The Five Kages
The five Kages are the leaders of the main shinobi villages. This is something that is learned well before Naruto Shippuden begins. However, they play a much larger role in Shippuden than they did before. While it was known that they are leaders of their respective nations, they must now work together thanks to transpiring events.
The Tailed Beasts that the Akatsuki have been stealing belong to the villages. They are checks against other nations, so losing one puts your entire home at risk. When they start getting taken, everyone becomes tense. It’s an act of war to take someone’s strongest weapon, so there is unease. That unease is exactly what the Akatsuki wanted. During the Five Kage Summit which took place in a samurai village (for neutrality’s sake), they were attacked.
Thanks to the wisdom of some wise friends, the Kages do eventually realize what’s going on. They form the Allied Shinobi Forces, which combines the forces of the lands of Lightning, Water, Earth, Wind, Fire, and Iron (a samurai nation). It was something that the Akatsuki couldn’t predict and would be the start of the Fourth Great Ninja War.
