Gaara

Gaara (Gaara) is a shinobi of Sunagakure. Before he was born, Shukaku was sealed within him, resulting in his mother's death. Regarded as a monster by the village and with nobody to love him, Gaara came to despise the world and began relying only on his own strength, gaining the title Gaara of the Sand Waterfall (Sabaku no Gaara, English TV: Gaara of the Desert). After his defeat by Naruto Uzumaki and his unwavering dedication to his friends, Gaara begins emulating Naruto's method and changes Suna's opinions of him. He eventually becomes the village's Fifth Kazekage (Godaime Kazekage, Literally meaning: Fifth Wind Shadow), a position he maintains even after Shukaku was removed from his body by Akatsuki.

Gaara is a little shorter than the average males of his age, due to the fact that he was born prematurely. He has fair skin and short, spiky, red hair with a striking resemblance to his father. He also has sea green eyes. Gaara has no distinctive pupils or eyebrows. He has two very notable traits in his appearance: firstly, he has tanuki-like black eye rings, having them since his birth. Secondly, he carved the kanji "love" on the left side of his forehead, having it since Yashamaru's betrayal. Gaara's forelocks are parted from the left side, making the kanji more visible. Matsuri and Sari who both seem to have a crush on Gaara, have described him as the strong silent type, elite and very handsome.

In Part I, Gaara has been seen in two different outfits. When he was seen for the first time, he wore black full body suit with t-shirt-like sleeves, ¾-length legs, and an open neck. With this, he wore a white cloth over his right shoulder and the left side of his hips, and a wide leather band system over the left shoulder and right side of his hips. With this leather band, he carried around his gourd that contains his sand. He also wrapped his black forehead protector over the band. In his childhood flashbacks, he was seen wearing a beige poncho-like shawl over a short-sleeved black T-shirt, a white obi around his waist, dark blue pants that were rolled back several times at the hem, revealing the inside cloth to be grey, and black sandals. By the end of Part I, he switched his previous black overalls to a reddish-brownish one with longer sleeves and an upright collar. He retained the white cloth, but had mesh armour on his wrists and ankles. In Part II, Gaara had a considerable growth spurt, like Naruto. During his battling against Deidara and during the Kage Summit, he wore full-length dark trousers, with a pair of laces on each leg, respectively a few inches below the waist and the knees, a long-sleeved crimson coat with flaring hemlines and slits down on the lower half of the front and the back, a grey holster vest held in place by a single strap over his left shoulder and by two buckled belts which he uses to carry his gourd. He also wears another pair of casually worn belts around his waist. He is also seen wearing Kazekage robes, and a simple black pants suit, the latter one greatly resembling Kankurō's suit, and worn for the memorial of Elder Chiyo. All the time, he has been seen wearing Sunagakure's standard shinobi sandals. As the Regimental Commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces, he added his village's flak jacket to his standard outfit. Two years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, an adult Gaara dons a crimson long-sleeve shirt with several buttons and pants that match the colour of his shirt. He also wears a brown belt and now has a smaller sand gourd which is strapped to his left side. Years after the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Gaara's hair became flat and neatly combed to his right temple.

Naruto Uzumaki

Naruto Uzumaki (Uzumaki Naruto) is a shinobi of Konohagakure. He became the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails on the day of his birth — a fate that caused him to be ostracised by most of Konoha throughout his childhood. After joining Team Kakashi, Naruto worked hard to gain the village's acknowledgement all the while chasing his dream to become Hokage. In the following years, through many hardships and ordeals, he became a capable ninja regarded as a hero both by the villagers, and soon after, the rest of the world. He soon proved to be one of the main factors in winning the Fourth Shinobi World War, leading him to achieve his dream and become the village's Seventh Hokage (Nanadaime Hokage, Literally meaning: Seventh Fire Shadow). Naruto is a boisterous and exuberant individual. He would end sentences with "Dattebayo!" when excited or frustrated. He has a number of childish traits, such as being a very picky eater (he almost exclusively eats ramen), being afraid of ghosts, and carries a chubby green-frog wallet which he calls "Gama-chan".

Naruto is heedless to formality or social standings and has a habit of giving people he meets nicknames or addressing them without appropriate honourifics, as shown when he opted to call the Second Hokage a name he thought of off the top of his head instead of simply "Lord Second" (Nidaime-sama). He can also be quite perverted, creating different forms of his Sexy Technique and once tried to sneak a peek in the women's bath when the opportunity presented itself. Despite these, plus other quirks and the great amounts of criticism that follows them, Naruto is said to have a personality that brings people to him, inspiring friendship, loyalty and love from most of the people he meets through acts of genuine kindness and sincerity that could change a person's entire world view. For example, during the Fourth Shinobi World War, Naruto's kindness inspired loyalty from the tailed beasts, and when linked to the entire Shinobi Alliance through telepathy, he reignited the demoralised armies' fighting spirit, choosing to continue fighting despite the losses he could receive, as shinobi were meant to endure through hardships. On several occasions, the Second Hokage has stated in many ways Naruto is very similar to the First Hokage. Years of isolation and scorn from the villagers made Naruto thirst greatly for acknowledgement and love. He would pull pranks around the village just to get a response from anyone and his desire to be Hokage was in hopes of becoming someone that mattered. Because no one in the village cared for him apart from Iruka, Naruto was completely unresponsive to the villagers yelling at him from his pranks, only showing response when Iruka showed up. Naruto's time at the Falls of Truth revealed that a part of him hated the villagers for treating him as a pariah, only to turn to him after he saved them during Pain's assault on Konoha.

This hatred allowed the Nine-Tails to manipulate Naruto in his rage, causing him to go on a rampage several times until Naruto confronted the problem and learned to let it go. As he grew in his career as a ninja, his goal to be Hokage went from a desire for acknowledgement to a desire to help and protect the people close to him, which Tobi attributed to the Will of Fire. Naruto developed his nindō of never going back on his word, putting himself through any lengths required to keeping his promise. This was especially shown in Naruto's promise to Sakura to bring Sasuke back after his defection from Konoha, despite Sakura herself having grown to see this as impossible due to Sasuke becoming a dangerous international criminal later on, as well as the pain it and his unrequited feelings for her was causing him. According to Kakashi, Naruto is a kinesthetic learner, as he is relatively naive, simple, and slow to understand principles or situations, often requiring an oversimplified analogy in order to grasp what is being explained to him, much to his teachers' annoyance. Naruto is aware his own ineptitude, and admits that he puts up a strong front so people around him won't know of his embarrassment and frustration about it, despite of all his accomplishments. Naruto responds best to competition, using it as an additional drive in order to learn new techniques, though he doesn't hesitate to ask for help if he needs it. Despite his naivety, Naruto can be quite observant, picking up on things others miss and retaining information casually gathered through conversation. In battle, Naruto has shown to be a quick thinker, making up strategies on the fly or inventive use of his techniques to catch his opponents off guard. While he can be calm and collected most of the times during a fight, Naruto can also get frustrated when he is unable to defeat his opponent, and can forget some concepts or weaknesses that he himself noted beforehand. The death of his master Jiraiya and Pain's assault on Konoha caused a large world shift for Naruto. Grieving for Jiraiya, Naruto swore vengeance on Pain and left the village to learn senjutsu. While training, Naruto read a copy of The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi, which taught him that he was named after a hero from the book. Although further enraged by Pain's actions during the invasion, Naruto soon spoke with his father, who explained to him the cycle of hatred of the shinobi world. After finally listening to Nagato's story and the results of the cycle of hatred, Naruto vowed he would break the cycle and bring real peace to the world. Despite this desire bringing him in direct opposition to Sasuke and the rest of Akatsuki, Naruto continued down this path, resolving to end both the Fourth Shinobi World War and the cycle of hatred. After realising he is in love with Hinata, Naruto became not only protective of her, but also shy and flustered in her presence to the point where he accidentally told her how he felt. When Hinata "rejected" him so she could be with Toneri Ōtsutsuki, Naruto fell into a great depression and came close to giving up on everything, until Sakura helped him realise how deep and unwavering Hinata's feelings for him truly were, and that she only pretended to reject him to have a better chance of saving Hanabi and stopping Toneri. This made Naruto more determined than ever to save the Hyūga sisters, stop Toneri, and make his desire to be with Hinata for the rest of his life a reality. After several months of dating, Naruto and Hinata got married and started a family together with a son and daughter. In adulthood, Naruto has become much calmer and wiser in his approach, but still retains some of his childlike excitement. After becoming Hokage, Naruto has grown more serious and strict with his duties, taken up huge responsibilities and becoming overwhelmed, leading him to create shadow clones to tend to his family, which has strained his relationship with his son, who would occasionally pull pranks such as defacing the Hokage Rock to seek his attention. However, Naruto still shows that he deeply cares about and loves his family and is willing to protect them in times of danger, and tries to make time for them in actual person, proving himself to be a loving father and husband.

