[The Beginning]
Our world was peaceful at its inception. Humans slowly became the dominant species on land and began to band together, forming small villages and a society reliant on agriculture. Minor fighting between villages occurred every so often but the horrors of war were unknown to the people.
In contrast, the Spirit Realm was constantly on the brink of war. 10 Grand Spirits with unique powers called the Genma lorded over parts of the Spirit Realm and were always trying to one up each other in an attempt to prove which Genma was truly the strongest. The Genma fully believed in the ideology of ‘Survival of the Fittest’ even if not all spirits did.
One such battle resulted in a direct confrontation between the Soul and Life Genmas. Their combined energy tore a hole out of their realm and into ours, forever connecting the two. At first the tear wasn’t big, a spirit would be spotted in the Human Realm every so often, forming the basis of many modern day fairy tales. As the fighting in the Spirit Realm became more intense, the minor tear began to grow in energy before finally erupting.
This eruption is known to scholars as ‘the Cataclysm.’ The accumulated energy within the tear finally reached critical mass and erupted, leaving a massive physical scar in our world. The energy tore a massive crater, known as ‘the Wellspring,’ into both worlds, one hole exiting into our world and the other exiting into the Spirit Realm. Chakra from the Spirit Realm seeped through the Wellspring, inundating our world with it. The Wellspring also allowed the free passage of spirits into our realm and vice versa, humans could gain passage into the Spirit Realm. A fragile peace between the two realms was forged until the Genma turned their eyes upon the Human Realm.
The mere sight of the Genma to humans was enough to make some bow in reverence. The Genma did not have to fight the humans at first as small pockets simply followed their commands, their numbers being enough for the Genma for now. As Genma established their presences within the Human Realm, their never ending fights soon followed. Fights for dominance broke out within the Human Realm after a time, humans being forced into wartime slaves.
For the next 3,000 years, humans were forced to fight for the Genma. A group of enslaved humans revolted against their oppressors and broke free. Finally free of the Genma, the first free humans retreated to the westernmost regions of the continent. There, they began to plan their fight against the Genma.
200 years later the human forces had grown with both humans and spirits who were also running from the Genma. Through guerilla tactics and raids, the humans were able to strengthen their forces. The union of humans and their spirit companions bore unintended consequences as well. The children of human-spirit couples gave rise to the first Kekkai Genkai and other such abilities that humans were able to hone to better fight the Genma.
After careful planning and deliberation, the human forces were able to liberate the region of what would become Wind Country. With the help of the humans within the region, they were able to seal the duo of Genma who had made Wind Country their home.
The next century and a half was indulged in chaos. The human faction grew in both numbers and strength as they came able to use and develop ninjutsu. Following their victory over the Genma who ruled Wind Country, the human forces began to help other regions organize and revolt against the Genma who ruled them. In the end, the Genma had been overthrown and sealed, their power granted to human hosts who served as their prisons.
[The First Villages]
The people of Fire Country in year 374 began the construction of an academy to spread their knowledge of ninjutsu, wary of the Genma rising again. In less than 5 years, a village had sprouted around the academy and came to be known as Konohagakure no Sato. To the north west, the people of Rock Country turned a settlement formed around an outpost first erected at the start of the Genma Revolution into the center of a new village titled Iwagakure no Sato (382). Not long after, the people of Wind Country established their village, Sunagakure no Sato in 384.
For nearly 20 years all three of the Hidden Villages peacefully coexisted. This peace was destroyed in 407 when Iwa and Konoha declared war on each other due to economic sanctions Konoha attempted to impose over Iwa due to their practice of using slaves. Over the course of the war, Iwa lost many combatants due to the tactics utilized by Konoha which relied on quantity over quality on the battlefield. The war ended in 410 after Suna entered on the side of Iwa, turning the tide of the ar. An alliance was forged between the two villages that lasted for many years with Konoha remaining a village but having a percentage of its countries crops being sent to both Iwa and Suna at discounted prices.
82 Years Later
The peace forged between the three villages lasted for almost a century before being broken. Konoha, sick of being the weakest village due to losing the war and its consequences, formed a secret alliance with Suna who was tempted by promises of being able to purchase the total amount of discounted crops rather than Iwa getting any. Another war broke out in 944 that ended as a stalemate between Iwa and the alliance of Suna and Konoha. A fragile peace settled over the continent for centuries.
