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Fandom Naruto: Altered: Lore
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AtlannianSpy
Alarmed and Strangerous
Naruto Altered is set an alternate timeline of the canon Naruto universe. Although the RP takes place in the same physical region the countries, history and characters involved are entirely different. Our main point of divergence is the lives of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha. In the canon series, these two meet and become friends, eventually forming an alliance and founding the village hidden in the leaves. In Naruto: Altered both of these characters die before they ever meet which kicks off an entirely different course of history.
AtlannianSpy
Alarmed and Strangerous
History
Warring States Period
Without Hashirama and Madara bringing the Warring States period to a close by inventing the hidden village system, the chaotic status quo carried on for another two hundred years. Far from putting aside their differences, the Senju and Uchiha clans continued and even escalated their rivalry into an all out war, pulling in allies from other clans. The Senju and their allies the Uzumaki battled the Uchiha and their hastily secured alliance with the Hyuuga unceasingly. Eventually the two sides wiped each other out in a final, climactic battle and all four clans disappeared from history entirely.
The power vacuum left behind by the mutual destruction of four of the most notable shinobi clans in the world encouraged a period of great strife and restlessness. Other shinobi clans competed to establish themselves as the new pinnalce of the shinobi world. This was a period of even more war and bloodshed then the earlier Warring States Period, mighty nations fell while new ones rose to take their place. Many prominent shinobi clans were destroyed or reduced to a scant few hidden survivors and previously unheard of clans rose to fame and glory.
As this period of conflict and unrest reached a crescendo, five legendary shinobi from five different clans put aside their differences to combat a terrible evil that threatened the world. What exactly this evil was and how it was defeated has been lost to time, but after their victory the five shinobi attempted to put aside their differences and form a utopia where all shinobi could live together in peace.
This attempt failed. The five heroes struggled to agree on what values their utopia should prioritize and eventually agreed to go their separate ways. Each of the five heroes traveled to a different country and formed their own hidden village. These hidden villages came to be so useful and intertwined with their host countries that the countries changed their names to reflect the ideals of those founding heroes. This inspired the now widespread trend of countries being named after virtues or ideals rather than elements or natural features as they had in the past. The five heroes and their villages are as follows.
Takeha, the unmatched martial artist formed the village hidden among beasts (Kemonogakure) in what became the Land of Courage
Wakaya, the peerless infiltrator formed the village hidden in the marshes (Numachigakure) in what became the Land of Wisdom
Sukuna, the preeminent master of shinobi tools formed the village hidden on ships (Funegakure)in the Land of Patience
Oohiko, the unrivaled practitioner of ninjutsu formed the village hidden in caves (Dokutsugakure) in the Land of Justice
Hikofutsu the bewitching mistress of flawless genjutsu formed the village hidden among flowers (Hanagakure) in the Land of Kindness
These five villages and the nations they inhabited grew to become the five major powers of this timeline. Smaller countries eventually developed their own ninja villages as well, bringing an end to the warring states period and ushering in the current hidden village era.
Hidden Village Period
Although the five great heroes remained friendly even after splitting up, their descendants grew more distant with each generation as they began to prioritize the interests of their own villages and countries. Although the land was no longer threatened by constant turmoil the modern period has been marked by four major wars as well as countless skirmishes and minor conflicts.
The War of Succession
The first major inter village war was fought primarily between the Land of Courage and the Land of Patience fifty years after the villages were first established. The conflict began when the daimyo of the Land of Courage produced papers that gave him a strong claim on the the throne of the Land of Patience via inheritance from his Mother, a distant member of the Patience royal Family. The newly crowned Daimyo of Patience declared the papers false and the two nations went to war over the claim. Kemonogakure had the stronger forces and although the Funegakure shinobi made skillful use of fortifications, traps and ambushes they were forced to give ground even as they exacted a terrible cost in manpower from the invaders.
Alarmed at the thought of the Land of Courage controlling nearly twice as much territory, the neighboring lands of Wisdom and Kindness threatened to intervene and Courage was forced to broker an early peace in which they received only relatively minor war reparations. The land of Courage was bitter over gaining so little despite their victory and the land of Patience were bitter over being denied any vengeance so the war bred a deep enmity between the two villages that lasts to the present day.
The War of Tariffs
Some thirty years after the War of Succession a second conflict sprung up between the land of Kindness on one side and the lands of Justice and Wisdom on the other. The War of Tariffs, as it's name implies, had its roots in conflicting economic interests. the land of Kindness, which sits between the Land of Justice and the Land of Wisdom, started charging tariffs on caravans traveling through it from the other two lands. These tariffs filled Kindness coffers and eventually grew so exorbitant that the foreign merchants were barely able to make any profit and Kindness merchants were able to easily outcompete them on price. When the daimyo of Kindness refused to lower the tariffs the other two lands invaded in retribution. The Hanagakure shinobi were outnumbered, but bribed several minor hidden villages to join the war on their side. While the forces of Justice and Wisdom were tied down in the land of Kindness the minor villages attacked their vulnerable territory.