Sakura Haruno

Sakura Uchiha (Uchiha Sakura, née Haruno) is a kunoichi of Konohagakure. When she is assigned to Team 7, Sakura quickly finds herself ill-prepared for the duties of a ninja and the complications of her team-mates' lives. By training under her master, Tsunade, she becomes a strong kunoichi and an excellent medical-nin, capable of facing the challenges of life as a ninja, as well as helping her friends and loved ones when they need her.

Sakura had a normal childhood, raised by her parents without any serious tragedy or complication. When she entered Konoha's Ninja Academy, some of the girls in her class started picking on her because of her large forehead. Sakura tried to combat their teasing by hiding her forehead with her bangs, but this proved to the other girls that it bothered her and caused them to tease her even more.

Ino Yamanaka, one of her classmates, saw this, defended Sakura from her bullies, and encouraged her to embrace her forehead rather than hide it. Over the following years, Ino's guidance and friendship helped Sakura become comfortable with herself and develop into her own person. Though she felt indebted to Ino for helping her, Sakura began to feel that she was living in Ino's shadow when she, instead, wanted to be Ino's equal. When Sakura found out that they had a crush on the same boy, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura ended their friendship so that they could compete for Sasuke's love, thus beginning a bitter rivalry between them.

Kakashi Hatake

Kakashi Hatake (Hatake Kakashi) is a shinobi of Konohagakure's Hatake clan. Famed as Kakashi of the Sharingan (Sharingan no Kakashi), he is one of Konoha's more talented ninja, regularly looked to for advice and leadership despite his personal dislike of responsibility. To his students on Team 7, Kakashi teaches the importance of teamwork, a lesson he, like the Sharingan, received from his childhood friend, Obito Uchiha. After the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kakashi becomes Konoha's Sixth Hokage (Rokudaime Hokage, Literally meaning: Sixth Fire Shadow).

Kakashi typically has a relaxed and almost bored attitude, not prone to getting too worked up about anything or by anyone. He tries to avoid serious commitments or responsibilities, doing only as little as is necessary and being ever-modest about his skills and capabilities. He is habitually tardy, showing up when it suits him, using excuses that convince nobody, and later leaving for equally poor reasons. Though Kakashi wants others to believe this is how he always acts, he only does so for matters that aren't of particular importance; Kakashi will always step up for the sake of his friends or Konoha, even if that means showing up on time. His aloof detachment remains intact even on such occasions, however, but this has the benefit of making him more rational than others might be in the same situation. When he first meets his students on Team 7, Kakashi claims to have many hobbies, none of which he chooses to share at the time. He is known to be an avid fan of the Icha Icha series of novels; he always has one of the books with him and regularly reads it, even while talking to others. Naruto Uzumaki identifies Icha Icha as one of Kakashi's few weaknesses, which he is able to take advantage of during a bell test by threatening to spoil the ending of the newest book in the series, forcing Kakashi to shut his eyes and ears and thereby leave himself vulnerable.

Although most people he knows are aware of how much he likes Icha Icha, Kakashi is seemingly uncomfortable sharing the books with others, growing embarrassed by the presumably adult content when he is forced to read passages aloud. In truth, Kakashi is alone for most of his spare time, spending hours visiting Rin Nohara's grave or the Memorial Stone where Obito Uchiha's name is engraved. He tells them about his life, recent events in Konoha, and others they knew, but mostly he shares his regrets that they cannot be with him or that their deaths were his fault. In the anime, after Rin died, Kakashi went through a period of post-traumatic stress disorder, having nightmares about her death and growing depressed whenever others mentioned her. Over time, Kakashi comes to accept that Rin chose to die, so his guilt instead becomes about his broken promise to Obito to keep Rin safe. This fact causes Obito's death to weigh more heavily on him, compounding the regret he feels about what his personality was even hours before Obito died: selfish, condescending, and far too concerned about following the rules. Kakashi feels that, had he cared about teamwork and friendship in the same way that Obito did, Obito's death might have been avoided. Obito's death profoundly changed Kakashi. The Chidori that he originally created simply as a weapon became a tool he would only use to protect his comrades. More particularly, he became committed to teamwork and always places teammates' well-being above the mission's: he believes goals can be accomplished more effectively together, asking for help when he needs it, providing help when it is requested of him, and praising allies when they deserve it. An abuse of one's teammates is the only thing that can makes Kakashi cast aside his normally stoic demeanor, causing him to attack without mercy or his usual sense of sportsmanship. He expects his prospective students to demonstrate this same devotion to teamwork, which none until Team 7 were able to do; despite the high failure rate, the Third Hokage agrees with Kakashi's choice to require it. Kakashi becomes fond of all Team 7's members, even Sasuke Uchiha, blaming himself for Sasuke's criminal acts and his team's growing rift throughout Part II. He holds out hope that Sasuke will correct his behavior, and for his patience he is able to see Team 7 reunified when Part II ends. Might Guy has considered Kakashi his rival ever since they first met in the Academy. Despite his father's warning that Guy might someday prove stronger than him, Kakashi didn't think much of Guy at the time. Guy took this as a challenge and began striving to earn Kakashi's approval so as to show that his perseverance could be just as good as Kakashi's natural genius. When Guy would suggest contests to test how their abilities compared, Kakashi would respond with indifference, only fueling Guy's desire to defeat his "cool, hip, and trendy" personality. At the start of Part I, Kakashi's score is 50 wins and 49 losses, though even when Guy takes the lead the score difference remains the same; considering that their competitions range from eating contests to Rock, Paper, Scissors, the score isn't truly representative of anything. Kakashi eventually comes to consider Guy one of his closest and most reliable friends, and by the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War he acknowledges that Guy has surpassed him.

Sasuke Uchiha

Sasuke Uchiha (Uchiha Sasuke) is one of the last surviving members of Konohagakure's Uchiha clan. After his older brother, Itachi, slaughtered their clan, Sasuke made it his mission in life to avenge them. He is added to Team 7 upon becoming a ninja and, through competition with his rival and best friend, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke starts developing his skills. Dissatisfied with his progress, causing him to defect from Konoha so that he can acquire the strength needed to have his revenge. His years of seeking vengeance become increasingly demanding and isolates him from others, leading him to become an international criminal. After proving instrumental in ending the Fourth Shinobi World War and being redeemed by Naruto, Sasuke decides to return to Konoha and dedicates his life to helping protect the village and its inhabitants.

Sasuke is the second and youngest son of Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha; they named him after Sasuke Sarutobi in the hopes that he would someday be just as strong a shinobi. Sasuke grew up in the shadow of his older brother, Itachi, a natural prodigy who many in the Uchiha clan and the village expected Sasuke to match or surpass in talent. Sasuke himself adored Itachi, never passing up an opportunity to spend time with him. Although Itachi welcomed his company, letting Sasuke watch him train and taking him on adventures into the forests, Itachi never helped Sasuke become a better shinobi; when asked, he would instead poke Sasuke's forehead and promise to do so some other time, which he never would. Sasuke found this annoying, but didn't allow it to blemish his high opinion of his brother. On entering the Konoha Ninja Academy, Sasuke proved to be the standout of his class, consistently getting top grades. However, he could never meet the same milestones Itachi had set, resulting in their father paying Sasuke little attention. Aware of this neglect, Itachi, despite being increasingly busy, tried to stand in for their father by giving Sasuke the recognition he craved, at times even blackmailing Fugaku to spend time with Sasuke. As time went on, Itachi started becoming distant with and cold towards their family, culminating in a falling out with much of the Uchiha clan on their suspicion that he'd killed his best friend, Shisui Uchiha. Sasuke did not understand the reason for this, but he didn't mind the side-effect: his father began taking an interest in his development. Fugaku taught Sasuke how to perform the Great Fireball Technique, which he mastered in a week, beating Itachi's own time. Fugaku stated his pride in Sasuke for this accomplishment, but at the same time encouraged him not to follow in Itachi's footsteps.

