Yugakure

Hidden Hot Springs was a lower shinobi village. The village took advantage of its natural hot springs to prosper, even as many shinobi villages were being scaled back. Village ninja Hidan grew restless with the village's newfound peace and took out his rage against his fellow comrades.

Otogakure

Hidden Sound is a motley collection of ninja from various clans and nationalities, all brought under Orochimaru's direction. Orochimaru traveled the world gathering jutsu and ninja in his goal to gain power. Rice Field clans like the Fuuma, volunteered for Orochimaru's army. Some clan members became soldiers in Orochimaru's army, while others were made prisoners to be used for his experiments. The village itself is a lower shinobi country. Before Orochimaru's full plans to destroy Konoha were revealed, the village was allied with Grass, Leaf, Rain, Sand and Waterfall. It is unknown if Orochimaru has been able to create and maintain ties with any other Leaf adversarial villages like Stone and Mist.

Yukigakure

Hidden Snow is a fledgling village. With Daimyo Kazahana Dotou's desire for power, he began to hire ninja to come under the Hidden Snow banner. When Team 7 was sent to the Snow Country to protect the woman revealed to be Kazahana Koyuki, they succeeded in overthrowing Dotou and assuring Koyuki's rise to country head. Because of Koyuki's good ties with Konoha, it is unknown if she will feel the need to maintain a shinobi village.

Hoshigakure

Hidden Star is a lower shinobi village, being allied with Leaf. However it has not yet participated in the Chuunin Exam with the other countries. The ninja of this village meditate around the chakra enhancing meteor, honing and enhancing their chakra. The village is small and must rely on outside help when their manpower is not enough. Because of the importance of the star, children in the village are given names related to stars and constellations at birth.

Takigakure

The majority of information on Hidden Waterfall was stated in OVA #2. Unfortunately the movie sits outside of manga continuity so village information may be proved one day inaccurate. The village itself is a lower shinobi country, being allied with Grass, Leaf, Rain and Sand. As such it participates in the Chuunin Exam with these countries. In the Chuunin Exam Naruto participated in, no Waterfall team made it beyond the second exam test. The village itself appeared to not have many active ninja when former Jounin Suien attacked the village, instead relying upon Naruto and Shibuki to defeat the ninja. For the sake of their reputation, we will assume most of the ninja were away on missions.

Kusagakure

Hidden Grass is a lower shinobi village, being allied with Leaf, Rain, Sand and Waterfall. As such it participates in the Chuunin Exam with these countries. In the Chuunin Exam Naruto participated in, no Grass team made it beyond the second exam test. The Genin team from Grass who made it to the second Chuunin Exam test is most noteworthy for being killed and impersonated by Orochimaru as he infiltrated the exam. Also of note is Orochimaru's sword Kusanagi (Grass Cutter), it is unknown if this blade has any ties to the country or village.

Takumigakure

Hidden Craftsman is not an official shinobi village. Four skilled craftsmen trained in the ninja arts wore the Takumi character on their forehead protector and sought to resurrect their village founder, Seimei. They planned to use his resurrection to seek revenge against the Five Great Shinobi Villages, who they felt did not appreciate their village. They operated under the name Shitenshounin, or the Four Heavenly Directions. This name stemmed from the characters in their name matching with the deities of the directions: Houki the Turtle, Kujaku the Bird, Ryuugan the Dragon and Suiko the Tiger.