If there was ever a textbook definition of an "old sixth," it was Takigakure—the Hidden Waterfall Village.
And not just because of their overall ranking among the ninja villages, but because of their entire approach to the shinobi world.
Nestled deep in the Land of Waterfalls, concealed behind towering cascades, Takigakure was surrounded on all sides by four different countries. Yet thanks to its natural fortress, it had never once been invaded. That kind of security let the village quietly amass serious power—honestly, if they hadn't been so good at sabotaging themselves, they might have joined the ranks of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
By "sabotaging themselves," I mean their relentless appetite for internal conflict. In a place this closed-off, it was almost inevitable. Before the founding of the village, the land was a patchwork of clans and factions, each with their own turf. Back in the Warring States era, there was a saying: "Before the ninja world falls into chaos, Waterfall is already a mess; once the world settles, Waterfall is still a mess."
When the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, forged Konoha and unified the land, Takigakure produced its own legendary figure: Kūryū, the First Takikage. A true powerhouse with both strength and cunning, Kūryū managed the impossible—he unified the warring tribes of the Land of Waterfalls, founded Takigakure, and, for the first time, led the clans out from behind the falls to wage war on their neighbors.
And you know what? He pulled it off. The village's territory tripled after a string of victories, and Takigakure's reputation exploded—they became the central powerhouse during the ninja world wars.
Riding that high, Kūryū set his sights east, toward the rich Land of Fire. He wanted to carve out even more glory—and that, inevitably, put him on a collision course with Konoha.
The result? Predictable. Hashirama, Tobirama, and Madara steamrolled them—left them battered, broken, and humiliated.
Human nature is fickle. When Kūryū was winning, every clan wanted a piece of the spoils. But after that crushing defeat, the vultures started circling.
So Kūryū, desperate to reassert control, sent the loudest young leader in the village—Kakuzu—on a suicide mission: assassinate the First Hokage.
It was classic scapegoating, using someone else's hands to settle internal unrest.
But that one move nearly destroyed Takigakure for good.
The details are infamous: Kakuzu failed, got captured, then broke out of prison, stole the village's forbidden jutsu—Earth Grudge Fear—and slaughtered the entire Takigakure leadership before vanishing. Among the dead was Kūryū himself.
With all the elites wiped out, the old tribal rivalries surged back, plunging the village into chaos. Collapse seemed inevitable.
But just as Takigakure was about to fall apart, another hero stepped up: the Second Takikage, Kōrō.
Kōrō was Kūryū's final disciple. During the Kakuzu incident, he'd been away on a mission. When he returned, he found himself the highest-ranking ninja left alive.
He was young, but sharp. Leveraging his status as Kūryū's student, he played the clans against each other—winning over some, crushing others. After years of maneuvering, he emerged as the Second Takikage.
Kōrō was rational and cool-headed. He immediately called off all external wars, shored up their borders, soothed the clans with soft policies, and clung to Konoha for diplomatic support. During the First Great Ninja War, he kept Takigakure out of the bloodbath, letting the battered village quietly recover.
His reforms were relentless: he copied Konoha's ninja academy, founded an ANBU, and built a fair mission system. Under his leadership, Takigakure's strength bounced back, reclaiming its spot as the sixth most powerful village in the world.
At the first Five Kage Summit, with Hashirama's backing, they even scored a tailed beast—the Seven-Tails, Chōmei—earning their place in the "Tailed Beast Club."
That policy of lying low and rebuilding lasted through the entire Second Great Ninja War. While Konoha, Suna, Iwa, Kumo, Kiri, and Ame turned the world into a slaughterhouse, Takigakure sidestepped every conflict, quietly stockpiling strength.
When the second Five Kage Summit wrapped, Kōrō's work was done, and he passed the baton.
Now, after two generations—Kūryū and Kōrō—the village's fate rested with the Third Takikage, Amamiya.
Amamiya was Kōrō's chief disciple: ambitious, capable, and hungry for more. He always believed Takigakure was destined for greater things—why settle for a patch of land behind a waterfall? And he had the resources to back up the dream: nearly ten thousand ninja under his command, including eight elite jonin who'd all made the top thirty-two in the Second World Shinobi Tournament—the famed "Eight Pillars of Waterfall." Their leader, Miyamoto, was even the tournament's runner-up. (Guess who he is.)
The unexpected arrival of Konoha elder Homura Mitokado gave Amamiya the chance he'd been waiting for.
Truth be told, Homura had never planned to ask Takigakure for help. His first choice was Iwagakure, but the Fifth Tsuchikage, Kurotsuchi, was as stubborn as a mountain. No matter how much Homura pleaded, bargained, or threatened, she wouldn't budge.
Especially after Akasuna no Kiki, Rasa, and Tei's joint Wind-Cloud Army locked down the Sand-Stone border, Kurotsuchi wouldn't even grant Homura an audience.
Left with no options, Homura started heading back to Konoha to report and regroup. But the border was sealed tight, so the Konoha delegation had to detour through the Land of Waterfalls.
Takigakure had always been isolationist, so Homura had no real hope for military aid.
But since he was there anyway, he figured—why not try?
To his shock, the Third Takikage Amamiya showed immediate, intense interest in sending reinforcements. Homura was over the moon.
Of course, Amamiya wasn't stupid—his asking price was steep. But news of the Mist's defeat and the disaster at Tongda reached them, and Homura knew the situation was dire. Gritting his teeth, he overstepped his authority and agreed to the deal. The two sides settled on the time and place for deployment, and Homura rushed back to the village to report.
Who could have guessed—the village was the same, but the Hokage had changed.
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