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[h3][center][b][u][i]Story[/i][/u][/b][/center][/h3]
It is currently a time of peace. A tense, volatile, very temporary peace. All five nations are in a state of cold war, wondering who will strike first. Other, smaller villages see the tension as opportunity to rise up and take over, and outside of the Shinobi cities, the overall economy is suffering badly. Civilians are restless, with crime and banditry constantly on the rise. In this climate of tension, where many are wondering which war will erupt first, many Genin students graduate and take their first steps into the turbulent shinobi world. Placed into Battalions containing between twenty and thirty members, where they will learn from multiple Jounin instructors alongside their fellow teammates.

Alongside the normal battalions, three have been set aside and put into a category of their own. With this new generation the Village of Konohagakure has formed a new program. The village needs a special force, groups to stand above and beyond the rank and file. Trying to obtain this, the ANBU program is born from these three Battalions, each filled with hand picked genin with either elite skill or potential. Battalions 1st, 2nd, and 3rd are to be the Elite units, specialist forces meant to handle on their own, missions that would require the force of four normal battalions at least. Each of these new units are being developed in different ways, Konoha looking to see which methods will become the standard development of Elite operatives. The genin thrust into these units have an even more turbulent road ahead of them than their peers.

[center][b][u][i]Current Events[/i][/u][/b][/center]

[b]June 3rd - Border Incident -[/b] Konoha has detected that Sunagakure and Kirigakure are both on the move into the southern area of the Country of Fire. Both groups have battle-ready forces and appear to be converging into one area. The 1st Battalion is dispatched to find out what is happening, and if needed, eliminate all hostiles. This is the Battalion's first major mission, two months into their training.

Kirigakure's View - A murderer and a thief has been found hiding within the Fire Country. Eight Months past, she had slain one of the seven swordsman, and stolen the Executioner's Blade. She must die, and the sword must be reclaimed. It is of no consequence if she is killed on the spot, but preferably she should be captured and brought back to the village for public torture and execution by the sword she stole.

Sunagakure's View - Chasing a missing-nin from their own village, Suna has received a tip-off that she was spotted fleeing towards the Land of Fire. They've deployed a team of shinobi to intercept the missing-nin with the supposed intent of arrest. The team is led by Lola Shigetsu, the Kazekage's personal bodyguard and sister of the missing-nin, whom they hope can talk down the criminal without casualties.

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[h3][center][b][u][i]Alternate Universe[/i][/u][/b][/center][/h3]
As this is an alternate universe roleplay, many aspects of the Naruto world will be changed, the most important being the history, and origin of chakra.

[b]All canon characters, unless specifically mentioned below, do not exist, nor have ever existed.[/b]

Konohagakure's current Hokage is the second to obtain the rank. 

Genjutsu has not been developed so will not be able to be used, even with Sharingan.

The Sharingan's abilities are limited in this roleplay. In particular, they do not gain access to the "Eye of Hypnotism" powers, and any linked Genjutsu. The "Eye of Insight" abilities do not automatically give enough information to copy others' abilities and jutsu. However, this can be trained through a large amount of effort and natural ability.
Sharingan can upgrade to Mangekyo, but will only recieve one single special ability chosen by the player [b]and approved[/b] by the thread leader. This does not have to be from the canon, and in fact, many of the canon abilities would be far too powerful to accept. Such as Kamui. You may come up with your own, unique Mangekyo ability to be discussed when the time comes.

Rinnegan does not exist.

Sage Chakra works differently than in canon. Rather than simply being a power boost, it gives a fully alternate set of abilities that one can not gain without nature chakra. While using one of these 'sage modes', the sage usually cuts off access to all of their non-sage techniques. Sage forms are powerful, but come with plenty of drawbacks, such as reduced mobility.

Tailed Beasts have a new ability when they are within a Jinchurikii host. By focusing their chakra, they can very partially manifest outside their host as a spiritual entity. Normally this serves extremely little practical purpose, with the abilities of the spirit being extremely limited. At most, it can lightly interact with small objects with some focus and effort. Most of the time, the Bijuu manifest out of boredom, in order to view the surrounding area, and interact with their host.