Due to the success of this tactic and the poor communication between the allied forces, the village of Kindness gained the upper hand. However after years of drawn out fighting the Land of Kindess calculated they were losing more from the disruption to trade then they could gain from winning the wars and negotiated a peace. A ceiling for the tariffs was established that was lower than they had been but higher then the lands of Justice and Wisdom wanted.
The war of Retribution
The tensions produced between the Lands of Courage and Patience by the unsatisfactory end to the war of succession never really faded. Competition for missions and frequent raids or assassinations colored the relationship between the two nations and their respective hidden villages but for a long time open warfare was avoided as neither country wanted a repeat of the previous war: when outside forces had intervened. However in the aftermath of the war of tariffs the Land of Patience was able to secure an alliance with the embittered land of Wisdom and sensed an opportunity to rectify their previous defeat.
The war was sparked in proper by a border incident in which Kemonogakure shinobi attacked a Funegakure outpost twenty years after the end of the War of Tariffs. In retaliation Patience launched a joint invasion with their recently acquired ally the Land of Wisdom. The initial invasion was extremely well planned and efficient and most historians now believe the border incident was staged intentionally by Funegakure to provide a justification for war. Initially the unprepared and outnumbered Kemonogakure took heavy losses and much of their territory was occupied. The tide only turned when the Land of Justice entered the war on the side of Courage, forcing Patience and Wisdom to divide their forces and abandon their careful war plan.
The war became a bogged down, battle of attrition, with the support of their allies neither side could be pressured to end the war early as had happened during the War of Succession so the conflict raged for years and saw many shinobi die. The war ended with a victory for the Lands of Courage and Justice, when they executed a daring, coordinated invasion of one of the Land of Patience's key trade ports, burning it to the ground. With their economy and supply lines in tatters the land of Patience was forced to surrender. In the peace treaty Patience ceded a small region of territory to the Land of Courage and payed reparations to the Land of Justice.
The War of Minor Villages
Also known as "the Great War" the most recent conflict in history was also its largest, longest and most devastating. Every major village and most of the minor villages participated and although it ended 14 years ago many of the participants are still recovering. The war began thirty years after the end of the war of retribution. During this period the Land of Justice came under the rule of an ambitious Daimyo who embarked on a long campaign of expanding the nation's military and economic power. Rather than use direct force which bore the risk of retaliation from the other great powers, the Daimyo instead focused on subtly gaining control of the minor nations, sponsoring coups and rebellions to place people loyal to them in positions of power. The land of Justice continued this policy to build up a considerable network of satellite states, almost doubling their effective power. The other great powers objected to this and the final straw came when the village of Pride, an ascending minor village that many considered to be on the verge of becoming a sixth great power, came under the control of the land of Justice.
The Lands of Patience, Wisdom and Kindness declared war on the Land of Justice, with the Land of Courage joining on the side of its ally for the previous war. The fighting was brutal. In previous wars, the combatants would be wary of exhausting themselves lest they be attacked by a third-party, since there were no uninvolved great powers, the combatants were more willing to fight to exhaustion. In addition, the majority of the fighting took place within the minor nations, as the coalition fought to separate them from the Land of Justice. Shinobi on both sides were more willing to use scorched earth tactics to prevent the resources in these nations going to their enemies. As a result the devastation inflicted on the land and the people was immense, many cities and villages are still recovering and some were destroyed entirely.
The war initially went in favor of Justice and Courage due to their larger standing forces and the superior brute force ability of their taijutsu and ninjutsu focused troops. Eventually however the coalition of Patience, Wisdom and Kindness hit upon a strategy wherein they would defend their own territory with a minimal, holding force while focusing on one minor village after another with a large strike force to knock them out of the war. These “knock out strikes” were successful, but they were also extremely brutal, one by one the minor villages were forced to surrender or watch their settlements be burned to the ground.
The last and most important of these knockout strikes was directed at the Village Hidden in Light, the hidden village of the land of Pride which had been the most loyal and powerful of the land of Justice's minor allies. The defenders of the Village Hidden in Light were stalwart and after a month long siege the coalition resorted to a powerful kinjutsu that completely wiped out the village, its shinobi and its civilian population.
Peace came soon after. Stripped of their minor allies Courage and Justice agreed to a conditional surrender. All the major powers signed the Protectorate treaty, which stipulated that each major village could exert its influence over no more than three minor villages. Although Patience, Wisdom and Kindness were successful, the war took a heavier toll on their manpower reserves and territory then it did Justice and Courage who had encouraged their minor allies to take the brunt of the fighting and since the war the alliance has broken down over disputes about how the war was handled.
In contrast, the Lands of Justice and Courage are now considered the two strongest villages. Although they can no longer rely on a large network of minor allies, they were able to keep the fighting away from their own territory to a large degree and made sure their allies’ troops fulfilled the majority of frontline roles to safeguard their own armies. The two villages were forced to formally end their alliance but relations between them remain friendly.
Warring States Period
Without Hashirama and Madara bringing the Warring States period to a close by inventing the hidden village system, the chaotic status quo carried on for another two hundred years. Far from putting aside their differences, the Senju and Uchiha clans continued and even escalated their rivalry into an all out war, pulling in allies from other clans. The Senju and their allies the Uzumaki battled the Uchiha and their hastily secured alliance with the Hyuuga unceasingly. Eventually the two sides wiped each other out in a final, climactic battle and all four clans disappeared from history entirely.
