Konohagakure

, or Konoha for short, is one of the five great ninja villages. As such, it is one of five villages with a Kage as its leader, known as the Hokage. On a mountain overlooking the villages from the north, the faces of every Hokage are carved into the rock.

Although Konoha, much like the country in which it resides, has been peaceful for the past sixteen years and has grown accustomed to that peace, it remains one of the most powerful villages in existence, with an overall ninja population much greater than that of any other village, and therefore has great military power and influence. In the Chunin exam, out of all 153 Genin participants, Konoha had 87 Leaf Genin (72 in the anime) trying to become Chunin, whereas all other ninja villages had considerably fewer participating: 30 Sunagakure Genin, 21 Amegakure Genin, 6 Kusagakure Genin (15 in the anime), 6 Takigakure Genin (12 in the anime), and 3 Otogakure Genin (Kabuto Yakushi and his teammates were counted as Leaf Genin). However, Konoha is the village that hosted the event, which possibly contributed to the unbalanced number of participants. The hiragana あん (an) is painted on the entrance gates of the village (one hiragana on each door). This means hermitage or retreat. In Kanji the character is 庵.

History
Konoha was founded by the First Hokage 60 years before the start of the series. With his brother, the Second Hokage, they trained the Third Hokage. During the founding of Konoha, the First was helped by the founder of the Uchiha clan, Madara Uchiha, whom betrayed the village and was defeated by the First. During the Third Great Shinobi War, Konoha emerged as the strongest of the Five Great Nations.

The Birth of Konohagakure Village and Madara's Revolt
Before Konoha was found, shinobi were merely individual clans working as mercenaries for various Feudal Lords. Of the countless ninja clans, the Uchiha clan and the Senju clan of the forest were the strongest at the time. After much bloodshed, the Senju clan offered a truce with the Uchiha. Despite their leader, Madara Uchiha's protests, the clan overruled him and he reluctantly agreed. Thus the Hidden Leaf Village was born. Soon, other countries began to adopt this system, leading to the birth of other villages, and peace was attained. However, when the leader of the Senju clan, Hashirama Senju, was chosen to be the leader of Konoha, Madara decided to challenge him for the sake of his clan. No Uchiha, however, would help him, for they despised him for trying to reignite the flames of war and called him a monster for sacrificing his younger brother for power. Betrayed by everyone, Madara left the village. Out of hatred, he summoned the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox and once again challenged Hashirama for the title of Hokage. This led to his legendary battle with Hashirama at the Valley of the End, which ended in Madara's defeat. Presumed dead, Madara was then forgotten by history (though he survived without anyone knowing). Hashirama's younger brother, who became the Second Hokage, formed the Konoha Police Force and gave it to the Uchiha clan as a way to prevent them from entering the governing of the village and to keep them in check (though he made it look like handing them a symbol of trust), in order to prevent another revolt like Madara's. Some Uchiha clan members, who figured out this gesture's ulterior motive, began to rebel like Madara did. However, it was too late, as the Senju clan became superior in the entire village, and the Uchiha clan was discriminated and secluded, just as Madara predicted. It is this grudge that led to Uchiha clan's attempted coup d'etat decades later, and eventually, their demise.

Nine-Tailed Demon Fox
Twelve years prior to the start of the series, Konoha was attacked by the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. The demon fox decimated all the ninja that was sent to repel it. It was only until the Fourth Hokage arrived and used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, was it defeated and sealed away. The elders accused the Uchiha clan of commanding the fox to attack, but Madara Uchiha claimed it was a natural disaster.

Uchiha Clan Revolt
After being falsely blamed for the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox incident, the already heavily discriminated Uchiha clan (since Madara Uchiha's revolt) has been secluded even more. The head of the Uchiha clan, Fugaku Uchiha, plotted a coup d'etat against the village. Though the Third Hokage tried to negotiate, the clan refused, and so the elders ordered Itachi Uchiha (who became an informer against the clan for his pacifistic nature) to kill the entire clan. Madara Uchiha after decades of hiding was seeking revenge against the village, and Itachi proposed him an offer: help kill the clan but leave the village alone. Madara accepted, and the Uchiha clan was wiped out, with the exception of Sasuke Uchiha, whom was Itachi's beloved little brother. Itachi begged the Third Hokage to spare and protect Sasuke, while threatening the other elders not to harm the boy. With that, Itachi became a disgraced criminal (as the massacre was a secret mission that the rest of the village was unaware of) and joined Akatsuki.

Oto and Suna Invasion
Twelve years after the demon fox attack, Konoha held a relatively standard Chunin Exam until Orochimaru, a former Konoha nin, attacked the Third and initiated the Otogakure and Sunagakure Invasion of Konoha. After assessing the enemy's attack and plan, Konoha was able to repel or kill all enemy shinobi and win the battle. However, the Third Hokage was killed in his fight with Orochimaru.

Pain's Invasion
After news of Jiraiya's death had reached Konoha, Naruto left to learn Senjutsu with the toads. However Pain had other plans and headed off to Konoha to search for his whereabouts in the village. After penatrating though security, Pain summoned a giant centipede to destroy nearby bulidings while Konan and his other bodies searched after Naruto. Pain later ran into Kakashi who did battle with him and later together with Choza and Choji. But Pain's abilites proved too much for the leaf ninja to handle. Tsunade sounded the alert and requested Naruto's return. However the elders thought it would be best to leave Naruto with Fukasaku, to which Tsunade grabs them telling them that Naruto is not a child and that she has faith in Naruto. Danzo also began too make his move by killing a communication frog with his blade and later hiding underground with fellow Root members. Danzo reveals his true goal is to remove Tsunade and become Hokage.

Hokage Residence
The Hokage Residence is a large mansion occupied by the Hokages during their reign, and is located close to both the Ninja Academy and Hokage Rock. Built during the reign of the First Hokage, the Hokage mansion is currently occupied by Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage. It is filled with many forbidden scrolls, in which lies the secrets to many jutsu. Shortly before Tsunade becomes Hokage, Konohamaru, the Third Hokage's grandson, locks himself in the Hokage Mansion and sets it full of traps, although Tsunade easily managed to get past them all. At some part of the Residence on the outside is located the kanji symbol 火 (fire), a reference to the location of Konoha (Land of Fire).

Trivia

 * Masashi Kishimoto stated: "Yes, there is [a model for Konoha], it's my hometown."

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