Fourth Division

Raised in the run-up to the Fourth Shinobi World War, the Fourth Division served as one of the large fighting units within the Allied Shinobi Forces. Command fell to Gaara, the Kazekage of Sunagakure, while Shikamaru Nara stood in as his proxy leader. Several thousand combatants filled its ranks, drawn from both shinobi and samurai and selected for their strength at striking from a distance.

By Shikamaru's account in the anime, the battalion existed to shield the alliance's support elements and to reinforce the other main divisions whenever they came under pressure. A specialised wing within the unit concentrated on wind-natured chakra, giving the group a dedicated core of Wind Release users.

Once assembled, the division moved to the harsh, stony ground along the southern border of the Land of Lightning. Gaara spread sensing sand across the approach, which let him detect the reincarnated Mu, the Second Tsuchikage, closing in. Peering through his Third Eye, he watched the enemy call forth three more revived Kage: the Second Mizukage, the Third Raikage, and his own father, the Fourth Kazekage.

Facing four Kage at once, headquarters sent Onoki to help counter Mu's dust techniques and reordered the battalion into a sideways wedge. The plan had them fall back while pinning the enemy, then peel off a portion to relieve the hard-pressed First Division before regrouping. Shikamaru led that detachment across, arriving in time to help seal the rampaging Kinkaku by pairing Choji Akimichi with the Fifth Division's Ino Yamanaka. The current Ino-Shika-Cho trio was later turned against their own fallen teacher, Asuma Sarutobi, whom a resolute Choji finally bound.

Through the long night the revived Kage hounded the unit, so Gaara and Onoki chose to press forward. Sand and gold dust collided as Gaara wept while sealing his father, and the division swept in to encircle the loosened enemies. With a Naruto clone lending its strength, they eventually sealed Mu and the Third Raikage, though only a thin remnant of the force still stood. Mu, however, had split himself in two to escape sealing and summoned the reincarnated Madara Uchiha, whose meteorite strikes wiped out most of what remained. Tsunade, A, and Mei Terumi arrived through space-time techniques to drive Madara and Mu back, and the survivors regrouped to support Naruto and Killer B against the Ten-Tails.

Gaara headed the division as its commander, while Shikamaru Nara acted as proxy commander and led the detachment that reinforced the First Division. Onoki was attached from headquarters to blunt Mu's dust powers. Choji Akimichi fought within the battalion and, alongside Shikamaru and the Fifth Division's Ino Yamanaka, revived the Ino-Shika-Cho teamwork against sealed foes. Late in the war, Kage-level aid from Tsunade, the Fourth Raikage A, and Mei Terumi reached the survivors.