Zetsu

Zetsu (ゼツ, Zetsu^?) is a mysterious missing-nin. Not much is known about him, other than his allegiance to Akatsuki and his function as a spy. His head appears to be enveloped in a large venus flytrap, which can also envelop the rest of his body. The right side of his face and body is black in color while his left side is white in color. To go with this, Zetsu seems to have a split personality, as the black half of his face speaks only in Katakana while the white side uses Kanji and Kana. The two halves also seem to converse with each other, and occasionally differ in opinion, such as whether to allow Tobi to fill Sasori's place in Akatsuki. His eyes are yellow and pupil-less.

Zetsu frequently uses Leech All Creation: Attack Prevention Technique (蛭万象・防火の術, Hiru Banshō: Bōka no Jutsu^?), allowing him to merge with the ground, trees, and other plants to travel long distances fairly quickly.^[9] He has also shown the ability to move his body during the sealing ritual, which no other Akatsuki member is capable of. As such, he serves as a lookout during the ritual. To help with this task, Zetsu has increased vision that allows him to see further than most other characters. In addition to his role as a spy, Zetsu appears to function as Akatsuki's hunter-nin. He is sent to dispose of the corpses of those used for the leader's Shapeshifting Technique, as well as recover the rings of Sasori and Deidara. He performs the former function by devouring the corpses, which fits with his "venus flytrap" theme.^[10]

Zetsu's only known subordinate is Tobi, who later took Sasori's position in Akatsuki after Sasori's death. Akatsuki members have so far generally seemed to report to Zetsu as if he was a superior, though perhaps only because he is often acting directly on the instructions of Pein.