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The Second Hokage and his team during the war.
The First Shinobi World War (第一次忍界大戦, Daiichiji Ninkai Taisen), or simply the Shinobi World War (忍界大戦, Ninkai Taisen), was the first of the great wars that involved the majority of shinobi villages and countries. There are few reliable surviving records of this war, but the experiences of this war led to the birth of the tactics that still form the cornerstone of warfare. It ended with an armistice treaty, but only after all of the Five Great Shinobi Countries had been seriously damaged. Even then, the peace only lasted another twenty years until the Second Shinobi World War erupted.[1]
Background[]
The war started not long after the shinobi organizational system was established in every shinobi village per elemental country as a reaction to Konohagakure’s rise, ending the Warring States Period. To try and maintain a balance of power, the First Hokage captured and divided eight of the nine tailed beasts among the other five major villages at the first Five Kage Summit. When he began his peace talks with them; however, this was not enough to prevent the war and may have increased hostilities once Hashirama died in battle, which was the catalyst for the beginning of the war. Tobirama Senju became his older brother’s successor as Hokage, attempting to continue Hashirama’s pursuit of peace, but even his efforts could not stop the beginning of the First Shinobi World War.[2]
Effects[]
Uzushiogakure destroyed.
The war began when Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure formed a military alliance which combined all their forces to invade the Land of Whirlpools, destroying Uzushiogakure. The Second Raikage and Kenshirō Shunsoku killed each other, with the Third Raikage announced. Kumo stole the Six Paths Sacred Treasures from the Shunsoku clan by the Gold and Silver Brothers and the newly established Kinkaku Force. All Uzumaki clan shinobi sacrificed themselves to let their loved ones and noncombatants to escape underground where they would rebuild their home village below the ruins of their old one and would not encounter any foreigners for several generations. Meanwhile, every combatant in the Shunsoku clan was killed by the combined might of the Second Tsuchikage and Mizukage, respectively. Toshirō and his wife Mina were the only survivors of their clan and escaped with the Sacred Scrolls. They traveled to the Land of Fire and sought refuge in Konohagakure when the war began. Tobirama appointed Toshirō to be a member of his Escort Unit, alongside Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzō Shimura, Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utakane, and Torifu Akimichi.
The Second Hokage died during this war. He fought Kinkaku, Ginkaku, and the whole Kinkaku Force by himself, sacrificing himself as a decoy for his subordinates to escape. Before doing so, he selected Hiruzen Sarutobi for the position of Third Hokage.[3]
The war took a heavy toll on the Five Great Shinobi Countries, badly damaging each of them. In the end, an armistice treaty was signed, establishing twenty years of peace between them; the peace was ended by the start of the Second Shinobi World War. Combat tactics developed during the war would have the most lasting impact, with experiences from the war still shaping how ninjas do battle in the modern era. After the war, Konoha established the Memorial Stone, upon which it engraved the names of all ninjas to die in the village’s service.[4]
Trivia[]
- The conclusion of the First Shinobi World War mirrors the events that followed the real-life First World War. World War I ended with an armistice, before a treaty was finally signed. In addition, virtually all countries on the European continent (the primary setting of the war) were completely devastated in some manner by the time hostilities ended. Nevertheless, within twenty years after the signing of the treaty, World War II would begin.
Reference[]
- ↑ Naruto chapter 562, pages 2-3
- ↑ Rin no Sho, page 116
- ↑ Naruto chapter 481, pages 4-10
- ↑ Kai no Sho, pages 112-115