Having lived through the second shinobi war as members of the orphan village of Amegakure, our three heroes find themselves at what many would consider the crossroads of history for the village hidden in the rain. Unbeknownst to them, their decisions are what will shape the future of the village, and will decide the fate of themselves, their clans, and everyone else that stands behind them.
Amegakure has historically simply found itself in the middle of three giants, all of which were ready to come down hard on the village simply for the fact that they were alive. A betting man would say that the odds for Amegakure were not great, but through careful manipulation of the great shinobi nations, Amegakure has continued to survive, expanding its industry with every day, only to have it taken away whenever the next war rolled around.
The leadership of Amegakure started out as petty bandits, thieves, mercenaries looking for their next get up. Slowly, the position of the leader of the hidden rain evolved, and with every new iteration of leadership came a renewed, expanded sense of care for the village. Amegakure grew from a small village, constantly raided by Konoha, Iwa and Suna shinobi during their wars for supplies, to a village that can stand its own, albeit very shortly so.
And that was enough to foster the emergence of great shinobi. After all, when the army is small, the expertise must be big.
At the forefront of the newest generation of shinobi, hardened by the second war and at the forefront of the third war, our heroes must now prove themselves, and show the world how great they truly are.
Iwagakure no Sato (岩隠れの里) remains a constant threat to Amegakure and as a result of this, Amegakure regards its neighbor with a suspicious eye. Currently, traffic from or to Iwagakure has to pass a secondary inspection just to be allowed passage, even if they are simply passing through the territory. This makes Amegakure an unpopular stop for Iwagakure citizens and merchants.
Kirigakure no Sato (霧隠れの里) is largely indifferent and neutral towards Amegakure, holding no ill will towards them. This favor is returned, as Kirigakure passer by's are rare in Amegakure given the distance between the two nations. Diplomatic ties are cooled at best, and not much interaction takes place between the two.
Konohagakure no Sato (木ノ葉隠れの里) is largely interested in maintaining the status quo, wherein they are the second strongest military power directly behind Kumogakure. This means that it prefers not to throw stones into the pond that is global politics, and as such, they will do their best to curb aggression from other nations while simultaneously keeping their fingers in the pot at all times. Amegakure regards Konohagakure as a hostile force, however, particularly due to their involvement in the previous raiding and looting of Amegakure.
Kumogakure no Sato (雲隠れの里) is the closest thing to a 'friend' that Amegakure has, as their position as military powerhouse provides Amegakure with ample reason to keep them around as a friend. Similarly, Kumogakure takes a special interest in Amegakure due to their position amidst the three great nations of Iwa, Konoha, and Suna, and their ability to open a second front, no matter how small.
The only disagreement between the nations comes primarily due to the choice of tactics -- where Kumogakure prefers direct confrontation, Amegakure prefers to play the long game, and uses subterfuge, manipulation and assassination before they opt for more direct methods of exerting their control.
Unknowingly to Kumogakure, the Arekuruu has infiltrated the ranks of the daimyo that controls Kumogakure as a second alternative to securing their support in any war.
Sunagakure no Sato (砂隠れの里) is the nation that has expressed the most aggression towards Amegakure, because Amegakure is a potential new site for Sunagakure where they can expand beyond their desert and actually cultivate fertile crops. Because of this, Sunagakure views Amegakure as the natural next step for expansion, and has made as much known. Travel from and into Sunagakure is at a full stop, and not allowed at all.
Samurai (侍)
The samurai have been isolated for many years now, and have grown distant and uncommunicative to shinobi. It is said that many of the samurai have died during a particularly cold winter, and that the remaining samurai have gone mentally insane. They no longer speak when shinobi approach the land of iron, and instead attack straight away, not offering rhyme or reason as to why they are being attacked.
