bestial nature, which restricts them from being smart enough to use it effectively. For example, the three-tailed beast was unsealed when it first appears in the manga, and is thus easily defeated by Deidara and Tobi. Beasts sealed within another person are able to benefit from the knowledge of their hosts, giving them the ability to speak and better utilize their powers.

Akatsuki is currently collecting the tailed beasts. They capture the hosts and take them to a secret location where a three day long jutsu is performed to draw out the tailed beast from the host. They possess seven of the nine tailed beasts: Shukaku, the one-tailed beast; the two-tailed demon cat; the three-tailed beast; the four-tailed beast; and three other unknown beasts. All seven of these tailed beasts have been extracted and sealed. Pain claims that when all nine beasts are sealed, he will be able to create a jutsu powerful enough to instantly wipe out a country.

Jinchûriki

Those within whom a tailed beast has been sealed are called Jinchûriki (literally Power of Human Sacrifice, English "Spiritualist Medium"), or simply hosts. In most instances, they are actually stronger than the tailed beast they contain, as they have the knowledge to effectively control the tailed beast's strength. Each of the hosts that have appeared so far within the series also possesses a physical characteristic that resembles their beast — Naruto has fox-like whisker-marks, and Gaara has tanuki-like rings around his eyes. According to Akatsuki members, those who host such creatures are typically lonely people who loathe humanity, and so far this has initially been the case. When Akatsuki captured their first two jinchûriki, no one from their villages cared, and in fact were thankful to be rid of them. It is also known that the death of a host will result in the death of the tailed beast within, and the hosts seen thus far sometimes exhibit involuntary defensive powers, such as Gaara's sand shield. Likewise, the removal of the tailed beast results in the death of its host. Naruto takes the word jinchûriki offensively, regarding it as a dehumanizing term. During the Great Shinobi Wars, each country's Hidden Village tried to make use of the tailed beasts for military purposes, and competed for them. However, no one was ever able to truly bring the tailed beasts under control, with the jinchûriki being only a marginal success.

Akatsuki

Akatsuki, at any given point in time, is composed of no more than ten primary members. There is no known criterion required for joining the organization, though all known members have severed all ties with the village they grew up in and are S-class criminals, the most wanted and dangerous individuals in the series.

One member, Sasori, is known to have undertaken a challenging task around the time of his joining the organization: During the course of the battle in which he eventually meets his demise, he comments that "[he] hadn't had this much difficulty since joining Akatsuki". Deidara's, however, was forcibly recruited by other Akatsuki members as a result of his effective work as a terrorist.

Members of Akatsuki work in teams of two. Teams are built to complement each other's abilities and talents to create a formidable duo. For example, Kakuzu uses Hidan's immortality to his advantage by using large-scale attacks on those Hidan has pinned down; being immortal, Hidan survives what is normally fatal to his opponent. Zetsu is an exception to this, as he operates by himself at all times. Members whose partners have died also operate by themselves until a replacement can be found. At the very least, members maintain a functioning working relationship with their partner, with some form of loyalty to one another being present in most cases. In other instances a member will only work with their teammate so long as it furthers Akatsuki's goals, with all other matters being a source of dispute between the two. In general, Akatsuki members are unconcerned with the fate of their other comrades, their only point of interest concerning someone's death being who was strong enough to kill them.

Akatsuki is a widespread organization, with its members constantly traveling between countries and its agents operating out of various villages throughout the world. These agents work for specific members for varying purposes; Sasori has a number of agents under a form of mind control that he uses as spies, while Kakuzu has a group of people that take care of his finances. Because the various members are often so far apart, making a meeting in person impractical, they can communicate through a form of telepathy. If there is a need for the group to have more of an interaction with each other, members can use a form of astral projection to meet at one of Akatsuki's many secret lairs. When their entire group meets like this at the end of the first part of the series, one member notes that it had been seven years since they had all been together in such a fashion. Their meetings are much more frequent in the second part of the series due to their increased activity.

