Howling Wolf Village

The Howling Wolf Village ( 狼哭の里 , Rōkoku no Sato ) was originally a settlement of the Kodon clan . Since ancient times, the settlement was periodically attacked by Rōen , a wolf-like monster. The Kodon eventually found a way to seal Rōen, bringing peace to the region and leading non-Kodon to settle in the village. By selling medicines and offering modest shinobi services, the Howling Wolf was able to support itself as a hidden village .

When the village's Kumanoi clan invented blue fire powder , the village had a new and powerful tool at its disposal, one that didn't rely on skill or training to use. With the blue fire powder, the village fought off an attempted annexation by Amegakure . Sales of blue fire powder brought prosperity to the village and, as evidenced by their victory over Ame, was an effective way of defending the village. For this reason, many wanted to discontinue the village's shinobi services. Tenma Kodon disagreed with this, believing that shinobi were necessary to understand the horrors of war, something that blue fire powder only seemed to encourage.

To try and sway the village against neutrality, Tenma used Rōen to attack the village, expecting that he could keep it under his control with his Kotarō . To his surprise, the blue fire powder was strong enough to break this control, unleashing Rōen's full wrath on the villagers. Tenma and his wife tried to seal Rōen back into its traditional prison, but they could only manage to seal it into their infant son, Kina , before they died. The surviving villagers did not fully remember what happened during Rōen's attack – their memories distorted by the Kotarō – but many suspected that Tenma was responsible.

The Howling Wolf Village declared itself neutral from all conflicts and ended all shinobi-related services; most weapons were also outlawed within the village. Though some of its former shinobi were able to find new jobs as police and guards, others left the village to find work elsewhere. Those who remained turned to saigenzai , a hallucinogen that helped them cope with their mundane lives. The rest of the village, however, enjoyed the newfound peace. The pathway leading to the village is marked with eighty-eight torii to symbolise the village's separation from how the rest of the world works.