The power vacuum left behind by the mutual destruction of four of the most notable shinobi clans in the world encouraged a period of great strife and restlessness. Other shinobi clans competed to establish themselves as the new pinnalce of the shinobi world. This was a period of even more war and bloodshed then the earlier Warring States Period, mighty nations fell while new ones rose to take their place. Many prominent shinobi clans were destroyed or reduced to a scant few hidden survivors and previously unheard of clans rose to fame and glory.
As this period of conflict and unrest reached a crescendo, five legendary shinobi from five different clans put aside their differences to combat a terrible evil that threatened the world. What exactly this evil was and how it was defeated has been lost to time, but after their victory the five shinobi attempted to put aside their differences and form a utopia where all shinobi could live together in peace.
This attempt failed. The five heroes struggled to agree on what values their utopia should prioritize and eventually agreed to go their separate ways. Each of the five heroes traveled to a different country and formed their own hidden village. These hidden villages came to be so useful and intertwined with their host countries that the countries changed their names to reflect the ideals of those founding heroes. This inspired the now widespread trend of countries being named after virtues or ideals rather than elements or natural features as they had in the past. The five heroes and their villages are as follows.
Takeha, the unmatched martial artist formed the village hidden among beasts (Kemonogakure) in what became the Land of Courage
Wakaya, the peerless infiltrator formed the village hidden in the marshes (Numachigakure) in what became the Land of Wisdom
Sukuna, the preeminent master of shinobi tools formed the village hidden on ships (Funegakure)in the Land of Patience
Oohiko, the unrivaled practitioner of ninjutsu formed the village hidden in caves (Dokutsugakure) in the Land of Justice
Hikofutsu the bewitching mistress of flawless genjutsu formed the village hidden among flowers (Hanagakure) in the Land of Kindness
These five villages and the nations they inhabited grew to become the five major powers of this timeline. Smaller countries eventually developed their own ninja villages as well, bringing an end to the warring states period and ushering in the current hidden village era.
Hidden Village Period
Although the five great heroes remained friendly even after splitting up, their descendants grew more distant with each generation as they began to prioritize the interests of their own villages and countries. Although the land was no longer threatened by constant turmoil the modern period has been marked by four major wars as well as countless skirmishes and minor conflicts.
The War of Succession
The first major inter village war was fought primarily between the Land of Courage and the Land of Patience fifty years after the villages were first established. The conflict began when the daimyo of the Land of Courage produced papers that gave him a strong claim on the the throne of the Land of Patience via inheritance from his Mother, a distant member of the Patience royal Family. The newly crowned Daimyo of Patience declared the papers false and the two nations went to war over the claim. Kemonogakure had the stronger forces and although the Funegakure shinobi made skillful use of fortifications, traps and ambushes they were forced to give ground even as they exacted a terrible cost in manpower from the invaders.
Alarmed at the thought of the Land of Courage controlling nearly twice as much territory, the neighboring lands of Wisdom and Kindness threatened to intervene and Courage was forced to broker an early peace in which they received only relatively minor war reparations. The land of Courage was bitter over gaining so little despite their victory and the land of Patience were bitter over being denied any vengeance so the war bred a deep enmity between the two villages that lasts to the present day.
The War of Tariffs
Some thirty years after the War of Succession a second conflict sprung up between the land of Kindness on one side and the lands of Justice and Wisdom on the other. The War of Tariffs, as it's name implies, had its roots in conflicting economic interests. the land of Kindness, which sits between the Land of Justice and the Land of Wisdom, started charging tariffs on caravans traveling through it from the other two lands. These tariffs filled Kindness coffers and eventually grew so exorbitant that the foreign merchants were barely able to make any profit and Kindness merchants were able to easily outcompete them on price. When the daimyo of Kindness refused to lower the tariffs the other two lands invaded in retribution. The Hanagakure shinobi were outnumbered, but bribed several minor hidden villages to join the war on their side. While the forces of Justice and Wisdom were tied down in the land of Kindness the minor villages attacked their vulnerable territory.
Due to the success of this tactic and the poor communication between the allied forces, the village of Kindness gained the upper hand. However after years of drawn out fighting the Land of Kindess calculated they were losing more from the disruption to trade then they could gain from winning the wars and negotiated a peace. A ceiling for the tariffs was established that was lower than they had been but higher then the lands of Justice and Wisdom wanted.
The war of Retribution
The tensions produced between the Lands of Courage and Patience by the unsatisfactory end to the war of succession never really faded. Competition for missions and frequent raids or assassinations colored the relationship between the two nations and their respective hidden villages but for a long time open warfare was avoided as neither country wanted a repeat of the previous war: when outside forces had intervened. However in the aftermath of the war of tariffs the Land of Patience was able to secure an alliance with the embittered land of Wisdom and sensed an opportunity to rectify their previous defeat.