After a long day of training, Sasuke returned home one night to find the streets littered with the bodies of the Uchiha. He rushed home to notify his family of this Uchiha Clan Massacre, only to find Itachi standing over the bodies of their parents. Sasuke tried to solicit help and comfort from Itachi, who responded by using Tsukuyomi on him to torment him with visions of him murdering their family. Horrified by what Itachi had done, Sasuke pleaded for an explanation, to which Itachi replied that it was to test his own power. Fearful that he would be next, Sasuke tried to run. Itachi cornered him and explained that Sasuke, as he then was, would not be worth killing. Only by becoming stronger, such as by acquiring his own Mangekyō Sharingan, could he prove a worthwhile challenge to Itachi's abilities. Before leaving, Itachi encouraged Sasuke to hate him, to desire revenge, and to gain power from that. Sasuke immediately followed through, pursuing Itachi and using his newly-awakened Sharingan to attack him. The attack failed and Sasuke passed out, but not before glimpsing Itachi crying; Sasuke would forget this had happened for many years. Sasuke, now one of the last surviving Uchiha, was alone. He spent the first few days after the massacre wandering his family's compound, reflecting on the people who were now gone, killed by Itachi. Sasuke decided to do what Itachi had instructed and dedicated his life to vengeance, having no other interest than bringing about Itachi's death. He threw himself into his studies at the Academy, making no efforts to form friendships and ignoring all of the girls' attempts to gain his affection. One of his classmates, Naruto Uzumaki, disliked Sasuke's cool personality and the attention he received, and developed a one-sided rivalry in his pursuit to prove himself just as good as, if not better than, Sasuke. For his part, Sasuke thought little of Naruto and was usually annoyed by his outbursts, but would, at times, secretly smile at how hard Naruto worked because of him.

Amegakure

Amegakure is a small but highly industrialised hidden village located in an unnamed country. As its name suggests, it rains almost constantly in Amegakure and the surrounding area. All the water seemingly ends in a large lake that surrounds the village. Ame ninja are said to be notoriously short tempered., while their village trains them to their fullest potential, resulting in the creation of many original techniques. Ame is frequently hired for assassination missions, an area of expertise prized by many countries. A common trait of shinobi from this village is wearing rebreathers.

Because of Amegakure's location between three of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, it has frequently served as a battleground during the various ninja wars, making most of its population war refugees. Amegakure has adopted a heavy isolationist policy because of this, leading to the village's defences being abnormally impenetrable. To be admitted to the village, visitors, even those coming for Chūnin Exams held in Amegakure, must go through a number of security checks and are under constant surveillance during their stay. Amegakure was led for many years by Hanzō, a notoriously powerful shinobi; during the Second Shinobi World War he slaughtered an entire Konoha platoon, sparing only the young Sannin. Despite his power, Hanzō was deeply paranoid and would rarely appear in public for fear of being assassinated. When, during the Third Shinobi World War, a group called Akatsuki began advocating for peace between the warring Konoha, Iwa, and Suna, Hanzō interpreted this as a threat to his rule. (In the anime, this fear was exacerbated by Konoha's Danzō Shimura.) Claiming to be interested in cooperating with Akatsuki, Hanzō, with support from Danzō, ambushed Akatsuki's three primary members and attempted to kill them all. After Akatsuki's leader, Yahiko, died, Nagato retaliated and slaughtered all of Hanzō's men, though Hanzō himself escaped. At some point after the end of the war, a civil war broke out in the village to remove Hanzō from power. Led by an individual known only as "Pain", the rebel faction symbolized their rejection of Hanzō by placing a horizontal slash across their forehead protector. With Pain's near-godly power and rumors that he was multiple people, Hanzō and his forces were overthrown, with Pain being the one to personally kill Hanzō.

Pain then went on to kill anyone even remotely connected to Hanzō, from close family to distant acquaintances, so that none would ever emerge to take revenge. Despite this, loyalists to Hanzō still emerged from time to time, though all were crushed by Pain. Pain (real name Nagato) became Ame's new leader, revered as a god by the populace because of his contributions during the civil. None ever saw Pain directly, his decrees instead communicated to Ame's citizen's by his "angel", Konan, who came to be revered almost as highly as Pain himself. The only thing that Ame's citizens could conclusively say about Pain was that he stopped the perpetual rain every Sunday and whenever he had to leave the village. Knowledge of Amegakure's civil war was not common throughout the ninja world, and news of Pain's victory was completely unknown to the point that other villages believed Hanzō to still be in charge. In the anime, Ame ninja traveling abroad are instructed to perpetuate this belief. Pain uses Amegakure as his base of operations for his work with Akatsuki. Jiraiya, in the course of his investigation into Akatsuki, infiltrates the village and, upon being discovered, is killed by Pain. Despite this, he is able to get word of recent events in Ame back to Konoha, which Pain tries to prevent from spreading further, among other reasons, by destroying Konoha. Pain ultimately dies in Konoha, giving his life to aid Naruto Uzumaki's aspirations for peace. Konan becomes the new leader of Amegakure after Pain's death and swears Ame's support to Naruto's cause. She is shortly afterwards killed in Ame by Tobi. In Shikamaru Hiden, set several years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, Ame is invited to join the Shinobi Union.

Iwagakure

Iwagakure is the hidden village of the Land of Earth. As the village of one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, Iwagakure has a Kage as its leader known as the Tsuchikage, of which there have been four in its history. The rocky mountain ranges that surround the village provide a natural stronghold that it is very proud of. The village's infrastructure is built from much of the surrounding rock and stone, shaped into tower-like structures that are inter-connected by a network of bridges. The Tsuchikage's residence seems to be the tallest structure with a cone-shaped roof and bears the kanji for "Earth" on it.

The standard attire for Iwa shinobi consists of red outfit which can either have one, or both sleeves a lapel which is usually found on the side without a sleeve and a brown flak jacket which also may, or may not have a pouch attached to it. They also tend to wear mesh armour around their ankles. Many Iwagakure ninja use Earth Release techniques. Iwagakure is well-known for the rock-hard attitude of its shinobi; as soon as the Tsuchikage gives an order, the Iwa-nin follow it without hesitation, even if it means death. Iwagakure was founded after the Warring States Period by the First Tsuchikage. Shortly after the formation of their villages, Konoha's First Hokage sold tailed beasts to Iwa as a sign of friendship and to ensure a balance of power amongst their new villages. Despite this bid for peace, Madara Uchiha made efforts unsanctioned by the Hokage or the rest of Konoha to make Iwa subservient to Konoha. Relations between the villages would eventually break down: Iwa's close proximity with Suna has led to numerous conflicts over the years, enough that enmity between its shinobi has become deep-seated. The Second Tsuchikage and Kiri's Second Mizukage at some point met in battle and killed each other. Iwagakure participated in the Second Shinobi World War, where it fought Konoha and Suna across Amegakure. During the Third Shinobi World War, Iwa fought Konoha across Kusagakure. Although Iwa was winning the war for a time, the destruction of the Kannabi Bridge cut off its supply line, turning the war in Konoha's favour. In the anime, Konoha's Yellow Flash defeated 1,000 Iwa shinobi in a single battle, prompting the Third Tsuchikage to surrender. In the anime, Iwa's many battles with Konoha were often led by the Kamizuru clan.

When Konoha's Aburame clan proved the perfect counters to the Kamizuru, their status within the village declined. Even during times of peace, Iwa and its Tsuchikage have worked behind the scenes against its fellow villages, such as by using mercenaries like Akatsuki to carry out missions the village could not be directly involved in or that it lacked the resources for. Deidara, pupil of the Third Tsuchikage, stole a forbidden technique to further his artistic pursuits, and defected after using his new art to leave the village structures in shambles, becoming a terrorist bomber for hire before his forced recruitment into Akatsuki. In the anime, Iwa betrayed Kiri during an incident that would come to be known as the Tragedy of Yosuga Pass; while on a joint mission against Kumo, Iwa forces killed most of its Kiri allies in order to take all the mission's spoils for itself. Also in the anime, Iwa attacks Konoha after the Konoha Crush in order to take advantage of its weakened manpower, but is thwarted by Kosuke Maruboshi. Like many villages, Iwagakure eventually began sealing its tailed beasts into jinchūriki; the most recent jinchūriki of its Four-Tails was Rōshi and the most recent jinchūriki of its Five-Tails was Han. Since the Second Tsuchikage's era, they actively took part in acquiring other tailed beasts. The anime suggests that Iwa did not hold its jinchūriki, or at least Han, in high regard and was glad when Akatsuki captured him. The Third Tsuchikage's words during a Kage Summit suggest that this is not entirely true, as he calls Akatsuki's capture of both its jinchūriki an embarrassment. Iwagakure joins the Allied Shinobi Forces during the Fourth Shinobi World War in order to oppose Akatsuki. Although initially planning to continue undermining the other villages as it has for years, conversation with the Fifth Kazekage convinces the Third Tsuchikage that Iwa has lost its way. The Third advocates cooperation with the other villages and becomes personally involved in several battles in order to set an example. In the anime, he even apologises to the other villages for previous actions against them that he has sanctioned. The war is eventually won and the Third's efforts become successful, as by the era of the Fourth Tsuchikage all five Kage are on good terms.

