Ninja Bathin' Redux

“

Yomei has a missive from the Far East with your name on it.

— In-game description

Steps

Yomei greets you upon arrival, and eagerly hands you a letter. It would appear that Oboro and Jacke have safely arrived on Hingan shores, and that their investigation into the the stolen scroll has turned up some promising leads. Your shinobi friend and master bids you join him in Kugane to continue the search. After disembarking, seek out Oboro in the alley behind Pier #2.

Oboro relates to you all that he and Jacke have learned. The theft of the scroll was apparently the work of the Garnet League, a band of masterless samurai who turned to banditry after having fled the battlefield in dishonor during the Doman uprising. Easily recognizable by their blood-red garb and rough demeanor, they sojourn in Kugane of late. At Oboro's behest, spy upon them from the shadows of the Shiokaze Hostelry and the Rakuza District and see what knowledge you might glean of their plans, and of the scroll's current whereabouts.

Eavesdropping upon the Garnet League men, you manage to learn that they were hired to retrieve the scroll from an imperial storehouse by a Hingan client whose identity is not immediately evident. You also succeed in gathering more information on the Garnet League itself─namely, that it is led by one Zakuro Brightblood, a samurai feared for both her prowess with the blade and her nigh-legendary temper. Oboro and Jacke will doubtless be keen to hear all you have learned.

You and your companions share what you have learned, when you are joined by V'kebbe and Underfoot, who have been summoned to Kugane by Jacke to assist in the recovery of the scroll. Piecing together random bits of information, Captain Jacke devises a convoluted scheme to recover the scroll that will involve a high-wire act and imitiation bird droppings, among other curious elements. With no better course of action coming immediately to mind, tasks are delegated amongst your party, and you prepare to move into action.

You carry out Jacke's creative plan to perfection, and send Zakuro running to the baths in utter horror. Infiltrate the Bokairo, and search for the scroll in the changing baskets while a somewhat-unwilling Oboro and Jacke keep Zakuro occupied with their manly wiles.

You search the baskets by the entrance to the baths, but the scroll is nowhere to be seen. Mayhap there is somewhere you haven't yet looked?

You search another set of baskets, but to no avail. Wherever could Zakuro have hidden the scroll?

You search the baskets in the innermost chamber of the bathhouse, where you successfully recover the scroll with Zakuro none the wiser. Make haste back to the alley and share the news of your success with your friends.

Oboro and Jacke rejoice at the success of the mission. The shinobi's mood, however, darkens considerably upon seeing what the scroll actually is─a forbidden summoning mudra and ancient treasure of his village that went missing in the Garlean invasion of twenty-five years past. It would seem that the scroll slept untouched in an imperial vault until it was stolen by Zakuro and her minions at the behest of their mysterious client. As Oboro ponders who outside his village might have knowledge of the scroll, Karasu Redbeak appears in a puff of smoke, revealing that he was the one pulling the strings behind the operation on behalf of his new master, and threatening physical harm to Tsubame, V'kebbe, and Underfoot─who he has captured in the meantime─if you do not return the scroll to him. Issuing an enigmatic warning of some challenge to come, he disappears as quickly as he came, leaving you and your companions at an utter loss. Continue to hone your skill in the art of ninjutsu, that you may be ready for whatever deadly game the crow has in store for you.
- ※The next ninja quest will be available from Oboro upon reaching level 65.