You're surely familiar with the story of the Sage. The origin of the Tailed Beasts and the Shinobi way. You must be equally aware of the war and conflict that engulfed the land both before and after the formation of the Hidden Villages. This world has experienced Shinobi World War three times to this point, and the third was the bloodiest. Informally known as the War of the Frost, as the primary battleground was the small stretch of land it encompassed, the blood drenched and corpse strewn landscape spoke volumes of the nature of the conflict. The latest mounds of bodies hadn't even been cleared away by the time armies from each major faction in the conflict appeared on the battlefield. There, they were about to fight a battle that would decide the fate of the nations for half a century to come.

Just not the way they had expected.

For three straight days, the fighting escalated on the plains of the Frost Country. It had gotten to the point where the piles of bodies were an obstacle to any advance on the field. On one small patch of land, in between the dead and the ongoing fighters, a group of exhausted Shinobi chanced upon each other. They were a multi-national bunch, of varying ranks, ages, and genders, but the one trait they shared in common was their lack of will to carry on. And so they simply sat down, right there, in the midst of the battle. Gradually, the perplexing sight of people sitting down wantonly on the battleground began to attract attention. Surprisingly no one took advantage of their vulnerability, and instead approached for the sake of simply asking what they were doing. Reactions varied from disbelief, laughter, and pure outrage, but as this went on, more and more people decided to join them, simply sitting there, laying their weapons down. After some time, one voice spoke up from the middle of the ever growing crowd.

"What do you all say we bring an end to this?"

The Shinobi world's leaders would all later receive ultimatums from their armies, demanding an immediate end to hostilities. Once again, their responses vacilitated wildly, but in the end, even the most hardline of leaders capitulated. Given the concentration of forces in the Land of Frost, the fear that they might form a new faction and turn on their masters was definitely on people's minds. But with the declaration of an unconditional white peace, the Shinobi from all over the world returned to their villages without an issue.

But this wasn't the end. Their goal was achieved, but the ninja who gathered together on that day remained in touch. Only a few years after the declaration of peace, a summit was called. Not one of leadership, but of effectively anyone that desired to discuss the solidification of peace. Essentially, it was a meeting of those who had participated in the Frost campaign, but with the addition of a few others. None of the Kage participated, however. When the talks began, they were largely unstructured, and it was rather chaotic, especially due to the number of people there. Eventually, an agreement was reached; the Shinobi gathered there would form the basis for an international organization. One that agreed to assist each other in avoiding war and developing the nations peacefully. They would all return to their villages and continue to act as loyal servants. But they would always remember to act in unison when the threat of war hung over their heads.

This organisation they named "Shinobi International".

At the head of this organisation was a man called Masayuki Taira. He was amongst the first that stopped fighting in the Frost, and he was the one that asked them all to work together to end the war. He represented the group when it encountered the first challenges to it's existence. The fact they had organised themselves into some new group had flared up suspicions that they had designs on power for themselves yet again, but Masayuki Taira hadn't brought peace to the nations just to end up fighting anyone now. After a long period of negotiation, the leaders of the villages agreed to allow this new organisation to exist unhindered under the promise of every member of the group working to develop all the villages equally. With that out of the way, the International got to work.

It has been 50 years since the founding of the International. Their existence has become an accepted fact in the nations. They alone are trusted to travel between countries so as to offer mutual aid to all. Under their supervision, the notion of war has become a tall tale that old men tell their grandchildren to scare them straight. And the man credited with this period of peace, Masayuki Taira, is dead. He passed away in his sleep not long ago, and his funeral is to be held soon. Though this means the end of an era, most are not truly concerned; the International is still strong, and the system they put in place will continue regardless of the loss of their leader. It seems likely that the peace will continue for years yet to come.

Hopefully...