Fuyuki

Fuyuki (冬樹, "Snowy winter"), more commonly known as the Sixth Mizukage (六代目水影, Rokudaime Mizukage), is the current Mizukage of Kirigakure; suceeding Mei Terumi. Formerly a Bandit leader, he rose in the ranks and eventually became a Kage by taking advantage of the chaos that followed in the wake of the Fourth Great Shinobi War. Determined, immoveable and ruthless - Fuyuki believes in the philosophy of doing right by wrong, and strives to lead the Village Hidden in the Mist to supremacy by making use of military might to force neighbouring villages to surrender.

Previously the leader of a tribe of bandits and brigands who gathered in the wake of the war, he's a man of an unscrupulous nature, being fully willing to deal with opponents, both political and physical in any way he knew how. Thus it came to be that he would later found the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist again, and fill their ranks with old comrades in order to project a persona of integrity, power and control to his recently acquired subordinates. While also employing these to take care of anyone who would be foolish enough to oppose his rise as Mizukage. While these anarchic ways of controling Kirigakure wouldn't be acceptable during good times, and while Mei Terumi held great sway in the politics of the village prior to the war. The dire state of the world after the Fourth Great Shinobi War meant that power, military assertion and the initiative to take immediate action were valued over traits like diplomacy, mutual understanding and peace treaties. With these policies being disregarded as an inability to act during the hard times of Kirigakure - thus eventually allowing Fuyuki to wrest the power away from the previous Mizukage, and assume her role.

Childhood
Very little is known about Fuyuki's earlier years, with the only information of his past being that he was the child of unremarkable heritage roughly a three years before the start of the Fourth Great Shinobi World War. While neither of Fuyuki's parents were Shinobi of particularily great skill, they were still called into battle and were among the 40,000 shinobi who lost their lives during the first day of the war. Their killer being Pakura of Sunagakure, reincarnated by Kabuto Yakushi. This event lead to Fuyuki developing an immense distrust and dislike of all users of Kekkei Genkai, blaming their accursed talents for the loss of his parents and his difficulties growing up in an orphanage.

Having lost his parents at the age of three, Fuyuki was placed in an orphanage together with many other war orphans and was raised there. Because of the hard times, the children in the orphanage lived a poor life and they had to fight, for the funds of the orphanage were largely insufficient to feed them all, and more orphans were added every day for as long as the war lasted. Growing up in an orphanage was extremely difficult, because of how little food there was to go around - Fuyuki found he had to fight with the other orphans for even the slightest scrap of food, and during the night he would very rarely be able to sleep because of the agonized groans of the unfortunate children who weren't strong or quick enough to hold onto the scraps of food they'd seized. It never even once occured to Fuyuki to pity these children, for this was after all a constant battle for survival to him.

As the years went by and the war came to an end, there were very few adoptions within the orphanage, with everyone knowing that the children within had been strongly damaged by their situation and that they had ceased being children long ago, having been forced to grow up and become independent by any means nessecary; those who failed to accomplish this, or alternatively those whom were incapable of fending for themselves due to weakness or lack of ability invariably died off one after another from starvation; although it was also common for the children to contract fatal illnesses due to malnutrition, poor hygiene and other factors. Fuyuki's orphanage was not the only one who had become like this, and orphanages all over Kirigakure reported similiar conditions. Fuyuki continued to live in the Orphanage until he was five years old; at which point many of the older children had started gathering younger kids around them in bands. These bands were an intended form of alliance between a group of children in order to ensure a mutual survival - Fuyuki himself wanted to belong to such a crowd. But to be accepted into the group, he would have to prove himself to their leader by accompanying them to a rival band to steal their provisions, because of the importance of food, most crowds enacted horrible punishments on anyone who were caught trying to steal their provisisions and this band was no different. In his eagerness to be accepted into a group, the young boy failed to curb himself and involuntarily came to reveal his presence to the enemy Ninja. As they sorrounded him, the young boys "associates" decided to run, leaving Fuyuku behind to fend for himself. Distraught by the betrayal, and about to be lynched by the angry children. Seeing no possible way to escape this situation alive, Fuyuki - in a moment of great distress and desperation subconciously awakened his latent abilities as a Shinobi, and in a dire instinct to survive he employed a water release technique of signfiicant power in a trance-like state. His assailants were brutally swept away with the powerful currents of water that were conjured forth from the very air itself, not one of them survived, and their broken and battered bodies were only found after several hours of searching. Incidents like these were rather common in the orphanage and while only a few of them included reflexive use of Ninjutsu, such events weren't unheard of, and the event was dismissed when the corpses were buried.