Sunagakure

Sunagakure is the hidden village of the Land of Wind. As the village of one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, Sunagakure has a Kage as its leader known as the Kazekage, of which there have been five in its history. Being surrounded by desert offers the village a natural deterrent against invasion, as few foreign powers would be willing to endure the sandstorms and water scarcity common to Suna. Sunagakure itself lies in a fortified valley behind cliffs of rock, with passage in and out of the village restricted to a single cleft between two cliff faces, making the area very hard to attack from the ground. The buildings inside seem to be made of clay or stucco, which would help to keep the buildings cool.

The standard attire for Suna shinobi consists of blue or black uniforms underneath flak jackets of various shades of beige to better blend with their natural environment and include shoulders guards. Headpieces consisting of a head-wrap and cloth neck-covers to protect against the harsh weather are popular with Suna shinobi. Many Sunagakure ninja use Wind Release techniques, which they may or may not perform with fans. Shinobi from this village believe that the accomplishment of a mission predominates the lives of the ninja trying to accomplish it. As such, they ruthlessly pursue victory in battle, and even if failure is inevitable they will still try to achieve any success against their enemy that they can. In Gaara Hiden, it has been noted that Sunagakure has been made up of various families, instead of clans. Sunagakure was founded after the Warring States Period by the First Kazekage, who gathered the desert-dwelling shinobi under his control with his overwhelming power. Shortly after the formation of their villages, Konoha's First Hokage offered to sell tailed beasts to Suna as a sign of friendship and to ensure a balance of power amongst their new villages. Because Suna already had the One-Tail, the First Kazekage instead tried to negotiate for a percentage of the sale price to the other villages and a portion of the Land of Fire's territory instead. Despite the First Hokage's wishes for peace, the world eventually fell into war. Suna's close proximity with Iwa has led to numerous conflicts over the years, enough that enmity between its shinobi has become deep-seated. During the Second Shinobi World War, Chiyo's attempts to poison enemies were consistently counteracted by Konoha's Tsunade. For times of war, Suna researched different jutsu to give it an advantage over other villages. Because the Puppet Technique is so popular amongst its shinobi, the Puppet Brigade was formed to see if there was a way to give life to puppets. This led to the creation of One's Own Life Reincarnation, but the cost of a human life to perform it made it impractical and Suna abandoned to project. Since the time of the Second Kazekage, the village has studied the jinchūriki of its One-Tail in an attempt to reproduce the beast's abilities. The Third Kazekage was able to mimic the One-Tail's powers using Iron Sand, and with it he gained fame as the strongest Kazekage in history.

When he mysteriously disappeared one day, Suna went to great lengths to find him, spreading its forces thin in the search and leaving the village under-defended. When others took this opportunity to declare war on Suna, the village was forced to call of the search, never learning the Third's fate. Sasori, grandson of Chiyo, was considered to be a prodigy in the art of puppets, and built many innovative puppets that dyed the sands red with enemies' blood during the Third Shinobi World War, thus giving rise to his moniker "Sasori of the Red Sand". However, he defected from the village about twenty years ago, and shortly after, his grandmother and granduncle, both celebrated veterans, retired. Following the Third Shinobi World War, the Land of Wind's daimyō started outsourcing missions previously given to Suna to Konoha instead. The Fourth Kazekage began selling gold dust to try to make up for the loss of funding, but it was ultimately decided that Suna shinobi would need to rely on individual strength rather than strength of numbers. To help in this goal, the Fourth had the One-Tail sealed into his newborn son, Gaara, hoping he would become a valuable weapon. For the early years of his life Gaara struggled to keep the One-Tail in check, and would unintentionally attack the village and/or its citizens when he lost control. The Fourth eventually decided that Gaara was a failed experiment and tried many times to have him assassinated, each of which failed. The attempts on his life, however, taught Gaara how to control the One-Tail, making him into the weapon his father wanted him to be and convincing the Fourth to call off the assassinations. Twelve years after Gaara's birth, Suna is approached by Orochimaru of Oto with an offer to join forces in an invasion of Konoha. Scheduled to occur during the Chūnin Exams taking place in Konoha, Gaara is to attack the village from within while Suna and Oto forces invade. At some point before the invasion takes place, however, Orochimaru kills and impersonates the Fourth Kazekage and leads them into a devastating defeat against Konoha's forces. When the village discovers Orochimaru's deceit, Sunagakure re-allies itself with Konoha and gains much from the peace, leading to new prosperity for the village. Two-and-a-half years later Gaara, now Fifth Kazekage, is captured while defending Suna from Akatsuki. Remembering their earlier mistakes when the Third Kazekage disappeared, Suna's leadership is reluctant to go after him. Konoha sends a team to help and succeeds in rescuing Gaara, though Akatsuki is able to take the One-Tail. Chiyo and Ebizō noted that the village has weakened as they had to rely on retired veterans and even allied villages. It was also during this incident that made Chiyo finally discovered the fate of the Third Kazekage: Sasori was the one who abducted and killed him prior to his defection. After the other villages experience their own attacks by Akatsuki, they decide to form the Allied Shinobi Forces to oppose Akatsuki in the Fourth Shinobi World War. Being so much younger than his fellow Kage, Gaara is able to persuade the other Kage of how outdated their methodologies are and also proves inspirational in convincing the diverse Allied Forces set aside their differences and work together. Suna's forces prove valuable during the war, particularly with the Cloth Binding Technique to neutralise the Impure World Reincarnation. Although the villagers were amongst the mass of the world to be trapped in the Infinite Tsukuyomi and God: Nativity of a World of Trees, the war is eventually won and the villages are all left on good terms.

Allied Shinobi Forces' Headquarters

When the Allied Shinobi Forces was formed, its headquarters was designated to be in the vicinity of Kumogakure for ease of command over the course of the Fourth Shinobi World War. Originally, members of the Five Kage, including Tsunade, Ōnoki, and A, due to the fact that he was the Supreme Commander of the Alliance, were stationed there to help with command decisions and battle plans.

Both the Intelligence Division and Sensor Division were stationed in the headquarters so that they could give crucial intelligence and sensor reports to the various divisions through the Sensing Water Sphere that Inoichi Yamanaka and Ao had created.  The Alliance's Chief Strategist, Shikaku Nara, was also stationed at the headquarters, where he came up with plans to counter Kinkaku and Ginkaku, as well as Asuma Sarutobi and the White Zetsu Army's threat. In the latter stages of the War, after the remaining Kage gathered to fight the reincarnated Madara Uchiha, Shikaku was left in command. When it came to fight the Ten-Tails itself, Shikaku commanded each part of the army seamlessly, immobilising the Ten-Tails' initial form and leaving the freshly unmasked Obito Uchiha as well as his partner, Madara, vulnerable to counter attack. Ultimately though, when the Ten-Tails reached its second form, the headquarters was wiped out by its massively powerful and long ranged Tailed Beast Ball, but not before transmitting Shikaku's final strategy to the Alliance.

Kumogakure

Kumogakure is the hidden village of the Land of Lightning and was founded by the First Raikage. As the village of one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, Kumogakure has a Kage as its leader known as the Raikage, of which there have been five in its history. The village is located in a range of tall mountains, and is literally hidden in the clouds. The Raikage works in a large blue structure built into the tallest mountain. The standard attire for Kumo shinobi consists of a long, grey top which gathers just at the waist to give a sash-like appearance, with a matching coloured bottom. Over this they wear white, one-strapped flak jackets and arm as well as shin-guards. Many Kumogakure ninja use Lightning Release techniques.

