Kirigakure

## Intro

Settled on the largest island of the Water country, the capital of the Republic is found in a certain most strategic position. The city itself might have sturdy walls, but has the terrain as the defence as well. Not far from the city does the landscape become a mix of hills, meadow and forests that lead up to the surrounding mountainous area that seems to harbour Kirigakure from any inland incursions.

## History

### ***Otokano Kitsune, First Mizukage***

The Daimyo of the Water Country recognized the need to establish a shinobi village and permanent military force, following the recent appearances of such villages in the other major countries. However, his plan to make the village began years before it actually was formed. The problem was that most of the country relied on trade and was already defensible by militia and clan forces. It wasn't until the Daimyo approached the infamous Suzu clan was progress made to forming Kirigakure. A meeting was organized between the Daimyo, several of the Suzu, and every major clan head and business leader in the Water Country. Needless to say, it was quite the conference with so many in attendance, and many with foul dispositions and a belief against that of the Daimyo.

By the end of the meeting, the Daimyo had convinced the representatives of his country that a village was needed. They decided the location of the Hidden Village would be where the meeting was held (a rather misty and wet region). Kirigakure came to be its name. When deciding who was to be military leader, however, another problem arose. Naturally, it was assumed that brawn was over brains, and the attending Suzu appeared most likely to take the role. However, all of them denied it, believing that the smartest should lead. It was voted that a thirty year-old Otokano Kitsune would take the title. While the corporations in attendance complained that having such a seemingly weak leader was asking for danger, the shinobi in attendance all felt that he was perfect for the position. Construction of Kirigakure began in the year 420.

The Water Country remained largely the same as before, except now having a military backbone to its powerful naval trade system. As such, the added security made Kirigakure a hotspot for business, and its economy and population grew quickly. As such, it was proven that choosing Otokano as leader was wise. After first establishing a powerful navy, Kirigakure grew its shinobi population. The Seven Swordsmen of the Mist became an organization rather soon, to demonstrate the elite. The economic boom continued for nearly two decades, making Kirigakure one of the richest villages. However, around the year 445, Otokano realized that his age would become a liability. With this in mind, he selected Shouji Suzu to succeed him as Second Mizukage.

### ***Shouji Suzu, Second Mizukage***

With Otokano retired, Shouji led the village by himself. As the Head of the Suzu clan, he was regarded as not only one of the most powerful shinobi of Kirigakure, but of the world. Though his heart was in the right place, and he was by no definition unintelligent, he did not have the genius that Otokano was gifted with. However, he still maintained Kirigakure's prosperity. That is, until a major earthquake rocked the north in the Water Country, before a tsunami destroyed most of the coastline. Kirigakure responded to this by using its shinobi to assist in the disaster relief force, and as such saw a boost in their personal economy. However, the Water Country aside from Kirigakure found itself on the losing end of the money spectrum.

As tensions grew between the mainland countries, Shouji consulted with the aged Otokano. The two devised a plan to ensure Kiri's safety. Shouji spent months organizing a spy network in Konoha, Kumo, Suna, and Iwa. And the effort paid off. Though the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist had suffered a major blow at the hands of one Sahoru Hon prior to the war, Kirigakure had its forces ready. The moment the Great War War broke out, Shouji put his spies into motion and advanced his forces. Together with Otokano, he lead Kiri forces mainly against Konohagakure starting in the year 457.

At first, the combined power and brains from Shouji and Otokano led Kiri to many victories. Some overwhelming. With Konoha's forces divided and no battle geniuses to rival Otokano, Kirigakure pushed deep into the Fire Country. However, after several years of beating Konoha back, the losing side had a struck of brilliance. Under the leadership of Jinkama Moto, an elite strike force had detained one of Shouji's spies and managed to find where Otokano was situated at. With his strike force, Jinkama snuck behind enemy lines for a hit-and-run tactic that soon became a staple of his war effort. During the raid on his camp, Otokano was killed during an attempt to capture him. Though the strike force was nearly decimated as it fled, Jinkama survived to lead his army another day.

With the death of the First Mizukage, Shouji was left on his own to lead the armies. He quickly assembled several intelligent and powerful shinobi of his to form an advisor panel. This panel included Kang Nomonoto and Fumiyo Nagano, who both would later become Mizukage. Despite the efforts of this group, they could not replicate Otokano's genius. And as Konoha freed up its forces from the Suna and Iwa fronts, it now had more manpower to fight Kiri. This double-whammy led to Kiri forces being pushed out of the Fire Country and back into their own territory.