It was believed that the orphans would eventually be sent off to join the Academy and become Shinobi; but this was not to be because in the wake of the Fourth War, tribes of bandits had begun banding together to scour the poorly-defended perimeters of the land of water for valuables, recruits, women and food - by a string of fate, one of those groups appeared in the orphanage and killed the matrons of the orphanage. After that, they decidied to recruit children from the orphanage (the ferocity of war orphans spread across the land of water had become infamous by that time) - and they thus forced every child to fight one another to the death, not too disimiliar from the academy practise employed under the reign of the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura. They continued with this practise until only ten children remained, Fuyuki were among these, the bandits then took the children with them and left for the sea - the ten orphans were considered to be by far the most promising children of the entire bunch, and they, incapable of seeing any other possible future of worth willingly went with the bandits with no resistance, and not a single tear shed for their fallen brethren whom they had spent several years of their time with.

Appearance
A man strongly influenced by a difficult past, Fuyuki carries himself as if weighed down by a lifetime of insecurities - and his demeanour likewise reflects this to everyone he meets. Because of how he came to be who he is today, Fuyuki is a man who very rarely smiles, and tends to brood alot as a result. Generally coming off as highly unfriendly, ruthless and even cruel.

Fuyuki is a tall man, standing at well above six feet in height, and this often leads to him towering above those he encounters; a trait which he's not above using to allow him to exert control over diplomatic envoys by means of intimidation, an art he, as a former bandit leader and terrrorist is known to be intimately familiar with.

While a conflicted man indeed, Fuyuki has often been described as "chillingly handsome" by his various admirers. Possessing eyes the color of a moonless night, and just as cold along with pale skin and white hair, his features help perpetuate the image of snow, ice and winter to those who look directly at him, and much like his namesake - Fuyuki is treacherous, dangerous and often unpredictable. His facial features are sharp but defined, his bold features being his prominent jaw and valiantly-shaped eyebrows. His hard cut mouth, combined with his demeanour and cold eyes serve to mark his appearance in a chilling light.

Fuyuki's body is one lesser men would envy, for it epitomizes the strength, force and subtle elegance of the sea. Indeed, his physique has been cited as being almost flawless, to the degree that its often compared to that of a living statue; a masterpiece chiseled out from a block of ice by an ingenius craftsman enamored with his art. Fuyuki himself is aware of this, and is never above using it to afford himself an advantage if such an oppurtunity presents itself, considering it to be yet another weapon in his arsenal, and yet another tool to attain his goals if nessecary.

Fuyuki dresses in a loose-fitting kimono of a deep blue fabric, with threads of yellow sewn into the hem of the robe by a skilled hand. The kimono is long and the fabric that composes it is smooth and light to the touch, ensuring that the garment is of minimal hindrance in combat, because of the robes length and voluminous nature its a simple matter for Fuyuki to conceal objects inside it, however - Fuyuki never conceals ordinary Shinobi weaponry in it, considering common items like kunai, shuriken and katana to be beneath his worth; instead, the robe conceals numerous small vials created from ice. These water vials are extremely sturdy despite their fragile appearance, and their appearance is often likened to flawless glass, these vials are enhanced with Fuinjutsu to become capable of containing much greater quantities of water than what would be possible, with even one of these vials being noted to contain enough water to fill a large pond.

