Konohagakure

Konohagakure (木ノ葉� れの里, Konohagakure no Sato; Literally meaning "Village Hidden Among Tree Leaves"; also known as "Village Hidden in the Leaves" or "Hidden Leaf Village"), or Konoha for short, is one of the five great ninja villages, and said to be the mightiest of the five. 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 exists the Hokage Monument. The village resides in the Land of Fire. 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, and has great military power and influence.

Birth of Konohagakure and Madara's Revolt
Before Konoha was founded, shinobi were merely individual clans working as mercenaries for various daimyo. 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. Betrayed by everyone, Madara left the village so that he could challenge Hashirama by himself.

During their legendary battle at the Valley of the End, Madara was defeated, presumed killed, and was thereafter lost to history. Hashirama's younger brother, who became the Second Hokage, formed the Konoha Police Force, and gave it to the Uchiha clan supposedly as a symbol of trust; in reality, it was so that Konoha could easily keep an eye on the Uchiha, and keep them out of Konoha's governing. Many of the Uchiha clan members, who figured out this gesture's ulterior motive, began to rebel like Madara had. However, it was too late; the Senju clan became superior in the entire village, and the Uchiha clan was discriminated and secluded, just as Madara had predicted. It was this grudge that led to the Uchiha clan's attempted coup d'état decades later, and, eventually, their demise.

Nine-Tailed Fox Attack

 * Main article: Demon Fox Attack on Konohagakure

After the end of the Third Great Shinobi World War, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox attacked the village of Konohagakure. Nobody in the village was able to stop the fox until Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, arrived to seal the Nine-Tails into his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki. The village suffered heavy casualties during the attack, such that few of the villagers would forgive Naruto (who they viewed as the fox) for its actions.

The Hyūga Incident
Konoha and Kumogakure made a peace treaty with each other. To sign the treaty, Kumo sent a Head Ninja as the ambassador. However, during the night, the head ninja snuck into the Hyūga Clan district of Konoha and tried to kidnap Hinata Hyūga, Hiashi Hyūga's daughter, to steal the secrets of the Byakugan. Hiashi killed him before he could get away. However, Kumo denied having any part in the kidnapping; in fact, they wanted compensation for the death of their comrade. Hiashi was prepared to die, but his brother, Hizashi Hyūga, took his place, to make up for his sins against him.

Uchiha Clan Revolt
Fugaku Uchiha, leader of the Uchiha Clan, began forming plans for a coup d'etat, after the villagers blamed them for the Demon Fox attack and shunned the clan into the corners of the village. He placed his son, Itachi Uchiha, in the ANBU as a spy for the clan, to act as a pipeline and feed the clan information about Konoha. However, Itachi, a pacifist due to the violence he had witnessed in the Third Great Shinobi World War as a child, began working as a double agent. Subsequently, he was ordered to eliminate the Uchiha to prevent a bloody conflict after talks between them and the Third Hokage had broken down, and the council became impatient. He did as instructed, but could not kill his younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha. He convinced Konoha's leadership to keep Sasuke safe, threatening to go public with his information on Konoha if this deal was broken. He then fled the village as a criminal, and joined Akatsuki, mainly to keep an eye on Madara, and prevent an attack on Konoha.

Otogakure and Sunagakure Invasion

 * Main Article: Invasion of Konoha

Twelve years after the Nine-Tails attack, Konoha held a relatively standard Chūnin Exam until Orochimaru, a former ninja of Konoha, attacked the Third, and initiated Otogakure and Sunagakure's invasion of Konoha, during a match between Sasuke Uchiha and Gaara. Konoha was able to repel most and kill some ed granddaughter of the First Hokage.

Pain's Invasion

 * Main article: Invasion of Pain

A few years after the Sand and Sound's failed invasion, Pain of Akatsuki attacked the village in search of Naruto Uzumaki. In the course of his search, most of the village was destroyed. After a talk of peace with Naruto, Nagato sacrificed himself to revive the villagers, in apology for murdering Jiraiya. Tsunade is left comatose after the invasion, so Danzō was selected as the Acting Sixth Hokage.

Because of the attack, Konoha loses much of its economic and military capabilities, falling behind Iwagakure.

44th Battle Training Ground
The 44th Battle Training Zone (第44演習場, Dai Yonjūyon Enshūjō), also known as the Forest of Death (死の森, Shi no Mori), was the stage for the second part of the Konoha Chūnin Exams, proctored by Anko Mitarashi. Its primary function served as a testing ground for the survival and fighting skills of Genin trying to become a Chūnin. It was a very dangerous place, filled with hordes of flora and fauna; often gigantic, poisonous — or even more likely, both — hence its name.

A metallic fence surrounds its perimeter with 44 gates equally spaced around it; this perimeter is where the shinobi entered. Inside is a river, the forest, and a tower located in the exact center; the forest's radius is about ten kilometers.

When the exams are taken in Konoha, the tower is the destination for the participating Genin after they have collected two scrolls. Each team started with only one scroll, either the Scrolls of Heaven or Earth; therefore, to pass the exam, a team had to find a team with the opposite scroll and steal it by any means necessary. They then finished the journey to the tower.

Inside the tower is the large arena in which the third test preliminaries were held, if too many teams managed to survive to that point. Relatively few teams complete this part of the test.

Hokage Residence
The Hokage Residence is a large mansion occupied by the Hokage during their reign, and is located close to both the Ninja Academy and Hokage Monument. Built during the reign of the First Hokage, the Hokage mansion it was occupied by Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, before it was destroyed by the Deva Path's large scale Shinra Tensei during Pain Invasion of Konoha. It is filled with many forbidden scrolls, in which lies the secrets to many jutsu.

Clans

 * Aburame Clan
 * Akimichi Clan
 * Inuzuka Clan
 * Kurama Clan
 * Nara Clan
 * Sarutobi Clan
 * Senju Clan
 * Uchiha Clan
 * Yamanaka Clan