The Akatsuki was one of the strongest organizations in theNarutoworld that was established first by the Amegakure orphans and later, taken over by the likes of Obito Uchiha. With varying goals under each leader, this group took several turns in their history, however, they were always home to some of the greatestNarutoninjas to ever live.
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Most of the members of the Akatsuki were S-Ranked criminals, meaning they possessed incredible power up their sleeve. At the same time, they also had incredible intelligence which allowed them to hold their own even against Kage-level opponents.
10Hidan
Hidan was one of the lesser impressive members of the Akatsuki, however, just like all the others, he was a strong fighter. With the powers that Jashin had apparently bestowed upon him, he became immortal. Hidan was strong enough to fight against Asuma and eventually kill him but he wasn’t nearly as smart. Due to his immortality, he jumped headfirst into most fights and often got lured into easy traps that he could’ve avoided if he thought things through.
9Kisame
A former member of Kirigakure’s ANBU, Kisame was a skilled fighter with ferocious fighting power that only a handful of others could match. He was known as the Tail-less Tailed Beast due to the humongous amount of chakra he could store within himself and his sword, Samehada. When it comes to intelligence, however, Kisame was never too sharp. Most of the time, he simply followed whatever order was given to him and did his job perfectly.
8Kakuzu
Kakuzu hailed from Takigakure, one of the smaller villages in the world of Naruto. After he failed to assassinate Hashirama Senju, he stole the Earth Grudge Fear from his village and then abandoned the place, joining the Akatsuki. As a nigh-unkillable person, Kakuzu had accumulated a lot of experience in combat and he showed that during his fights against the likes of Team 10 and then Kakashi Hatake. However, he was eventually fooled byNaruto Uzumaki’s clever usage of the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
7Deidara
Deidara was once a shinobi of Iwagakure but was recruited by the Akatsuki after he lost to Itachi Uchiha in battle. He was certainly both strong and smart in combat.
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In his fight against the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara, he showed his ability to penetrate his defenses without even going all-out. Deidara had also devised ways to counter the Sharingan, which makes him pretty smart when compared to most of the other shinobi.
6Nagato
Nagato was the leader of the Akatsuki and while he was very strong, he wasn’t nearly as smart as the others. Nagato did, however, possess decent intelligence, evident from his clash with Jiraiya where he knew his way around his abilities. What’s more, Nagato’s usage of the Six Paths of Pain was very clever and his arrangement of the various Pains was very tactical. He was smart enough to lure Naruto to places where he held the advantage and was overall a very intelligent character.
5Konan
Konan was one of the original founders of the Akatsuki, along with Nagato and Yahiko. Out of the three, she was certainly the most intelligent. While Konan wasn’t focused on a lot in the story, a display of her intelligence was given to the fans when she fought Obito Uchiha and nearly killed him. Konan was the first person to have completely studied Obito’s Kamui and had developed Jutsu that could counter it with ease. She had taken into consideration every single strength of his and countered it, however,her lack of knowledge on the Izanagi is what cost her in the end.
4Sasori
Sasori of Sunagakure joined the Akatsuki after he kidnapped and killed the Third Kazekage following the events of the Third Great Ninja War. Sasori was extremely intelligent and his creation of human puppets speaks for itself.
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His knowledge was extremely immense and even the elders of Sunagakure, such as Chiyo, were unable to match his genius despite being capable shinobi themselves. If that wasn’t enough, Sasori also had a very high knowledge of various poisons and used them in combat to perfection. His intelligence was one of his biggest weapons in combat.
3Itachi Uchiha
Itachi was an incredibly powerful ninja from Konohagakurewho left the village after murdering his clan in a single night. Itachi was incredibly intelligent, known to have the wisdom of a Kage at the age of 7. He only grew further from there onwards and became a menacing personality over the years. Itachi was incredibly smart and was able to prevent the Akatsuki was attacking Konoha all by himself. His tactics in battle were unmatched and he was certainly one of the smartest that Konohagakure had produced.
2Obito Uchiha
Although underrated, Obito Uchiha was one of the most intelligent membersof the Akatsuki. He was a master manipulator who took the reigns of the Akatsuki by getting into the head of the Amegakure orphans. He put the Fourth Mizukage under his control and manipulated an entire village all by himself. If that wasn’t enough,Obito tricked Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, and even Itachi into believing he was Madara Uchiha despite him only being very young at the time. His intelligence was great enough to see him use Izanagi when needed and emerge victorious from most battles.
1Zetsu
Possibly the smartest of all the characters inNaruto, Zetsu was the will incarnate of Kaguya Otsutsuki. Centuries ago, Zetsu was spared from being sealed by Hagoromo and Hamura Otsutsuki, and ever since then, he played his part to bring Kaguya back. He pit Indra against Asura, and years later, their reincarnations against each other. He even manipulated Madara Uchiha, who is held in legendary regard for his intelligence, without much trouble. Zetsu successfully pulled off the greatest feat of intelligence in the story and rightly takes the top spot.
