As fans watch the shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village get into their various fights, learn new jutsu, and save the world, it is easy to forget the everyday folks that walk the village streets. From the owner of Ichiraku Ramen to the various shopkeepers, there are tons of people who live in Konoha who must deal with the carnage of constant ninja attacks.
From dealing with giant snake attacks to an ultimate ninja who can literally move entire landscapes launching a full assault on Konoha, here are the ten harsh realities of being a villager in the Hidden Leaf Village pre-Boruto.
10 The Villagers Had To Deal With Orochimaru's Attack
The Village of Konoha has witnessed attack after attack. The first on-screen attack (that is, the first attack fans get to witness) was that of Orochimaru's assault on the Hidden Leaf Village during the Chunin Exams. Not only did a fleet of Sound Ninja and the giant snake they summoned attack the city, so too did the supposed allies of the Hidden Sand Village.
This was the first moment in the series where fans had to face the fact that Konoha was not as secure and powerful as they had thought, and they realized this right along with the young characters who were fighting in this conflict.
9 They Also Had To Deal With Pain's Attack
As if Orochimaru's attack was not enough, a few years after that, Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki, also attacked the city. He showed off his massive amounts of power using an ability that could physically move mountains. Many characters died during Pain's attack; however, they were later resurrected by that same villain's power.
The poor denizens of the Hidden Leaf Village seem to be forced to rebuild every few years, but Pain's attack was one of the worst the village had ever seen. Thankfully, Naruto Uzumaki saved them, and the villagers finally accepted him.
8 They Were Around For The Nine Tails Attack, As Well
Why did the villagers not accept Naruto in the first place? That goes back to what was possibly the worst attack Konoha had ever seen. The Nine-Tailed Fox spirit, which was sealed within Naruto as an infant, attacked Konoha before the events of the original series, and during it, countless shinobi and villagers died.
Even the Fourth Hokage, Naruto's father, died during this attack, though he did save the village in the process. This attack was so terrible that the villagers feared it and a child for a decade afterward, though the tailed beasts' role in the Naruto world has changed since then.
7 They Have To See Constant Ninja Battles
The villagers of Konoha doubtlessly see a lot of blood, death, and general fighting in the streets on a semi-regular basis. The entire Uchiha clan was massacred, some of whom were not ninja or were not prominent ninja (though the show does emphasize the fact that the Uchiha clan kept to themselves and lived in their own sector of town) Furthermore, the sheer amount of fighting that happens in the streets is impressive.
Naruto fought Sai in the streets. Kakashi, Guy, Asuma, and Kurenai fought Kisame and Itachi on a village pond in broad daylight. That's not even to mention all the shinobi running around on rooftops at any given moment.
6 They Have To Constantly Rebuild With No Jutsu
While there are a couple of ninja who have claimed to use the wood-style jutsu, there are not enough to deal with the constant need to rebuild (which Konoha had to do three times in two decades). As such, it is probably not strange to see construction happening regularly.
With shinobi out protecting the village, gaining notoriety, and completing missions, there are few to spare for rebuilding and the villagers have to do a majority of the work on their own. Both the Third and Fifth Hokages remarked on how thin their ranks had been stretched.
5 Many Of The Others Around Them Hold A Lot of Physical Power Over Them
Fans have to imagine that it must get uncomfortable for the villagers to have to deal with shinobi each day, some of whom have god-like powers, even excluding the Hokage. From what was seen of the other towns and lands in the Naruto world, not all shinobi treat villagers with the same respect that Naruto shows.
While there is the argument that no shinobi would go against the Hokage by doing something wrong and abusing their power, there are plenty of ninja who have gone rogue for less.
4 They Live Under A Military Leader
While the villagers do have a semi-separate governmental body for the handling of laws, they are still deeply affected by the Hokage. Though the Hokage does not directly intervene with the daily affairs of Konoha, the Hokage makes decisions that ultimately dictate the lives of every citizen. The Hokage has the power to bring violence into the city, which puts the non-shinobi villagers in a precarious position.
There are no prominent non-shinobi leaders in Konoha. Even the other members of the Konoha Council, Danzo Shimura, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane, were once shinobi.
3 Villagers Will Never Be Able To Be A Part Of Town Leadership
There is, however, a Konoha Civilian Council led by Tsubaki that handles these daily proceedings, but not much of it is shown. Unfortunately, this is largely kept separate from the regular Konoha Council.
Fans never really see the former shinobi of the Konoha Council talk about urban planning, local economy, or city ordinances (except for maybe the discussions around rebuilding Konoha after the various attacks). That is left to the Konoha Civilian Council. However, the existence of the shinobi and non-shinobi governing bodies seems largely gestural, as the shinobi governmental hierarchy seems to have a larger say in the village as a whole.
2 Villagers Are Rarely Listened To
Neither the show nor its characters seem to put much weight on the existence or lives of the Konoha villagers. That's not to say they don't care about them - Naruto wants to protect the whole village and they do not want to see the villagers hurt or killed - but those villagers do not live in the forefront of the minds of the shinobi (except for maybe Naruto).
The show does not center around the villagers, and so fans rarely get their point of view. They know how the villagers feel about the Pain attack or the Nine-Tails attack, and they are aware that the villagers hear about events like the Chunin Exams. But the villagers themselves are rarely heard from.
1 Their Economy Is Based On Ninja Wars
When attacks happen, trade routes are cut off, or alliances are made and broken, and the economy changes. Military affairs have a large hand in what happens on an economic basis. For a village like the Hidden Leaf, which relies on being hired for missions as the main export, this is even more true.
Needless to say, the ability for Konoha villagers to thrive and make money not only depends on the overall economy of the Land of Fire, but it also depends on how the Hidden Leaf Village does in its shinobi-based economy. If the missions do not come in, neither the community nor the ninja who purchase many of the goods and services will get money.
0 Comments