Hidden Stone Village

𝐈𝐰𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐞 (岩隠れの里, 𝐈𝐰𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐨, 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐓𝐕: 𝐇𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐑𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬) 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡. 𝐀𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐢 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐈𝐰𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐊𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐨𝐟. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞'𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫-𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫-𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐞'𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐚𝐧𝐣𝐢 𝐟𝐨𝐫 "𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡" (土, 𝐓𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐢) 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐰𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐢 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐟𝐢𝐭 — 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐬 — 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐤 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭 — 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐲, 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬. 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐈𝐰𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐚 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬. 𝐈𝐰𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥-𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤-𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐢; 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐰𝐚-𝐧𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡

## 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

Iwagakure was founded after the Warring States Period by the First Tsuchikage. Shortly after the formation of their villages, Konoha's First Hokage sold tailed beasts to Iwa as a sign of friendship and to ensure a balance of power amongst their new villages. Despite this bid for peace, Madara Uchiha made efforts unsanctioned by the Hokage or the rest of Konoha to make Iwa subservient to Konoha. Relations between the villages would eventually break down:

* Iwa's close proximity with Suna has led to numerous conflicts over the years, enough that enmity between its shinobi has become deep-seated.
* The Second Tsuchikage and Kiri's Second Mizukage at some point met in battle and killed each other.
* Iwagakure participated in the Second Shinobi World War, where it fought Konoha and Suna across Amegakure.
* During the Third Shinobi World War, Iwa fought Konoha across Kusagakure. Although Iwa was winning the war for a time, the destruction of the Kannabi Bridge cut off its supply line, turning the war in Konoha's favour. In the anime, Konoha's Yellow Flash defeated 1,000 Iwa shinobi in a single battle, prompting the Third Tsuchikage to surrender.
* In the anime, Iwa's many battles with Konoha were often led by the Kamizuru clan. When Konoha's Aburame clan proved the perfect counters to the Kamizuru, their status within the village declined.

Even during times of peace, Iwa and its Tsuchikage have worked behind the scenes against its fellow villages, such as by using mercenaries like Akatsuki to carry out missions the village could not be directly involved in or that it lacked the resources for. Deidara, pupil of the Third Tsuchikage, stole a forbidden technique to further his artistic pursuits, and defected after using his new art to leave the village structures in shambles, becoming a terrorist bomber for hire before his forced recruitment into Akatsuki. In the anime, Iwa betrayed Kiri during an incident that would come to be known as the Tragedy of Yosuga Pass; while on a joint mission against Kumo, Iwa forces killed most of its Kiri allies in order to take all the mission's spoils for itself. Also in the anime, Iwa attacks Konoha after the Konoha Crush in order to take advantage of its weakened manpower but is thwarted by Kosuke Maruboshi.

Like many villages, Iwagakure eventually began sealing its tailed beasts into jinchūriki; the most recent jinchūriki of its Four-Tails was Rōshi and the most recent jinchūriki of its Five-Tails was Han. Since the Second Tsuchikage's era, they actively took part in acquiring other tailed beasts. The anime suggests that Iwa did not hold its jinchūriki, or at least Han, in high regard and was glad when Akatsuki captured him. The Third Tsuchikage's words during a Kage Summit suggest that this is not entirely true, as he calls Akatsuki's capture of both its jinchūriki an embarrassment.

Iwagakure joins the Allied Shinobi Forces during the Fourth Shinobi World War in order to oppose Akatsuki. Although initially planning to continue undermining the other villages as it has for years, conversation with the Fifth Kazekage convinces the Third Tsuchikage that Iwa has lost its way. As such, the Third advocates cooperation with the other villages and becomes personally involved in several battles in order to set an example. In the anime, he even apologises to the other villages for previous actions against them that he has sanctioned.

The war was eventually won, but it left massive scars on the world and Iwa, as well as causing a great loss of human life. The villagers spent day and night restoring the village, and in a few years, they built a new town on the outskirts of the village, with the tallest building in it housing the Tsuchikage, and the original village becoming known as the "Old City". When the Earth Daimyō intended to take over the Land of Flowers, putting Kurotsuchi in a bind, the world was, yet again, nearly thrown into another devastating war.

Years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, the Third Tsuchikage was left disillusioned with their newfound peace when a missing-nin attacked the village that left many genin dead due to their waning strength from inactivity. As a result, he went to research on creating Akuta, artificial soldiers who would supplant the shinobi to protect the weak. However, due to the sudden disobedience of these creatures during the demonstration, along with such attempts to build a private army being in transgression of the agreements of the Union, the Fourth Tsuchikage banned any further developments. Nevertheless, the Third would continue his work in secret, creating Fabrications to serve as commanders for his Akuta army. However, Ōnoki's plans went awry when the Fabrications gained their own free will from their desire to live longer than their fragile artificial lives would allow, which led to their revolt against the village by placing it under lock-down while trying to sacrifice five villagers to transplant their human hearts into themselves. With the help of Konohagakure's Teams 7 and 10, the Fabrications were defeated and the Akuta army were destroyed, although Ōnoki died while fighting the last Fabrication. Although Iwagakure, the Five Kage and the small amount of Konohagakure teams knew of the truth, the rest of the world were given a cover story that Ōnoki died from ill-health during a dissenter attack on the village that was suppressed by Kurotsuchi.

## 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐚

* Initially in the anime, Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi were the only two Iwagakure shinobi to be illustrated with red under-shirts and forehead protectors, as in the manga. The rest kept their brown under-shirts and blue forehead protectors, as they were first coloured in the anime. This was fixed following *Shippūden* episode 254.