Saburo Uchiha, “Kimyōna”
Saburo had been trailing through the woods nearby Konohagakure for days now. Well, 'nearby' was to be taken lightly. He'd been trailing through the entire Konohagakure territory for days now, and currently the territory was quite expansive given they had taken upon themselves the protection and guarding of some small civilian villages nearby as well.
But that was not quite the reason why he was there. His 11th corps outfit would quickly give away who had sent him there, namely Fujitora Choko, eleventh corps royal commander. Or perhaps one of his highness' underlings, which was more likely given that Fujitora Choko was likely busy with more pressing matters, such as consuming vast amounts of cigars. That's as much as Saburo had seen, anyway. Never the less Fujitora was an able commander, and even if he wasn't, the 11th indoctrination would make sure the agents thought he was anyway.
With a soft thud and some kicked up dust, Saburo landed in the middle of the dirt road he was above just seconds earlier. He was alone out here, doing the 11th's bidding as always. No backup, no comrades, just him. And that's how he liked it, honestly. His hand swept over a track he had seen, trying to discern who it was from. Seemed like the footprint of a shinobi sandal, except.. there were strange printings within, one that pointed at armor, perhaps. The print was also deep, deeper than usual. The person was either very heavy, or carrying something heavy. Again, pointing at armor. Strangely, that fit the description of one person Saburo was meant to look out for.
And within an instance, no, barely even that, he felt a strange feeling overcoming him. He quickly rose to his feet and grabbed Madara's gunbai from his back, standing at the ready. This wasn't right, what was that sudden pressure he felt pressing on his senses? This chakra, so strong.. it felt familiar, too, at the same time. Had he met this person before? Could it truly be? If so, well.. he was under oath to make a solid judgement on whether to take down this person or not, but truly, in this moment, it was not about doing your job, it was going to be about survival if it came to that.
For a moment, silence ruled in Saburo's mind, as he tried to discern the location of this person. The sheer amount of chakra in the area made this nearly impossible, even when he activated his two Sharingan. This would actually only make it harder for him, as he felt his eyes started to hurt from simply seeing so much chakra. It was, in a sense, 'overloading' his eyes. But then it seemed the chakra all dissapeared at once, as if it was sucked away in a vacuum motion. And in that moment, Saburo could also, briefly, locate the person. He quickly turned his face towards the location, only to be met with two snow-white eyes staring at him. “Ku..” he said, remembering this persons name all too well, but before anything else could happen, or the name could leave his mouth, the person vanished in a gust of leaves. It seemed the meeting was destined to end fairly swiftly, as Saburo noticed at the same time two Konohagakure patrolsmen coming in in the distance. They seemed to have not noticed anything nearby, which only raised Saburo's suspicions.
He greeted the two patrolsmen and quickly turned around and went to return to Konoha. This meeting had to be documented and Fujitora Choko, the royal commander, had to be informed straight away. He moved as fast as his legs would carry him, which was quite fast, even for shinobi standards. But he knew, in the back of his mind, that any report he could bring out would always be too late given the power and influence of this person he'd been trailing. Sometimes he wondered why Fujitora even ordered him to patrol these areas for this armored person.
Kirigakure has been widely known throughout the centuries as being a wildcard in regards to the current system of peace brought since the 4th Shinobi War. Many people were still stuck with the mentality of a paranoid warrior, sure that one day they'd regret abandoning their sacrifice of general ethics to promote their military strength. Slowly but surely, it became more of a stereotype than anything, but the world knew a certain bloodlust remained innate in the minds of these people.
The 17th Mizukage, Yoru Tenchi, was the one responsible for igniting their fear inducing flame that reflected perfectly well the ideas of the past. Or at least that's how other nations wanted people to see it. Yoru Tenchi's dream was far from the war mongering behavior of the Yagura reign and never preached a return of the Bloody Mist. Superior armament of Kirigakure and by extension the Water Nation were the primary goals of the reputated Kage. He did not wish to have his people weakened by remaining in a vegetative state, he knew perfectly well this corrupt peace that enabled other issues would one day pop.
