Land of Rivers

Biodata

Geography

• The Yoshimizu River flows from the Land of Rain into the Land of Rivers and through Kyoto. Its flow is important to both the capital and the country's hydroelectric stations 104 107 159.
• Kyoto straddles a river canyon more than ten meters deep. Wooden bridges connect its residential and commercial districts, noble estates, and Tenshu Castle 118.
• The country has grain-producing areas in the east; Konoha placed its wartime base camp in the center of the country to protect them 118.

History

War with Sunagakure

Sunagakure's attempt to divert the Yoshimizu River through caves toward the Land of Wind threatened the flow reaching Kyoto. Konoha Anbu destroyed the cave passage, but Sunagakure subsequently declared war on Konoha, making the Land of Rivers a battlefield 107 108 110 113.

As war approached, civilians fled toward remote southern areas and fields were left unplanted during spring plowing 116. Konoha sent 2,000 ninja to the country. The war lasted more than half a year and ended after Konoha broke Sunagakure's lines in a decisive battle; more than 900 of the Konoha ninja deployed there had died 118 155 158.

The peace negotiations addressed protection of the Yoshimizu River and reparations to the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers. The Land of Wind proposed a smaller, negotiated diversion instead of taking the water by force. Yagami delivered the resulting peace agreement to the Land of Rivers' daimyo 159 160.

Water dispute and political crisis

A later diversion project at Tigyu Dam led to a dispute over how much Yoshimizu River water the Land of Wind was taking. Yagami found five concealed pipes drawing additional water, and Koizumi Chisa exposed their outlets during negotiations 288 289. Officials and samurai from the Lands of Rain, Rivers, and Wind were subsequently stationed at the dam to oversee distribution 301.

Later, the daimyo was poisoned and fell into a coma, while the crown prince was killed by a Sand Ninja puppet technique. The nobles appointed Chisa interim leader. She sent formal complaints to the Land of Fire and Konoha, demanding that Konoha meet its obligation to protect the country's ruling family and nobles 369.

Economy and infrastructure

• Hydroelectric power: A wartime coal shortage prompted a Treasury Department reward for a solution to Kyoto's electricity shortage. Yagami proposed using the country's rivers for hydroelectric generation, and Chisa backed the project 118 119.
• Protection of the stations: Iwagakure sent an infiltration unit to sabotage the project. The Land of Fire subsequently warned the Land of Earth against attacking hydroelectric stations in either the Land of Rivers or the Land of Fire 126 128.
• Revenue agreement: The Land of Rivers kept all profits from its first station. For future stations in the country, the agreed split was six-tenths to the Land of Rivers and four-tenths to the Land of Fire 128.
• Expansion: The first station was operating by the peace negotiations. Later stations supplied several cities, and their dams bore the emblems of both the Land of Rivers and the Land of Fire 159 287.
• River monitoring: After the war, the daimyo ordered Chisa to establish a Yoshimizu River water-level monitoring system so reductions in flow could be detected early 160.

Relationships

• Land of Fire and Konoha — The Land of Rivers is a Land of Fire vassal state. Konoha protects it, receives missions from it, and defended it during the war with Sunagakure 128 159 369.
• Land of Wind and Sunagakure — Sunagakure fought in the Land of Rivers over access to Yoshimizu River water. The two lands later negotiated a diversion, but concealed pipes caused another dispute 107 159 288 289.
• Land of Earth and Iwagakure — The Land of Earth opposed the hydroelectric project, and Iwagakure sent ninja to sabotage it 126 128.