* ''{{Naruto}}'' has numerous flashbacks and character origin stories dealing with three Shinobi World Wars. The exact reason why the wars were being fought is never really discussed. Quite a few characters comment on the pointlessness of war and how they want to see world peace, with most of them being incredibly powerful ninja at that (3rd Hokage, Jiraya, Naruto himself, Pain). Despite all of this, the only two reasons we have for the five countries to be enemies are A) grudges that were established ''during'' the wars after they had already started and B) the Leaf (with the exception of Danzo and his Root faction) appears to have a somewhat more progressive philosophy than the Mist, but the Leaf's main battles were fought with the Stone and Sand.
** And neither of those are entirely relevant, as the ninja villages serve their countries' governments in exchange for being allowed to reside there. We know almost nothing about government at higher levels than the ninja (who ''aren't'' running things), or for that matter how regular citizens feel about the other countries. It's unclear how much the ninja-focused view of history provided can ever tell us about what actually led to the countries and environments which shaped and motivated the powerful individuals we do see.
** On the other hand, we do get to see the reason for an ''attempted'' war: [[spoiler:The Daimyo of the Land of Wind outsourcing jobs that should have gone to the Sand ninja to Konoha instead for economical reasons]]. Given that [[spoiler:Orochimaru is impersonating the Kazekage]],however, that may or may not be true.
** It's also worth mentioning that from the flashbacks we've seen, it appears that at some point during the most recent war alone, the Leaf Village has fought battles with.... everyone. And it appears that the other countries have fought with each other at numerous points as well. We've heard about an attempted alliance between the Leaf and the Cloud, and between the Mist and Stone, but from the looks of it, the Third War was just one massive free for all everyone vs everyone else.

27th Mar '13 12:42:04 PM StFan

Send StFan a PM notification explaining the badness of natter: natter-fy

Changed line(s) 82,84 (click to see context) from:

* In UseOfWeapons, part of TheCulture series of sci-fi novels, one of the many, many, many military conflicts the protoganist took part in was an unending and brutal war on an ice planet. Ostensibly, the war was for control of the constantly shifting iceberg masses that made up the only land surface on the planet. But since these icebergs are inevitably destroyed/melt as they move towards the equator, no victory ever means anything for more than a few months, but the war continues on and on, as both sides had grown to hate the other too much to admit the whole thing was pointless...
* In ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}'', has a twofer, in the main plot and an anecdote.
** The war that nearly takes place in the book is over a small island with no usable resources, and no potential for any use economically or industrially, that suddenly pops up in the water between Anhk-Morpork and Klatch. While neither side actually wants the island, they don't want the other side to have it either, since both sides believe it belongs to them. Humorously, [[spoiler: the war is ultimately prevented when [[MagnificentBastard Vetinari]], after visiting the island, surrenders it to Klatch because he had determined that the island will inevitably sink again, making it even more worthless than it already is.]]

to:

* In ''Literature/UseOfWeapons'', part of ''Literature/TheCulture'' series of sci-fi novels, one of the many, many, many military conflicts the protaganist took part in was an unending and brutal war on an ice planet. Ostensibly, the war was for control of the constantly shifting iceberg masses that made up the only land surface on the planet. But since these icebergs are inevitably destroyed/melt as they move towards the equator, no victory ever means anything for more than a few months, but the war continues on and on, as both sides had grown to hate the other too much to admit the whole thing is pointless...
* ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}'' has a twofer, in the main plot and an anecdote.
** The war that nearly takes place in the book is over a small island with no usable resources, and no potential for any use economically or industrially, that suddenly pops up in the water between Anhk-Morpork and Klatch. While neither side actually wants the island, they don't want the other side to have it either, since both sides believe it belongs to them. Humorously, [[spoiler:the war is ultimately prevented when [[MagnificentBastard Vetinari]], after visiting the island, surrenders it to Klatch because he had determined that the island will inevitably sink again, making it even more worthless than it already is.]]

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