Kakuzu

Kakuzu (角都, Kakuzu^?) is a missing-nin from Takigakure and Hidan's partner, a partnership neither is very fond of. The first kanji in Kakuzu's name (角) stands for kakugyō, a bishop in shogi. Kakuzu is a greedy individual, prioritizing things in terms of how much they are worth and finding money to be the only thing that he can depend on.^[24] Kakuzu's favorite source of income is collecting bounties while carrying out other missions, even putting up with Hidan's religion since it allows him to collect bounties faster. His history as a bounty hunter seems to be extensive, as he is on friendly terms with a bounty collector and even seems to have memorized the information and worth of some of the more dangerous bounties. This view of money has caused Kakuzu to refer to himself as the "Treasurer of Akatsuki", though it is unknown if this is an actual position.^[24] Kakuzu also has his own personal banker and accountant.^[25] Despite his attachment to money, he places the orders of Pein before any opportunity to make a profit.^[26] Kakuzu has a unique body structure that consists largely of thick black threads running throughout his body, which he can use to detach parts of his body for long range assaults. The threads themselves can also be used for attack, being able to pierce the bodies of others with relative ease. These threads are apparently limitless, as Kakuzu can use them to change his appearance and visually increase his size several times over as a result.^[27] Kakuzu's threads also allow him to integrate foreign organs into his system, allowing him to extend his life indefinitely by taking the healthier organs of others.^[28] He has used this ability to lengthen his lifespan by a great deal, as he claims to have fought the First Hokage at some point in his life.^[28] Kakuzu most prominently uses hearts in this way, keeping up to four extra hearts with him at any given time.^[29] He keeps his spare hearts stored within animal masks sewn to his back, and each of the masks can separate from his body and attack independently.^[30]

Once removed from his body, the masks can utilize powerful blasts of elemental chakra, with each blast being given its own name: Fire Release: Intense Pain (火遁・頭刻苦, Katon: Zukokku^?),^[31] Wind Release: Pressure Damage (風遁・圧害, Fūton: Atsugai^?),^[32] and Lightning Release: False Darkness (雷遁・偽暗, Raiton: Gian^?).^[33] These masks can also combine to increase the potency of their attacks, with one element gaining strength as a result of a second. If the heart in Kakuzu's body is destroyed, one of the masks can quickly remerge with him so that he can take use of its heart, causing the mask to crumble away. In the event that he loses one of his hearts, Kakuzu seems to prefer taking the heart of the opponent responsible, prolonging his life from the strength of his enemy. Kakuzu also has an earth-based defensive jutsu referred to as Iron Body (鉄ボディ, Kurogane Karada^?), which increases his strength and makes him virtually immune to physical attacks.^[34] It is not clear if this ability is a result of his fifth heart, or if it is that of his fourth mask.

Kakuzu greatly dislikes the fact that he needs a teammate as a member of Akatsuki, due in part to his habit of killing anyone near him (partners included) when enraged. Having killed all of his previous partners as a result of this, Kakuzu was partnered with Hidan.^[35] Neither Kakuzu nor Hidan are fond of their partnership, Kakuzu having little patience for Hidan's time-consuming battle style and rituals and Hidan, in turn, detesting how Kakuzu fights solely for money. Still, because Hidan is immortal, Kakuzu can attack him without worrying about finding a new partner.^[36][37] Kakuzu's threads also prove particularly useful in his partnership with Hidan, as Hidan's immortality allows him to survive any form of dismemberment and Kakuzu only needs to sew him back together to return to fighting readiness.^[38][39]

As Kakuzu and Hidan make their way to Konohagakure to finish an earlier battle, the two are met by a group of four Konoha ninja. Soon after the battle starts, Kakashi Hatake is able to pierce Kakuzu with his Lightning Blade, destroying one of his masks. His current heart being unscathed, Kakuzu brings out his other three masks with which to attack the Konoha ninja. While he is able to gain the upperhand, Shikamaru Nara is able to trick Hidan into using his voodoo-like ability on Kakuzu, causing him to lose one of his hearts. After taking the heart from one of his masks Kakuzu prepares to finish off the group, though the arrival of reinforcements stops his attack. Naruto Uzumaki, the host of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, does battle with Kakuzu and is in time able to strike him with his Wind Release: Spiraling Shuriken, striking Kakuzu at a cellular level and severing all of his nerves. Losing his two spare hearts and leaving his other heart on the verge of failure as a result of the attack, Kakuzu is left defeated and unable to move. With the last of his strength he attempts to figure out how he could be defeated by some "kids", which Kakashi attributes to the natural progression of things before finishing him off