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. There have been five official Hokage, the most recent being Tsunade. On a mountain overlooking the village from the north exists the Hokage Monument which has the faces of all those who have taken the office of Hokage engraved on it. Although Konoha which is known as the most powerful village possessing an elite shinobi army corps, much like the country in which it resides, has been relatively peaceful since the end of the Third 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. The shinobi of this village wear 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.

Founding
Before the ninja villages came into being, ninja were organised into small mercenary clans that knew nothing but battle. But after countless bloodshed, the two strongest ninja clans, the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan entered a truce despite reluctance from the latter's leader Madara Uchiha. Afterwards, the two clans would form the first shinobi village: Konohagakure. Hashirama Senju, the leader of the Senju, used his Wood Release abilities to produce much of the villages' infrastructure. This ability was one of the reasons he was chosen to become the village's leader.

However, not being named Hokage and fearing that the Senju would oppress his clan, Madara attempted to gather support to overthrow Hashirama. But after his kin ostracised him, Madara resolves to deal with Hashirama himself by enslaving Kurama the Nine-Tails to do his bidding. The epic battle that ensued, causing the formation of the Valley of the End while Madara was presumed dead, resulted with Nine-Tails sealed within Mito Uzumaki, a member of the Uzumaki clan who were known for their unique chakra which was able to contain the Nine-Tails. As such, Mito became the Nine-Tails first known jinchūriki, a tradition which would hold due to the close ties between the Senju and Uzumaki clans. At some point, Hashirama came to bind the other tailed beast, which he gave to the other newly formed ninja villages to promote peace. However this peace was short lived.

The Three World Wars
Konoha took part in the first three Shinobi World Wars. Hashirama died during the First Shinobi World War, necessitating his brother Tobirama Senju replace him as Second Hokage. Tobirama would also die during the war, appointing his pupil Hiruzen Sarutobi as his successor before sacrificing himself to ensure his pupils' escape from Kumogakure's ninja. Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, later led Konoha's forces during the Second Shinobi World War where his three students Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru became known as the Legendary Sannin. Other than fighting across Amegakure with numerous clashes with its leader Hanzō, little is known of Konoha's actions during the war. Decades later Konoha became involved in the Third 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 favour.

Nine-Tails' Attack


After the end of the Third Shinobi World War, Minato was chosen as the Fourth Hokage. Soon after taking office, Tobi snuck into the village and, after removing Kurama from its current host, Minato's wife, Kushina Uzumaki, used it to attack Konoha. Minato was able to defeat Tobi, but he and Kushina later sacrificed their lives to seal the Nine-Tails into their son, Naruto Uzumaki. Many ninja died defending the village that day and blame for the events were projected on both Naruto and the Uchiha clan, the former unaware that he became the Nine-Tails's Jinchūriki and latter secretly accused of orchestrating the attack. In the aftermath, becoming Konoha's leader again, Hiruzen learns that Orochimaru had been kidnapping children in an experiment to reproduce Hashirama's power. However, though knowing he had to kill Orochimaru, Hiruzen did nothing and allowed his former apprentice to leave Konoha as a missing-nin who founded his own village to continue his human experimentation: Otogakure.

Uchiha Clan Massacre


Decades after Madara's presumed death, the Uchiha Clan was removed from decisions regarding Konoha's development and future. It was only after Konoha also began to suspect an Uchiha was behind Kurama's attack, now realising the truth behind Madara's warnings, many of the Uchiha members began plotting a coup d'état that would wrest control of Konoha. However, there were few members of the Uchiha who saw the dangers from such a venture. One such figure being Itachi Uchiha, who became a spy for Konoha's leadership. After peace talks failed, his part in the death of Shisui Uchiha playing a factor in it, Danzō Shimura orders Itachi to wipe out his clan. Assisted by Tobi, Itachi killed all but one of kin: his younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha. Honouring Itachi's request as he leaves the village, Hiruzen promises to protect Sasuke from Danzō. From there, the higher ups cover up the slaughter as cold-blooded murder with Itachi joining the Akatsuki to protect Konoha while living as a fugitive for the rest of his life. However, wishing to be punished for his crime, Itachi told Sasuke to live a life of vengeance so he would die by his brother's hand and restore their clan's honour.

