Bingo Book

are black books used by ninja that contain any and all information on black-listed ninja they are to target. There are multiple versions of the Bingo Books, the most common being those based from the Hidden Villages.

Purpose
Normally, a Bingo Book is owned by jōnin and Anbu members of the major shinobi villages. Each entry on the Bingo Book is added by a high ranking official, usually the Kage, who lists a black-listed ninja. Usually, each Hidden Village's Bingo Book covers criminals and its country's most dangerous enemy ninja. There are also entries on missing-nin or potential security threats they are all marked for elimination by the hunter-nin. A unit of Anbu from Kirigakure, the hunter-nins' sole purpose is carry out the complete eradication of missing-nin so that no physical trace of their quarry remains.

The Akatsuki, on the other hand, use their Bingo Book for the more sinister purpose of listing their jinchūriki targets and certain ninja from the villages who have potential use to them. In Kakuzu's case, he lists his Bingo Book with information on various ninja with large bounties on their heads so that he can claim the bounty on them.

Trivia

 * Black books have played a role during the events of World War II for various purposes.
 * Although the word for Bingo Book is written in kanji "手配書", it is pronounced the same as in English "Bingo Book". The Japanese pronunciation of the kanji would be "tehaisho", which would literally translate to "book of search instruction", as in the instruction and protocols used for police searches and arrests.
 * According to Kabuto, his own bounty within the Bingo Book pales in comparison to Sasuke's or Orochimaru's.