Curiously, Fuyuki is a man who enjoys wearing a very small amount of clothing, and beyond the kimono, he rarely wears anything more than traditional undergarments. Preferring the ease of movement afforded by minimal clothing, to the degree that he never wears shoes or any other form of garment which might potentially inhibit his movement.

Personality
Fuyuki is a product of the world he's lived in, and the way he's grown up and the manner of which he's been forced to face the world. Deprived of either a family or even a foreseeable future at the tender age of two Fuyuki was placed in one of the most damaging institutions imagineable, a large orphanage of other war orphans. While here, he was forced to grow up to become an adult far too quickly - he had to fight for every little piece of attention, every scrap of food and everything he would ever need, he was without an identity - a nameless orphan among dozens of others. Constantly fighting for attention, for the chance to be heard above the screams and groans of other children, over the course of the first month he spent in the orphanage Fuyuki had already grown intimately familiar with the prospect of death, he'd grown familiar with dire hunger and he had grown used to stealing and violence, as violence was something he had to resort to every single day simply to stay alive.

These events left deep scars in Fuyuki's psyche, and these are wounds that may never heal and they continued to haunt him even when he was discharged from the orphanage following an event which resulted in the death of several other children by his hand, due to a desperate awakening of his latent abilities as a Shinobi, and the full awakening of his elemental affinity of water. Having been recruited from the orphanage to become a bandit at a young age Fuyuki never acquired any friends, and deliberately ostracized himself from the community, friendship and social relations meant nothing to him at that point - all which mattered was power, the power nessecary to survive in the world, and as such he worked tirelessly to improve his abilities day and night, for to him there simply was no other way - power, success and survival were the only thing which held any relevance or meaning to the young boy.

His search for power eventually lead him to witness the destruction of a ship at sea, crushed by tremendous waves, its crew scattered across the vast ocean of the Land of Water. The massive tidal waves were brought about by a storm, and from that time on, the young Fuyuki began to associate the sea with overwhelming power - the kind of power that he himself so desperately sought in his quest for an identity, in his desire to be acknowledged by the very world who had so cruelly tossed him aside as a child. To him, the immense forces of the sea had to be what true power should look like, and this was something he strived to attain, remembering how the element of water had availed him once before - he decided his own destiny then and there, on the windy shores of Kirigakure. He would become the Mizukage - he would become the Mizukage, not for the desire to help his nation prosper - but in order to achieve immense power and prestige. His ambition being to assume the identity of the leader of the most powerful Shinobi nation in the world, he vowed to achieve his goal by any means nessecary, using it to fuel his own life and as his justification for existing.

His goal decided, Fuyuki knew that beyond simply attaining the power nessecary to qualify for such a position, he would need allies and military power, because he knew that due to his unremarkable background, the elders of Kirigakure would be highly unlikely to accept him even if he did qualify for the position, Fuyuki eventually wrested control over the entire bandit legion away from his masters - killing the men who had effectively raised him. By the age of elleven, Fuyuki had already become the leader of a massive group of bandits as criminals of all creeds flocked under his banner, intimidated and awestruck by his immense power. The fact that he was willing to go through with all of these horrible deeds even at such a young age showing just how severe his mental issues had become. Once Fuyuki had established a large enough base of fighters dedicated to his cause, he ordered each of his men to duel the bandit closest to them to the death, to ensure that his subordinates killed their empathic side and proved themselves to be the strongest within their creed - if he was unimpressed by the fighting skills of some fighters in particular he typically killed them to prove that weakness would not be tolerable within his group, frightening his men into training extremely hard to ensure their own survival. As tyrannical as these leadership methods were, Fuyuki was still respected by his men for how fairly he rewarded those who impressed him and helped further his cause - and he was stated as possessing a dark charisma.

Fuyuki's past has shaped him into a man of many unfulfilled needs, having never known parental love or anything resembling love aside from that of companionship Fuyuki finds himself desperately wanting everything that normal people take for granted, such as the idea of belonging somewhere, having a perceived identity or respect or family. These are all things that Fuyuki craves, but because of him never having been taught how to respond to these emotions he's grown to apply his own interprentation of them, and in matters of romance, companionship or politics Fuyuki is notorious for taking without giving anything back, becoming extremely possessive of things he's come to define as "his", whether this be lovers, friends, estate or wealth he's loath to let anything or anyone go, and if someone identified as "his" attempt to cut off relations he's been known to react very possessively.