The war was sparked in proper by a border incident in which Kemonogakure shinobi attacked a Funegakure outpost twenty years after the end of the War of Tariffs. In retaliation Patience launched a joint invasion with their recently acquired ally the Land of Wisdom. The initial invasion was extremely well planned and efficient and most historians now believe the border incident was staged intentionally by Funegakure to provide a justification for war. Initially the unprepared and outnumbered Kemonogakure took heavy losses and much of their territory was occupied. The tide only turned when the Land of Justice entered the war on the side of Courage, forcing Patience and Wisdom to divide their forces and abandon their careful war plan.
The war became a bogged down, battle of attrition, with the support of their allies neither side could be pressured to end the war early as had happened during the War of Succession so the conflict raged for years and saw many shinobi die. The war ended with a victory for the Lands of Courage and Justice, when they executed a daring, coordinated invasion of one of the Land of Patience's key trade ports, burning it to the ground. With their economy and supply lines in tatters the land of Patience was forced to surrender. In the peace treaty Patience ceded a small region of territory to the Land of Courage and payed reparations to the Land of Justice.
The War of Minor Villages
Also known as "the Great War" the most recent conflict in history was also its largest, longest and most devastating. Every major village and most of the minor villages participated and although it ended 14 years ago many of the participants are still recovering. The war began thirty years after the end of the war of retribution. During this period the Land of Justice came under the rule of an ambitious Daimyo who embarked on a long campaign of expanding the nation's military and economic power. Rather than use direct force which bore the risk of retaliation from the other great powers, the Daimyo instead focused on subtly gaining control of the minor nations, sponsoring coups and rebellions to place people loyal to them in positions of power. The land of Justice continued this policy to build up a considerable network of satellite states, almost doubling their effective power. The other great powers objected to this and the final straw came when the village of Pride, an ascending minor village that many considered to be on the verge of becoming a sixth great power, came under the control of the land of Justice.
The Lands of Patience, Wisdom and Kindness declared war on the Land of Justice, with the Land of Courage joining on the side of its ally for the previous war. The fighting was brutal. In previous wars, the combatants would be wary of exhausting themselves lest they be attacked by a third-party, since there were no uninvolved great powers, the combatants were more willing to fight to exhaustion. In addition, the majority of the fighting took place within the minor nations, as the coalition fought to separate them from the Land of Justice. Shinobi on both sides were more willing to use scorched earth tactics to prevent the resources in these nations going to their enemies. As a result the devastation inflicted on the land and the people was immense, many cities and villages are still recovering and some were destroyed entirely.
The war initially went in favor of Justice and Courage due to their larger standing forces and the superior brute force ability of their taijutsu and ninjutsu focused troops. Eventually however the coalition of Patience, Wisdom and Kindness hit upon a strategy wherein they would defend their own territory with a minimal, holding force while focusing on one minor village after another with a large strike force to knock them out of the war. These “knock out strikes” were successful, but they were also extremely brutal, one by one the minor villages were forced to surrender or watch their settlements be burned to the ground.
The last and most important of these knockout strikes was directed at the Village Hidden in Light, the hidden village of the land of Pride which had been the most loyal and powerful of the land of Justice's minor allies. The defenders of the Village Hidden in Light were stalwart and after a month long siege the coalition resorted to a powerful kinjutsu that completely wiped out the village, its shinobi and its civilian population.
Peace came soon after. Stripped of their minor allies Courage and Justice agreed to a conditional surrender. All the major powers signed the Protectorate treaty, which stipulated that each major village could exert its influence over no more than three minor villages. Although Patience, Wisdom and Kindness were successful, the war took a heavier toll on their manpower reserves and territory then it did Justice and Courage who had encouraged their minor allies to take the brunt of the fighting and since the war the alliance has broken down over disputes about how the war was handled.
In contrast, the Lands of Justice and Courage are now considered the two strongest villages. Although they can no longer rely on a large network of minor allies, they were able to keep the fighting away from their own territory to a large degree and made sure their allies’ troops fulfilled the majority of frontline roles to safeguard their own armies. The two villages were forced to formally end their alliance but relations between them remain friendly.
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AtlannianSpy
Alarmed and Strangerous
The Balance of Power
The Current State of the world. The five major powers are the land of Courage (Orange), the land of Patience (Blue), The land of Wisdom (Green), the land of Justice (Yellow) and the land of Kindness (Pink) The Land of Harmony is depicted in red.
It has been fourteen years since the war of minor villages tore the land apart. The five great powers, the nations that have controlled the greatest wealth and military power throughout the hidden village period are still dominant but their fortunes have waxed and waned over the years. While there is a clear gap between the great powers and the minor countries, relative to one another the great powers vary considerably as well.
The Land of Courage
Hidden Village: Kemonogakure (The village hidden among beasts)
Military Strength: 4/5
Population: 3/5
Economy: 2/5
A land of rugged and varied terrain, the Land of Courage stretches over both wild forests and harsh deserts. The people of the land of Courage are often stout and brave, supplementing a largely agricultural economic base with logging for timber and hunting or trapping. The land is most famous for its exotic and dangerous wildlife. It seems as though these large and ferocious creatures were once relegated to a specific region of the forest, but during the latter part of the warring states period, while shinobi were to busy with war to manage them, they spread throughout much of the forest and some species even adapted to life in the deserts of the western regions.
