Chapter 6 of 12
Hierarchy: from genin to Kage
Ranks, attire, missions flowing down the ranks, the notice board and the diplomacy of the Kage.
You can tell a rank at a glance
Every village has the same ladder: Genin → Chūnin → Jōnin → Kage. You wear your rank — in your village's colors — and under your name everyone sees your title, e.g. "Jōnin of Konoha".
Rank attire can't be forged or bought. The village issues it on promotion, and whoever loses a rank takes off the higher one's attire.
Genin
Everyone starts as a genin. The sign — the hitai-ate, a protector engraved with the village symbol: a leaf, the Mist, the Sand's hourglass, a cloud or a rock.
- takes missions from the notice board, alone or in a team;
- trains, gathers, works for craftsmen;
- doesn't post missions and promotes no one.
Chūnin
A shinobi the village trusts with people. Wears the chūnin vest in the village colors (olive in Konoha, gray-blue in Kiri, sandy in Suna, pale in Kumo, brick-red in Iwa) with one stripe on the shoulder.
- posts missions for genin — they go on the board once a jōnin or the Kage approves them;
- leads teams;
- the village picks its gate guards from the chūnin.
Jōnin
A veteran who leads and teaches. A darker vest with shoulder guards and two stripes on the shoulder. The Academy sensei are jōnin too.
- posts missions for genin and chūnin;
- approves chūnin missions;
- can take a mission from the Kage and hand part of it on — out of its reward, with no approval needed.
Kage
The leader of the village — one per village: the Hokage (Konoha, red), the Mizukage (Kiri, blue), the Kazekage (Suna, green), the Raikage (Kumo, gold), the Tsuchikage (Iwa, brown). Wears a kasa with the sign of the element and a white cloak in the village color.
- promotes and demotes the shinobi of their village — even those who are offline;
- can hand the title on — and becomes a jōnin then;
- their missions go on the board straight away;
- decides on war, peace and alliances.
Who's Kage right now? See the server status.
The notice board and missions
In the Kage tower and the academy of every hidden village hangs a notice board. You have to stand by it.
Missions flow downwards: Kage → jōnin → chūnin → genin. The reward leaves the poster's purse straight away, and once the mission is done it's split evenly among the team (up to six people). The poster or someone of higher rank confirms it's done. Rejected and withdrawn missions give the ryō back.
The board also holds small notices from townsfolk — work for every trade — and the wanted list of murderers.
War and peace
Every pair of villages lives in alliance, neutrality or war. A Kage declares war alone; peace and alliance must be accepted by the other village's Kage (the offer waits a day).
Shinobi of villages at war see each other in orange and fight without penalty — looting each other's bodies too. Guards chase them even inside the village. Allies are green.
