Kirigakure

Kirigakure no Sato, famously titled the "Bloody Mist”, is the shinobi village located in the Land of Water. As one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, Kirigakure has a Kage as its leader known as the Mizukage. Kiri has a tumultuous past through the thousands of years of shinobi history, suffering from frequent periods of political intrigue, infighting, and struggles with its ruling daimyo.  Water Release is the most common affinity of the village’s shinobi. Kirigakure's architecture is composed of several cylindrical buildings, with the Mizukage's office being the widest and largest. Most of the taller buildings have trees on them. Befitting its name, the village is surrounded by a thick mist, with several mountains in the background, making it difficult to find by foreigners. An unusually high number of missing-nin seem to originate from this village and as such a unique classification of ANBU known as hunter-nin are specifically tasked with eliminating these defectors.

The current Mizukage is Suisei Yuki, a brutal warmonger who lives for the thrill of the battle. He was a veteran of the Otsushin War and Third Shinobi War who originally was a raging nationalist. Eventually, however, he realized he didn’t care about factions anymore and that he just loved to fight. Eventually, he brute forced his way to the top and crowned himself Mizukage, where he uses the civil war as an excuse to fuel his battle urges. He can commonly be found roving around the territory with his pack of elites hunting for fun battles while a council of his subordinates handle the bureaucratic things in the capital. Suisei is both a Yuki and a Kaguya; he is the product of a Yuki noble and a Kaguya woman who survived her warband’s destruction. As such, he uses the mighty Shikotsumyaku and Ice Release in a terrifying tandem, earning him the moniker “Frostfang”.

## Recent History

The current era of Kirigakure is one rife with political struggle. Kirigakure has had countless civil wars in the past, making it a nation without a consistent identity. After a while, Kirigakure stopped naming its civil wars in a numeric order, and instead named them after significant events or factions. For example, the previous civil war which started in 1589 is called the Otsushin War (War of the Yin-Earth Monkey Year). This refers to the position of the year that the war began on the sexagenary cycle. Five years into the war, the Third Shinobi War began. Kirigakure spent the first few years staying out of it, only joining in 1596 when the dominant faction launched an invasion of Konoha. This idiotic maneuver resulted in a devastating loss on Konoha’s shores, though the faction was able to regain some prestige later through its invasion of Kumogakure. Kumogakure’s most valuable forces were busy elsewhere, resulting in Kiri being free to cause mass destruction before a ceasefire was called.

The Otsushin War was ‘ended’ when the crippling losses inflicted by Konoha came to cause the dominant faction’s crumbling. Public support rapidly drifted elsewhere, and the greatly weakened faction was torn to shreds only a little over a year after the Third War ceasefire, in 1598. Instead of peace, however, most historians consider events to have immediately leaped into a new war as the remaining factions began to focus on fighting each other to build a new dominant faction. Since then, a faction called Shuugoryuubatsu (Guardian Dragon Clique) has become the strongest faction in Kirigakure. It has attained a sense of legitimacy, but many ninja view it to be a tyrannical and imperialist government that may grow to adopt the Iron Code in the future. For these reasons, the current war within Kirigakure is only considered a civil war by outsiders; the current government has unsuccessfully tried to portray it more as the crushing of a rebellion. The current war is called the “Second Otsushin War” by outsiders and simply the ‘rebellion’ in Kiri.

## Living Conditions

The village itself is strange in comparison to the other villages. By the standards of the other four, Kirigakure sprawls over an unusually large area. Kirigakure is actually a number of smaller cities and settlements surrounding larger ones. The reason why the village is like this is lost to time. The most prevalent theory is that the ancient Mizukage wanted to have a grander dominion so that they could dominate the Land of Water. Nonetheless, it has only served to make Kiri's instability greater. In a traditional, centralized village, it is easier for the dominant faction to stamp out competition. In the broader, sparser Kirigakure, it is easier for subversive elements to sneak around and then take territory for themselves when they come out of hiding. Within Kiri, the central ‘village’ itself is called ‘Tatekyo’ (meaning ‘Central/head capital’). As of the Second Otsushin War, faction name controls most of inner Kirigakure and parts of outer Kiri. The faction also operates from Tatekyo as its capital.

Kirigakure is a grim place, prone to frequent rain that is second only to that of Amegakure. This rain constantly shrouds Kiri in a thick, dreary fog. The skies are perpetually grey, and this lack of color is borderline infectious, causing it to sap away the color of the world around it. Because of Kirigakure’s sparse layout, there are long, sprawling sections of nothingness between each little piece of civilization. Because of the constant rain in Kiri, most dirt is mud, and the lands are caked in countless ponds and lakes. Plants must be rigid to survive, as frequent flash floods will destroy most vegetation. For that reason, Kirigakure is often reliant on crops that are resilient to water like rice, and imports a lot of food from more amicable places in the Land of Water to make up for what cannot be grown locally. However, the soil of Kirigakure is remarkably fertile; what crops do survive return a handsome yield. Kirigakure also has a huge seafood industry.

