Rens Databook: The 5 Hidden Villages
Today I will highlight and rank the 5 major hidden villages after the major wars.
Konohagakure, Sunagakure, Kirigakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure.
To start:
KIRIGAKURE
Rank 1 after first ninja war.
Rank 3 after second ninja war.
Rank 5 after third ninja war.
Like Konoha they established their village by being the victors in the warring states period. The original resident of Kiri became the victors in the lands civil wars. This leads to Kirigakure operating on the caste system. With the founding clans at the top, though it's better said the natives. Clans with military achievements in the second, better said the natives allies. Culminating with the defeated clans who didn't ally with the natives in the third and final caste.
The last caste being absolute monsters. The Naruto novels establishes they are the ones who take upon Zabuzas life defining test of killing each other. As they are the main providers of assassination nin they are the most feared by most countries in the 20 years of peace after the first war. They also have 2 jinchuriki.
During the second war they begin their decline with the loss of their second mizukage early on and third mizukage soon after. Overall they don't lose much though.
The third war gives rise to the fourth mizukage who in turn leads to the darkest years in the history of the hidden mist earning the term bloody mist. This is when the practice of hunting kekkei genkai holders also occurred.
Now the reason I have them as rank 1 after the first war is that they originally were the most feared village. This is stated in canon. I mean their also an island nation so not so easy to attack them directly. They have some of the most feared kekkei genkai in the Kaguya, Terumi, and Yuki clan. Plus their specialty is assassination, it wouldn't be common to fight them directly.
They drop to third not because they had massive declines in the second war but the other villages simply got stronger.
After the third war though everything went downhill and they had so many defectors they created a new anbu division to hunt them down. Most of these missing nin were strong as hell, including a jinchuriki.
IWAGAKURE
Rank 3 after first ninja war.
Rank 4 after second ninja war.
Rank 2 after third ninja war.
Iwagakure is a bit of a weirdo, it's a complete military state. Completely stable. If their Kage tells them to jump off a cliff they just do it. So Iwa does have the so called unity that makes Konoha strong. Ironically their problem is exactly that they're stable.
After the first ninja war they aren't a standout and we only know they gather enough power that they are feared and perceived as a threat to Konoha.
The second ninja war is where they suffer a little by losing their second Tsuchikage. You know the guy who could destroy people on a molecular level. They only lose out in the fact other kage level heroes appear in other villages.
During the third ninja war it becomes apparent they are stronger than Konoha and Suna as the two aforementioned villages end up as allies to not be destroyed. Realistically without the appearance of Minato and Fugaku, Konoha would of been eliminated.
SUNAGAKURE
Rank 4 after first ninja war.
Rank 5 after second ninja war.
Rank 4 after third ninja war.
Suna is kind of a waste of potential. They actually accepted no tailed beasts from Hashi as they already had one. They are definitely strong as they have been keeping Iwagakure at bay for years. That's the problem though as those fights are a constant deplete of resources, particularly wealth.
During the Second ninja war Chiyo is their standout along with the third kazekage the strongest kazekage. Unfortunately they seem to end up becoming stepping stones for other legends.
After the third war everything goes to shit. Sasori their standout goes rouge. They get disturbingly poor and lose all self sufficiency with most of their missions being outsourced to Konoha. Clearly in the losing end of the so called alliance.
KUMOGAKURE
Rank 2 after first ninja war.
Rank 1 after second war.
Rank 1 after third war.
Kumo is nothing but supreme if you really look at canon.
After the first ninja war they gather so much power they make all the other villages rush to do the same.
What's often forgotten is Kumo is credited for killing Tobirama. They also have two strong jinchuriki.
After the second war it's clear they are no joke. They managed to infiltrate Konoha and kidnap Kushina. They keep everyone at bay and more or less suffer nothing for their actions.
After the third war it becomes clear whose boss though. Throughout the war you see that Kumo is feared especially with the third raikage going 1 against 10,000 . Afterward they become arguably the strongest power.
KONOHAGAKURE
Rank 5 after first war.
Rank 2 after second war.
Rank 3 after third war.
Konoha is the weakest village if we're perfectly honest. Some of you are likely wondering if I've gone off and lost my mind but let me explain.
After the first war they've lost almost all their heavy hitters. They actually lose Mito by the start of the second war so there's that bummer.
After the second war they have some heavy hitters again primarily the Sanin, Sakumo, and Hiruzen. They ended up losing a lot soon after though as Tsunade leaves due to her blood phobia. Sakumo dies by suicide. Jiraya stays in Ame.
After the third war they lose everything again. Bye bye Uchiha. Tsunade eventually comes back but Orochimaru defects and kills Hiruzen. Minato dies. They also lose Jiraya and almost get destroyed several times. The third spot is really because they head the Sunagakure and Konohagakure alliance.
Here's the reality in the first war Konoha "won" but they lose all their big ninja (Madara, Hashirama, and Tobirama). They are not feared as everyone finds it ok to screw with them and they are more or less afraid of all the other nations as they know they can't win a four on one battle. To be honest I'm not sure how it's historically acceptable that they "won". The political game is where Konoha must really excel.
During the second war this becomes clear. I mean Uzu fell shortly before it starts, they let Kushina get kidnapped. They only redeem themselves because of the birth of the Sanin and Sakumos achievements. It's said Konoha "wins" this war but based on facts it's hard to prove this. The real winner is probably Ame as Hanzo single handedly makes every side shit themselves. To be honest not losing their wealth or lands like other places is likely what defines "winning". Again seems more like they won a political game.
The third war is where it really becomes clear Konoha is the weakest village. Iwa was very close to destroying the place. Had it not been for the appearance of Minato or Fugaku (with his secret Mangekyo) it would have been 4 great ninja villages. This is when their strongest and Danzo rightfully pushes to fight. Of course Hiruzen peace crap.
As peace approaches though things go back to bad for Konoha. The nine tails incident takes place and claims their jinchuriki, strongest Hokage, and a lot of the villages strongest ninja. This sets the tone for some even worse shit later.
The Hyuga affair was a big highlight on the fact Kumo had the biggest balls. The fact Konoha and Suna have to ally to withstand Iwa proves it's stronger than the two.
Which means no matter what Iwa and Kumo are above Konoha and Suna. Especially since after the peace comes the Uchiha massacre.
MAIN POINT
We only see things from the perspective of Konoha or people who have biased against them. Naturally such people would see them as strong. The reality becomes clear at the five Kage summit though.
Kumo fears no one, they call for the summit and no one dares to refuse. Iwa only feels threatened by Kumo (Onoki states it outright). Suna and Konoha have to stand together to not be treated like crap. Kiri is just sad as no one treats them like a threat at all, to the point Danzo makes a move on their Kage.
Overall the ninja world is only kept in check by the fact Iwa is sneaky and Kumo isn't much better. If the two ally in earnest they could wipe out Suna and Konoha then take over Kiri rather quickly. Particularly post third war. Mutual destruction between the two is the defining rule of the power balance on Ninja Earth.
Konoha really just skates by on their political negotiations and capitalizing on major achievements. Sans Naruto and Sasuke then their not worth squat. If you remove their existence Konoha would probably be destroyed by the Suna- Sound alliance.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Alexdmercer
Alexdmercer The official Naruto fanbooks detail this better and corroborate my final rankings after the third war. I just don't want to write a whole history book detailing further. Each village will get more info as they appear in the story. Making all of this clearer.
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