"It looks like they've already left."
By the time Konan and Nagato arrived at the barren battlefield, Shinji had long since taken Hidan and vanished.
Shinji had nothing against the Akatsuki that Nagato had founded. He simply didn't want to work for someone else for free.
No benefits whatsoever, just empty promises, and they expected people to risk their lives for them? Where did they get off expecting such a sweet deal?
Even when Kakuzu had first joined, he had probably been inwardly cursing the other man for an idiot. If Kakuzu had seen even the slightest hope of escaping Pain's Deva Path back then, he would never have joined the Akatsuki.
Then there were the others. Konan and Nagato were childhood friends, everyone knew what sort of creature Zetsu was, and Tobi's true identity hardly needed mentioning.
Obito had completely hoodwinked Kisame, while Itachi was simply a spy working any number of sides, his true allegiance unclear all along.
After defecting, Sasori had practically stopped being human. He didn't care where he went and wanted only to study his eternal art.
Deidara's case was even more ridiculous. Three people had come straight to his door. He had tried to resist, only for Itachi to take him down with a single glance. Join or die-what would you have chosen?
And then there was Orochimaru. Why had he defected despite knowing the Akatsuki's strength, preferring to be hunted down relentlessly?
Being stunned by Itachi's beating was part of it. The other part was that Orochimaru had had enough of working for nothing, so once he realized he had no hope of obtaining the Sharingan or Rinnegan, he had decisively left to cut his losses.
Looking at it that way, did anything stand out?
Not one of these Akatsuki members had joined