Upon the establishment of the Hidden Leaf Village in the Land of Fire, widespread arms reduction was explored by all feudal lords throughout all regions of the great continent and its surrounding territories. What are now known as the five major countries were the first to adopt this system of government, with a singular daimyou designated as the supreme ruler of the country. Formal alliances were agreed upon at the first summit of the five Kage, sewing somewhat tentative seeds of peace between the many former rival clans whom had spilled the blood of one another for generations.

The smaller territories were the last to employ this system of government; the convening of the first Kage summit stipulated the assimilation of a singular ruler within each of the minor countries, though, the majority of these would also go on to form small hidden villages of their own. Advisors from each of the five majors were sent into separate countries, with each village becoming the primary benefactor and ally of the country in question. In addition to their favor, these minor countries also allowed their greater ally restricted access to specific trade routes in their lands among other exclusive sanctions, excluding the other nations from them altogether.

As several allies were pulled to one side, the other side would inevitably move to gather an equal number of allies among these smaller countries. The revival of a veritable arms race, spanning over fifteen years from the end of the warring states period, would be the catalyst for the great destruction that was to come.

Due to the overlapping levels of influence in each of the smaller regions, the pact between the five major countries had become so strained that it existed as nothing more than a simple formality, with all nations steadily insulating itself and its allies from one another. By then, the covert undermining of before had evolved into a handful of small-scale conflicts in these small regions, each of them culminating to push the stability of the shinobi world toward collapse. A particular incident concerning the island nation of the Land of Eddies, wherein the first Raikage and Mizukage are said to have clashed head-on in an epic battle, has become the source of a persisting rivalry between their respective countries.

Soon enough, the lands of the minor countries had been divided not only by their natural borders, but their allegiances to the five major countries. The lines drawn in the sand would eventually lead these clashing superpowers to the Land of Rain, where the curtains would finally come crashing down.

Almost perfectly centered between the countries of Wind, Earth, and Fire, assets within the Land of Rain had been contested by all three nations since the earliest years of the warring states period. The only minor country still rife with conflict among divided clans, the resolution of its wars---and reaping the spoils left its wake---became the primary objective of Konohagakure, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure. Unable to find common ground between these many clans, however, it became immediately apparent that the attrition warfare which had been persisting for generations in the Land of Rain would not at all be abated by outside forces. Each major country would employ its own troops on different sides of the conflict, hoping to bring its newfound allies in the region to victory.

That its shinobi would clash head-on would prove inevitable, as Hidden Leaf and Hidden Sand shinobi would spill the blood of one another for the first time in over two decades. Thus, the First Great Shinobi War began.

Having yet to deploy any of its troops within the region, Iwagakure washed its hands of any investments in the Land of Rain and remained neutral in the conflict between its neighboring major countries for the first six months of the war. However, with the larger force of Konohagakure shinobi and Land of Fire mercenaries outnumbering Sunagakure shinobi two-to-one and with most of the devastation taking place in the uninvolved minor country, the first Tsuchikage would take up arms against the Hidden Leaf by rite of righteous indignation. With the Hidden Rock affording a portion of its troops to Sunagakure, the already-brutal conflict and devastating casualty numbers would exponentially increase.

Employing the shinobi of Yugakure to its side, Konohagakure would fight the joint Suna-Iwa coalition forces to a stalemate. Unforeseen by either side, however, would be the rise of another humble power that had remained quiet for years.

Tanigakure of the Land of Rivers was one of the first hidden villages formed in the wake of the first Kage summit of two decades prior. It had maintained a stance of neutrality from the conflicts of the major nations, though, was closely allied with the Land of Earth. Unbeknownst to the Land of Earth, and any other nation in fact, close familial ties existed between many of its shinobi clans and those of the Morigakure shinobi in the Land of Snow. An astonishing and bold move, both countries formed a joint coalition force, with Morigakure shinobi moving in vast numbers along the southern border of the Land of Fire to stream directly into the Land of Rain.

Taking advantage of the narrowed focuses of the major countries involved in the war, their usurpation of the Land of Rain was swift. In one fell swoop, the treasured region had been stolen away from the competing major nations, who were now fighting for nothing.

Blindsided by the somewhat underhanded scheming of their supposed allies, both Konohagakure and Iwagakure withdrew its troops from combat. Believing the move to be the scheming of Iwagakure all along, Sunagakure would further insulate itself from its neighboring countries, declining the treaties proposed by the Fire and Earth nations in the wake of the first great war.

In the aftermath, the Land of Rain would go on to form its own hidden village, Amegakure, with the Rivers and Snow countries holding vast influence within its borders. Only recently, however, has the country been able to negotiate its independence.

Over fifteen thousand shinobi would lose their lives in the enduring conflict, with an estimated forty-thousand total casualties recorded on all sides. Only with heavy hearts and bitten tongues has the shinobi world found its present---and false---sense of peace.