Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist

The is an organization consisting of only the greatest blade-wielding shinobi that Kirigakure can produce. There can only be seven members at a time, hence the name. Four members are currently known, though the third, Raiga, only appears in the anime. Three of them are missing-nin.

History
The members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were the people who came from the Bloody Mist's graduation exams with the greatest battle skills. However, the members also had a great lust for power. This led many of them to defect and become missing-nin. Kisame Hoshigaki was the first to abandon Kiri and joined Akatsuki. Zabuza Momochi would later follow him after a failed coup d'etat and assassination attempt on the Mizukage. Before leaving, he encountered a boy named Haku with a unique ice kekkei genkai and took the boy with him, as well as the Demon Brothers: Gouzu and Meizu. It hasn't been confirmed when Raiga Kurosuki left Kiri, but it was around the same time when he discovered a boy named Ranmaru who ended up having a similar relationship with Raiga to that of Zabuza and Haku. Ranmaru also had a special dojutsu which Raiga used for his own purposes, furthering their relationship to that of Haku and Zabuza's.

The Hozuki brothers, Mangetsu and Suigetsu, both trained with the intention of joining the Seven Ninja Swordsmen together, their ambitions were cut short when Mangetsu died and Suigetsu got captured by Orochimaru. Suigetsu has since taken an interest in collecting all of the swords of the Seven Swordsmen for himself.

Known Members

 * Zabuza Momochi, (defected with Haku, Gozu, and Meizu; later joined the Gato Corporation; deceased)
 * Kisame Hoshigaki, (defected; joined Akatsuki)
 * Chōjūrō
 * Raiga Kurosuki, (defected; founded the Kurosuki Family; deceased)

Known swords

 * - Giant knife with a butcher-knife-like appearance, the user can use the hole on the blade to grab an opponent's head and decapitate them; hence the name. Has a detachable handle to make it easier to carry around (formerly owned by Zabuza, later retrieved by Suigetsu).
 * - Has the appearance of a giant knife covered in shark scales. It also has the ability to "eat" chakra. Unlike other swords, it cuts ribbons of flesh off of foes just like shark's skin, another courtesy of the name. Spikes jut out of the handle when anyone other than the rightful owner tries to pick it up (currently owned by Kisame).
 * - Twin pikes that resemble dragon fangs. The user can use the pikes to channel lightning release techniques and they can also conduct lightning as well (formerly owned by Raiga, currently at the bottom of a river in the Land of Rivers after Raiga killed himself).

Trivia

 * It seems to be tradition for the members, and aspiring members, of the Seven Swordsmen to have sharpened teeth
 * The Seven Swordsmen seems to be based on Akira Kurosawa's film Seven Samurai