Joint Otogakure-Sunagakure Invasion
Around five years after the Uchiha clan massacre, Konoha was invaded by Otogakure and Sunagakure ninja during the final stage of the Chūnin Exams, in 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 was Hiruzen who attempted to redeem himself by taking Orochimaru down with him. Although he was quickly replaced by Tsunade, recovery for the rest of Konoha's military forces was slow. The village became temporarily understaffed, leaving it unable to properly respond to events occurring in the interim, such as Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki sneaking into Konoha in search of Naruto and Sasuke's defection weeks later.

Pain's Invasion


Three years after the failed Sand and Sound invasion, the Akastuki's leader Pain attacked the village in an effort to capture Naruto. Konoha's forces had some success while fighting the Six Paths of Pain individually, but could do nothing to stop the village's destruction by Pain's Shinra Tensei. Naruto returned to Konoha shortly afterwards (having been delayed by Danzō's actions) and defeated Pain before confronting Nagato, the man behind Pain, about his actions in the death of both their mentor Jiraiya and Konoha's citizens. After Naruto convinced him that his actions were wrong, Nagato gave his life to revive everyone that died during the invasion. Naruto has since then been celebrated as a hero of the village.

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. Also, Sasuke's international crimes are now known to Konoha, which led the village to sever ties with him to prevent him from becoming a burden any longer, and officially brand him as a criminal to be killed.

Fourth Shinobi World War
Following Pain's attack on Konoha, along with the Akatsuki's other actions against the other ninja villages, the five Kage hold a Kage Summit to decide how to proceed with the organisation. After learning of his true goals for the tailed beasts, the ninja villages join forces to combat the Akatsuki's true leader Tobi who declared the Fourth 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. Despite being under construction, the village is being used as a haven of sorts for refugees from countries predicted to become battlefields such as Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost.

Locations

 * Academy
 * Amaguriama
 * Dango Shop
 * Forty-Fourth Training Ground
 * Hokage Monument
 * Hokage Residence
 * Ramen Ichiraku
 * Jōnin Standby Station
 * Kikyō Castle
 * Konoha Archive Library
 * Konoha Aviary
 * Konoha Cemetery
 * Konoha Hospital
 * Konoha Hot Springs
 * Konohagakure Intelligence Division
 * Konoha Military Police Force
 * Konoha Orphanage
 * Memorial Stone
 * Mission Assignment Desk
 * Naka River
 * Naka Shrine
 * Shushuya
 * Third Training Ground
 * Uchiha Senbei
 * Yakiniku Q
 * Yamanaka Flowers
 * Akagahara (anime only)
 * Konoha Ninja Tool Research Facility: Detached Office (anime only)
 * Konoha Strict Correctional Facility (anime only)
 * Zeroth Training Ground (anime only)

Clans
Within the village there are many powerful and well respected clans. Of these there are four clans which are regarded as noble clans. These are the: Aburame, Akimichi, Hyūga and Uchiha clans — the latter of which was regarded as the most powerful clan in the village. All known clans in the village are:
 * Aburame Clan
 * Akimichi Clan
 * Hyūga Clan
 * Inuzuka Clan
 * Kohaku Clan
 * Kurama Clan
 * Nara Clan
 * Sarutobi Clan
 * Senju Clan
 * Uchiha Clan
 * Yamanaka Clan

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.
 * The hiragana あん (an) is painted on the four entrance gates of the village (one hiragana on each door). This means "hermitage" or "retreat". In kanji, the character is "庵". There are also torii built all around the perimeter wall of the village.
 * Masashi Kishimoto stated that Konohagakure was modelled after his own hometown.
 * In the first Naruto volume, page 87, there's 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.