Due to having grown up in such a terrible way, and forced to confront the difficulties of life before he was even remotely mature enough to know how to deal with them, Fuyuki is a man whose sense of empathy is almost non-existant, as to him there is noone and nothing more important than himself and the Land of Water as a whole - he's known to ruthlessly send trained Shinobi on suicide missions if it helps protect the interests of his village and nation and he forcefully quells any attempted resistance against him by threats of mass destruction and eradication, maintaining control and power through fear, a concept which Fuyuki considers equivalent to respect.

Despite his tyrannical ways of governing the Land of Water, and his ruthless demeanour, the people of his nation still begrudginly respect Fuyuki, for while he's a ruthless dictator who ensures that those who dare speak ill of him are executed; he's still noted to be a fair man, believing in rewarding those of his subjects who do well and help to further his goals, granting them wealth, power and influence in exchange for their undying loyalty to him. Beyond this, Fuyuki has also caused the Land of Water to prosper under his leadership, and has cleverly played upon the immense distrust and hate of Kekkei Genkai which orignated in the wake of the Fourth War to please the masses, making any such individual who possesses a Kekkei Genkai not approved by him an outlaw in the nation, along with putting a sizeable bounty on their heads. Dōjutsu users are especially targetted, with Fuyuki being willing to pay up to 60,000,000 of Ryō for the head of such an individual, users of the Sharingan have been given a 100,000,000 Ryō bounty on their head. In addition to this, Fuyuki has several Bingo Books which are freely handed out to the Shinobi of his nation, detailing several individuals which Fuyuki wants dead.

Abilities
As the defacto ruler of the Land of Water, including Kirigakure, Fuyuki possesses immense military and political power - having forcibly united the Land of Water through military might, political assassination, misinformation and the aid of powerful criminal organizations from all over the world, promising those very criminals sanctuary within the reformed Land of Water. Because of these events, Fuyuki not only has access to all the resources present in the Land of Water, but also possesses the combined might of hundreds of vicious criminals, missing-nin and assassins at his command.

Indeed, since arising to the position of Mizukage; and establishing himself as the sole ruler of the Land of Water by having the Water Daimyō and his family murdered shortly after having been officially acknowledged, Fuyuki has used this army of criminals to brutally subjugate those who would dare oppose his regime. With lesser towns and villages in the land of water having been decimated at a mere command from him, or less commonly - destroyed by his own hand to inspire terror and obedience within the land. After numerous exhibits of his immense power as a Shinobi, and the enormous military power he wields as the leader of a Hidden Village composed of some of the most bloodthirsty killers and criminals in Shinobi history - resistances were quelled remarkably fast.

Beyond his enormous influence and resources, Fuyuki is also recognized globally for his ruthless ways and his unstoppable ambition. Fuyuki isn't content with merely being the ruler of a country, instead being driven towards amassing even greater power in the Shinobi world, with his ultimate goal being to erase the existence of all other Shinobi countries altogether in order to ensure his supremacy, eventually seeking to attain something quite akin to world domination. Due to his unwavering faith in own abilities, willingness to go through with the most diabolical of schemes merely to ensure his nations continued "loyalty" and the brutal hunting games he arranges for those possessing Kekkei Genkai: Fuyuki is often described as the second coming of Yagura.

In addition to being the ruler of the Land of Water, Fuyuki has also had his forces invade neighbouring smaller countries and forcibly subjugate their population, with prime examples being the Land of Waves, Noodles and Honey. These countries are ruthlessly used to provide food, shelter and additional resources to Fuyuki and the Land of Water. With Fuyuki making sure to monopolize on the shipping business of the Land of Waves in much the same way that Gatō once did in the past, the residents of these smaller countries are divided up in colonies which are each ruled by one of Fuyuki's most trusted Jōnin. Other areas where Fuyuki has established colonies include Nagi Island to the south of Kirigakure - with the island currently being used as a training ground for new Shinobi.