The Arashi no Shugo-sha (嵐の守護者), the Stormguardians, were created by Hoshiyo. THeir existence is something of an urban legend and only the leader of Amegakure knows of their existence. They are modeled after ROOT -- in fact, the Amegakure orphanage is a known source of recruits for the Arashi no-Shugo. The Arashi no Shugo-sha is known for kidnapping promising orphans in foreign lands as well, and allegations have been made towards Amegakure no Sato that they are abducting children who, whether they are orphans or not, are not property of Amegakure. Of course, no admission of this can be given out by Amegakure no Sato, because the existence of the Arashi no Shugo-sha is a concept that even the citizens of Amegakure themselves are not sure about.
To get things straight -- the Arashi no Shugo-sha, or Arekuruu, do certainly exist. But not many people know of them and, beyond some alleged sightings of Arekuruu agents within the borders of Amegakure, nothing can be proven. Thus the urban legend was formed.
With a country that is as isolated as Amegakure, it is not strange that they take extreme measures to defend their borders. Due to the nature of Amegakure's position in the middle of three larger villages, they are forced to vehemently protect their borders at all costs. These units will go out and confront trespassers, ordering them to turn back and take the long way around Amegakure, and if they fail to do so, will engage and theoretically destroy the opponent. The border guards are typically lead by a borderguard-specific jonin, and then three regular shinobi, but can also consist of four borderguard shinobi.
Perhaps the most infamous of the Amegakure institutions, the orphanage employment service or otherwise known simply as 'the orphanage' is a service that deals with children abandoned by their parents or who lost their parents due to war. They come from all over - but mostly from Amegakure. This is due to the frequent usage of Amegakure lands to do battle in by other countries which causes displaced children to end up either in Amegakure or wandering into Amegakure - though, at times, the orphanage has been known to employ the Arekuruu to exfiltrate orphans from other areas outside of its' borders.
The orphanage spends most of it's time raising the children to become shinobi -- offering them a chance at a life where they can earn a living wage rather than having to beg on the streets if they're not adopted (which rarely happens in Amegakure -- there are enough mouths to feed as is). Those who are said to have special talents are siphoned off into the Arekuruu training trajects, where they are effectively brainwashed -- though Amegakure prefers to say they are 'made loyal.' Much has been learned from ROOT in that regard, and though they do not practice the brutal experience of having to kill a brother or sister, there are certainly ethical questions that can be asked here -- it is only a good thing that nobody knows about this, and that means nobody can ask these questions.
To get things straight -- the Arashi no Shugo-sha, or Arekuruu, do certainly exist. But not many people know of them and, beyond some alleged sightings of Arekuruu agents within the borders of Amegakure, nothing can be proven. Thus the urban legend was formed.
With a country that is as isolated as Amegakure, it is not strange that they take extreme measures to defend their borders. Due to the nature of Amegakure's position in the middle of three larger villages, they are forced to vehemently protect their borders at all costs. These units will go out and confront trespassers, ordering them to turn back and take the long way around Amegakure, and if they fail to do so, will engage and theoretically destroy the opponent. The border guards are typically lead by a borderguard-specific jonin, and then three regular shinobi, but can also consist of four borderguard shinobi.
Perhaps the most infamous of the Amegakure institutions, the orphanage employment service or otherwise known simply as 'the orphanage' is a service that deals with children abandoned by their parents or who lost their parents due to war. They come from all over - but mostly from Amegakure. This is due to the frequent usage of Amegakure lands to do battle in by other countries which causes displaced children to end up either in Amegakure or wandering into Amegakure - though, at times, the orphanage has been known to employ the Arekuruu to exfiltrate orphans from other areas outside of its' borders.
The orphanage spends most of it's time raising the children to become shinobi -- offering them a chance at a life where they can earn a living wage rather than having to beg on the streets if they're not adopted (which rarely happens in Amegakure -- there are enough mouths to feed as is). Those who are said to have special talents are siphoned off into the Arekuruu training trajects, where they are effectively brainwashed -- though Amegakure prefers to say they are 'made loyal.' Much has been learned from ROOT in that regard, and though they do not practice the brutal experience of having to kill a brother or sister, there are certainly ethical questions that can be asked here -- it is only a good thing that nobody knows about this, and that means nobody can ask these questions.