Kirigakure, The Mist, humps like rabbits. Due to the Bloody Mist's harsh nature and tendency to kill off a larger portion of their forces than their enemies, it was a wonder how they could possibly keep their own numbers up. Particularly when they eliminate at least half of their prospective genin in deadly graduation tests. It was thought about quite a bit as to how they could sustain themselves, and the answer ended up being quite simple. There are a [b]lot[/b] of babies and prospective genin, so eliminating half of them is of little consequence, and if anything, is population control. Therefore, in addition to being very brutal and likely to kill off members at the drop of a hat, the citizens of Kirigakure are very, very engaged in sex in order to keep up their forces. And fun. Can't forget fun.

Changes to Seven Swordsman Swords - Most of the Swords of the Mist are being changed to make them all truly unique and powerful, without some being obviously more desirable than the others.

[i]Hiramekarei (Twinsword) : [/i] No changes.

[i]Kabutowari (Helm Splitter) : [/i] Changed from a hammer and axe into a large sword with a weighted end, being both a twohanded blade and a warhammer in one. It has the power and durability to split through nearly anything in its way. The sword is partially elemented towards earth, and the bladed portion easily splits earth and stone on contact, going through like a hot knife and butter. Metal is often merely smashed through with ease. [url=http://i.imgur.com/3d6NbGs.png][u][i]Here is a poorly drawn MS Paint representation I made.[/i][/u][/url] 

[i]Kiba (Fangs) : [/i] The shape of the swords are changed to be [url=https://i.imgur.com/jn4uPwM.png]Hook Swords[/url]. They no longer have the ability to be used without being held, and also have had their effects with lightning chakra reduced. This is due to them effectively equaling an entire lightning-specialized [b]character[/b] in power by themselves, not to mention the user's own abilities. While they have been debuffed, their base abilities of highly amplifying lightning techniques remains, and they can still conduct natural electricity with amplified effect.

[i]Kubikiribocho (Executioner's Blade) : [/i] The blood-absorbing ability of the Executioner's Blade is far improved over simply repairing the sword. Now, absorbing blood temporarily increases the size of the sword, with no clear limits in how large the sword can become. The user only feels the size increase at 1/4th the ratio in weight, while the swings keep all of the impact for the recieving end. Eventually the sword will still become too large to lift, but it is at a much lower rate than what would be expected.
Over time, when not drinking in the blood of victims, the blade slowly reverts back to its original size.

[i]Nuibari (Needle) : [/i] The Needle gains actual abilities that don't require the user to already have stabbed and pierced through multiple opponents at a time. The tip of the needle can shoot out of the rest of the body, controlled in flight direction by the user's chakra. At the back of the projectile is sharpened wire, thread, attached and connected to the rest of the sword. While the wire cannot be controlled by the user's chakra, the user can maneuver the needle in such a way as to wrap around, slice, or trap an opponent with the wire.
The tip of the needle also creates a 'mark' at any place it pierces even the slightest bit. The user can then hurl the sword, and like a javelin it will immediately launch itself towards its mark in order to pierce the object or opponent. At any point during the launch, the user may zip the sword back to them by pulling on the thread they hold.

[i]Samehada (Sharkskin) : [/i] Samehada keeps all of its abilities except the ability to fuse with the wielder and turn them into a shark-like form. The healing and regenerative abilities bestowed upon the user are also much more limited. While wounds will heal much faster than normal, even mending in the course of a fight, regrowing limbs will take a very large amount of time, and should the wielder get a fatal blow, most of the time it will not be healed in time and the user will perish. Samehada cannot bring a dead user back to life through regeneration, should a body remain after a deadly blow such as a decapitation.

[i]Shibuki (Splash) : [/i] The explosive tags of this sword now line the blade. Swings of the weapon can be chosen to cause explosions, and any direct contact with the blade will apply tags to whatever was hit, and two seconds later will explode, allowing the wielder a short window of time to get out of the way.

