Kage [Official Position in Five Great Shinobi Countries]

Base of Operations: Hidden Village
Classification: Head Hidden Village Ninja
Member Appearances: Hokage, Kazekage

The Kage (Shadow) represents the head of each Hidden Village. Only the Five Great Shinobi Countries are allowed to call their head ninja by the Kage name. The Kage serves as the pillar upon which the village stands and the strength a village presents to the other ninja countries largely depends upon the strength of the Kage in power. When one Hokage decides to step down from the position, a new Kage is nominated and then approved by the Village Council. In an interesting turn of events, Konoha's Third Hokage retook his position as Kage when the Fourth Hokage fell in battle to the Kyuubi demon fox.

The Konoha Kage position was recently filled by the Fifth Hokage Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha. After the assassination of the Yondaime Kazekage by Orochimaru, Gaara was selected by his village advisory council to be Fifth Kazekage.