Forbidden Knowledge
The assault on the Crane continued. Having fallen back all the way to the Asahina temples, the Crane and Phoenix armies were met by an army of Naga led by Mirumoto Daini and Doji Hoturi, now fully recovered from his wounds thanks to Naga magic. Also returning was Doji Kuwanan, Hoturi's nephew. Having spent many years learning foreign battle tactics from the Unicorn Clan. Kuwanan was immediately place in command directly under Daidoji Uji.
Hida Kisada, however, was not waiting. The Great Bear's plan was nearing fruition. At the very beginning of the war, Kisada had sent Kaiu Suman to the archipelago islands to convert his merchant ships into troop transports. While Suman experienced great hindrances from the strange Mantis "clan", his work was finally finished. Kisada loaded his army onto the war barges and proceeded to sail along the coast to the Imperial Palace.
However, when the Crab army arrived, they found a Lion army waiting for them. Somehow, Matsu Tsuko had learned of his plan and had moved her armies out of Crane territory to the north where she could protect the capitol. What she did not know was that the information was provided by Bayushi Kachiko herself, who had learned of the plan through the Great Bear and had passed the information on to her ally in the Lion ClanÉ the Kolat Master, Akodo Kage. Kachiko saw an opportunity to crush the Lion Champion's heart and destroy the Lion armies once and for all. And so, just before the armies met, Tsuko received a message bearing the Imperial Seal. The message ordered her to stand aside and let her army fight by itself. Tsuko had no choice but to follow the Emperor's order. She rode her steed to a nearby ridge and watched as the Great Bear smashed her army.
Meanwhile, Toturi was trying to move his own forces through Lion territory to aid the Crane Clan. Because he had sent secret messages to his sensei, Akodo Kage, Lady Kachiko was fully aware of his position and movement. A Lion army was sent to intercept him and prevent him from reaching the Crane provinces. Despite his best efforts, Toturi could not make his way past the Lions. Every time he made a maneuver, the Lion general seemed to know his thoughts as he was making them and cut him off. Toturi sent a scout to discover the general's identity: he discovered that it was Ikoma Tsanuri, the young samurai maiden who had once been his finest pupil.
As for the Phoenix, their dark researches were beginning to take their toll on the Clan. One by one, their Elemental Masters were becoming tainted by the Shadowlands, while their samurai were beginning to have a greater voice in the Inner Council. The shugenja demanded a peaceful solution while the bushi insisted that pacifism would only spell doom for both the Empire and the Clan. The unicorn, in the meantime, had spent the entire war fighting off Shadowlands creatures invading from the south. But because their attentions were on defending themselves rather than chasing after the Throne, their samurai were the first to notice the heavy toll the war was taking on the peasantry of Rokugan.