Kirigakure

Biodata

Background and History

Kirigakure’s Second Mizukage, Hōzuki Gengetsu, and Iwagakure’s Second Tsuchikage, Mū, killed each other during the First Shinobi World War, leaving a lasting feud between their villages. The Third Mizukage later blamed Gengetsu for taking the title he had wanted and for leading Kirigakure’s elite to their deaths in the Land of Earth. He vowed to protect the village left by the First Mizukage, Byakuren 15 22 89.

The Third Mizukage had accompanied Byakuren to the first Five Kage Summit and believed that Byakuren had intended him to become his successor. He resented being passed over when the other summit guards became their villages’ second-generation leaders, and his hostility toward Gengetsu extended to the Hōzuki clan 89.

Kirigakure has powerful bloodline clans, including the Hōzuki, Yuki, and Kaguya, as well as the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. These forces are also a source of internal tension: while the Third Mizukage was away in the Land of Whirlpools, bloodline clans conspired in rebellion, and he resolved to suppress them 74 89.

The village’s instability predates the Land of Whirlpools campaign. During Konoha’s earlier confrontation with Iwagakure, Kagami Uchiha judged that the Third Mizukage was too occupied with internal strife to invade the Land of Fire. The Mizukage likewise decided to remain outside that conflict because Kirigakure’s unrest was unresolved 39 41.

The Third Mizukage implemented the Blood Mist Policy, making it a central priority while keeping Kirigakure out of other villages’ disputes. Bloodline clans were purged or placed under Anbu surveillance, and Kaguya Masao accused the Mizukage of using the policy to eliminate clans that had supported Gengetsu. According to Masao, Academy students were forced to kill one another to graduate, while bloodline clans could not leave their grounds, associate privately, or contact outsiders without permission. Years of repression also left ordinary villagers fearful 158 169 170 171.

Kirigakure’s main village contains cylindrical stone buildings, many suspended over a lake and connected by bridges and walkways. Its isolated, heavily controlled atmosphere earned it the name “Bloody Mist Village” 171 172.

Military and Techniques

• Tailed Beasts — Kirigakure’s Three-Tails and Six-Tails remained free because the village lacked a suitable sealing technique. Obtaining the Uzumaki clan’s Tail-Locking Seal prompted the Third Mizukage to plan a jinchūriki program, but the scroll in his possession proved to be a counterfeit 74 77. Both beasts generally remained in their habitats rather than wandering. The counterfeit scroll was an ordinary chakra-sealing technique whose opening runes resembled those of the genuine Tail-Locking Seal 74 77.
• Water Release — Kirigakure’s techniques became more powerful near the sea during the three-village battle in the Land of Whirlpools 80. Its forces used Water Dragon Bullet Technique and Great Waterfall Technique, while the Third Mizukage also employed Water Gun Technique against Ōnoki 79 80.
• Hidden Mist and Silent Killing — Used together on that battlefield, these techniques inflicted heavy losses on Iwagakure and Kumogakure 80.
• Offshore deployment — Kirigakure maintained shinobi on Cangming Island during the Land of Whirlpools campaign. After its ships were destroyed, the Third Mizukage ordered signal flares sent to summon those forces as reinforcements 77.
• Strategic vulnerabilities — Genji identified the Third Raikage’s Lightning Release as particularly dangerous to Kirigakure. He also warned that the Raikage’s durability and Ōnoki’s flight made a plan to trap and kill both leaders impractical 74.
• Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist — After Konoha’s missile strike, the Third Mizukage summoned six swordsmen: Juzo Biwa with Kubikiribōchō, Suikazan Fuguki with Samehada, Kushimaru Kuriarare with Nuibari, Jinin Akebino with Kabutowari, Munashi Jinpachi with Shibuki, and Raiga Kurosuki with Kiba. He regarded them as secret weapons capable of conquering a small nation 175.