After assuming office as both the Mizukage, and as the new self-proclaimed Daimyō of the Land of Water - one of Fuyuki's first actions were to appoint seven of the nine orphans whom had been introduced to a life of banditry at an early age, by the brigands who raided their orphanage many years ago to become the new Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. To help him govern the Land of Water, he assigned each of these Swordsmen a fief, or a large piece of land within the Land of Water, where they would reign supreme as lesser lords, with their own villages, mansions and riches; as Fuyuki understood that the best way to placate powerful individuals were to give them even more power and influence and before, a mindset he had derived from personal experience.

Chakra Prowess
Arguably the defining trait of his abilities as a Shinobi, Fuyuki is blessed with a degree of chakra control which is virtually unsurpassed within the known world. Even as a child, his chakra was already so developed that once he was placed in a position of dire stress, he subconciously drew upon his affinity of the element of water to project a powerful blast of water to wash away his assailants, a feat that while it greatly exhausted him, had no other detrimental effects on his health. Fuyuki, at the mere age of five had thus instinctively discovered that precipice which all other users of the water release have spent years trying to obtain. Namely the ability to use water style techniques without a nearby source of water, although the extent at which he could do that at such a young age was limited to techniques of little complexity.

After this event which worked as a catalyst to awaken his latent potential as a Shinobi; Fuyuki discovered that he couldn't easily practise his chakra control, as the standard means to increase his skills in the field, such as the Water Walking and the [and the Tree Climbing Practise were by and large far too minute to allow him to increase his already immense natural skill within the field, driven by his everchurning ambition and craving for power Fuyuki discovered a method to increase his abilities within the field.

This new practise involved using his water-natured chakra to influence natural bodies of water. The first step to this unique training procedure was to extend the reach of his chakra, by causing it to emanate from his body, most commonly by employing his palms as mediums to channel the energy through, although he later discovered how to accomplish the same even without the aid of his hands to direct the flow. Through this practise, Fuyuki would try to move and influence bodies of water he encountered during his travels with the bandits, frequently sitting on the shores of lakes, ponds or even oceans attempting to elicite some kind of response from the water - this proved extremely difficult, even for someone as skilled as himself, and in the beginning, even something as minute and inconsequential as causing ripples on the water surface required immense concentration and focus. By the age of thirteen however, Fuyuki could already create fairly large waves by pushing and pulling bodies of water into sustained walls of water, as well as forcibly calm fierce waves and manually divert waves away from the ship of the bandits, which helped him and his allies immensely whenever they crossed the treacherous waters of the Land of Water in search of other villages to raid. Now at the age of twenty-two, Fuyuki has all but mastered this concept and he's capable of conjuring forth huge tidal waves to drown entire villages, control massive bodies of water, all this while only employing water naturally present in the world - allowing him to perform feats which far outshine all other masters of the water release of his era, with barely any drain on his chakra.

However, in time, even this ingenius practise would be used less frequently, in order to give rise to Fuyuki's second path to power, impressed by the amount of progress he had made by following the previous approach, Fuyuki decided to build upon the foundation of what he had managed to accomplish thus far. The next step he devised was manipulating the flow of water-natured chakra, and through that manipulate the flow of water in nature - due to having spend almost a decade refining his chakra control to untold levels, and due to having properly laid a foundation, this proved entirely possible for Fuyuki and he soon learned how to manipulate the flow of water to form powerful whirlpools strong enough to devastate ships and drown their crew, as well as allowing him to forcibly quell such phenomena in nature at will, his ability to create whirlpools has only expanded over the years and today Fuyuki's power is reputedly great enough to allow him to easily sink a whole fleet of incoming ships without trouble. Other applications of his talents include being capable of manipulating and forming clouds - these clouds are then frequently employed to create catastrophes such as tornadoes, waterspouts and fierce hurricanes.