Fandom Naruto: The Will of Fire Lore and Story Thread

[EnviousWorm]

Konohagakure was born from a shared dream, the willingness to see the guts of another person–to reject an unfair system, and change it.
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It has been one year since the founding of Konohagakure. The Senju, Uchiha, Sarutobi, and Shimura clans exist in relative peace. The Land of Fire, itself recently united under the wealthy and plotting Oda clan, has agreed to sponsor the further expansion of the Leaf Village; this comes with the stipulation that one shinobi in Konoha rule as the Hokage, which the Daimyo will select after the Leaf offers a small number of possible candidates–considered all but a formality in favor of the expected choice. Despite many objectors in the small village, Hashirama Senju intends to withdraw himself as a candidate and instead back Madara Uchiha for the powerful and influential position. Concerned that the rest of the world watches cautiously intrigued, looking to emulate Konoha and the Land of Fire's new economic-military system, many in Konoha voice concerns about Madara's unwillingness to compromise and cold character giving the Leaf and Land of Fire a bad, international image. The Uchiha, however, argue that the Leaf is Madara's idea, even pointing to its very name as proof. Hashirama remains adamant that Madara should be Hokage, and some younger villagers whisper that maybe Hashirama simply does not wish to do the job.

Hashirama's true passion project, in fact, is the Ninja Academy in Konohagakure–which was part of his contribution to the conception for the Leaf Village. The Academy's first-ever class of students is nearing graduation, but the clan elders have disagreed on almost everything about how the next generation of shinobi will exist in relation to the village. Although Hashirama wants these shinobi to exist outside of their clans, as members of Konoha, he wishes to assign different clans together into teams–and it's a very unpopular idea. The Academy taught children from all clans, but even that faced a large, vocal backlash when the idea first surfaced. Hashirama himself wonders if becoming Hokage would be the best course of action, just to ensure his will is enacted further, though fears this will alienate Madara as his friend and co-founder. Tobirama Senju considers building a local police force as the village grows, and has suggested using Academy graduates as junior police. Not quite Hashirama's vision, the younger sibling's plan finds itself a lot more popular with the older shinobi now living in Konoha.

Meanwhile, the active shinobi of the village find themselves torn between clan obligation and their new duties as Leaf Ninja. At the moment, teams are decided by clan alone, and dispatched to Konohagakure like levied troops to a feudal lord. Clan elders have withheld their best ninja and moved slowly to send teams when forced to pair with other clans they do not get along with. Even many Senju still struggle to work with Uchiha, and vice versa. Still, the few dozen missions Konoha has undertaken for the Daimyo have been massively lucrative–not to mention the lord's generous stipend that he's promised to increase after selecting the Hokage. Troubled as they might be, the clans can already tell: far fewer shinobi - especially the young - have died in the past year, and everyone is profiting. Konohagakure can work.

The meeting to select 3 candidates to present to the Daimyo for Hokage selection is in one month, and to be inaugurated the following day. Whoever is granted the title will have an incredible, unprecedented amount of political capital and worldwide influence.

The Academy's first-ever graduation is just one week after the Hokage is set to be sworn in, and its impact on current and future generations is still malleable. Will the clans come together in peace cooperation and define a new era of shinobi, or will they accept the convenience of village structure while asserting their own power by maintaining a private military force.

Mission Board:

• Recruit an artisan stonemason: Hashirama intends to have the Hokage's visage crafted into the mountainside as an image for all children in Konoha aspire to be. The Daimyo recommended one in the Land of Fire, but his exact whereabouts are unknown. Find and recruit the stonemason to join the village.​
• Guard the Daimyo's daughter: The Daimyo has paid a handsome sum to Konoha for several ninja teams to protect his daughter as she travels to see a show in Kashio Village, near the country's tenuous border with still-warring states. He worries that she will be targeted due to the relative peace in the Land of Fire, spurred on by Konoha's shinobi.​
• Track vagabond shinobi: A recent battle on the Land of Fire's border with the Land of Rivers left two shinobi clans on the verge of destruction; their stragglers wandered aimlessly into the Land of Fire, and Konoha has been asked to find them and return them to the Land of Rivers where they are likely to be executed for desertion.​
• Carnivale Security: Ashiro Village requested a team of shinobi for security at their notoriously rowdy festival celebrations. The shinobi guards have been offered hotel suite accommodations and free passes to the carnivale when not on-duty.​
• Prisoner Swap: Two clans in the Land of Lightning are conducting a transfer of each others' prisoners and have requested the Daimyo to use the Land of Fire as neutral ground. Several shinobi teams are urgently requested to act as a third-party to the swap, and if the swap devolves into a fight, ensure the defense of the Land of Fire's territory and push the enemy clans back across the border.​

(An OOC thread can follow, but I'll wait until the RP is pretty much started to put that up. If you have any questions, just post them here for now, or feel free to DM!)