The Winter District is a minor nation located within the Land of Frost (霜の国, Shimo no Kuni), the district is also home to Shimogakure (霜隠れの里, Shimogakure no Sato, The Village Hidden in the Frost) and Yukigakure (雪隠れの里, Yukigakure no Sato, The Village Hidden in the Snow). Unlike most Minor Nations and even in the five great nations, the Winter District is home to two ninja villages and has thus been entrenched in a civil war between their villages. Due to the constant conflicts, this has left both villages with devastatingly low ninja military numbers, leaving them to employ outside forces so as to properly defend their respective territories. The Frost Daimyo, the leader of the minor nation, has helped the Reisui Clan in their efforts to reassert control back into the country. Assisting in bartering an alliance with the Land of Iron samurai to help protect and aid Shimo in their efforts to quell the rogue ninja and de-establish a criminal organization in the form of the Yuki village.
Hidden Villages[]
Shimogakure[]
The Winter District currently is home to both the Village Hidden in the Frost, Shimogakure and the Village Hidden in the Snow, Yukigakure. A situation not born out of convenience but negligence, heart break and revenge. While originally funded by the Frost Daimyo, he sent a sole Ninja and his clan along with others to seek out a place for them to establish a Hidden Village. Built at the base of multiple snowy peak mountains, and covered well by the fall of snow while being heavily guarded by multiple walls of ice covering the blind-spots of the village. Shimogakure has never been taken or breached since its inception, and thus has been rumored to have been impregnable. Once a bustling technology epicenter, taking on various projects for the Daimyo in order to advance the quality of life for all the Land of Frost, the civil war has thrust Shimo into semi civil unrest, forcing them to outsource to lands outside of the country in order to protect the places still ruled by the Daimyo. Shimogakure has been at war with Yukigakure for quite some time.
Yukigakure[]
After the death of the Second Shimokage, Yukigakure was born. Built using the Reisui Clan's personal funds and it was rumored that Kusagakure were helping them build while taking money under the table in exchange for an alliance and secrecy of Yukikage's movements. Because of this, the existence and reputation of this Hidden Village is largely unknown to the wider Shinobi Continent, allowing them to operate within the criminal underworld freely. The fleeing ninja of the former village braved the harsh tundra and effectively utilized their new settlement to their advantage, implementing a specialized weather jutsu to continuously cast the location of the village in a perpetual blizzard. The village is viewed as a criminal organization and an enemy to the Land of Frost, as declared by Daimyo, however very little efforts have been made to destabilize the village, including the fact that they have begun taking to tactics of guerilla warfare. the Yukigakure has been at war with Shimogakure and the Land of Frost for quite some time.
Akifuyu City[]
The capital city of the Winter District and the city where the Daimyo rules the country from. A bustling city that does see trade and relative commerce, the cold climate and under-developed infrastructure has prevented this city from being truly magnificent. The city once used to house ninja passing through either on mission or making their way out of the country, staying in the hotels, but now the city is now defensed by Samurai much like Shimogakure due to the lack of available ninja to spare within the country due to the civil war taking place in the frozen wastes.
Reisui Clan Ancestral Home[]
The Reisui Clan ancestral home is a castle located some leagues away from the Shimogakure village, hidden by a thick forest blanketed by snow. It can be noted that the weather around the area, although it is not far from the harsher weather surrounding the Hidden Village, the snow-falling around the castle is soft and light. This is due to the protection barrier that they have erected around the home for protective purposes, which also filters out the bad weather with much more bearable and sustainable conditions to be found on the inside. This spans some few kilometers out from the castle walls itself.
Trivia[]
⊚ Much like Shimo, there have only been three Daimyo to rule over the Land of Frost. None of them have ever gone to the Hidden Village, out of fear of ninjutsu and the cold weather. They have no problem however having them as bodyguards however.
⊚ The Winter District has always been known to be plagued with an everlasting winter and no one seems to now the cause or reason as to why there is always falling and perpetual snow.
⊚ With the number of Ice Release users there are within the country, as it seems to a given specialty, there can be cause for belief that some are descended from Yuki Clan members. Although the proficiency isn't as adept.