[u][b][i]List of Canon Characters[/i][/b][/u]
[i]Ichiraku -[/i] Ichiraku Ramen Shop is open and ran by Ichiraku himself along with his daughter, many years before he is officially supposed to exist.

[i]Orochimaru -[/i] Orochimaru is a powerful enemy force. Hunted down as a criminal in Konohagakure for his crimes against humanity, he hides himself within his own founded Village of Sound. His hatred for Konoha is increased tenfold, as he desires it reduced to a smoldering crater. Intelligent enough to not attack it directly, he works from the shadows towards the village's demise.

[h3][center][b][u][i]Alternate Timeline and Chakra Origin[/i][/u][/b][/center][/h3]
The origin of chakra is simply that it has always been there. A spiritual energy within all life that connects all beings together. Most just were not aware of its existence. Though some people could naturally tap into this source of power much more easily than others, performing extraordinary physical feats. One of these few people was able to tap into it enough so easily that he could actually tell that it wasn't just his own natural body. There was energy, and he could wield it. The man spent many years on his own, learning specifically how he could use it, and trying to discover where it came from. While much of chakra is still not fully understood, he learned how he could use it fully at will whenever he wished, and upon returning to society, taught his knowledge to others.

At first chakra was only used for physical feats. Such as increasing one's strength or speed. Jumping to heights which would normally be impossible. Martial Artists and Samurai quickly learned how to add chakra to their fighting styles, making Taijutsu to be the first combat techniques involving chakra.

A couple generations passed by with this newfound power being used for physical feats, before some others began experimenting with the concept of strengthening life itself. Chakra could make people stronger, so maybe it could help those who were injured or feeble. The practice eventually became full medical jutsu, where doctors could help heal accidental injuries, or use chakra to aid in the cure for diseases.

With the medical advancements of chakra, training for the techniques became a lot more widespread quickly, as it was discovered that there were more uses than simply amplifying one's own body. Doctors and healers all over the world learned to use these techniques, saving many lives. However, with the discovery that chakra could be further manipulated, and the knowledge spreading like wildfire, it naturally did not take long at all after that for chakra to be weaponized.

Most Samurai only let chakra amplify their swordsmanship and physical fighting ability. But many others who were less bound by honor, along with being less stubborn, discovered ways to make chakra change into other forms of energy such as fire and lightning. They learned how to manipulate wind, water, and even the earth itself. This greatly aided the small clans of shinobi that fought alongside, and against the shoguns. Turning them from a small special operations force, into a destructive force on the battlefield. Within a few years of each other, five shinobi factions rose to great power, being mainstays on the battlefield alongside the daimyos they had pledged themselves to.

War continued for years, before finally the daimyos of the land collectively settled on peace between each other, all settling on the land they had and naming them as different countries. The shinobi villages still had many hostilities with each other however, as their conflicts had become very personal, and dangerous during the wars. Each had their own interests to protect, and they ended up fighting amongst each other for nearly a decade, until something united them.

The Juubi, a powerful demon which eclipsed mountains, had emerged out of the waters of Ushiogakure, and began destroying everything in its path. It took the collective power of the samurai, and five shinobi villages in alliance to defeat it. And even then, they could not kill the creature. The only choice they had was to split it's chakra into nine different parts, creating other monsters that were still powerful and destructive, but could be managed by the villages, if only barely. Through continued alliance, the Shinobi villages discovered ways to keep the tailed beasts prisoner. Years later, evolving the method into sealing them into living hosts. Both for their own protection, and getting themselves a new weapon.

The alliance between the Shinobi villages lasted for another fifteen years, before it finally disbanded. Even with an official disbandment, and the right to go to war, the shinobi have not moved to fight yet. Their fights had been in the past, but the wounds were still not fully healed. Mothers still have dead children, and children, now adults, have parents who had been slain. There is no war in the nation's current state. But who knows how long that will last. It has been two years since the disbandment of the alliance, and tensions are growing more and more.

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[center][i][u][b][h3]World Map[/h3][/b][/u][/i]
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