Kumogakure was founded after the Warring States Period by the First Raikage. Shortly after the formation of their villages, Konoha's First Hokage sold tailed beasts to Kumo as a sign of friendship and to ensure a balance of power amongst their new villages. The Second Raikage and Second Hokage later tried to formally agree to peace between their villages, but the ceremony was interrupted by the Gold and Silver Brothers and the Hokage was nearly killed. Konoha and Kumo ended up on opposing sides during the First Shinobi World War, with Kumo's Kinkaku Force killing the Second Hokage. Decades later, during the Third Shinobi World War, Kumo and Konoha would fight again, often with A on Kumo's side and Minato Namikaze on Konoha's. Following the death of the Third Raikage in a battle against 10,000 opposing shinobi, A succeeded him as the Fourth. Whereas all other villages reduce the sizes of their forces during times of peace, Kumo does not demilitarise so that no other village can ever have an upperhand when hostilities inevitably resume. The Third Tsuchikage notes that this behavior has only provoked the other villages to employ the same tactics in kind. Kumo's efforts to amass power often entail stealing secrets and kidnapping shinobi from other villages. Several years before the Third Shinobi World War, Kumo shinobi kidnapped Kushina Uzumaki from Konoha in order to study her unique chakra, but were foiled by Minato Namikaze.

A few years after the Third Shinobi World War, Kumo sent its Head Ninja to Konoha to sign a peace treaty, a cover for an attempt to acquire the Byakugan by kidnapping Hinata Hyūga. When the Head Ninja was killed by Hiashi Hyūga in the attempt, Kumo still tried to obtain the Byakugan by threatening war unless Hiashi's body was turned over to make up for the Head Ninja's death. In what would be called the Hyūga Affair, Hiashi's twin was given to Kumo instead, his Byakugan sealed. In the anime, Kumo made another attempt to acquire the Byakugan amidst the Konoha Crush, but failed yet again. One other method of securing power has been the tailed beasts. In the early days of the village, before buying tailed beasts from Konoha, Kumo sent the Gold and Silver Brothers to capture the Nine-Tails, a task at which they ultimately failed. With the tailed beasts in its possession, Kumo historically struggled to harness the beasts' power in jinchūriki; jinchūriki could not gain control of the beasts and would eventually lose control. The Eight-Tails would prove a particular headache in this regard, routinely rampaging through the village when its jinchūriki could not longer contain it. Because the Eight-Tails was too valuable to destroy, many were killed trying to seal it. The Eight-Tails' most recent jinchūriki, Killer B, as well as the jinchūriki of the Two-Tails, Yugito Nii, have been able to successfully control their beasts, leaving both highly valued by the village. Among the villages, Kumogakure also possesses the best technology to control a tailed beast, having built a whole temple for that sake.  When Akatsuki captures B (the Fourth Raikage's brother) mere months after the similar capture of Yugito, the Raikage is outraged by the loss of the village's jinchūriki and calls a Kage Summit to find a way to deal with Akatsuki. Although suspicious of the other villages due to their histories with Akatsuki, Akatsuki's declaration of the Fourth Shinobi World War (and news that B only pretended to be captured) convinces the Raikage to join the Allied Shinobi Forces. He is appointed its Supreme Commander and Kumo is selected for the Allied Shinobi Forces' Headquarters, making it a target for Akatsuki's counter-offensive. The village endures the attack, the war is won, and from working so closely together Kumo relations with the other villages improves immensely. Two years later Kumo is still consolidating power, but it does so for mutual benefit of all the villages by taking charge of stopping the moon from crashing into Earth. By the era of the Fifth Raikage, all five Kage are on good terms.

Kirigakure

Kirigakure is the hidden village of the Land of Water. As the village of one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, Kiri has a Kage as its leader known as the Mizukage, of which there have been six in its history. Befitting its name, the village is surrounded by a thick mist, with several mountains in the background, making it difficult to find by foreigners. Kirigakure's architecture is composed of several cylindrical buildings, with the Mizukage's office being the widest and largest. Most of the buildings have vegetation growing on their roofs. The standard attire for Kiri shinobi revolves around a pinstriped material which the shinobi wear as bracers and greaves which merge into their sandals.

Underneath this, they wear a full-black shirt and pants over which they wear the villages' standard grey flak jacket. Some also wear waist-guards. Many Kiri ninja use Water Release techniques. Due to the village's high number of missing-nin, Kiri has a subdivision of Anbu known as hunter-nin that are specifically tasked with eliminating these defectors. Kiri was founded after the Warring States Period by the First Mizukage. Shortly after the formation of their villages, Konoha's First Hokage sold tailed beasts to Kiri as a sign of friendship and to ensure a balance of power amongst their new villages. The goodwill this fostered was short-lived, and Kiri would become involved in different conflicts over the following decades. The Second Mizukage and Iwa's Second Tsuchikage at some point met in battle and killed each other. According to Kahyō, Kirigakure's society was split into a form of caste system since the founding of the village. The highest ranking civilians were those whose family lineage originally stemmed from within Kirigakure, the second caste was for members of families who were allied with Kirigakure on the battlefields in the past while the last and lowest caste consisted of members of the families who were defeated on said battlefields and annexed into the village. From the early days on, the members of the third caste were handled with caution and had to complete the most perilous and dangerous missions for the village thus keeping them occupied and preventing them from revolting. At an unknown point sometime during the reign of the Third Mizukage, Madara Uchiha secretly began to manipulate events in Kiri. Following his death, Obito Uchiha, using the name of Madara Uchiha, took his place.

During the Third Shinobi World War, it was believed that Kiri kidnapped Rin Nohara of Konoha and sealed the Three-Tails into her; in truth, this was a plot by Madara to gain Obito's allegiance. When she was rescued by Kakashi Hatake, Kiri sent a force to go after her, but this was only for appearances; Kiri wanted Rin to make it back to Konoha so that, upon losing control of the Three-Tails, it would be released within the village and destroy it. Aware of this, Rin convinced Kakashi to kill her before they get back and the pursuing ninja are similarly killed. In the anime, sometime after the war, Kiri and Iwa joined forces on a mission to reclaim intel stolen by Kumo. Once the information was secured, Iwa betrayed Kiri and killed most of the ninja sent on the mission in order to take the intel for themselves, an incident that would come to be known as the Tragedy of Yosuga Pass. In addition to foreign conflicts, Kirigakure has experienced several periods of internal unrest. The Kaguya clan once waged war against Kiri to quench their lust for battle, but were slaughtered by the village's superior forces. Those with kekkei genkai were regarded with suspicion by the people of Kiri and the wider Land of Water due to their efficiency during times of war. As such, persecution and even murder of anyone with a kekkei genkai was common; in the case of the Yuki clan, it no longer exists in an organised sense and its few surviving members live in secret, fearful of their abilities being discovered. Kiri reacquired the Three-Tails after the Third Shinobi World War and made the Fourth Mizukage its jinchūriki. The Fourth's reign was a time of darkness for Kiri, with corruption plaguing those in charge and the pursuit of power becoming paramount for many. In the Academy, students wishing to graduate (only members of the lowest caste in the novel) had to fight to the death, and only those who survived could advance to the ranks of the ninja. This practice earned the village the nickname as the "Village of the Bloody Mist". Defection became widespread amongst Kiri's ranks, with several members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and even the Six-Tails' jinchūriki, Utakata, abandoning the village. The Academy's graduation methods were discontinued after Zabuza Momochi, not yet a student himself, killed an entire year's graduating class, but by then the Bloody Mist had irreparably tainted the Fourth's legacy. In time it was discovered by Ao that the Fourth was being manipulated by someone, although Kiri was never able to ascertain by who or how. By the time it was captured by Akatsuki, the Three-Tails was roaming wild, with no host. Under the Fifth Mizukage, Kiri has tried to move passed the memories of the Bloody Mist by reforming internal policies and improving its image abroad as being an open-minded nation. After the Akatsuki captures a number of tailed beasts, including both of those previously possessed by Kiri, the Fifth attends a Kage Summit in order to improve diplomatic relations with the other villages and disprove the rumour that Akatsuki was founded in Kiri. As a further display of this, Kiri joins the Allied Shinobi Forces to oppose the Akatsuki. The war is won and the village's image is redeemed, so that by the era of the Sixth Mizukage all five Kage are on good terms.

Konohagakure

Konohagakure is the hidden village of the Land of Fire. As the village of one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, Konohagakure has a Kage as its leader known as the Hokage, of which there have been seven in its history. Konoha resides deep within a forest at the base of a mountain known as the Hokage Rock, which has the faces of all those who have taken the office of Hokage engraved on it. While generally seen as the most powerful of the ninja villages, Konoha has enjoyed many years of relative peace and stability. The standard attire for Konoha shinobi consists of blue or black shirts which may or may not have swirl patterns on the shoulders, along with matching coloured pants over a green flak jacket which also has a red swirl on the back, and pockets on the chest area. They also tend to wrap bandages around their legs. Many Konohagakure ninja use Fire Release techniques.

