Konoha Council

The exists to help the Hokage govern the village and to make sure all decisions are made with the best interest of Konoha and its inhabitants in mind.

History
Although the Hokage always has the final say in the matter, the councillors are there to give their opinions and advice, thus making sure the decisions made are fair and take into account all possibilities and viewpoints. Both have decades' worth of experience and knowledge and hold a social position similar to that of the Hokage. They exert great influence over the governing of Konoha and have garnished wide support from the village's shinobi and are regarded with the same respect as that of the Hokage. It was up to them to choose a new Hokage after the Third Hokage had died.

Even though they were close friends with the Third Hokage and held the same general view of how to run the village, they are somewhat more militant. This has caused them to side with the Third Hokage's rival, Danzō, on several occasions. The most notable occurrence of this was when the Uchiha clan started dissenting against the village. Although the Third Hokage wanted to try and solve the situation peacefully, Danzō and the councillors saw this as futile and wanted to remove the Uchiha threat altogether. This eventually led to the downfall of the entire Uchiha clan, except for Sasuke, whom Itachi spared. Because of Danzō's actions going against Hiruzen's wishes, he removed Danzō from the council and officially disbanded the Root organisation, all out of disgust of his rival's violent solution.

Because of their advanced age and experience, they see the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, as an inexperienced novice. This often leads to conflicts when they hold different opinions, such as when the councillors wanted to restrict Naruto Uzumaki's movements against the Fifth Hokage's will. They still have respect for the Hokage's position, though, and have been show to be willing to compromise with her, as long as the village's best interests are kept in mind.

Two years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, the council appears to have grown in size to include executives from Anbu, an executive of the Medical Treatment Corps, Shizune, and possibly more executives in Konoha's hierarchy.