Kirigakure “Kiri” Akiyama was born and raised in Danzo‘s Temple, the product of two clan members who fell in love and became married in a traditional clan wedding. Being born into the Iga Clan, Kiri benefited from grooming at a very early age to be a ninja. All of the skills, technology and practices the Iga Clan had developed was at Kiri’s disposal. Everything he knew in life from birth revolved around being a shinobi. All of his friends, his parents, his teachers – all were members of the Iga Clan. Kiri was a rare case in that as he grew older, it was the outside world he needed to be familiarized with as opposed to his peers that all came from the harsh streets of New Japan and Platinum City. However, this made ninjutsu second nature to him and helped him excel at it.
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Kiri has been trained in the art of ninjutsu and is proficient in several martial arts disciplines. He is an expert swordsman and a master of the battle spear. His espionage skills are second to none.
From the time he was a toddler, Kiri underwent intensive traditional training. Every part of his body was molded into a weapon. Each aspect of being a ninja was implemented into his regime, from combat to acting to alchemy and psychology; there was nothing that Kiri did not study. His whole life was dedicated to the clan and its progression. Often, he would be looked upon by his peers as being a teacher’s pet. This was not the case though. It was difficult for the other kids, who were all orphaned or homeless for their entire lives before coming into the Iga Clan, to relate to what it was like to be raised as an Iga child of old. He did not purposely do anything to incur favor with his elders; the fact is he simply WAS a better ninja in training because it is the only life he knew. Eventually, the jealousy amongst his peers would subside as they all grew older. Kiri’s greatness could not be denied, and he would come to be revered as opposed to hated.
Kiri’s savant status saw him become one of the brightest young talents in the history of the Iga. He had a phenomenal understanding of human psychology and behavior. His acting skills were also very advanced, allowing him to become a master infiltrator. As Kiri grew older and his size and physical abilities increased, his strength, speed and agility improved as well, making him well-rounded. His weapon of choice was the spear, and after mastering this, he became a complete ninja.
The supreme master Danzo saw the original Iga Clan ninjas from the old country in him; Kiri’s origins mirrored his own. And for this reason, Kiri was entrusted with solo missions by the time he was 13. He continued to excel and at the age of 19, Kiri became a team leader. It was at this time that he was ordered by Danzo to bring a city council member down.
For days, Kiri and his ninja team observed the city council member. Unlike the other two that Enzo and Kai assassinated, this politician was not laying low or hiding at home with his wife and kids. Therefore, Kiri and his team decided to utilize infiltration tactics as opposed to an assassination.
They duplicated Platinum City Hall credentials, gaining them access to much of the building. They stealthily broke into the politician’s offices and placed a virus on all his computers to access his files. They also planted cameras with microphones in his main office. Kiri did such a phenomenal job at infiltrating the city council member’s circle, the politician himself even shared a conversation with Kiri – whom he believed to be a representative of the New Japan Cultural District – and was convinced to allocate $250,000 to the renovation of New Japan’s historic “Land of the Sun Park”. Meanwhile, the city council member continued his routine public appearances, telling any and every media outlet that would listen how he was not afraid of the thugs trying to overrun Platinum City, and he was standing up to the tyranny of the crime bosses he was certain were behind the assassinations and Smash and Grab bank robberies. The city council member never missed an opportunity to talk tough, either, going on every tv show and news program promising to be the harbinger of pain and justice to the enemies of Platinum City. He was often highly critical of Mayor Gemini DeLisi as well, blaming him for all of the chaos and murder taking place in the city, saying the Mayor was more concerned with being a global celebrity through his office as opposed to concerning himself with the welfare of his people and his city. This, naturally, infuriated ruthless businessman Edgar Lockhart who began pressuring Daichi Matsuzaki (the Yakuza boss through which he’d found Danzo) to reach out to the Iga Clan and have the outspoken politician taken down immediately. Daichi reassured Edgar of the Iga Clan’s abilities, and was confident they would take care of everything.
After their observation was complete, Kiri began leaking his print, audio, photo and video findings from infiltrating the city council member’s life. The same media outlets that were building up everything about the politician because of his brash, brave persona were doing just as much to tear him down once they became privy to the truth. The city council member was caught red-handed on numerous financial and personal transgressions. Documents from sealed, secret files showed the politician accepted contributions from corporations that he used to buy votes. Photos showed he regularly had wild parties with unscrupulous individuals and drugs he purchased from noted druglord Priceless “Spliff” Perrineau. Video also revealed the married politician had an on-going inappropriate relationship with one of his secretaries. This damning evidence tore the politician’s family apart and forced him to resign from office. He was a broken man, and immediately faded into obscurity as he left Platinum City to never return. His replacement was immediately appointed by Mayor Gemini DeLisi, a selection naturally approved by Edgar Lockhart.
And once again, the proficiency and excellence of the Iga Clan saw them succeed.