All information is courtesy of Wikipedia, under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
Edited by Bennie, Aug 27 2008, 04:57 AM.
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Bennie
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A Closer Look at the Akatsuki
Wardrobe

Akatsuki members dress in similar clothing: a long, dark cloak bearing red clouds and a red interior with a chin-high collar. All members also wear nail polish of varying colors on their fingernails and toenails. When starting a mission they wear large conical straw hats with small spike-like bells hanging from them to block their faces, but the hats are discarded once they have been discovered. In addition to this more standard wardrobe, members continue to wear forehead protectors from their former home villages, but scratch a line across their village's symbol. This is done to indicate that their ties to the village have been severed and they no longer give allegiance to their former homes. Not all members have their headband visible, and Hidan's headband does not correspond to any known village.

Each Akatsuki member wears a single, unique ring, and no two members wear a ring on the same finger. In total, there are ten rings, and each seems to have some special significance.Tobi believes that he can become a member after finding Sasori's ring, and although Zetsu claims it's not as easy as that, Tobi does indeed become a member. Deidara reinforces the significance of the rings when, after losing both his arms, he expresses more concern for finding the ring than finding the arm itself. Likewise, when Orochimaru leaves the organization he takes his ring with him, and in the ten years since then he has yet to be replaced. Each ring bears a unique symbol, the first kanji of its name.

The various rings are:

Right thumb: rei, "zero"
Right index finger: Seiryû, the Azure Dragon
Right middle finger: Byakko, the White Tiger
Right ring finger: Suzaku, the Vermilion Bird
Right little finger: Genbu, the Black Tortoise
Left little finger: Kûchin, the Void
Left ring finger: Nanju, Sagittarius (lit. Southern Star)
Left middle finger: Hokuto, the Big Dipper (lit. Northern Star)
Left index finger: santai, "three levels"
Left thumb: gyokunyo, the Virgin

Goal

Akatsuki initially operate in the shadows, carrying out assassinations and espionage that draw little attention. Some members use their time with Akatsuki to further their own goals; Kakuzu, for example, joined because it makes it easier for him to collect bounties. Soon after the start of the series, however, Akatsuki becomes increasingly more active as its members start to carry out the tasks needed to achieve their ultimate goal: domination over the Naruto world. The leader, Pain, has created a three-step process to work their way towards this goal. First, they plan to obtain a large amount of money to support their organization. Second, they plan to set up a mercenary group loyal only to Akatsuki. To build their reputation, they plan to accept any mission below the usual cost and operate off of the excess funds earned in the first part of their plan. Because there haven't been any wars in some time, the established shinobi villages can't afford to charge such low prices, leading the smaller countries to hire Akatsuki over the more expensive shinobi villages. By using the tailed beasts, Akatsuki can start wars and then immediately quell them, solidifying their reputation and convincing every country to depend on them. Without any business, the other shinobi villages would collapse due to a lack of funds. Finally, after Akatsuki is the only major shinobi force in existence, they could easily conquer the other countries. Despite the severity of this plan, members do not automatically learn of it upon joining; Hidan did not find out about it until asking.

The tailed beasts, nine gigantic demons of immense power, are the focus of much of Akatsuki's effort and screen time within the series. Each Akatsuki member is assigned to capture alive one of the nine beasts or, in most cases, the person that beast has been sealed into. Akatsuki has so far obtained seven of the nine: the One-Tailed Shukaku, the Two-Tailed Demon Cat, the three-tailed beast, the four-tailed beast, and three others.

Once one of the demons has been captured it is taken to the nearest Akatsuki lair where the remaining members then assemble through astral projection. Pain summons a giant statue of a humanoid monster while the beast or its host is placed before it. The members then take their place on the finger of the statue that corresponds to their respective ring, and the group prepares to seal the beast into the statue. For the sealing, nine dragon-like effigies pour from the statue's mouth to surround the captured host, forcefully remove the tailed beast from them, and seal it into the statue. In the case of an unsealed tailed beast, the same thing happens to the beast itself. The sealing process takes three days to complete. Kisame Hoshigaki notes that the demons must be sealed in a specific order, as he states that sealing the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox before the other eight beasts would destroy the statue. Tobi, the character shown giving Pain orders, hints that the tailed beasts have a purpose beyond global conquest, implying that acquiring all nine would allow his Sharingan to return to full power. Pain, however, has different plans on using the tailed beasts, wishing to use them to create a weapon of mass destruction that will force the world to learn the pointlessness of fighting and try to achieve a sense of world peace.

All information is courtesy of Wikipedia, under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
Edited by Bennie, Aug 27 2008, 04:58 AM.
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