Despite the powerful navy, Konoha simply had too much manpower to properly halt. Shouji quickly retreated his forces to defend the capital and Kirigakure once Konoha was in the Water Country. Both cities were very defensible, so he knew they could at least prevent being taken over. Konoha forces moved on Kirigakure itself, with the army setting up a camp just beyond the horizon of Kirigakure itself. With the advice of his panel, Shouji decided to attack Konoha's forces instead of wait for the rumors of a treaty to come forward. In the final battle of the war, a portion of Kiri's defenses took on Konoha head-on, and resulted in the final confrontation of commanders. Jinkama Moto and Shouji Suzu squared off personally in a test of pure might; a battle that Shouji did not survive.

### ***Kang Nomonoto, Third Mizukage***

Shouji had died without appointing a successor. After the battle, following Kiri's retreat back into its village, the Elder Council held an emergency meeting. They put a vote as to who would become the Third Mizukage, selecting from Shouji's panel of advisors. All things in consideration, they elected Kang Nomonoto to succeed the deceased Shouji Suzu. Following the battle, Konoha presented a treaty to end the war. Kang met with Jinkama Moto personally and the two signed the treaty, bringing an official end to the Great War War. And bringing war debt upon the Water Country, for their occupation of the Fire Country during the war.

From the beginning of his rule, Kang made it clear that he was power hungry. He immediately instituted laws and policies that prevented him from being removed from the Mizukage seat. As well, he made strict labor laws to keep the people working and oppressed. With the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist as his personal dogs, more or less, he ruled with an iron fist. Granted, his policies extorted enough money from the people of Kirigakure to pay for the war damages rather quickly. His oppressive behavior wasn't met with acceptance, however. Constant acts against him were committed, mainly through propaganda to instigate a bigger uprising. However, no movement gained enough momentum to overthrow Kang.

After years of his policies, which had also expelled foreign immigrants and called for on-the-spot executions of anyone caught out past their age curfew or not working during their designated hours, Kang received his karma. An assassination was exacted on him out of revenge by Soru Deshuga and Liaru Hotari. With Kang's death, the people expected the next leader would bring an era of piece.

### ***Fumiyo Nagano, Fourth Mizukage***

To avoid another scenario of oppression, as with Kang, the Elder Council elected his long-time rival Fumiyo Nagano to lead Kirigakure. Though the two had worked together before, they had a long history of animosity between the two. This led the Elders to believe that Fumiyo would be able to fix the problems left by Kang. However, this proved not to be the case. Rather, Fumiyo picked up where Kang left off. After dropping some of the more extreme policies, such as instant executions, he instead implemented his own for his own personal gain. Not only was Fumiyo impossible to remove from power, but he was turning a profit.

As evidenced by the lush Mizukage Mansion, Fumiyo was using Kirigakure and the neighboring areas to his advantage. Only in it for the power, Fumiyo made no efforts of improving the economy or political relations with other nations. As long as he was in charge of Kiri, he had done enough in his eyes. The general consensus of the majority was that absolutely nothing had changed, despite promises. As such, Fumiyo's reign had more uprisings than Kang's. It was also during his reign that he took the opportunity to topple one of his biggest threats and one of the most powerful organizations in the world: the Suzu clan.

Despite the Suzu's intimate relation with the formation of Kirigakure, they intentionally tried to remain out of the spotlight. As such, they had been following the orders of whichever Mizukage was in charge since Kiri was built. As such, this gave them a status of privilege, even in Kang and Fumiyo's times. After all, no Kage would be able to contain the powerful Suzu should they feel like it. So while the Suzu were on Kiri's side, they were rewarded. The laws that brutalized the people of Kiri were ignored by the Suzu, and they even helped Fumiyo put down several uprisings by the populace. However, Fumiyo recognized that they were single-handedly his greatest threat. Especially with the fact that the Suzu were performing less and less assassinations, which meant that they were spending more time within the walls of Kiri.

One day, one of Fumiyo's spies found that the Suzu were starting to bicker with each other, in regards to the Great War War. Capitalizing on this, Fumiyo ordered his spies to incite rebellious talks into some of the younger Suzu. This in turn caused conflict within the clan, as most of which were still loyal to Fumiyo. After months of the arguing escalating, Fumiyo knew he needed to make a little push. He sacrificed one of his spies to pose as a member of the Suzu and attempt to kill another. Though the plot itself failed, it still caused exactly what he wanted. The Suzu began to turn on themselves, and Kirigakure found that this clan brought quite the destruction.