During the Warring States Period, ninja were organised into small mercenary clans that knew nothing but battle. The two strongest of these clans were the Senju and the Uchiha, who had warred against each other for their entire histories. Eventually, intending to end the countless bloodshed, Hashirama Senju used his position as leader of his clan to create a truce with the Uchiha clan. The Senju, the Uchiha, and their affiliated clans formed the first shinobi village: Konohagakure a name invented by Madara himself. Other villages would soon start being formed following Konoha's example, ending the Warring States Period. Hashirama used his Wood Release abilities to produce much of the village's infrastructure. This ability and his ideals were two of the reasons he was chosen to become the village's leader: the Hokage. Madara, however, feared that the Senju would oppress his clan and attempted to gather support to overthrow Hashirama. No Uchiha would help, forcing him to take on Hashirama by himself. Madara was ultimately defeated at what would be called the Valley of the End and he was believed to have died. As a result of the battle, Konoha came into possession of the Nine-Tails. To contain its enormous power, the village began its trend of sealing the beast within the Uzumaki, a clan that the Senju and thus the rest of Konoha had close ties with. At some point, Hashirama came to bind some of the other tailed beasts and gave them to the other newly formed ninja villages to promote peace and tranquility. However, this peace was short-lived. Hashirama died shortly after the village began to flourish, and the mantle of Hokage was passed onto his brother, Tobirama Senju, who became the Second Hokage. Tobirama died during the First Shinobi World War, killed by Kumogakure's ninja, but he appointed Hiruzen Sarutobi as Third Hokage before his death. Years later, during the Second Shinobi World War, Hiruzen led Konoha's forces against Iwa and Suna, using Amegakure as their battleground. Ame's leader, Hanzō, also fought Konoha a number of times, and during one of these battles gave Hiruzen's students - Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru - the title of Sannin. During the Third Shinobi World War, Konoha fought the ninja of Iwagakure across Kusagakure. Konoha was almost defeated, but Minato Namikaze and his team helped turn the war back in their favour.

After the end of the Third Shinobi World War, Hiruzen chose Minato to replace him as Fourth Hokage. Soon after Minato took office, however, a masked man kidnapped the Nine-Tails' Uzumaki-host and removed it from her body, which he then used to attack Konoha. Minato was able to defeat the man, but the Nine-Tails proved more difficult. Left with few options, Minato gave his life to seal the Nine-Tails into the body of his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki. Many ninja died defending the village, and most survivors blamed Naruto for the Nine-Tails' actions. Hiruzen, Hokage again, outlawed all mention of the Nine-Tails so that future generations would not hate Naruto as their parents did. The Hyūga Affair as the incident is known nowadays in Kumogakure  happened nine years prior to the start of the series, while Kumogakure and Konohagakure were at war. In an attempt to put an end to the fighting, they agreed to a peace treaty to be signed on the date which coincided with Hinata Hyūga's third birthday. The treaty was soon revealed to might be nothing more than a cover when the person who was the Head Ninja of Kumogakure at the time who was in Konoha to sign the treaty  attempted to kidnap Hinata in order to obtain the Byakugan and its secrets. The shinobi was killed in his attempt by Hinata's father, Hiashi Hyūga. Konoha's leadership believed an Uchiha was responsible for the Nine-Tails' attack, and as such cut off the Uchiha from much of the village's affairs. Angered by this mistreatment, many of the Uchiha began plotting a coup d'état that would wrest control of Konoha. However, some Uchiha saw the dangers from such a venture. One such figure was Itachi Uchiha, who became a spy for Konoha's leadership. After peace talks failed, Danzō Shimura ordered Itachi to wipe out his clan in exchange for being allowed to spare his younger brother, Sasuke. Itachi, with assistance from Tobi, did as instructed, but staged events to seem as though he acted alone and for selfish purposes so that Sasuke would someday take vengeance against him for what he did to their family. During Part I, Konoha is the site of the Chūnin Exams. During the exams' final stage the village is invaded by Otogakure and Sunagakure ninja, an attempt to end the peace and prosperity that Konoha alone has enjoyed since the Third Shinobi World War. The invaders are repelled, but Konoha suffers heavy casualties, including Hiruzen. Although Tsunade quickly replaces him as Fifth Hokage, recovery for the rest of Konoha's military forces is slow. The village is understaffed until Part II, leaving it unable to properly respond to events occurring in the interim such as Sasuke Uchiha's defection. Three years after the failed Konoha Crush, the Six Paths of Pain of Akatsuki attack Konoha in an effort to capture Naruto. Konoha's forces have some success while fighting the Pains individually, but can do nothing to stop the village's destruction by Pain's Shinra Tensei. Naruto returns to Konoha shortly afterwards and defeats Pain before confronting Nagato, the man behind Pain. After Naruto convinces him that his actions were wrong, Nagato gives his life to revive everyone that died during the invasion. Tsunade is left in a coma from exhausting herself in protecting Konoha from Pain, causing Danzō Shimura to temporarily take office as her replacement. Danzō oversees the start of the village's lengthy rebuilding process and deals with the immediate aftermath of Pain's attack.

Hokage Rock

The Hokage Rock is a mountain overlooking Konohagakure that has all the faces of the Hokage carved into the stone. It was envisioned by Hashirama Senju as a symbol that the Hokage would always watch over the village.

The Hokage Rock is easily the most identifiable feature in the village, such that when the village is destroyed during Pain's Assault, only the presence of the Hokage Rock (undamaged by the destruction) confirms to others that the rubble was once Konoha. Being such an icon makes it a prime target for pranks, with both Naruto Uzumaki and, years later, Boruto Uzumaki defacing it in order to gain attention. Adding a Hokage's face to the monument apparently takes time, as the Fifth Hokage's face is not added until some time during the timeskip (in the anime, it is added by episode 187 of the original anime). The anime suggests it doesn't actually take too long, as the Stone Carver adds first Danzō Shimura's face and then Kakashi Hatake's face to the monument prematurely, in turn forcing him to remove their faces once they are not officially given the position.

Similarly, faces can be added to the monument before a Hokage officially takes office, as the Sixth Hokage's face is added to the Hokage Rock before he agrees to accept the responsibilities of the office. For the first few decades of the village's history, the Hokage Rock is left mostly untouched, being used only to house the village's archives and protect its villagers during times of attack. In the years since the Fourth Shinobi World War, Konoha has expanded to the plateau above the monument, with the village's new skyscrapers seen towering above it. The monument is similar to Mount Rushmore, which features sculptures of the heads of four United States presidents. During the Konoha Crush, the Third Hokage's face cracks, giving those who see it a bad omen. The damage is apparently later repaired. The Fourth Hokage seems to have marked his head on the monument for the Flying Thunder God Technique, as he teleports to its location on two separate occasions. In the episode "The Appearance of Strange Visitors", the stone faces were shown to make disgusted grimaces and the monument of the Fourth holding his nose, when Naruto spilled a whole barrel of manure on the wannabe-spies Mondai and Potcha in what he thought to be taijutsu training. In the early episodes of the anime, the Fourth Hokage's hair is depicted as flat. This is corrected in later episodes of Shippūden. Similarly, the Sixth Hokage was depicted with a forehead protector in chapter 699, but without one in The Last: Naruto the Movie. </div>

The Academy

The Academy is a huge building in Konohagakure located directly at the base of the Hokage Mountain. It is where prospective ninja are trained and where official ninja receive their assignments. It was founded by the Second Hokage out of military necessity. The Academy is quite large and is comprised of several buildings which were erected over time. The building can be identified by the tree in front of it which has a swing on it and more so, by the giant sign with the kanji for Fire (火) on it. Classrooms in the Academy are large and have high ceilings, based on a theory that larger classrooms lead to expansive education, expanding even to the blackboard itself. In front of the blackboard is a podium, situated far from the students' desks and put in a position where the teacher can view everyone at once.

Along with being a school, it is also the area where the Hokage's office is located, which is where missions are dispatched and the day-to-day running of the village takes place. The Hokage's office is a large, somewhat oval room usually filled with stacks of unfinished paperwork. Behind the Hokage's desk is a large window through which the Hokage can survey the entire village. On the desk itself is a stylised kanji for shadow (影, kage) followed by the symbol of the village. There is also the Mission Assignment Desk where missions are usually dispensed to shinobi. In the anime, the Jōnin Standby Station is located on the compound. Admission Requirements - Love the village and hope to help preserve peace and prosperity. Have a mind that will not yield, able to endure hard training and work. Be healthy in mind and body. If the above conditions are met, admission to the Academy will be granted. As with any school, students are taught a core curriculum of reading, writing, mathematics, science, geography, etc. These lessons are typically framed in a ninja-context, and in fact are learned at all in order to facilitate later instruction in tactics and strategy. Students learn the Shinobi Rules, how to strengthen their minds and bodies, and receive special lectures from veteran shinobi.