Story Role

• Madara’s attention — After learning of Konoha’s ceasefire with Kumogakure, Madara Uchiha ordered White Zetsu to turn his attention to Kirigakure 11.
• Konoha’s intelligence operations — During Kagami Uchiha’s early years as Hokage, Danzō’s intelligence network infiltrated Kirigakure alongside the other great hidden villages. Its agents monitored military and political developments, armaments, secret techniques, and leaders’ movements 31.
• Strategic interest in the Land of Whirlpools — Kagami identified Kirigakure as one of the villages likely to covet the Uzumaki clan’s sealing arts. He also regarded the Land of Whirlpools as an irreplaceable potential forward base for a Konoha campaign across the sea against Kirigakure 63.
• Land of Whirlpools campaign — Kirigakure joined Iwagakure and Kumogakure in attacking the Land of Whirlpools. After the other two villages began fighting over the Tail-Locking Seal, the Third Mizukage ordered a withdrawal rather than accept a subordinate’s proposal to invade the Land of Fire 74 78. Baihe advocated exploiting the other villages’ losses, but Genji warned that they might unite against Kirigakure once it possessed the seal 74.
• Three-village battle — Ōnoki destroyed Kirigakure’s ships as it withdrew, and the Third Raikage attacked its camp. Trapped at the coast, Kirigakure fought both villages. Hanzō then poisoned the seawater, killing fighters on all sides and poisoning the Third Mizukage 77 78 80. Iwagakure and Kumogakure initially blamed Kirigakure for the poison, but Kirigakure’s own casualties revealed that another party was responsible 80.
• Release of captives and withdrawal — Confronted by Danzō, the weakened Third Mizukage agreed to release the people Kirigakure had captured in the Land of Whirlpools and ordered his forces to withdraw. Although reinforcements were approaching, he prioritized returning to confront the bloodline clans and feared that his death abroad would allow them to regain control of the village 82.
• Internal unrest — As a wider war approached, the Third Mizukage welcomed the prospect of other nations being distracted while he dealt with Kirigakure’s rebellious bloodline clans 89. He specifically threatened the Hōzuki, Yuki, and Kaguya clans 89.
• Planned retaliation by Konoha — After his victories in the Land of Rain, Kagami named Kirigakure and Kumogakure as the remaining villages he intended to punish, recalling their involvement in the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools 145.
• Refusal of the summit — The Third Mizukage rejected Konoha’s invitation to the Five Kage Summit, believing Kirigakure could safeguard the Land of Water without involving itself in other villages’ disputes. Kirigakure was the only great village absent from the gathering and did not join the resulting Shinobi Federation 158 161 172.
• Konoha’s approach to the Kaguya clan — After the summit, Kagami arranged for Orochimaru, Shizuya Hyuga, and other Hyuga to visit the Kaguya clan openly under the pretext of their distant kinship. Kaguya patriarch Masao accepted the visit but sent the letter to the Third Mizukage, who was angered that Konoha had bypassed him. Their confrontation nearly became a fight before Genji intervened 167 169 170.
• Delegation in Kirigakure — In November of Konoha Year 37, Karatachi Yagura escorted Orochimaru’s party to the village, where the Third Mizukage met them with dozens of jōnin. Unwilling to give Konoha grounds for an attack, he allowed them three days under constant surveillance. Masao told Orochimaru he wished to take his clan out of Kirigakure, and Orochimaru offered refuge to oppressed clans willing to leave for Konoha 171 172 173.
• Missile strike and clan departures — Orochimaru fabricated the appearance of a murdered Hyuga delegate and demanded an explanation from the Mizukage. A Tailed Beast Fusion Missile then struck the Mizukage Building, razing it, gravely wounding the Third Mizukage despite his barrier, and devastating the village. Amid the chaos, the Kaguya and Yuki clans escaped by ship with the Hyuga party’s assistance, bound for Konoha. The Mizukage ordered their pursuit and Orochimaru’s death, but Orochimaru escaped 173 174.
• Federation demands — Following the attack, the Shinobi Federation demanded that Kirigakure apologize publicly, admit inadequate oversight, and refrain from pursuing the departing clans. More than half the village had been destroyed, its fighting strength severely damaged, and its reputation ruined by the accusation that it had killed a delegate 175.
• Retaliatory raid — Unable to mobilize openly, the Third Mizukage ordered the six assembled swordsmen to infiltrate the Land of Fire, raid outposts, and kill ninja and civilians without revealing their identities. Might Duy defeated the group after it landed on the coast, thwarting the raid 175 178.