Kirigakure

Kirigakure (霧隠れの里, Kirigakure no Sato; Literally meaning "Village Hidden in the Mist") is located in the Land of Water. As one of the five great ninja villages, Kirigakure has a Kage as its leader known as the Mizukage. There have been five Mizukage, the current one being Ranketsu. An unusually high number of missing-nin seem to originate from this village. A unique classification of ninja known as hunter-nin are specifically tasked with eliminating these defectors.

Kirigakure's architecture is composed of several cylindrical buildings, with the Mizukage's palace being the widest and the largest. Like its name, the village is surrounded by a thick mist, with several mountains in the background, making it difficult to find by foreigners.

History
Little of Kirigakure's early history is known. The village is not known to have participated in any of the ninja wars. Konoha ninja, however, consistently praise Kirigakure's military. Akatsuki is rumored to have been created in Kirigakure, though no known evidence for the rumor exists. Other villages remain suspicious of Kirigakure anyway.

Kirigakure had four tailed beasts in its possession: the [Two-Tailed Monster Cat]], the Three-Tailed Giant Turtle, the Five-Tailed Dolphin Horse and the Six-Tailed Slug.

Kirigakure ANBU
The ANBU take orders directly from the Kage in which they perform special high-level missions, such as assassinations, torture, tracking, surveillance, and missions requiring specially trained ninja. They also protect the village from exceptional threats, conduct high-risk missions into enemy territory, and deal with extremely strong ninja as they work in teams formed to the requirements of the mission, ensuring maximum success. Team leadership and hierarchy seem to be based on merit and experience. The leaders of the teams are called squad leaders (分隊長, Buntaichō), a position held in high regards.

The ANBU wear porcelain animal masks in order to distinguish themselves from normal shinobi and to conceal their identities. They also have standard uniforms consisting of black and gray armor, metal arm guards, and a signature spiral tattoo on their shoulder (left shoulder for male ANBU members, and right shoulder for female ANBU members, to determine gender between the ANBU members). Some ANBU wear black cloaks over their standard uniforms, and squad leaders may wear white cloaks. All ANBU carry katana, which are usually strapped to their backs.

Trivia

 * The second fanbook gives Kirigakure a population size of two out of five stars, a military strength of three out of five stars, and an economic strength of two out of five stars.
 * Kirigakure does not seem to have a ninja registration system.
 * The village's name shares the surname of the famous fictional ninja, Kirigakure Saizō.
 * A trademark technique of this village is the Hidden Mist Technique, which is also the namesake of the village.

Far away off the coast of the general mainland lies a mysterious collection of islands, shrouded in an eerie, permanent mist; this is Kirigakure no Sato. The ninja here have an impressive reputation of being fearless, cunning, and strong beyond all measure. With their affinity to water, many of the shinobi utilize Suiton techniques, although some have been known to exhibit icy abilities associated with the Hyouton kekkei genkai.

Due to being so far away from the mainland, Kirigakure is often a tight-nit community in which many of the citizens help and support one another. Although Kirigakure is no longer the "Village of the Bloody Mist", the shinobi are no less powerful, or ruthless, than times past. We are adept in both skill and physical prowess, with the ability to adapt to situations as fluidly as the water around us. In Kirigakure, there lays the Four Legendary Shinobi; also known as the Yonnin. Similar to the Sannin of Konohagakure, these four shinobi displayed the utmost courage and strength in times of desperation, and have been the most loyal of all Kirigakure nin.

Uniform The ANBU wear porcelain animal masks in order to distinguish themselves from normal shinobi and to conceal their identities. They also have standard uniforms consisting of black and gray armor, metal arm guards, and a signature spiral tattoo on their shoulder (left shoulder for male ANBU members, and right shoulder for female ANBU members, to determine gender between the ANBU members). Some ANBU wear black cloaks over their standard uniforms, and squad leaders may wear white cloaks. All ANBU carry katana, which are usually strapped to their backs.