Great War Chronicles [Fishing Watses, Soul Country]

[Taiga]

I am Hatakeyama Genji, the chronicler of Kumogakure. Twelfth in my line, apprentice to Mifune Gari, it is my duty to both preserver and tell the tales of our village as close as possible to how they happened. At times this has led me on magnificent journeys where I was lucky to watch history unfold from the backs of all our heroes and villains. Anyhow- today I believe I will tell you children the story of the Fishing Wastes; and how the might of Kumogakure purified a land once thought unlivable.

It's a scary tale, so do be ready my sons and daughters of lightning.

From wastes to plentiful bounties
In the early 20's the great war came. There was no defining moment or event that started the great war but before we all knew it countries across the world were invading each other; forcing the tides of war... While many of us in Kumogakure attribute this to the ripple effects of Kirigakure's military action on Soul Country, up until the end of the war Soul Country stayed silent... but that is another story children.

Lightning Country was quite unsure of how to proceed at the onset of the war however it was clear our enemies, Iwagakure and Kirigakure, would grow and push for conquest. While we had our aspiration of becoming a large empire, Lord Ninth feared this would lead to the subjugation of locals to the Empire; something our Emperor and Raikage highly disapproved of at the beginning of the war.

This complicated things for the Land of Lightning... however it was eventually decided through talks with allies that stopping the advance of Kirigakure forces in the northeast was of the utmost importance. With this in mind, forces mobilized to Soul Country and the Fishing Wastes; the Raikage hoping to establish the base for the northeastern expanse in the wastes. The wastes were famed for beasts that had terrorized and killed many of the civilians in the area; to a point where no one really lived there... and fisherman just made expeditions at safe times of year.

Lord Ninth was confident that the beasts may have been a threat to the fishermen but that one of the leading military forces of the world, Kumogakure, would be able to crush them. Still, the day it happened... was a day that proved to be harder than Lord Ninth or the 5 regent forces could ever have imagined.

As the Sun set over the wastes, the Raikage sat at his desk at the camp viewing the world map. Things had been crazy to the west; tumultuous and though the Great War had creeped in under all their noses, before they knew it the map was already being realigned. Taking a pause he looked up only to notice a young Chuunin bowed before him.

"My lord, the scouting parties have not returned." the Chuunin reported before the Raikage gestured him to rise. It is said the Raikage merely responded.

"And so it begins."

With knowledge of the night of living hell; the Kumogakure forces had set traps and prepared for months making fortified points throughout the desolate landscape. Prepared for the worst, with the scouts failing to respond in, it meant that they faced two options. One, an enemy nation had moved on the land or two, the beasts of legends would rise- proving it was fact not just fishermans tales. The Raikage scratched his beard as his mind raced over rich- only to hear a guttural screech confirming it was in fact the beasts.

Rushing out of the tent monsters were strewn all over. The Raikage clicked his teeth as his men engaged the animals.

"Genjutsu specialists I want you locking down beasts; Taijutsu specialists I want you providing cover and tanking; Ninjutsu set traps, explode things, kill them from afar." the Raikage called out as lightning sprang forth around his body. I myself was right of him- yet to this day I do not understand what happened.

The Raikage moved faster than our eyes could see- blurs of lightning in every direction as beast were bisected, beheaded, torn to shreds. And when he didn't move the lightning of his body gracefully flew in every direction with the flicks of his fingers and methodical movements of his body.

It was clear the legend of the ninth was true in every way; Even the ground graced by his holy lightning became special- his chakra seeping into it and allowing him to kill beasts before they even rose. Before long, the base was cleared and the camp was holding. Wave after wave would come and our shinobi would triumph-

The Raikage going to the other few outposts we had planted. At first we took causalities; but as time went on the unintelligent beasts became no match for the strategy, skill, and jutsu of shinobi. As the tides turned in our favor we went from the hunted to the hunters; the Raikage and groups of sensors seeking out and destroying the beasts wherever possible.

In the end there was indeed loss on our sides; but by the time dawn had come not a single beast was left alive.

They say that on this night the beasts were eradicated; at least for the near future. Perhaps eggs or something lay dormant, waiting, perhaps they repopulate, but to this day and the rest of the war the beasts never showed again...

Lightning purified the land that day and the Fishing Wastes became the first territory of the new Lightning Empire. For the rest of the war the Fishing Wastes would be called "Nakajima Landing" and it would become a port and landing port into the new continent, ships and birds of prey constantly coming its way as soldiers made their way to their next battlefield.

By the end of the war; it would be established as a dual SkyGuard Roost and Naval base with military fortification... the key point of the continent for Kumogakure.

[Taiga]

The tragedy of Soul Country, my children, is the greatest shame of our generation.

Soul Country was once a territory our country and our allies put our lives on the line to protect; and in the beginning of the war we were indeed its protectors... no one truly understands what occurred on the fortnight which Soul fell but all can agree that there is immense guilt in our actions as a nation; something we seek to repent for as long as we will exist.

"Remember Soul"

Ah, remember it well my children.

Our defensive occupation had lead to fear in the people of Soul with many believing we would take over utilizing our shinobi. Politics were not the forte of the commander stationed there and with the Raikage occupied elsewhere, things were... tense. The commander was the now infamous and exiled Tada Banri.

Many theories to what happened exist but the one Lord Ninth has approved is a narrative that, based on evidence, we believe most accurate. Sources tell us the Black Ops under orders of Lord Banri had committed an assassination of a Soul Country official sparking a bloody battle... one in which Black Ops forces and Lord Banri used unequal force and chakra bombs to decimate the cities and civic centers of Soul crushing the society beneath them.

Not much is discussed but eventually the Raikage landed at Soul with other forces and disposed of Lord Banri forces- they say the fight between Lord Banri and Lord Ninth himself was an incredible fight that normal shinobi had no chance of understanding or even following... but in the end Lord Ninth proved victorious, and once and for all executed Lord Banri, left with no other recourse.

For the rest of the war trials occurred and Soul Country was built up alongside its survivors- till eventually it would become a military fortified city dedicated to World Peacekeeping.

We must never forget what our forces, under the wrong men, are capable of.

[Taiga]

While Banri was committing his atrocities the Raikage and the whole force of Kumogakure had deployed to shard country. Black Ops and Sky Guard scouting had found an immense source of minerals and also a civilization cut off and stuck beneath the mountains.