Konohagakure

is the Hidden Village of the Land of Fire. As one of the five Great Ninja Villages, Konohagakure has a Kage as its leader known as the Hokage. There have been five Hokage, the most recent being Tsunade. On a mountain overlooking the village from the north exists the Hokage Monument. Although Konoha, much like the country in which it resides, has been relatively peaceful since the end of the Third Great Shinobi World War, it remains one of the most powerful villages in existence, and has great military power and influence, though this has waned in the past three years following the attacks by Orochimaru and Pain.

Founding
In the time before the creation of the ninja villages, ninja were organized into small mercenary clans that knew nothing but battle. Of the countless ninja clans, the Uchiha clan and the Senju clan were the strongest. After much bloodshed, the Senju clan offered a truce with the Uchiha. Madara Uchiha objected to the truce, but was forced by the rest of the Uchiha to accept. The Senju, the Uchiha, and the clans conquered by the Uchiha came together to create Konohagakure. Hashirama Senju, the leader of the Senju, used his wood release abilities to produce much of the villages' infrastructure. For this reason he was selected as First Hokage by the villagers.

Fearing that the Senju, now in control of Konoha, would oppress their former rivals, the Uchiha, Madara tried 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 was believed to have died. After the battle Konoha came into possession of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. To contain its power, the village began its trend of sealing the beast within Uzumaki, a clan that the Senju and thus the rest of Konoha had close ties with. Hashirama gave other tailed beasts in his possession to other newly-formed villages to promote peace. This was short lived.

Shinobi Wars
Konoha took part in the first three ninja wars. Hashirama died during the First Great Shinobi World War, necessitating his brother replace him as Second Hokage. The Second would also die during the war, killed by Kumogakure ninja, but he appointed Hiruzen Sarutobi as his successor before his death. Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, later led Konoha's forces during the Second Great Shinobi World War. Other than fighting across Amegakure, causing numerous scuffles with Amegakure's Hanzō, little is known of Konoha's actions during the war. Decades later Konoha became involved in the Third Great Shinobi World War; Konoha fought Iwagakure, using Kusagakure as their battleground. Konoha was almost defeated, but Minato Namikaze helped turn the war back in their favor.

Nine-Tails' Attack on Konoha
After the end of the Third Ninja War, Minato was chosen as Fourth Hokage. Soon after taking office Madara Uchiha returned to the village and, after removing the Nine-Tails from its Uzumaki-host, used it to attack Konoha. Minato was able to defeat Madara, but he was forced to sacrifice his life to re-contain the Nine-Tails. He sealed it into his son, Naruto Uzumaki. Many ninja died defending the village, and most survivors blamed Naruto for the Nine-Tails' actions.

Uchiha Clan Massacre
After Madara's rebellion decades earlier, the Uchiha were removed from decisions regarding Konoha's development and future. When Konoha also began to suspect an Uchiha was behind the Nine-Tails' attack, the Uchiha, founders of the village, could no longer put up with such mistrust. The Uchiha clan began plotting a coup d'état that would wrest control of Konoha from the Senju. Itachi Uchiha was the only clan member to disagree with the clan's plans and became a spy for Konoha's leadership. After peace talks failed, Itachi was ordered to wipe out the clan. He killed all but one Uchiha: his younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha. Per Itachi's request, Konoha kept Sasuke safe. Itachi himself became a criminal, hiding Konoha's involvement in the massacre by living as a fugitive for the rest of his life until being killed by Sasuke.

Joint Otogakure-Sunagakure Invasion
During Part I of the series, Konoha was the site of the Chūnin Exams. During the exams' final stage the village was invaded by Otogakure and Sunagakure ninja, an attempt to end the peace and prosperity that Konoha alone had enjoyed since the Third Ninja War. The invaders were repelled, but Konoha suffered heavy casualties, amongst them the Third Hokage. Although he was quickly replaced by Tsunade, recovery for the rest of Konoha's military forces was slow. The village was understaffed until Part II, leaving it unable to properly respond to events occurring in the interim such as Sasuke Uchiha's defection.

Pain's Invasion


Three years after the failed Sand and Sound invasion, the Six Paths of Pain of Akatsuki attacked the village in an effort to capture Naruto for the Nine-Tails sealed within him. Konoha's forces had some success while fighting the Pains individually, but could do nothing to stop the village's destruction by Pain's Shinra Tensei. Naruto returned to Konoha shortly afterwards and defeated Pain to avenge the village and those that died in its defense. After Naruto convinced him that his actions were wrong, Pain gave his life to revive all that died during the invasion.

Because of the attack, Konoha lost much of its economic and military capabilities, falling behind Iwagakure. Konoha's status as the most powerful village also passed onto Kumogakure. Tsunade was left in a coma from exhausting herself in protecting Konoha from Pain, causing Danzō Shimura to temporarily take office as her replacement. Danzō oversaw the start of the village's lengthy rebuilding process and dealt with the immediate aftermath of Pain's attack.

Fourth Great Shinobi World War
Following Akatsuki's attack on Konoha and its other actions made against other ninja villages, the five Kage hold a Kage Summit to decide how to proceed with Akatsuki. During the meeting Madara Uchiha's involvement with the organization is brought to light, as are his reasons for seeking out the Nine-Tails and the other tailed beasts: world domination. The ninja villages join forces to combat Madara, sparking the Fourth Great Shinobi World War. Danzō is killed shortly after war is declared, but Tsunade wakes up from her coma in time to resume her position as Hokage and plan the village's actions during the war.

Landmarks

 * Forty-fourth Training Ground
 * Hokage Monument
 * Hokage Residence
 * Ichiraku Ramen Bar
 * Kikyō Castle
 * Konoha Strict Correctional Facility (anime only)
 * Konoha Hospital
 * Konoha Hot Springs
 * Konoha Library
 * Memorial stone
 * Nakano River
 * Naka Shrine
 * Ninja Academy
 * Third Training Ground
 * Uchiha Senbei
 * Akagahara (anime only)
 * Training Ground Zero (anime only)

Trivia

 * The second fanbook gives Konohagakure a population size of five out of five stars, a military strength of three out of five stars, and an economic strength of two out of five stars. It has the greatest population of all the five main shinobi villages. Because of the Invasion of Pain, it is unknown how its military and economy would really compare with those of Kumogakure.
 * 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.
 * Masashi Kishimoto stated, "Yes, there is [a model for Konoha]; it's my hometown."
 * Konohagakure has three Akatsuki representatives, the most of any village: Madara Uchiha, Orochimaru, and Itachi Uchiha. Also, Sasuke Uchiha has formed an alliance with Akatsuki through his own team, Taka, and Kabuto Yakushi later allied himself with the organization as well. Also, in the card game, Zetsu is said to be from Konoha.
 * In the first Naruto book, The Tests of the Ninja, page 87, you will see a sketch of downtown Konoha. If you look closely, you may also see a billboard with a cartoon version of Masashi Kishimoto with a paintbrush.