I belive that it was mentioned that she was recruted in spite of having less than groundbreaking fighting skills.
Hmm, do you mean what Sasuke said in 348? I don't have the raw and the tankouban isn't out yet so I can't be sure, but according to Hisshouburaiken's Scanlations Sasuke said there were plenty of "strong" (as opposed to "stronger") fighters he could have recruited "easily", which means that he could have considered her just as strong as any of the groundbreaker fighters, or that he considered her a strong groundbreaker fighter who was not as "easy" as the rest to recruit.
It could be as simple as getting a med-nin that he could trust not to knife him in his sleep (or KO him and drag his ass back before a 'Kage), or it might be more...subtle.
I dunno, I guess I'm just not comfortable with the idea that just because Karin hasn't shown too much raw destructive power yet she's considered a "weak(er)" fighter. I don't think it's an issue of getting a med-nin he trusts, either, judging by how ready he seemed to walk away from her "Fine.. if you feel that strongly, I'll get someone else." (unless he was lying or trying to manipulate her, which I think doesn't really seem very much like what he'd do..) I do hope it's something more subtle.. I want to see what Karin does! Maybe sensei is just building up anticipation?
Itachi: Teenager who doesn't want to be associated with the others. Would rather spend time locked in his room painting his fingernails and plotting how better to make little brother miserable.
I dunno if I'd call him that.. personally he strikes me as having an "better than you and I know it" attitude, but his interaction with Kisame didn't seem to me to be very aloof.. just calm. But that's just me. ^^;;;
This comment is getting quite long but I just want to say that I agree with your assessment of the others.. and I'm starting to wonder how old Leader and the rest are, if Kakazu was old enough to have fought the first Hokage.. and what's the turnover rate in Akatsuki like, if Hidan was a relatively new replacement...
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Hmm, do you mean what Sasuke said in 348? I don't have the raw and the tankouban isn't out yet so I can't be sure, but according to Hisshouburaiken's Scanlations Sasuke said there were plenty of "strong" (as opposed to "stronger") fighters he could have recruited "easily", which means that he could have considered her just as strong as any of the groundbreaker fighters, or that he considered her a strong groundbreaker fighter who was not as "easy" as the rest to recruit.
It could be as simple as getting a med-nin that he could trust not to knife him in his sleep (or KO him and drag his ass back before a 'Kage), or it might be more...subtle.
I dunno, I guess I'm just not comfortable with the idea that just because Karin hasn't shown too much raw destructive power yet she's considered a "weak(er)" fighter. I don't think it's an issue of getting a med-nin he trusts, either, judging by how ready he seemed to walk away from her "Fine.. if you feel that strongly, I'll get someone else." (unless he was lying or trying to manipulate her, which I think doesn't really seem very much like what he'd do..) I do hope it's something more subtle.. I want to see what Karin does! Maybe sensei is just building up anticipation?
Itachi: Teenager who doesn't want to be associated with the others. Would rather spend time locked in his room painting his fingernails and plotting how better to make little brother miserable.
I dunno if I'd call him that.. personally he strikes me as having an "better than you and I know it" attitude, but his interaction with Kisame didn't seem to me to be very aloof.. just calm. But that's just me. ^^;;;
This comment is getting quite long but I just want to say that I agree with your assessment of the others.. and I'm starting to wonder how old Leader and the rest are, if Kakazu was old enough to have fought the first Hokage.. and what's the turnover rate in Akatsuki like, if Hidan was a relatively new replacement...