Highlights
- Each of the five major ninja villages has their own elite group of highly skilled ninjas, not just the famous Akatsuki.
- The Puppet Brigade from Sunagakure are masters at crafting and controlling puppets, making them versatile and unpredictable on the battlefield.
- The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist in Kirigakure are a prestigious group of swordsmen, each with a distinct sword that possesses unique powers. They are known as generational talents in the ninja world.
When talking about a group consisting of highly elite ninjas, the first thing that comes to mind has to be the Akatsuki. After all, every single member of this criminal group is basically some of the strongest and most dangerous ninjas in their village. In a deranged way, they represent the union of the best and brightest of the ninja world.
However, that doesn’t mean Akatsuki is the only powerful ninja group around. As a matter of fact, every five major ninja villages actually have their own elite ninja group. Some are renowned around the world, while others mainly work behind the scenes. Some are still around to this day, while others only exist in the pages of history. Here are the most elite groups from the five great ninja villages.
Naruto: The Five Great Shinobi Villages, Explained
From the beautiful Konohagakure to the chilling Kumogakure, this is all you need to know about the five great shinobi villages
Konohagakure's Twelve Guardian Ninja Protect the Land of Fire
The Twelve Guardian Ninjas is a group of elite ninjas that are tasked to be the bodyguards of the leader of the Land of Fire, also known as the Daimyo. As such, its members consist of the strongest ninja from every corner of the Land of Fire. However, since some of its most famous members often came from the most powerful ninja village in the Land of Fire, which is Konohagakure, most people ended up associating the Twelve Guardian Ninja with Konohagakure instead.
Every member of the Twelve Guardians has a loincloth wrapped around their waist with the kanji “Fire” written on it. This piece of cloth is the source of pride and joy to its members, which is why most of them still wear it even though they are no longer a member of the group, such as Asuma Sarutobi and Chiriku.
Speaking of Asuma and Chiriku, the Twelve Guardian Ninja was disbanded during their time after a disastrous coup d’etat attempt by some of its members. However, it seems that there’s an effort to bring them back during Boruto’s time.
Sunagakure's Puppet Brigade Let Their Imaginations Run Wild
As the name suggests, the Puppet Brigade is a special group of Puppet Masters from Sunagakure. These puppet masters are so dangerous because they can craft puppets with different kinds of gimmicks, such as one that can use a chakra shield or one that can be used to capture somebody from their blind side. When it comes to gimmicks and functionality, the only limitation is the creator’s imagination. This means the Puppet Brigade can tackle different kinds of missions with relative ease.
A skilled puppet master can make their puppet move as fluid and dynamic as a human being. Unlike humans, however, these puppets can move across the battlefield with a simple swipe of a finger, which makes their movement unpredictable. Skilled puppet masters can even control several puppets at the same time, which makes them akin to a one-man army.
The golden age of the Puppet Brigade was without a doubt during Chiyo’s Era. She was known as one of the greatest puppet masters in history. It is said that she once took down an entire fortress using her iconic ten puppets, known as the Chikamatsu Collection. The strongest puppet master, however, is arguably Chiyo’s grandson and a member of the Akatsuki, Sasori of the Red Sand. The Puppet Brigade lives on to this day under the leadership of Kankuro.
Kumogakure's Kinkaku Force Does All The Dirty Work
The Kinkaku Force was the name of a legendary task force from Kumogakure led by one of the legendary Gold and Silver Brothers, Kinkaku. This group was mainly active during the first and second Great Ninja Wars. There are not many details available about this group, but one thing’s for sure, the Kinkaku Force consisted of some of the strongest ninjas from Kumogakure at the time.
The Kinkaku Force could be considered as Kumogakure’s Black Ops group. After all, they mainly dealt with the most difficult missions that were not entirely legal to do. One of their crowning achievements was setting up an ambush for the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, and killing him. Although Kinkaku and Ginkaku would end up as traitors to Kumogakure, this particular feat was enough for their names to be recorded in the pages of history, praised and admired as heroes of Kumogakure.
Naruto: Akatsuki’s Most Versatile Member
From surveillance to taking down an entire army, this Akatsuki member can do it all.
Iwagakure's Explosion Corps Has All The Firepower
In every generation, there are people from Iwagakure who were born with a unique Kekkei Genkai called the Explosion Release. This innate ability allows them to use their chakra to cause an explosion. At some point in time, there were enough people in the village with this ability that they decided to form a special corps around these people.
The most infamous members of this corps were Gari and Deidara. Gari can cause massive explosions with his fist, while Deidara can imbue his chakra into clay figures and detonate them at will. This corps was often tasked with a bombing campaign, either as the artillery during a big battle or as a way to cause chaos in the enemy’s headquarters.
Gari lost his life during one of the missions for the village, while Deidara ended up becoming a member of the Akatsuki after being a freelance terrorist for a while. Now that every member of the corps had already died, the village decided to disband this corps.
Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist Are Generational Talents
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist is without a doubt one of the most well-known ninja groups in the world. Unlike the other groups in this list, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist is a title that is given to the strongest swordsmen in Kirigakure. That means, every generation has its own Seven Swordsmen.
Every swordsman has a distinct sword that bears a unique power. Hiramekarei can take on different forms, Kabutowari can crush any defense, Kiba can generate lightning, Kubikiribocho can regenerate itself through the iron in its victim’s blood, Nuibari can pierce through anything, Shibuki can cause an explosion with every swing, and Samehada is a sentient sword that likes to eat chakra.
Due to the unique nature of the swords, there can only be seven swordsmen at one time. The way it usually works is that the current swordsmen will choose a successor, train them, and once the pupil is ready, they will inherit the sword along with the proper technique on how to use it. The Seven Swordsmen of the Mist still exist to this day, but their golden age is the Zabuza’s era. It is said that during that era, Zabuza along with the rest of the Seven Swordsmen, could destroy a country on their own.
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