An Unlikely Alliance

The sun sat high in the sky as the tournament grounds stood, cluttered with ninja. They gathered in Konohagakure directly next to the great scar. It had been 13 years since the scar that spanned most of the region appeared, drastically changing the landscape and the positions of power in the world. It had created a great lake-like river that allowed immense amounts of new trade. Amegakure and Takigakure had both become superpowers, benefitted by the extreme amount of of oceanic trade they could now purse. In turn Konohagakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure lost a bit of power due to the fact that their positions as middlemen for these villages were now obsolete. With the new powers new Daimyo came into power as well. The newer ones were more ruthless, scrappy, and deranged. While they liked their wealth they longed for the days where combat was afoot at all times. They weren't stupid though, they didn't want to plunge the world into chaos again. This mindset eventually led to the creation of The Grand Tournament, or so it was called.

Held every five years this tournament was happening for only the second time since its creation but it was chock full of shinobi from all over.They competed in different brackets based on their rank and if they lived through the qualifiers. For the qualifiers were not open to public eye unlike the spectacle of the true tournament. The qualifiers were still separated by rank but set within many different environments. They all held the same goal in the end though, get through the three days trek and murder as many along the way as possible. It was no holds barred, kill off your competition before you compete. The Daimyo saw it as a way of culling the weak as well. Of course no one besides those who'd lived through the event knew about this, they all saw it as a much grander ninja exam of sorts. There was one final detail that made the tournament quite special. Participants were grouped into teams of three randomly, with anyone from anywhere.

Henchou Nezame stood around a flag off to the side. It fluttered wildly in the wind as the breeze swept it around. He the first of his assigned team to actually reach their assigned meeting area. "I'm probably the first to even get here, why does everyone have to be so damn late all the time." He muttered to himself as adjusted the collar around his neck. Henchou was an average looking boy for his age. His body was in great shape and his face was well shaped with a mysterious allure to it. He hair and eyes were soot black, thankfully the people in Kiri didn't ask him if he was an Uchiha seven times a second like every one of the Konoha participants. He slumped up against a tree and pulled out a kunai before beginning to fiddle with it. It was a unique shape, with the bottom edges of the blade extending all the way to the end of the hilt and creating a guard of sorts. The blade was also a bit larger and longer than standard, with very precise chipping along the blade. It was almost as if it was on purpose.