They are taken through the handling of ninja weapons and tools, like shuriken and kunai, learning how to throw and wield them through target practice, as well as instructed on the basics of trap-setting. Academy students are also taught about chakra and how to use it, hand seals. Shinobi classes can be broken into the basic levels of: Taijutsu classes serve as the Ninja Academy's equivalent of physical education. In taijutsu class, students are engaged in physical activities to help train their bodies and develop their stamina. Sparring is common. Ninjutsu classes provide the bulk of what potential ninja learn at the Academy. Students are taught about chakra, how to manipulate it and use hand seals, and ultimately how to use techniques such as the Transformation Technique and the Clone Technique. Genjutsu classes are focused less on how to create illusions and more on how they work. Students are taught how to determine if they are trapped in a genjutsu, and then how to release themselves from it. Girls must attend kunoichi classes, where they are taught about other cultures and how skills such as flower arranging will help them to blend in during an infiltration mission.  Graduating from the Academy usually consists of taking both a written exam and a practical exam, administered by a chūnin instructor, to earn enough marks to pass. Upon graduating, students receive a forehead protector, proof of their achievement. Graduating students are then separated into squads of three genin and assigned to a jōnin-sensei to instruct them further. At this point, they will be tested once again by their jōnin teacher to assess whether they would be able to handle the demands that will be made of them as ninja (i.e. the dynamics of teamwork). The Sannin and members of Team 7 were given the bell test to see if they could make the cut; it is unknown if the rest of the would-be teams in Konoha use the same test. According to Kakashi, there is a 66% chance of failure, since only nine of the twenty-seven graduates of his time of testing would be allowed to pass this secondary test. Students who don't pass the initial graduation tests or who are failed by their jōnin-sensei may either be sent back to the Academy or, if their jōnin believes them to be unsatisfactory, they can be dropped from the programme entirely. It is not necessary for students to master all the lessons they are taught in the Academy to pass. Naruto Uzumaki could not perform the E-rank Clone Technique, but could effortlessly perform the B-rank Shadow Clone Technique, allowing him to graduate. Rock Lee lacked the aptitude for ninjutsu and genjutsu, but managed to get by with his taijutsu skills.

Ramen Ichiraku

Ramen Ichiraku is a small restaurant in Konohagakure, which serves ramen. It is also Naruto Uzumaki and Iruka Umino's favourite place to eat. It is run by Teuchi and his daughter Ayame. The two consider Naruto their favourite customer and have never viewed him in a negative light.

In Part II of the manga, Ayame goes on a trip and Matsu and Nishi are hired to replace her. Both are fairly inept and either spill the ramen they serve or accidentally stick their fingers in it. The bar was destroyed during Pain's assault on Konoha and a new one was built sometime after the invasion. In the anime, it can be assumed that Inari helped build the new bar, as he told Naruto he would build him an amazing Ramen Ichiraku. Ramen Ichiraku is a common setting for various scenes throughout the series, often being visited by Naruto between arcs. An anime episode is dedicated to the bar, where in Ayame is kidnapped and Naruto and his friends must create a perfect ramen recipe for a ransom. Using ninjutsu, Chōji, Sakura, and Naruto make a perfect recipe.

At the end of the episode the menu is updated to include diet ramen, which attracts almost every female character from the series to the bar. In the anime, Ayame convinces her father to convert the bar into a tsukemen shop, much to Naruto's dismay. The name of the restaurant loosely translates to Ramen is the Best Pleasure. It was revealed in the movie Naruto Shippūden the Movie: The Lost Tower, that the restaurant was built twenty-three years before the start of the series. However, according to the Third Databook, the restaurant has been around for approximately thirty-four years. Ramen Ichiraku was modelled after a real-life ramen restaurant, also called Ichiraku Ramen, near the waterfront in the city of Fukuoka, Japan, where the author of Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto, apparently went to university (Kyushu Sangyo Daigaku) for a period of time according to local sources. It is next to a Yakiniku (Japanese Barbecue) restaurant (a possible reference that Kishimoto used as Chōji's favourite restaurant), a Chinese Food place, and a video game shop. Tonkotsu ramen (noodles in a pork broth) is served there. There are two Ichiraku Ramen locations in Fukuoka, one near JR's Kyu-dai Mae station very close to the university, and another in the down-town Hakata area. As part of the merchandise for Naruto, handkerchiefs are sold emblazoned with various Naruto characters in instant noodle cups labelled Ichiraku Ramen.

Mirai Sarutobi

Mirai Sarutobi is a kunoichi, and a member of Konohagakure's Sarutobi clan. Before her father Asuma died, Shikamaru Nara promised him that he would look after and train Mirai. As a two-year-old toddler, Mirai is outgoing and friendly to her parents' students. She also like to give others nicknames. As a kunoichi, Mirai is cheerful and energetic.

Mirai has black hair and was depicted wearing a simple yellow kimono with blue trimmings, held closed by a simple white sash as an infant. Like her mother, Mirai has red irises with an additional ring in them around the pupil. Two years after her birth, her hair grew a significant amount and has a short ponytail tied above her head. Mirai wears a tan one-body outfit with lighter tan colour stripe trimmings wrapped around her outfit, in a similar manner of how her mother wore her previous outfit. She also wears pink shinobi sandals. As a young adult, Mirai wears a standard Konoha uniform that consists of a black attire with a green flak jacket. She has her black Konoha forehead protector around her head. Her black hair is now long and shaggy.

Mirai's abilities are currently unknown. However, being at least chūnin in rank and selected to accompany the Sixth Hokage, it is presumable that Mirai is a very capable kunoichi. Mirai met Shikamaru Nara at her father's grave with her mother, and affectionately called him "Shika-nii". Shikamaru was greatly impressed by her and determined to come back alive after the incoming dangerous mission, in order to be her teacher sometime. Mirai makes an appearance in this film, set two years after the Fourth Shinobi World War. She was seen with her mother at Naruto and Hinata's wedding, while handing some flowers to Hinata. In the light novel version, she and her mother was visited by Team Asuma, and later in the crisis, she and her mother were saved by Chōji Akimichi, a member of Team Asuma. When Sakura sees Mirai's mother holding her, she thinks about the children of Konohagakure and wonders about their situation after the Fourth Shinobi World War. When the other members of Team Kurenai meet up to discuss with Hinata's wedding gift, Mirai is also with her mother Kurenai, and calls Kiba ,"Kibamaru", Akamaru, "Akakiba", and Shino, "Uncle Buggy" and "Shinomaru", which makes them greatly tangled. She has also pulled Akamaru's ears, with the latter surprisingly tamed. Later, at the wedding, she rides Akamaru around. Many years later, now a young adult and full-fledged kunoichi, Mirai became committed to making her late-father proud. When her mother, Kurenai, noticed that she hadn't left for her escort mission yet, Kurenai told Mirai that she was running late to meet with the Seventh Hokage. However, Mirai informed her mother that she was actually supposed to follow the predecessor, and that she didn't need to go in early. Mirai also informed her mother that Might Guy would be there as well and she would not be home for three days.

Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki

Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki was a member of the Ōtsutsuki clan and the main antagonist in Boruto: Naruto the Movie. Momoshiki and his subordinate, Kinshiki Ōtsutsuki, originate from an unknown location, which also contains its own Shinju, whose power supply has been depleted. Like Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, they also wanted to recollect all chakra and create it into a new chakra fruit, which would grant unlimited power, eternal youth, and immortality. Fearful of their arrival, Kaguya created the White Zetsu Army in order to fend off against them should they ever attempt to steal her chakra. Their actions and whereabouts during the multiple centuries between Kaguya's two separate sealings is largely unknown, and it is unclear why they waited so long to travel to Earth and attempt to accomplish their goals. Momoshiki is typically calm, collected, and calculating.