The land of Courage's hidden village is named in honor of these ferocious creatures and actually makes use of them. The village is situated in a densely forested valley home to particularly fierce and numerous beasts. While the Kemonogakure shinobi make use of certain native herbs that cause the beasts to avoid them any invader would have to contend with the dangerous creatures. Many of the village's clans also have rites of passage or adulthood revolving around hunting the beasts. Militarily Kemonogakure is generally considered the second strongest of the five great powers. Although the village like any other has practitioners of all the basic techniques it is especially famous for its taijutsu skills, Kemonogakure prizes aggression and closing in with the enemy above other strategies and its most notable clans all have kekkei genkai that enhance or revolve entirely around taijutsu.
The Land of Patience
Hidden Village: Funegakure (The village hidden on boats)
Military Strength: 3/5
Population: 2/5
Economy: 3/5
Although its capital and larger cities are situated firmly on the mainland the Land of Patience can in many ways be considered a country of sea and islands. Much of the Land of Patience is spread out across many small islands and even its mainland holdings were chosen and fiercely defended due to naval concerns: the timber that grows in the Land of Patience is second to none for shipbuilding and other local plants are fashioned into sails or ropes. The people of the Land of Patience are fisherman, sailors and shipwrights by nature, they know the value of patience when waiting for a fish to bite or a tide to change.
The Hidden village of the Land of Patience takes advantage of this expertise as well. Funegakure is the only hidden village that has no fixed location instead its shinobi and infrastructure reside on a fleet of large ships that constantly sail between different ports. The Funegakure ships make use of shinobi specialized in manipulating the currents and mists common in the region to make the ships impossible to track. Because of their life at sea Funegakure shinobi are unsurpassed in terms of naval combat, but on land they are formidable as well, making especially good use of shinobi tools and traps. It's said that a fune shinobi is ten times as dangerous if they have an hour to prepare the terrain where they fight.
The Land of Kindness
Hidden Village: Hanagakure (The village hidden among flowers)
Military Strength: 2/5
Population: 4/5
Economy: 5/5
A bustling land of industrious villages, prosperous cities and bountiful fields the Land of Kindness is a country of commerce through and through. Centrally located between the other great powers, Kindness has long benefited from being host to most of the major trade routes. The people of this country are heavily involved in commerce, whether manipulating the flow of goods through their own cities or venturing out to every corner of the land to strike bargains abroad. It's a common saying that if it can't be bought in the Land of Kindness it isn't worth buying.
While the Land of Kindness' central location is a blessing in times peace, it can be a curse in times of war. This is a lesson the shinobi of Hanagakure have been taught time and time again, often having to fighting multiple opponents on simultaneous fronts. Lacking the raw power or numbers of other villages, Hanagakure shinobi rely on bewitching genjutsu to confuse and isolate their opponents, often encouraging them to waste chakra or resources on illusory targets. Even the village's name refers to this preference. Flowers would seem to be a poor defense compared to wild beasts or ships but the fields of wild blossoms that surround the village have been cultivated to release spores and scents with natural, genjutsu enhancing properties. Unwelcome visitors find themselves wondering aimlessly, collapsing into dreamless sleep or even turning on each other all at the hands of seemingly harmless flowers.
The Land of Justice
Hidden Village: Dokugakure (The village hidden in tunnels)
Military Strength: 5/5
Population: 3/5
Economy: 3/5
A frigid land of snowy mountains and valleys the land of Justice also has flashes of light and heat from its frequent lightning storms and famous hotsprings. The minerals in these hot springs are said to have healing properties but many residents of the Land of Justice are more interested in the minerals they can find in the ground. The mountains in the region are rich with iron, gold and other precious resources and the citizenry has become very skillful at extracting and working with this bounty. The Land of Justice also has a few overseas holdings, seized mainly for their strategic value of somewhat limiting the Funegakure fleet from having its way with the Justice coastlands.
Buried deep beneath one of the tallest mountains in the Land is a network of disused mining shafts and tunnels that hosts Dokugakure, the village hidden in tunnels. Dokugakure shinobi know these tunnels well enough to navigate their pitch blackness without light and they are rigged with countless traps and dead ends to confound and eliminate invaders. Despite these precautions the village rarely has to concern itself with defense of its own land, Dokugakure is widely acknowledged to be the strongest hidden village in the world in terms of raw power. This reputation mostly stems from Dokugakure's preeminence in ninjutsu, especially elemental ninjutsu, they favor high power, wide ranging attacks. Often during war Dokugakure organizes its shinobi into large formations that multiply the strength of their elemental affinities through cooperation, turning simple attacks into devastating bombardments. A number of famous and dangerous kekkei genkai that combine elements also originate in this village.
The Land of Wisdom
Hidden Village: Numachigakure (The village hidden in marsh)
Military Strength: 3/5
Population: 2/5
Economy: 2/5
An often desolate land of mountains, deserts and barren wastelands, the Land of Wisdom is nevertheless inhabited and even beloved by the people who call it home. The citizens of Wisdom often live simple, nomadic lives out of necessity, shepherding herds of tough livestock adapted to the terrain from area to area to allow time for the natural resources to replenish. This simple lifestyle in tune with the natural order is said to breed great wisdom and some of the most well regarded philosophers and authors were either from the Land of Wisdom or spent time there.
