Naruto Shippuden. A renegade group of outlaw shinobi who have left their respective villages, Akatsuki's presence in the story is essential to Naruto's world and plot, foundational to the end of the original series and pivotal in establishing the Fourth Great Ninja War, with which Shippuden draws to a climactic end.

Akatsuki is known for its strict dress code, with the black, white, and red robe becoming iconic for Naruto. Every member also possesses a unique and irreplaceable ring that must be worn on a specific finger. These rings were made out to be critically important, but were left mostly unexplained before eventually being forgotten.

The Importance of the Akatsuki Rings

The Akatsuki Rings Are One Of The Coolest Things Early In Naruto Shippuden

Akatsuki was initially started by Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, orphans of Amegakure, a minor village frequently caught in the disputes of other larger villages. With Yahiko as their leader, their initial goals were to simply protect one another and their home. After Yahiko dies, Nagato takes over, instating a new goal: seal all the jinchuriki into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, allowing Akatsuki to use the power of the Ten-Tails to act as a mediator keeping the world in check.

For this mission, the Akatsuki rings are essential. However, not much is known about them. They enable communication between Akatsuki by way of a chakra link. More importantly, though, Akatsuki's rings help with sealing Tailed Beasts. Each ring has a character that matches a character etched on a specific finger of the statue. The ring-bearer must stand on that specific finger to seal the Tailed Beast away. The mechanics behind both of these properties are never fully explained.

Naruto Buries a Major Mystery In Plain Sight

Akatsuki's Rings Are Made Out To Be Important, Then Disappear

Initially, the Akatsuki rings are very important, and the fact they're irreplaceable plays a huge role in the story. It's not a matter of replication. For example, after Orochimaru leaves Akatsuki, he keeps his ring. The suspicion this causes for Akatsuki's other , alongside the fact that another ring with the same symbol can't be made, both show that the rings themselves have some unique, inimitable trait.

Characters go to extreme lengths to retrieve them. After Deidara loses his arm, he's willing to risk his life to get the ring back. When Obito (known then as Tobi) tries to Akatsuki after Sasori's death, he has to go with Deidara to retrieve the deceased Sasori's ring before filling his spot. The rings act as a major plot device all the way up to the Pain arc, when the rationale behind stealing Tailed Beasts to form the Ten-Tails is explained through Pain's backstory.

when Obito takes over as the leader of Akatsuki following Pain's death, the rings effectively disappear. The statue matching the rings, on the other hand, continued to be important. Never to return, readers and viewers missed out thanks to Naruto's failure to show more about the rings' origins and mechanics.