However, he has been prone to demonstrate sadistic tendencies, which was shown during his and Kinshiki's attack on Konoha, where he laughed after seeing distressed citizens while firing his elemental attacks. Momoshiki also has a severe superiority complex and thought very lowly of people other than himself, calling Naruto, Sasuke, Boruto and Sarada "lowly beings". Likewise, he also cares very little for other people, even his closest comrade. When he was in a difficult situation, he absorbed Kinshiki without a second thought in order to claim more power for himself. Similar to Boruto Uzumaki at the beginning of the film, Momoshiki was also uninterested in hard-work, preferring to absorb and use the techniques of others instead of relying on his own personal strength. Any effort disgusted Momoshiki, and he was even greatly angered when his clothes were ripped during his final battle against his enemies. He was like a son to Kinshiki. Momoshiki had pale skin, and pale-blue hair which he kept in a long ponytail. His hair was parted down the middle in a zig-zag pattern, and his head was adorned with a pair of flat, curved horns which resembled rabbit ears. He had delicate facial features and his eyebrows were cut very short as a symbol of nobility. He dressed in a traditional white kariginu hunting robe, baggy pants, a pair of tengu-geta, and a single black glove on his left hand, with a hole cut into the palm for his Rinnegan, which was red in colour. He also wore a transparent veil over his head. After absorbing Kinshiki, Momoshiki's appearance took a drastic change including; black sclerae, white irides, dark-red skin, a pointy chin, fangs, claws on his hands and feet which were exposed, white hair, ponytail enlarged and became much spikier, sharpened bull horns, white markings under his eyes and a massive increase in size. His Rinnegan on his palms turned purple and he awakened a third one on his forehead.

Momoshiki was an extraordinarily powerful being who, alongside Kinshiki, was deemed as a threat greater than Kaguya, the progenitor of all chakra on Earth. After absorbing Kinshiki, he became able to fight on equal ground with Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki, who were both powered by the Rinnegan and Six Paths Sage Mode respectively. As an Ōtsutsuki, Momoshiki was gifted with extremely powerful chakra. He could also absorb any technique that he encountered, as well as an opponent's chakra. Momoshiki possessed enormous strength, sending Naruto back crashing through a wall with a single kick. He could also move swiftly to avoid enemy attacks. Upon absorbing Kinshiki's power, Momoshiki became strong enough to battle both Naruto and Sasuke in hand-to-hand combat at the same time. Momoshiki wielded the Byakugan in both eyes, granting him near 360° vision (with the presumed exception of a small blind spot at the upper thoracic vertebrae), x-ray vision and the ability to see the chakra pathway system amongst other abilities. Momoshiki wielded the Rinnegan in the palms of his hands. He could absorb ninjutsu with his right, and utilise said ninjutsu with his left. By using his Rinnegan, he can also turn any target into chakra edibles, granting him their abilities once consumed. Unlike other Rinnegan wielders, Momoshiki's Rinnegan was red in colour instead of light purple, resembling the Rinne Sharingan. However, after transforming from his absorption of Kinshiki, the Rinnegan in Momoshiki's palms turned purple and he gained an additional purple Rinnegan on his forehead. He could create black receivers as well.Momoshiki has shown great mastery of the ninjutsu he absorbs, and he could enhance it with his own chakra to use it on a much greater scale, as seen with Gyūki's Tailed Beast Ball and Shikamaru's Shadow Sewing Technique. He could also create large moving constructs from his surroundings: from a demonic fire phoenix, to a giant lava golem which was powerful enough to battle a Susanoo-clad Kurama. He is also capable of flight. With his Rinnegan, Momoshiki mastered all five elemental nature transformations easily through absorbing his enemies' chakra. Momoshiki's Fire Release was strong enough to overpower Sasuke's Rinnegan-enhanced Susanoo and severely burn him. He could also perform Wood Release, capable of manipulating the Shinju's roots and create spears. Momoshiki was also capable of using Lava Release, able to create a giant golem made of lava to fight a Six Paths Chakra empowered Majestic Attire: Susanoo Kurama. Momoshiki is well-versed in fūinjutsu, especially those pertaining to his clan. He used various methods in an attempt to extract Kurama from Naruto's body, such as an ancient Ōtsutsuki fūinjutsu ritual as well as a combination of black receivers and Lightning Release. In battle, Momoshiki wielded a black staff, which he used proficiently to hold his own against highly skilled swordsmen such as Darui and Sasuke. After absorbing Kinshiki, he became capable of creating various red glowing ninja tools such as a sledgehammer, swords, halberd, kris, celurit, and chains.

Shikadai Nara

Shikadai Nara is a shinobi from Konohagakure's Nara clan, as well as a descendant of Sunagakure's Kazekage clan. Shikadai takes after his father, Shikamaru, in several ways, possessing a similar relaxed, unenthusiastic personality. He finds participating in activities to be very tiresome and is quick to shirk out of them as seen when he rejected an invitation from Inojin to train after school. Stemming from his lax nature, he also isn't one to properly respect rank, greeting his uncle the Kazekage plainly before flatly asking for his other uncle Kankurō. He also showed himself to be blunt and outspoken like his mother, telling Boruto that pursuing a prank during the Five Kage Summit was stupid. In the Boruto: Naruto the Movie light novel, he is referred to as a gamer and seems to have a strong moral code. For instance, he was personally offended when Boruto revealed he was cheating in the video game the two play with Inojin. He also gave up against Boruto, who he did not know was cheating at the time, in their Chūnin Exam fight because he felt that as a gamer, one should understand when to give up to fight another day when the odds are overwhelmingly against you.

Shikadai follows the customary look of the Nara, with his black, spiky hair tied up in a ponytail. His eyes, however, are teal and shaped like his mother's. His facial expressions also favour his mother's. He is quite tall for his age. He wears a dark outfit with a light cream-coloured jacket over it, which bears the same emblem seen on the jacket his father used to don in Part I. Also as customary of his clan, both of his ears are pierced with grey stud earrings. Shikadai has been hailed as a prodigy amongst the Nara clan, having inherited his father's intellect and possessing the Kazekage clan bloodline. He was considered a much more difficult opponent for Boruto during the Chūnin Exams; and said to be definitely well above the level of his previous opponent Yurui of Kumogakure. Shikadai had beaten Yodo, who was considered the best hope for Sunagakure to win. During his fight against Boruto, Shikadai said he had at least 12 countermeasures in place if Boruto had used the Rasengan. Shikadai is a capable user of his clan's ability to manipulate his shadow, which, by connecting his it to that of a target, forces them to mimic his movements. He can also use the technique to simply restrict his opponents movements, without forcing them to imitate his own.

His skill with the technique even allows him to greatly expand its range to capture many different targets simultaneously. This unnamed technique allows his shadow to completely encompass a very large area, quickly capturing and taking over multiple targets before they can react. Shikamaru gives Temari credit for making this advancement of his clan's ability possible. As a member of his generation's Ino–Shika–Chō, he is learning the collaboration techniques to be performed between him, Inojin, and Chōchō. Shikadai makes an appearance in the ending of this novel as a new born infant being held by his mother, not even given a name yet. His father notices his cry as "lazily and feeling all-knowing to the whole world", and suggests that he'd better explore the world with his friends.  Upon hearing that he and the rest of the class will be going through graduation exams in a week, Shikadai found little interest in the idea. Later, he accompanied his father in stopping Boruto from interrupting the Seventh Hokage from his duties, and to his chagrin, was asked by his father to notify Naruto's shadow clone where Boruto was.  After class at the Academy was dismissed, Shikadai warned Boruto not to pursue his prank because of the five Kage meeting. Upon arriving home, he told his mother to tell Ino that his stomach was hurting, simply to get out of having to train, and greeted his uncle Gaara casually, earning a reprimand from his mother, but shrugged it off and asked for his other uncle Kankurō instead. After finishing their missions for the day, Shikadai hung out with Boruto and Inojin to play video games together. When he found out that Boruto had been cheating in the video game, he was annoyed and told Boruto that levelling up on his own behind his mother's back was much more fun. He later on entered the Chūnin Exams with Inojin and Chōchō. He used his shadow to hold Inojin and Chōchō against the sides of a pit to successfully avoid falling in and failing the first Chūnin Exam test administered by Sai. In the second test, Ino–Shika–Chō uses their teamwork to easily capture a flag to advance. In the third round of individual fights, Shikadai is matched-up with the Sunagakure kunoichi Yodo, who he defeats to move on. In the final round of the Exams, Shikadai is matched against Boruto. Shikadai is able to capture Boruto and his shadow clones by creating a massive shadow circle, taking them all out at once. When he asks the trapped Boruto to give up, Boruto instead creates multiple shadow clones to surround Shikadai with the aid of his forearm device. Shikadai admits defeat, similar to the way his father did against his mother when he was younger. However, Shikadai was pronounced the winner when Boruto was discovered to have cheated. When Kinshiki and Momoshiki began their attack on the arena, Shikadai was protected by Rock Lee and then saved by his uncle Gaara from the falling debris of the stadium, before being evacuated.