## Culture

Kirigakure’s architecture is predominantly composed of cylindrical buildings in drab colorations. In order to be prepared for flash floods, most buildings in Kiri are built on raised ground. Kiri settlements are often built on cliffs and hills, while wealthier towns spread wider on gigantic stone foundations connected by great bridges. Many places in Kiri use canals and aqueducts to redirect water, ensuring it will not rise high enough to cause damage. The village has a longstanding tradition of rooftop gardens, which are often used to grow fruits and vegetables. This is a tradition that was used to fight off starvation in ancient years when record flash floods would cause great damage to farm yields. Kiri’s preference for higher ground has made housing more expensive in many places. As a result, many people in Kiri live in tall apartment towers or tenements. People in settlements tend to live in giant multi-generational houses.

### Missing-nin Crisis

Kiri has always had trouble with missing-nin. Both shinobi and civilians constantly defect from Kiri to seek better living conditions or pursue their own goals. This effect results in an international diaspora of people who leave Kiri as well as the reason for why Kiri has so many powerful, disunified factions in its borders. Within Kiri, the title of missing-nin or “rogue” more specifically refers to those who leave the village entirely or begin to operate in small groups for their own purposes, ie. bandits. For that purpose, shinobi who work for smaller factions are not called rogues by the government of Kirigakure, but ‘rebels’ instead. In a way, they are considered more to be wayward soldiers of Kiri than enemies of the state. This is an attitude Kiri has developed in order to avoid the mass execution of rebels that would leave the village weak afterwards. In order to keep the village as a whole strong, strong factions have always had to allow members of dying smaller factions to join them.

### Uniforms and Common Traits

The standard attire for Kiri shinobi revolves around a pinstriped material which the shinobi wear as bracers and greaves which merge into their sandals. Underneath this, they wear a full-black shirt and pants over which they wear the villages' standard grey flak jacket. Some also wear waist-guards. A common pattern is a cloudy pattern resembling camouflage, although Kirigakure-nin rarely or never wear the color green. The common colors of Kirigakure shinobi are usually shallow hues of blue and purple, and they are frequently accompanied by white, black, or varying shades of grey. Civilians often mimic these colors but generally sport a less restrictive range of colors in fashion. People from Kirigakure are often, but not always pale-skinned and well-adapted to chillier climates. It should be noted that Kirigakure’s winters are not particularly vile.

### Kekkei Genkai Purges

Kekkei Genkai are rarer in Kirigakure than in the other Five Great Shinobi Nations. For a long time, the village has struggled with anti-Kekkei Genkai factions due to many believing Kekkei Genkai to be symbols of destruction. This belief is fueled by a number of historical conflicts in which such abilities caused widespread devastation. A long time ago, anti-KKG factions reached their peak of influence in Kirigakure and caused a large number of clan purges and genocides. With time, the wars in Kiri became more brutal, and people came to understand that there would be brutality regardless of whether or not there were Kekkei Genkai. After that, the anti-KKG factions faced a rapid downfall. While they never vanished entirely, they have never become prevalent since then, and steadily Kekkei Genkai have begun to resurface in Kiri.

Even then, Kaguya Clan members are frequently targeted in Kiri. Historically, the Kaguya clan has been responsible for a vast number of raids in the village. Some of the most destructive battles in Kiri’s civil wars have been caused by Kaguya clan warbands visiting the village for a bit. Ironically, these warbands result in a population of Kaguya and half-Kaguya being scattered around the village. These layovers are often called the ‘Yaseiji’ (feral children), and many have become very famous warriors around the village. The current Mizukage is not a Yaseiji, but the child of one that married within the village. Because of the Mizukage’s terrifying power, he has ushered in an age where the Kaguya are particularly feared, especially by rebel groups.

## Military Forces

As is typical for a shinobi village, Kirigakure is home to many powerful clans with Hiden techniques and Kekkei Genkai. Rebel factions are usually formed as a bid for more power by clan elders as clans either form armies under their banners or form clan coalitions for a common purpose. Furthermore, Kirigakure is home to a legendary group of swordsman, the “Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist”. Each member is an exceptionally powerful shinobi who wields one of seven legendary blades that the village is home to. In ancient times, these swordsmen were an elite task force who swore personal fealty to the Mizukage. However, in Kirigakure’s constant civil wars, the Seven find themselves split across different factions, with only four currently serving the Mizukage at the moment. As a whole, Kirigakure is home to some of the finest kenjutsu users on the planet.

### Notable Clans

* **Yuki Clan**
* **Hasukawa Clan**
* **Daakuribon Clan**
* **Bushikawa Clan**

## Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist

In Will of Fire: Iron Code, RPers are allowed to make custom blades. Once the limit of seven members is reached, whichever canon blades are in use cease to exist and cannot be used by anyone else.

### Blades

#### **Canon Blades**

* Samehada (Sharkskin)
* Kubikiribocho (Executioner Blade)

### Swordsmen

* Nakao Yuki (Kubikiribocho)
* Kenpachi Bushikawa (Samehada)
* Isamu Kimura (Asaoriha)