The world of Naruto has almost always been caught up in wars. Before creating the shinobi villages system, the Warring States Era lasted for decades, if not centuries, and saw one clan kill another to gain power. Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha eventually created a place where peace was supposed to prosper in Konohagakure. The other Great Nations followed this example, and thus, the shinobi villages were born.
However, the birth of shinobi villages didn't stop conflicts from cropping up. Soon after, the world got embroiled in the First Great Ninja War, followed by three more equally devastating global campaigns. Here is every great ninja war in the Naruto series broken down and explained.
Updated on October 24, 2023, by Ajay Aravind: Although individual battles are the central focus in a Shonen series like Naruto, large-scale conflicts also take place throughout the story. The Fourth Great Ninja War is arguably the most important conflict in Naruto, but the first three helped set the stage for the grand finale. As such, we've updated this article with more information.
The First Great Ninja War
Participants In the First Great Ninja War
The First Great Ninja War began shortly after the shinobi villages were created and saw almost all the nations take part in it. Not since the Warring States Period had the world seen such violence and destruction. Also known as the First Shinobi World War, it started breaking out back when Hashirama Senju was the First Hokage of Konohagakure. Hashirama pleaded for peace and decided to distribute the Tailed Beasts within the Five Great Nations for stability and equilibrium, allowing all of them an equitable share of power. Unfortunately, this well-intentioned tactic failed to bear fruit.
With numerous minor battles ensuing despite, the Hokage's attempts at peace, Hashirama was killed in an unnamed excursion. The loss of such a strong leader devastated all of his previous efforts toward peace. Combined with ego and chaos, it wasn't long before the work he'd done to unite the villages no longer mattered.
Madara Uchiha's fight against Onoki and Mu further sowed distrust among the villages, as he wanted Konoha to reign supreme. Tobirama Senju took over as Hokage, but couldn't stop the minor conflicts from blossoming into an all-out war. Kumogakure and Konohagakure were heavily involved in the wars against each other — and at one specific point, their Kinkaku Unit killed Tobirama Senju. Thankfully, Hiruzen Sarutobi had been appointed the Third Hokage of Konohagakure before Tobirama's death. Eventually, the First Great Ninja War came to an end with an armistice treaty and the battles ceased for a while. However, the peace created was temporary, lasting only two decades.
Significant Deaths During the First Shinobi World War
The Second Great Ninja War
Participants In The Second Great Ninja War
The Second Great Ninja War started not long after the first one, but the political elements and historical context of this conflict remain ambiguous. It is believed that there was a huge economic imbalance between the nations after the First Great Ninja War, which had taken lots of lives and left every village scarred and battered. The consequent rise in tensions began to worsen, ultimately leading to the Second Great Ninja War.
The Third Hokage led Konoha into this war, and most of the battles were fought in Amegakure. The conclusion to the Second Shinobi World War seems to indicate that Konohagakure was victorious. However, just like every other village, even the Hidden Leaf suffered huge losses. During this war, Hiruzen Sarutobi's students fought against Hanzo the Salamander and were named the Legendary Sannin. Tsunade's healing knowledge helped establish the medical-nin framework, while Jiraiya trained the Ame Orphans and Orochimaru began moving away from his teammates to pursue his research into overcoming the inevitability of death.
Significant Deaths During The Second Shinobi World War
The devastation wrought by the Second Great Ninja War would later lead to Nagato's transformation into Pain and the formation of the Akatsuki. Pain would eventually take his anger and agony out of the Hidden Leaf, devastating the entire village and its people while Naruto was training with the toads at Mount Myoboku.
The Third Great Ninja War
Participants In The Third Great Ninja War
The Third Great Ninja War began as the shinobi nations' national powers declined gradually, and small battles continued to take place along the borders for quite a long time. Eventually, these battles grew larger until they engulfed entire nations and turned into the Third Great Ninja War. This war took place around 10 years before the beginning of the Naruto series and saw the villages of Konohagakure, Kumogakure, Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure take part. Since the villages were already unstable, there was a lack of manpower, forcing kids who were barely Genin to be thrown onto the battlefield.
As a result, lots of lives were lost in the Third Great Ninja War. This is the war where the Third Raikage laid down his life while singlehandedly fighting 10,000 shinobi, and where Minato Namikaze made a great name for himself. The Third Great Ninja War ended with Iwagakure and Konohagakure's armistice treaty since they were mainly responsible for the war. According to the Naruto anime, Onoki wasn't ready to accept the treaty and only did so because Minato Namikaze took down a force of 1,000 Iwagakure shinobi effortlessly. This effort eventually earned him the title of the Fourth Hokage.
Significant Deaths During The Third Shinobi World War
The Fourth Great Ninja War
Participants In The Fourth Great Ninja War
The Fourth Great Ninja War started in the second half of Naruto and the man primarily responsible for it was Obito Uchiha, who sought help from Kabuto Yakushi. Unlike the other wars, the Shinobi Nations weren't at war with one another. Instead, they were united against a common enemy in the Akatsuki. The enemy's goal was to collect the Eight and the Nine-Tails to complete the project Tsuki no Me and cast an eternal illusion on every living thing. Thanks to Kabuto, many dead shinobi, including Kage, were reanimated, with innumerable deaths occurring throughout this war. Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Kakashi Hatake were the main players in the Shinobi Alliance side, and they were the ones to take down Obito Uchiha.
Toward the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War, Kaguya Otsutsuki returned and was sealed in another dimension with the Six Paths' power: Chibaku Tensei. Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha fought each other over a clash of ideals. However, Sasuke ended up losing and decided to follow Naruto's path going forward. The Infinite Tsukuyomi ended, and peace finally returned to the world, which is more or less maintained in the sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. However, Kara and the Otsusuki descendants attempted to awaken Kaguya once again. This goes to show that despite everything Naruto and the previous generation did to lessen the evil in the shinobi world, enemies still remain lurking in the shadows ー even if they aren't as powerful as before.
