Kirigakure (The Village Hidden in the Mist)
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Kirigakure, Hidden Ninja Village of the Land of Waves, is perhaps the most mysterious of the five Great Hidden Villages, nestled as it is within the impenetrable mists that constantly surround its native home. One of the few things near-universally known about Kirigakure is that is has a strong and ruthless military that cannot be easily defeated. This is due, at least in part, to the harsh and unforgiving training methods used by Kirigakure's leadership, fashioning its people into warriors and demons of Battle.

The Hidden Mist's supreme leader is known as the Mizukage; Water Shadow and has the final say in all political and militaristic matters..

Military Strength

Kirigakure's total military strength, or even an estimate thereof, is one of the village's most viciously protected secrets, and one that they have indeed kept better than any other Hidden Village. Even Kirigakure's own ninja have only a vague idea of the overall number of Mist shinobi there are, particularly when they are below Jonin level. However, at very least it is known from history that Kirigakure has enough Jonin and Chuunin level ninja to quickly respond to multiple severe threats to the village, and all with overwhelming force.

The Hidden Mist village was known to have several extremely powerful Kekkei Genkai among their ranks, several of which were said to even rival or surpass Konohagakure's famed Sharingan and Byakugan in power. This can be attributed to Kirigakure's heartless control of breeding and reproduction among their outstanding possessors of said bloodline limits. However, during the most recent Ninja War, the owners of these kekkei genkai have begun garnering a bad reputation as war mongers and ill omens, and so many have begun hiding the nature of their blood.

Powerful Groups

The seven A-rank Kirigakure Missing-nin known as the Seven Legendary Swordsmen had their beginnings in Kirigakure, originally being the Hidden Mist's most elite swordsmen and go-to team for impossible missions during the Great Ninja Wars. As ones would fall, they were replaced by the next strongest nin behind them, at all times representing the seven most powerful fighters in Kirigakure. After the Third Ninja War, however, the members of the Swordsmen, being bred and sharpened for war, were unable to adjust to peace. Some say they went maverick from the village; others say they were exiled, since they were too strong to kill, but too dangerous to keep around, though this is generally held to be falsehood. Either way, since their abandonment of the Hidden Mist village, several members of the hyper-elite team have fallen or been replaced by more suitable fighters and missing-nin from other villages, meaning that the Seven Legendary Swordsmen are no longer purely Kirigakure-nin; however, the majority of the seven still hail from the Hidden Mist.

Because of their origins, however, the Seven are a constant high priority of the Hidden Mist's hunter-nin squads, regardless of their currently Neapolitan nationalities.

Hunter-nin a.k.a Undertaker Squad

Kirigakure is said to have the best, most effective Hunter-nin organization in the shinobi world. In villages such as Konohagakure the hunter-nin have been merged with standing Black-Ops divisions such as the Hidden Leaf's ANBU. In a way, though, this dilutes the absolute focus that Kirigakure's Undertaker Squad have on their primary directive; the location, identification, summary assassination, and ultimately the complete annihilation of all rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist.

This efficiency in tracking down and collecting the bodies of their own missing-nin have also made Kirigakure's hunter-nin frighteningly efficient at tracking down and retrieving other villages' missing-nin, then returning to the Land of Waves with their prize and all of the secrets included with it. It is widely understood that if a ninja goes rogue from a village, it largely comes down to a race between the village's own hunter-nin and the Undertaker Squad to see who will retrieve the exile first…

In fact, though, the threat of Hostile retrieval by Hidden Mist hunters is reduced by how busy the hunter-nin are with their own missing-nin. Kirigakure is also said to have more missing-nin than any other village, though this of course cannot be confirmed— this is lack of evidence is the only clue available as to how proficient the Mist's hunter-nin really are.

Foreign Relations

Kirigakure can definitely be known as having the worst diplomatic relations of any of the Hidden Villages, not having a single alliance with another Village. This is a double-edged sword; while the Hidden Mist has successfully avoided the breaches of information that such treaties would entail, it has also foregone the safety in numbers that such alliances could provide. Recently, however, there seems to be greater effort from the Mist to establish good terms with other Villages; specifically, the Hidden Village has actually entered negotiations with Konohagakure to be permitted to participate in the Chuunin Exams, though they seem hesitant to admit any other treaties just yet.

The Hidden Village

Similar to the vast deserts surrounding Sunagakure, the oceans around the island Country of Waves provides Kirigakure natural defense against invaders; however, even in addition to that, the constant mists surrounding the Hidden Mist provided an added level of protection that thwarts the efforts of those not used to fighting within its milky embrace. It is largely for this reason that the Hidden Mist has never, not even in all of the Great Ninja Wars that have raged to date, ever been successfully invaded.

Land of Waves

Kirigakure, unlike other, more benevolent villages, is mostly neutral toward the well being or continued survival of the ordinary people in the rest of the country that the ninja village inhabits. Though the Hidden Mist will eagerly accept ninja contracts from clients in the Land of Waves, such contracts are usually too expensive for the impoverished lower class that dominates the Land of Waves' demographic. Past what they are being paid to care about, Kirigakure is mostly indifferent toward the struggling and sometimes even actively antagonistic toward the common people, when they are being paid to.

However, the Land of Waves is not completely disadvantaged by the Hidden Mist's presence; during the Great Ninja Wars, protecting itself also meant protecting the rest of the country, lest their enemies gain a position of strength from which to wage war on the Village itself. Most people of the Land of Waves are either distrustful or grudgingly grateful for the village's existence.

People of the Hidden Mist

Though the people of the Hidden Mist seem cold and ruthless even sacrificing each other, in truth all of their actions, however extreme, are motivated by a deep loyalty to each other and to their Village. Even acts as savage as the Hidden Mist's horrific final exam for becoming a genin is motivated for putting the good of the Village above the individual. Once a ninja has become a genin, they are considered part of a tightly knit band of brothers that will survive only by absolute trust in each other and in their leaders. Those who would betray this trust, regardless of position or high rank, are killed without remorse.

Even on the battlefield, a sense of duty and loyalty to the Village dictates a shinobi's actions. Though it may seem to others that Mist ninja are quick to throw each others' lives away, many times during the Great Shinobi Wars the Hidden Mist mounted incredible rescue operations, sending dozens of powerful shinobi to rescue as few as three or four that were trapped or captured in the fighting.

This does not excuse Kirigakure from its acts of savagery, but it does help to explain them. The Village Hidden in the Mist is a hard and bloody place, but one with a tightness of commonality and trust that is unrivaled throughout the ninja world. The Kiri-ninja become weapons, killing their own hearts in order to become tools and weapons, unfeeling as they enact their missions with a coldness unmatched by ninja the world over. Their methods, though inhuman, are undeniably effective, and the Hidden Mist has a steady stream of well-paying shinobi contracts wishing to enlist the soulless efficiency that Kirigakure prides itself in.

Shinobi

Kage: n/a

Jounin: n/a
Tokubetsu Jounin: n/a
Chuunin: n/a
Genin: Kirisaku

  • Unaffiliated: n/a

Missing-nin

Anahera Hoshiko
Kensai Shiro
Gakeichigo Momo
Mori Ryoma

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