Village Head

A Village Leader, as the name implies, is the leader of a ninja village. They lead lesser ninja villages that are either too weak, or too poor, to have a Kage as their leader. However, that does not always means that the village leaders are weaker than kages. An example for this is the Hoshigakure's ability to use meteorite-enhanced chakra. The requirements to achieve this position are currently unknown, but probably vary between villages, and are most likely close to the same requirements a Kage. Though Village Leaders are not officially considered Kage, most if not all are ninja of Kage-level, such as Amegakure's Pain and recently, Hanzo the Salamander. Village Leaders are sometimes also referred to as Kage, like Hoshigakure's self-proclaimed Hoshikage.

Examples of village leaders
Shibuki of Takigakure

Orochimaru/Kabuto Yakushi of Otogakure

Pain of Amegakure

Akahoshi of Hoshigakure