Editing Gene Soldiers (section)

==Hidden Mist==
Mist is a village in the middle of massive civil strife. The Mist village has always been definedby it's clans, similar to the Leaf, but most of its clans are Kekkei Genkai based (we know of five from canon; the Bone, Ice, Lava and Boil releases, plus the Hydrification technique, all presumably clan-based). There's presumably a couple of others.

The other defining feature is their specialisation in kenjutsu; sword training is a key part of the academy and the village possesses seven legendary swords which are wielded by the finest swordsmen the village has. If one is slain, no effort is spared in retrieving their blade, all of which are sentient. The group train together, including with each other's blades, so that if one falls an a skilled swordman joins the group, he is not automatically saddled with a blade not suited to him.

Although for many years a powerful village, the Fourth Mizukage led to a severe degree of internal conflict. After the death of the Third, the Hozuki and Terumi clans both put forward their own candidates. Delays in the voting amongst the Shinobi Council lead to tension that eventually caused intra-village fighting. Yagura, the jinchuriki of the Three-Tails, was put forward as a compromise candidate.

Although a powerful and skilled ninja, Yagura had difficulty leading the village - ordinary shinobi were distrustful of a jinchuriki and the various clan heads chafed at his leadership; he was the first non-clan member to lead the village.

A few assassinations attempts later and his paranoia began to spiral out of control. He changed the genin final exam to involve killing one's classmates, in an attempt to start inter-clan feuds that would secure his power and also to unite his followers in shared guilt. This bloody tradition only lasted a year before he was confronted by the heads of the Terumi and Hozuki clans. Yagura killed the two clan heads and declared the clans to be missing-nin.

In the so called Night of Blood, members of the Seven major clans were forced to engage in a fighting, confused retreat from the Village, although they caused significant casualties on Yagura's forces.

After purging his forces for failure, Yagura set out to destroy the remaining clan members, all while applying pressure on the rest of Water country to hunt them down as well. The Water Daimyo went along with this due to either agreement over the threat of the clans or intimidation at Yagura's power.

The clans had regrouped and, recognising the seriousness of their situation, nominated Mei Terumi as their leader. An heir to the powers of both the Terumi clan (who wielded the Lava Release) and the Shiken clan (who wielded the Boil Release) she is an very powerful ninja who also symbolised the new era of clan unity, declaring themselves the True Hidden Mist.

The international reaction to the conflict has been one of indifference. Both sides continue to take missions abroad, a major source of revenue. With the Mist neutral in international affairs, the balance of power has stabilised, with the Leaf-Sand-Grass-Waterfall alliance a match for both Cloud and Rock, although to attack one would be to invite conflict from the other.

Thus, the conflict in the Mist village serves to maintain the Balance of power in the wider world. For this reason, the four other major villages have agreed not to interfere in the civil war, although they could change their minds should an opportunity present itself.