1. Itachi
Say what you will, but Obito never crossed Itachi. Unlike when Minato and Hiruzen were defending the village. To cement his placement, Dark Zetsu, or Madara, who knew of the legendary items Itachi gathered, said they made him completely invincible. Combined with virtuosic talent and an intellect that "constantly amazed" Obito: Itachi was the most fearsome Akatsuki, capable or turning the tides of a world war by Kabuto's own omission (and Obito by inference.)
1. Nagato
He has much more raw power than Itachi, but then again so does Deidara, Orochimaru, and Kisame, but Nagato lacks Itachi's intelligence, knowledge, and finesse. It's not the weapon, but the man. And besides, in the end, the legendary items that Madara spoke so highly of made quick work of Nagato. I tend to think of living Nagato as firmly #2 given he was, well, batshit crazy, but at the end of his life and as an Edo, Nagato became more somber and thus more dangerous.
1. Obito (pre-Rinnegan)
Similar to Itachi, Obito has finesse, intelligence, and vast amounts of knowledge. However, he has much less versatility, as Obito relied solely upon one jutsu: Kamui. If a ninja figured out the weakness of the technique, namely that he could not attack and defend at once, and that it requires pointblank range, then Obito ought to bide his time and retreat lest he waste a Sharingan. With Izanagi, however, he could potentially defeat anyone.
4. Orochimaru
He has the most powerful jutsu ever conceived: Edo Tensei. And his summons include Hashirama. Therefore, Orochimaru may actually have the most raw power on this entire list by proxy, but the weakness to this power is Orochimaru himself. While extremely intelligent and knowledgeable, Orochimaru lacks caution due to his regenerating body. This leaves him quite vulnerable to swift punishment, the sort that Itachi in particular likes to hand out.
4. Deidara
Not many ninja can enter a village by themselves and capture the Kage alive. Kumogakure sent entire teams just to capture a little girl, and they failed. c4 requires special eyes to even see, and the lightning affinity to cure. Like Nagato, he could annihilate entire villages, and even better than Kakuzu, Deidara (with one arm) required Kamui for two elite teams to defend against. He was the only member that Nagato lamented, and publicly praised his power.
5. Sasori
Deidara amitted inferiority to Sasori, but that may have been more of a match up issue due to Sasori not breathing and thus nullifying c4 (which Deidara thought could kill Itachi, Orochimaru, and Ōnoki.) Sasori, however, killed the strongest Kazekage of all time and then added that power to his arsenal, effectively making him the strongest Kazekage of all time x 2. He has defeated countries, so he's a badass.
5. Kisame
People underestimate Kisame because he was humble before Jiriaya, and yet Kisame easily defeated Killer Bee, a ninja of equal or greater caliber to Jiraiya. His ultimate technique, Daikoden, absorbs any chakra-based jutsu and reflects its power, meaning that Kisame can essentially one-shot the vast majority of ninjutsu-dependent Kage levels. He can wave his hand and form an ocean with thousands of sharks, and fuse with a blade that absorbs ninjutsu. He'd crush countries.
5.5 Kakuzu
The man who once fought Hashirama and lived to tell about it, Kakuzu possessed extraordinary experience and sufficient intellect to foil Shikamaru's ambush. He effectively possesses the firepower of a cohort of elite Jōnin, and has a jutsu that makes him practically invincible to all techniques except for raitons. Similarly, his tentacles are fast enough to quickly snatch skilled Jōnin. He's more an Obito/Itachi mold, with limited firepower, but impressive individual traits.
1/4 or 6. Konan
With preparation, Konan can jump to practically the top of the list, which says something about her intelligence. However, without preparation, she was quickly incapacitated against Jiriaya (granted, he knew her weakness) and was largely impotent against Naruto. She is Akatsuki's most impressive wildcard, and she can likewise destroy villages with her paper ocean. She is the most difficult Akatsuki for me to rank.
6. Zetsu
Zetsu, the one with Madara's chakra, is quite knowledgeable and intelligent. He also possesses a warping ability that makes him an ideal spy and scout, as well as a unique transformation ability. He temporarily incapacitated all of the Kages with a stealthy jutsu and restored Sasuke. In straightforward combat, he is the weakest of Akatsuki, but his vast utility, knowledge, usefulness easily makes him one of the most valuable members.
7: Hidan
Hidan gets a lot of flack for being by far the least impressive Akatsuki, but he's still a Kage level ninja in his own right. He quite effortlessly defeated an elite Jōnin, and that same elite Jōnin had earlier stated that Hidan was on another level. Still, with almost no versatility, destructive power, utility, knowledge, or intelligence, Hidan is at the bottom of the Akatsuki roster. That's why he was paired with Kakuzu, who was notorious for killing his team mates. (plus immortality lol)
Feel free to discuss.