[Second Generation]
Konoha had expanded to include a penal colony on a Water Country island. War criminals, prisoners of war, shinobi, and even violent convicted felons from Konoha were housed on the island. Senju, Haziwara conquered the island by uniting the prison population with his strength and then terraforming the island to be fit to house a village. By 800, Kirigakure no Sato came into existence and by 802 Senju, Haziwara, the Shodaime Mizukage, was dead.
International events simmered down for some time. Lightning Country quietly formed their own hidden village, dubbed Kumogakure no Sato which was completed in 892. Villages were dealing with their own issues rather than having to worry about their neighbors until the issues with slave practices was reignited with Konoha who turned their fury onto Kiri in 905.
Kiri was able to keep Konoha at bay, Fire Country's paltry navy unable to match Kiri in open waters. Konoha was, however, able to destroy Kiri's land bound trade routes with Iwa, bringing a third village into what was now a war. Iwa's ally Suna soon after followed their ally's lead joining the war, turning it into a grave situation for Konoha. This didn't last for long with a secret deal being made between Konoha and Suna that broke Wind Country's ties with Rock Country. The war didn't last long with a ceasefire being declared in 910 on both sides and a cold war settling over the continent.
[The Not So Far Past]
The continent was peaceful for 140 years until, in 1050, the issue of slave practices was reignited. Minor skirmishes between Iwa and Suna turned into Suna declaring war. A year into the war, Kiri entered the war and Konoha right after. Large, bloody battles plagued the continent for almost a decade before the war ended in 1060 with a major depletion of shinobi forces on all four sides. Since then, the continent has known peace.
[Important Years/Events]
- -3000: Cataclysm
- 0: The first humans free themselves from the grasp of the Genma. The first human settlements are formed in the westernmost regions of the world.
- 200: Wind Country successfully contests and captures a genma
- 250: A military outpost in the west is established. This will eventually become Iwagakure
- 350: The rest of the Genma have been fought and captured
- 350: Several developing kingdoms in the east fight for dominance. Lightning Country is formed.
- 374: Fire Country establishes the first ninja academy
- 379: Konohagakure is established around the academy
- 382: Rock Country establishes Iwagakure
- 384: Wind Country establishes Sunagakure
- 407: War erupts between Konohagakure and Iwagakure
- 409: Sunagakure joins the fighting
- 410: The war ends with an alliance between Iwa & Suna. All combatants forge a three-way treaty.
- 411 - 493: Peace
- 500: The three ninja villages establish the Kage system
- 800: A small island in Water Country used as a penal colony by the three ninja villages revolts. Kirigakure emerges.
- 802: The Shoudaime Mizukage, Senju Haziwara, dies
- 892: Lightning Country establishes Kumogakure
- 905: War flares up between Konohagakure and Kirigakure due to slave practices
- 907: Iwagakure and Sunagakure join the fighting
- 908: Sunagakure betrays Iwagakure and Kirigakure, siding with Konohagakure
- 910: The Kiri/Iwa vs. Konoha/Suna war slows and ends in a tenuous, cold-war-like status
- 1050: Sunagakure reignites slave issue with Iwagakure, minor skirmishes
- 1052: Sunagakure declares war on Iwagakure
- 1053: Kirigakure enters the war on Iwagakure's side, Konohagakure follows after Kirigakure's declaration
- 1060: The third shinobi war ends following the major depletion of shinobi forces on all sides
- 1061-121x: Peace
- 121x: Lightning Country and Kumogakure erupt into civil war. It ends with unification into the Lightning Empire under Emperor Nakajima Hayate
- 121x: Fire Country invades and pacifies neighbouring Whirlpool Country
- 121x: Iwagakure discovers a network of vast and dangerous catacombs hidden beneath the region
- 122x: The Lightning Empire begins building and sharing knowledge of locomotives with Fire Country
- 122x: The Kyuudaime Mizukage, Kyuo Kai, seizes total power and reintroduces the "Bloody Mist" to Kirigakure
- 122x: Kirigakure attempts to seize Soul Country in a failed operation. It becomes an isolated international skirmish as Kumogakure, Konohagakure, and Iwagakure join
- 1227: The fourth great shinobi war (also known as The Great War) erupts. For more details, please see here
- 1231: The fourth great shinobi war devolves into an uneasy stalemate and ends after five years of intense conflict. Steam Country and Amegakure are established
- 1231: The Heart Empire emerges from the fragments of the Great War under Iyashii Fuhen
- 123x: Present period...
n.b. "x" denotes a flexible, fluid-timeline world date arising from real events on NSRP.