Yukio Hiraoka

Yukio Hiraoka (平岡 由紀夫, Hiraoka Yukio) is a wandering- unaffiliated to any village, though he was born in the to the. Too young to fight in the, Yukio struggles to come to terms with living in an era of peace. As his village underwent great socio-economic changes in the post-war period, Yukio found himself growing discontent with the mercantile desires of his family. Yukio is also a revered novelist and poet of the post-war period.

Appearance
Outwardly, Yukio retains a sickly appearance with lithe frame where his collarbone protrudes outward. Yukio boasts a mop of brittle chestnut-brown hair on his square-head. By no means 'traditionally,' handsome, Yukio greets the world with a dour expression paired with an intimidatingly harsh gaze through dirty-ice colored eyes. As an adherent to an older philosophy and lifestyle, Yukio wears a snow-white hakama and haori with a dark-blue obi. Over this, he often wears a black wool shawl where he hides various ninja tools - explosive tags, senbon, shuriken - to stave off opponents on short-notice or discretely set traps. Yukio's most distinct aesthetic is the bright yellow sun on the breast of his hakama, which also marks the entire back of his shawl. Derived from his clan's coat-of-arms, Yukio has modified the insignia to reflect his personal ideologies - that though time moves forward, the sun will never set.

Personality and Character
Many of the new era critics frame Yukio as a threat to the newfound peace and economic prosperity of the post-war period. However, Yukio remains vocal that the nature of mankind has been founded on the principle of blood and steel and fire long before, , or ever appeared. For Yukio, to repress the urge to wage war is to repress an instinct and lust within mankind. And from Yukio's perspective, this repression will only lead to a greater internal struggle in the future. As a child, Yukio was unable to take part in the war that supposedly 'ended all wars,' which led to a noticeable schism in a nation like the which was already at an ideological and cultural disjunction where past- ideals were obsolete compared to the  way of life. No longer able to act as mediators in global conflicts, the samurai of the Land of Iron embraced a path of modernization and economic interests in the post-war period leading to great discontent among many younger generations of samurai - including that of Yukio Hiraoka.

Yukio is an creative and innovative mind, who resists the waves of 'modernity,' that wash over the shinobi world. As a revered novelist and poet, Yukio's work is banned in the as 'propaganda,' against the shinobi alliance. As a result, Yukio has led to a rather tense embargo between the Lands of Iron and Lightning with a trade agreement that is still in contention. Despite being a wandering mercenary, Yukio retains a great ardor and idealism for his birthplace and the relationship is mutual as many of the upper-samurai class share his desire for social, economic, and political reformation.