Even as far as shinobi go, those of Wisdom's hidden village are considered an enigmatic bunch. Numachigakure shinobi lack the offensive power of Kemonogakure or Dogakure and they also don't have the cunning tricks of Funegakure or Hanagakure. Nevertheless the other great powers are highly reluctant to cause trouble for the land of wisdom thanks to the peerless stealth and infiltration skills of Numachigakure. Rather than wait for war to come to them, Numachigakure has spies and informants everywhere, gathering vast quantities of data on the movements of their rivals and moving to counter their plans before they are even put into action.
The Current State of the world. The five major powers are the land of Courage (Orange), the land of Patience (Blue), The land of Wisdom (Green), the land of Justice (Yellow) and the land of Kindness (Pink) The Land of Harmony is depicted in red.
It has been fourteen years since the war of minor villages tore the land apart. The five great powers, the nations that have controlled the greatest wealth and military power throughout the hidden village period are still dominant but their fortunes have waxed and waned over the years. While there is a clear gap between the great powers and the minor countries, relative to one another the great powers vary considerably as well.
The Land of Courage
Hidden Village: Kemonogakure (The village hidden among beasts)
Military Strength: 4/5
Population: 3/5
Economy: 2/5
A land of rugged and varied terrain, the Land of Courage stretches over both wild forests and harsh deserts. The people of the land of Courage are often stout and brave, supplementing a largely agricultural economic base with logging for timber and hunting or trapping. The land is most famous for its exotic and dangerous wildlife. It seems as though these large and ferocious creatures were once relegated to a specific region of the forest, but during the latter part of the warring states period, while shinobi were to busy with war to manage them, they spread throughout much of the forest and some species even adapted to life in the deserts of the western regions.
The land of Courage's hidden village is named in honor of these ferocious creatures and actually makes use of them. The village is situated in a densely forested valley home to particularly fierce and numerous beasts. While the Kemonogakure shinobi make use of certain native herbs that cause the beasts to avoid them any invader would have to contend with the dangerous creatures. Many of the village's clans also have rites of passage or adulthood revolving around hunting the beasts. Militarily Kemonogakure is generally considered the second strongest of the five great powers. Although the village like any other has practitioners of all the basic techniques it is especially famous for its taijutsu skills, Kemonogakure prizes aggression and closing in with the enemy above other strategies and its most notable clans all have kekkei genkai that enhance or revolve entirely around taijutsu.
The Land of Patience
Hidden Village: Funegakure (The village hidden on boats)
Military Strength: 3/5
Population: 2/5
Economy: 3/5
Although its capital and larger cities are situated firmly on the mainland the Land of Patience can in many ways be considered a country of sea and islands. Much of the Land of Patience is spread out across many small islands and even its mainland holdings were chosen and fiercely defended due to naval concerns: the timber that grows in the Land of Patience is second to none for shipbuilding and other local plants are fashioned into sails or ropes. The people of the Land of Patience are fisherman, sailors and shipwrights by nature, they know the value of patience when waiting for a fish to bite or a tide to change.
The Hidden village of the Land of Patience takes advantage of this expertise as well. Funegakure is the only hidden village that has no fixed location instead its shinobi and infrastructure reside on a fleet of large ships that constantly sail between different ports. The Funegakure ships make use of shinobi specialized in manipulating the currents and mists common in the region to make the ships impossible to track. Because of their life at sea Funegakure shinobi are unsurpassed in terms of naval combat, but on land they are formidable as well, making especially good use of shinobi tools and traps. It's said that a fune shinobi is ten times as dangerous if they have an hour to prepare the terrain where they fight.
The Land of Kindness
Hidden Village: Hanagakure (The village hidden among flowers)
Military Strength: 2/5
Population: 4/5
Economy: 5/5
A bustling land of industrious villages, prosperous cities and bountiful fields the Land of Kindness is a country of commerce through and through. Centrally located between the other great powers, Kindness has long benefited from being host to most of the major trade routes. The people of this country are heavily involved in commerce, whether manipulating the flow of goods through their own cities or venturing out to every corner of the land to strike bargains abroad. It's a common saying that if it can't be bought in the Land of Kindness it isn't worth buying.
While the Land of Kindness' central location is a blessing in times peace, it can be a curse in times of war. This is a lesson the shinobi of Hanagakure have been taught time and time again, often having to fighting multiple opponents on simultaneous fronts. Lacking the raw power or numbers of other villages, Hanagakure shinobi rely on bewitching genjutsu to confuse and isolate their opponents, often encouraging them to waste chakra or resources on illusory targets. Even the village's name refers to this preference. Flowers would seem to be a poor defense compared to wild beasts or ships but the fields of wild blossoms that surround the village have been cultivated to release spores and scents with natural, genjutsu enhancing properties. Unwelcome visitors find themselves wondering aimlessly, collapsing into dreamless sleep or even turning on each other all at the hands of seemingly harmless flowers.