The Suzu compound was directly in the center of Kirigakure, and the outbreak of fighting was more like a civil war. Four days of non-stop fighting broke out and caused a large portion of Kirigakure to be destroyed, almost completely decimating the Suzu compound itself. In the end, only four Suzu survived; one teenager and three children. The teenage girl, Rika Suzu, killed the last of her kind aside from the three children, and the four survivors were rounded up and arrested. After detaining them in solitary confinement for several weeks, as he decided how he would make this look to the rest of the world, Rika Suzu escaped prison and fled the country. In response, Fumiyo decided to waste the children rather than raise them to be loyal to him. The Suzu that had provided the backbone of Kirigakure's formation was now basically extinct, minus one survivor.

With the Suzu gone from Kirigakure, having left a wake of destruction in their collapse, Fumiyo forced the civilian population to begin reconstructing the city. The labor grew harsher and the economy declined further. Resentment toward him only grew progressively worse. At this point, Fumiyo began using the ANBU to assassinate civilian targets suspected of inciting revolution. This went on for several years, with several uprisings coming and going along the way. However, in the year 474, Fumiyo's reign was brought to its end.

### ***Rika Suzu, Fifth Mizukage***

The young Rika Suzu returned to Kirigakure. Matured by her tragic life and experiences around the world, she came back for revenge. The power of the Suzu was legendary, and she aimed to use all of it to kill Fumiyo Nagano. The young woman infiltrated Kirigakure and confronted Fumiyo. She wanted him to know he was going to die before killing him. However, Fumiyo declared he would finish what he started and attacked Rika before she could attack him. Despite his immense power, being known for taking on entire regiments back in the Great War War using jutsu without handseals, Rika proved to be more than his match.

Unable to handle the Suzu, Fumiyo called upon the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist to defend him. All seven of the modern Swordsmen proceeded to fight Rika, the first time all seven had ever fought one target since Sahoru Hon. Even with eight opponents, Rika managed to outclass the lot of them. And once she convinced the Swordsmen to stand down, as this fight was to give Fumiyo what he deserved, she was easily able to finish off Fumiyo Nagano once and for all. Though her initial plan was to kill the man and leave, she was convinced by one of the Swordsmen to stay in Kirigakure and even possibly lead it.

With this suggestion in mind, Rika went before the Elder Council and convinced them to make her the Fifth Mizukage. The bloody era of Kirigakure ended in bloodshed, but Kiri was now free of the chains of oppression. Immediately, Rika began eradicating old policies and laws. For the first time in over a decade, immigration was legal and curfews were no longer enforced. Kirigakure's economy actually began to grow, and the people were ecstatic that they had a leader that genuinely cared for them. However, what they didn't know was how troubled Rika Suzu really was. Despite her good intentions, the woman was not sane. Something that only those close to her knew. And after becoming pregnant, some people began to doubt her.

Though she has continued leading the village through her pregnancy, the question of her security was raised. The fear on everyone's minds was that another person like Fumiyo or Kang would try to kill her in her vulnerability and take over Kiri. This never ended up happening, as not only did the shinobi population do well in ensuring Rika's safety without being given orders, but the civilian population did what they could too. The most notable time was when Rika went into labor, and a mob of civilians formed a wall around the Mizukage Mansion to prevent anyone from sneaking in, or even getting in for that matter. Now juggling being a mother of a very young child with being the rising star leader of Kirigakure, Rika Suzu has been labeled as a gift to the world. After all, her sweet voice, kind actions, and surprisingly wise leadership have brought Kirigakure from the darkness.

At least, that was what people wanted to believe from the start. Though her leadership has stopped, some of the grief and sorrow that the previous Mizukages had caused, many were still silently doubting her. Many 'traditions' of the past Mizukages continued underneath Rika's rule and when some saw her as nobody else who just packed it in a nicer outfit, people started to become a bit restless. With a less harsh grip on the people, some events eventually caused a backfire.

### The Republic

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## Districts

### Poor Districts

* Intelligence Division HQ

 Location
### Middle Districts

* Pharmacy of Lee (Leading into poor district. NPC, appeared/intro at the first mission of Team Mika)

### Outside the City Walls

* Akiyama family manor (Distant from public, near large forest)