Allied Shinobi Forces

Also called the Shinobi Alliance, this coalition drew together the military strength of the Lands of Lightning, Water, Earth, Wind, and Fire, plus the lone samurai nation of the Land of Iron. It came into being to meet the shared danger posed by Akatsuki and the tailed beasts.

The alliance took shape after Tobi declared the Fourth Shinobi World War, once the five Kage and the Land of Iron's Mifune refused to surrender the jinchuriki Naruto Uzumaki and Killer B. Its central task was to keep those two out of Akatsuki's grasp, since seizing them would complete the enemy's Eye of the Moon Plan, and beyond that to present a united wall against Akatsuki's army. Mifune named the Fourth Raikage supreme leader, and a shared forehead protector bearing the symbol for shinobi replaced every soldier's village crest to signal their unity.

To sharpen its edge, the coalition folded the villages' separate intelligence units into one body and organized its roughly eighty thousand troops into nine divisions grouped by ability. Gaara commanded the five-division Great Battle Regiment, backed by supporting units for surprise attacks, logistics and medicine, intelligence, and sensing. At headquarters, Inoichi Yamanaka relayed telepathic communication across the battlefield, Ao's sensors held a barrier tracking enemy chakra, and Shikaku Nara served as chief strategist. The army lost half its strength by the close of the first day of fighting.

After the war, the crippled nations reshaped the coalition into the Shinobi Union, which sped recovery and welcomed smaller villages as equals. That union passed its first great test against Toneri Otsutsuki's bid to crash the moon into the Earth, fending off the falling meteors while a rescue team defeated him. Its lasting cooperation opened an era of trust and technological growth among the villages, though fresh threats in the forms of Momoshiki and Kinshiki still loomed ahead.

Command fell to A, the Fourth Raikage, as supreme leader, with Gaara directing the Great Battle Regiment. The five battle divisions were led by Darui, Kitsuchi, Kakashi Hatake, Gaara with Shikamaru Nara as his proxy, and Mifune. Supporting captains included Kankuro, Shizune, Inoichi Yamanaka, and Ao, while Shikaku Nara plotted strategy from headquarters.