Surprisingly, a large part of the population disregarded various slander of his image and agreed with most of his points, especially with the idea of cleansing the streets of Kirigakure. Unfortunately he'd be involved in an 'accident' in a serious mission he was in the obligation to take part in. Many believe he was disposed of by the higher ups as he put their reign in peril over revolutionizing ideals that became immune to public humiliation. It was the first step to the people's complete lack of trust toward the government and would only rise in time.
Today the 19th Mizukage, Hariyama Kakuma, faces a threat that was almost prophecized by his predecessor. Konoha had finally shattered the fragile stability it held dearly with Zeno Hakarasu, giving hope to those wanting change in their nation. Hope under the form of fear of the outside world, of course. Ayame Choko's speech could only be discribed as belligerent by the frightened, foreign masses. On that very same day, protests demanding a complete reform of the political model they living under littered the streets with mobs and thieves taking advantage of the situation.
Ever since that day, when protests happened, the streets were empty and calm. Not the kind of calmth that was enjoyable, either, no, it was the calmth that perfectly described the situation in Kirigakure. Things were about to explode, it was noticeable in every single vein of your body if you found yourself in Kirigakure. And while there was initially a large follow up to initial protests in the form of even more protests, slowly that waned too. People were desperate and their protests didn't seem to get the message across.
Powerful figures started rising in the movements, and while the movements remained fractured, they formed a single front to combat the Kirigakure government politically. But like all protests that prove to go unheard.. the next step was logical. And given Kirigakure's unstable past, it was the only step available for them. Minor incidents seemed to happen, first it was a beating up of a Kirigakure shinobi. Soon after, that very same shinobi was found in the hospital by an angry mob, and chased. Luckily for that shinobi he made it out of the hospital and was rescued by his peers, but it set the tone for the rest of the conflict.
Small incidents, the Mizukage said. This wouldn't happen again, he claimed. He tripled security on government buildings, a testimony to how he didn't believe in even his own words. Politics, and feelings, they were two seperate things and it was noticeable in every decision the Mizukage made. It didn't take long before the very first unified front was created, not for politics, but for revolt. Some shinobi even switched side, giving the rebels a powerful arsenal of both military weaponry and skilled shinobi.
The incidents remained small, or a time being of course. Incidents like these often have the tendency to take extremer forms rapidly. It was then that a large attack took place. The target was a government office that was used to meet with foreign dignitaries, which was ultimately a useless target if it hadn't been for the fact that the location was also used to deal with underground bosses, corrupt officials and large bussiness owners. The building was blown up, whether this done through a bomb or a jutsu has never been found out, because the site became inaccesible right away. The attack was followed by a large scale riot, lead by several high profile figures in the rebellious scene. They were all wearing armbands in different colours, to showcase which faction they were part of, but they were all fighting as one unit. Kirigakure reacted quickly and smit down the opposition with an iron fist, but the die had been cast. The rebellion had begun, and there was no stopping it now unless Kirigakure eradicated all the rebels.
It would only be a few days after the major incident hitting Kirigakure that current Hokage Ayame Choko had taken the decision to react along with her brother and associate, Fujitora. The real reasons behind this choice remained unclear, whether it was the intervention of Kiri officials or simply out of interest, the justifications given to the soldiers sent to offer support to the rebel cause would mostly incriminate the Mist Government for their inability to cater to their population. Multiple comparisons were made to the previous corrupt state of Konoha, seemingly enough to motivate those who followed Ayame since her rise to the throne. Others simply followed orders while a minority saw other opportunities in this. Needless to say, the rebel cause was now Konoha's cause until further notice and that's all they had to know.
Oppositely, many neightboring nations, including the larger ones, have gathered to discuss the stability of peace in the world as it is. It was clear that if Kirigakure would fall to the same sickness as Konoha, there would be monumental consequences to the world the five great nations had built to maintain social harmony. By fear of causing a major war, the allocation of armed forces was limited to the Kiri government side, 'neutral' help to insure a certain control over the situation until communication could be established. Foreign masses see this as something hopeful, but the wiser elites are understandably cynical.