The Land of Justice
Hidden Village: Dokugakure (The village hidden in tunnels)
Military Strength: 5/5
Population: 3/5
Economy: 3/5
A frigid land of snowy mountains and valleys the land of Justice also has flashes of light and heat from its frequent lightning storms and famous hotsprings. The minerals in these hot springs are said to have healing properties but many residents of the Land of Justice are more interested in the minerals they can find in the ground. The mountains in the region are rich with iron, gold and other precious resources and the citizenry has become very skillful at extracting and working with this bounty. The Land of Justice also has a few overseas holdings, seized mainly for their strategic value of somewhat limiting the Funegakure fleet from having its way with the Justice coastlands.
Buried deep beneath one of the tallest mountains in the Land is a network of disused mining shafts and tunnels that hosts Dokugakure, the village hidden in tunnels. Dokugakure shinobi know these tunnels well enough to navigate their pitch blackness without light and they are rigged with countless traps and dead ends to confound and eliminate invaders. Despite these precautions the village rarely has to concern itself with defense of its own land, Dokugakure is widely acknowledged to be the strongest hidden village in the world in terms of raw power. This reputation mostly stems from Dokugakure's preeminence in ninjutsu, especially elemental ninjutsu, they favor high power, wide ranging attacks. Often during war Dokugakure organizes its shinobi into large formations that multiply the strength of their elemental affinities through cooperation, turning simple attacks into devastating bombardments. A number of famous and dangerous kekkei genkai that combine elements also originate in this village.
The Land of Wisdom
Hidden Village: Numachigakure (The village hidden in marsh)
Military Strength: 3/5
Population: 2/5
Economy: 2/5
An often desolate land of mountains, deserts and barren wastelands, the Land of Wisdom is nevertheless inhabited and even beloved by the people who call it home. The citizens of Wisdom often live simple, nomadic lives out of necessity, shepherding herds of tough livestock adapted to the terrain from area to area to allow time for the natural resources to replenish. This simple lifestyle in tune with the natural order is said to breed great wisdom and some of the most well regarded philosophers and authors were either from the Land of Wisdom or spent time there.
Even as far as shinobi go, those of Wisdom's hidden village are considered an enigmatic bunch. Numachigakure shinobi lack the offensive power of Kemonogakure or Dogakure and they also don't have the cunning tricks of Funegakure or Hanagakure. Nevertheless the other great powers are highly reluctant to cause trouble for the land of wisdom thanks to the peerless stealth and infiltration skills of Numachigakure. Rather than wait for war to come to them, Numachigakure has spies and informants everywhere, gathering vast quantities of data on the movements of their rivals and moving to counter their plans before they are even put into action.
AtlannianSpy
Alarmed and Strangerous
The Land of Harmony
Hidden Village: Gunshugakure (The village hidden among crowds)
Military Strength: 2/5
Population: 3/5
Economy: 3/5
A small but prosperous country, the Land of Harmony sits at a great crossroads. Although for many centuries the Land of Harmony was an unremarkable land known mainly for its large and bountiful rice fields, it's population was swollen by successive waves of migrants from other lands fleeing war and devastation. Thanks to the large surplus of food from its rice fields, the Land of Harmony was able to feed these refugees and the expanded population allowed its major towns to expand massively, eventually merging into a huge metropolis that now covers almost a third of the country's total land mass.
The city of Chowaku, as it is known, is fairly impressive. Kept safe from the war, it was able to focus on developing new technology and infrastructure, so although militarily the country is not really more advanced then its neighbors its citizens enjoy many luxuries and conveniences unavailable to the rest of the world. There is an electrical grid for example, though only the very wealthiest have power in their homes the average citizen enjoys the benefits of streetlights and a system of electric trams or trolleys. Shinobi have access to a high speed, underground network of trains knowns as the STS or shinobi transit system, but genin and lower chunin are often obliged to use the civilian trams to free up space on the STS for more pressing matters. Cinemas have become quite popular, with dozens spread throughout the city and a burgeoning film industry starting to crop up. Many of the citizens work in booming factories instead of taking more traditional jobs as farmers or artisans.
During the last war the brutal tactics used by both sides saw even more displaced civilians. Refugees from all over the continent flocked to the neutral Land of Harmony in greater numbers than previous generations, seeking safety and a new start. Most of these refugees have integrated well into life in the city, a few enterprising souls have even become extremely wealthy through a combination of luck and hard work, overall the new arrivals have contributed to an incredibly rich, cosmopolitan culture in the city as well. Some immigrants have even taken up arms as shinobi, committed to defending their families and their new home or just making a better life for themselves.
Unfortunately there are less opportunities than there are people and the outer districts that house large proportions of the new arrivals were built very hastily, with shoddy infrastructure lowering their standard of living. Poverty and crime are much more common in the outer districts, even organised gangs with disturbing reports of shinobi level combatants among their numbers are beginning to become more prevalent. Shinobi respond to these crimes as part of their duties, but tracking down the ringleaders of these gangs often prove difficult, the civilians of the outer district are distrustful of authority and tend to close ranks. A popular rumor among the outer districts is that anbu actually control the gangs, as a means of oppressing and controlling the immigrant population while others simply believe that the gangs are simply more reliable in providing some kind of protection and order than the authorities.
