How many ninja wars were there in naruto

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. With Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha creating a place where peace was supposed to prosper in Konohagakure, the other Great Nations followed them, and thus, the shinobi villages were born.

However, the birth of shinobi villages didn't stop wars. Soon after, the world got embroiled in the First Great Ninja War, followed by three more. Here is every great ninja war in the Naruto series broken down and explained.

4 The First Great Ninja War

The First Great Ninja War started shortly after the shinobi villages were created and saw almost all the nations take part in it. This war 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, however, failed at doing so.

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 as the wars continued to rage on at some point. Kumogakure and Konohagakure were heavily involved in the wars against each other, and at one specific point, their Kinkaku Unit killed Tobirama Senju. Hiruzen Sarutobi was appointed the Third Hokage of Konohagakure. Eventually, the First Great Ninja War came to an end with an armistice treaty and wars stopped for a while, however, the peace it created was only temporary.

3 The Second Great Ninja War

The Second Great Ninja War started not long after the first one, however, very little is known about it. It is believed that there was a huge economic disparity between the nations after the First Great Ninja War, which had taken lots of lives and left every village scarred. Eventually, this is what led to the Second Great Ninja War.

It involved Konohagakure, Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and even Amegakure. The Third Hokage led Konoha into this war and most of the battles were fought in Amegakure. The conclusion to this war seems to indicate that Konohagakure was victorious. However, just like any other village, they suffered huge losses. During this war, Hiruzen Sarutobi's students fought against Hanzo the Salamander and were named the Legendary Sannin. Jiraiya trained the Ame Orphans, and eventually, Nagato stated a desire for total peace in the world.

2 The Third Great Ninja War

The Third Great Ninja War took place 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 all the villages of Konohagakure, Kumogakure, Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure take part.

Since the villages were already unstable, there was a lack of power for the wars, and thus kids who were barely Genin were thrown onto the battlefield. Consequently, lots of lives were lost in the Third Great Ninja War. This is the war where the Third Raikage laid down his life while fighting 10,000 shinobi alone and where Minato Namikaze made a great name for himself. It 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 single-handedly took down a force of 1,000 Iwagakure shinobi effortlessly. This effort eventually earned him the title of the Fourth Hokage.

1 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, and 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, and throughout this war, countless people died. Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Kakashi Hatake were the main force on the Shinobi Alliance side, and they were the ones to take down Obito Uchiha. They even fight Madara 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 remains relatively in the sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, with Kara and the Otsusuki descendants attempting to awaken Kaguya once again. This goes to show that despite everything Naruto and the previous generation did was lessen the evil in the shinobi world, but enemies still remain lurking in the shadowsーeven if they aren't as powerful.

NEXT: Naruto: 15 Sasuke Quotes We Can All Relate To