Gunshugakure
Gunshugakure, the village hidden among crowds, is so called because unlike the other hidden villages which rely on formidable natural terrain it’s greatest disguise is people. The hidden village is actually a decentralized network hidden within the vast, metropolis of Chowaku. Certain office buildings are actually fortified outpost, apartment complexes are actually the clan compounds of the village’s influential shinobi families, seemingly innocuous store fronts manufacture explosives and weaponry. All of these separate outposts are connected by a system of tunnels built into the city’s sewerage system that can be flooded or collapsed to prevent invaders utilizing them. The locus of this intricate spiderweb is the Hokage’s quarters and administrative centers, buried beneath the Daimyo’s palace.
Gunshugakure has no particular specialty in terms of its approach to combat. Many of its shinobi were hastily recruited from promising looking migrants and even its noble clans, such as they are, can trace their history back to some other homeland within a few generations. Rather than training all of its shinobi to a high standard in one particular area, Gunshugakure encourages an approach where the individual shinobi experiments and finds their own strengths and shortcomings. Even genin are expected to take an active role in determining the direction of their training and development. This approach has left Gunshugakure with a varied force, capable of handling many different missions or tactical situations but without the outstanding, large scale capabilities of the major villages. Only time will tell if this strategy bares fruit as Gunshugakure has not participated in a major war so far...
Hidden Village: Gunshugakure (The village hidden among crowds)
Military Strength: 2/5
Population: 3/5
Economy: 3/5
A small but prosperous country, the Land of Harmony sits at a great crossroads. Although for many centuries the Land of Harmony was an unremarkable land known mainly for its large and bountiful rice fields, it's population was swollen by successive waves of migrants from other lands fleeing war and devastation. Thanks to the large surplus of food from its rice fields, the Land of Harmony was able to feed these refugees and the expanded population allowed its major towns to expand massively, eventually merging into a huge metropolis that now covers almost a third of the country's total land mass.
The city of Chowaku, as it is known, is fairly impressive. Kept safe from the war, it was able to focus on developing new technology and infrastructure, so although militarily the country is not really more advanced then its neighbors its citizens enjoy many luxuries and conveniences unavailable to the rest of the world. There is an electrical grid for example, though only the very wealthiest have power in their homes the average citizen enjoys the benefits of streetlights and a system of electric trams or trolleys. Shinobi have access to a high speed, underground network of trains knowns as the STS or shinobi transit system, but genin and lower chunin are often obliged to use the civilian trams to free up space on the STS for more pressing matters. Cinemas have become quite popular, with dozens spread throughout the city and a burgeoning film industry starting to crop up. Many of the citizens work in booming factories instead of taking more traditional jobs as farmers or artisans.
During the last war the brutal tactics used by both sides saw even more displaced civilians. Refugees from all over the continent flocked to the neutral Land of Harmony in greater numbers than previous generations, seeking safety and a new start. Most of these refugees have integrated well into life in the city, a few enterprising souls have even become extremely wealthy through a combination of luck and hard work, overall the new arrivals have contributed to an incredibly rich, cosmopolitan culture in the city as well. Some immigrants have even taken up arms as shinobi, committed to defending their families and their new home or just making a better life for themselves.
Unfortunately there are less opportunities than there are people and the outer districts that house large proportions of the new arrivals were built very hastily, with shoddy infrastructure lowering their standard of living. Poverty and crime are much more common in the outer districts, even organised gangs with disturbing reports of shinobi level combatants among their numbers are beginning to become more prevalent. Shinobi respond to these crimes as part of their duties, but tracking down the ringleaders of these gangs often prove difficult, the civilians of the outer district are distrustful of authority and tend to close ranks. A popular rumor among the outer districts is that anbu actually control the gangs, as a means of oppressing and controlling the immigrant population while others simply believe that the gangs are simply more reliable in providing some kind of protection and order than the authorities.
Gunshugakure
Gunshugakure, the village hidden among crowds, is so called because unlike the other hidden villages which rely on formidable natural terrain it’s greatest disguise is people. The hidden village is actually a decentralized network hidden within the vast, metropolis of Chowaku. Certain office buildings are actually fortified outpost, apartment complexes are actually the clan compounds of the village’s influential shinobi families, seemingly innocuous store fronts manufacture explosives and weaponry. All of these separate outposts are connected by a system of tunnels built into the city’s sewerage system that can be flooded or collapsed to prevent invaders utilizing them. The locus of this intricate spiderweb is the Hokage’s quarters and administrative centers, buried beneath the Daimyo’s palace.
Gunshugakure has no particular specialty in terms of its approach to combat. Many of its shinobi were hastily recruited from promising looking migrants and even its noble clans, such as they are, can trace their history back to some other homeland within a few generations. Rather than training all of its shinobi to a high standard in one particular area, Gunshugakure encourages an approach where the individual shinobi experiments and finds their own strengths and shortcomings. Even genin are expected to take an active role in determining the direction of their training and development. This approach has left Gunshugakure with a varied force, capable of handling many different missions or tactical situations but without the outstanding, large scale capabilities of the major villages. Only time will tell if this strategy bares fruit as Gunshugakure has not participated in a major war so far...
