4th Meeting of the Divine Order, Hagino City, Land of Tea.
It's well past midnight and most people are asleep, but in the enormous basement of one of the city's few mansions, a meeting is taking place between the organization's most important members.
The underground hall can easily hold over a hundred people, but at this important meeting there are no more than 20, and the one presiding over the meeting is the strongest member of the order, outside of its founder, the only samurai prophet so far, Zenji Taira, or better known as the "White Prophet" due to his full white body armor.
Today is a special meeting, as the founder of the order will attend for the first time, in a doubly special event, to boost the order's morale and to discuss a topic of great interest for the organization's future.
Until now, the attendees have been waiting, chatting among themselves and generally socializing, the vast majority with their faces uncovered and some apostles still wearing their masks. But the whole atmosphere changes when someone appears next to Zenji, in the characteristic teleportation effect, with a suit of armor emitting steam from its cooling system.
The image of someone appearing in that way is already common to everyone present, but the individual who has just appeared is someone everyone knows and more than one fears because of her position, 'Head of Intelligence', although some nickname her, 'The Inquisitor', someone who only answers to the 'Leader' and leads the only group of ninjas within the Divine Order and who has been in charge of countering many threats both outside and inside the organization.
The woman in question wears a much more compact version of samurai armor, composed only of a cuirass, greaves, bracelets and helmet, something that prioritizes movement much more than protection, although everyone knows that it is an armor not far inferior to that of the 'White Prophet' in its power and quality. The armor is black, and she wears a female demon mask with red eyes. Everyone knows her as "Lady Shizuki" (Still Moon).
"Lady Shizuki." Everyone reacts, offering a bow to the woman, knowing full well that she is coming with the Leader to participate in the meeting.
Shizuki responds to the bow in kind and proceeds to lift a strange cylinder-shaped artifact, which begins to glow as it approaches each of the members of the order. No one is spared from inspection, and when everything seems to be in order for Shizuki, she heads to the main seat, reserved exclusively for the Leader, where after a quick examination, she proceeds to activate another artifact in one of her hands, which apparently sends some kind of signal.
Another character makes her appearance in a cloud of vapor, one known to all as the Leader's right-hand woman, Kiyoko, a woman who is a great enigma to everyone, especially for her new tendency to emit a soft, almost imperceptible mist around her. His armor is very similar to that of the leader, except that it is a feminized version and his characteristic mask is completely smooth and without visible holes, for some it is more terrifying than the usual demon masks.
"Everything okay?" Kiyoko's soft, slightly synthetic voice asks.
"No one strange, I couldn't detect anything dangerous around either" Shizuki answers.
Kiyoko begins to slowly 'look' around, causing many of those present to feel a little intimidated by the woman's lack of vision, who after a few seconds seems satisfied and proceeds to emit a new signal with one of her bracelets.
The leader's appearance is similar to that of his bodyguards, bringing with him a great deal of steam. His armor is bulky and appears heavy, considering it's made of metal, composed of hundreds of individual pieces carefully joined together. His demonic mask is red, and his presence radiates no energy, as if he were an ordinary person, something everyone knows is far from reality.
Everyone greets the Leader with a bow, demonstrating the utmost obedience to the one who claims to be a messenger of God, something that so far everyone seems to believe fanatically.
"Lord Messenger" Zenji immediately goes to the Leader and shows him which seat he should sit in.
The Leader then sits in the seat of honor, and his two bodyguards sit in the two seats on either side of him. The meeting is arranged in a circle of chairs, so everyone can see each other and engage in conversation.
"You can start the meeting" says the Leader with his characteristic synthetic tone.
All those present nod their heads and the meeting begins, although in honor of the Leader, all members of the order proceed to introduce themselves individually, in an act of great formality, but with the intention of refreshing the Leader's memory.
Among the attendees are Bunji Amemiya, Political Leader of the Organization and administrator of the de facto capital of the Order, the city of Kuniyasu, Daizen Yanagawa, Chief Strategist of the Order, Norio Nanba, Master Swordsman and Apostle, as well as Susumu Otowa, another master swordsman, Apostle and one of the oldest members, coming directly from the land of iron.
After a summary of what was discussed at the previous meeting, Zenji directs the focus of the conversation first to the current state of the order's territories, their recent territorial acquisitions, their economic state, the latest important recruitments, the situation of the Daimyo's court and the latest intelligence reports regarding ninja activity, where Shizuki summarizes quite a bit of her department's latest encounters with the ninjas from foreign villages.
The leader remains silent throughout the conversation and refrains from participating in any debate, letting Shizuki and even Kiyoko speak on his behalf. It's only when the external threats to the Land of Fire begin to be discussed that his voice is first heard.
"What's going on with the land of noodles? Why haven't we been able to infiltrate their cities until now? This can't just be the presence of ninjas from the big villages."
"Chikara, the Daimyo, despite appearing to be a fat, carefree womanizer, is a born leader and has firm control over his domains. The presence of agents from all the villages is just one more impediment, which has prevented us from taking any administrative position," Bunji says.
"Every peaceful method has failed, we only have violence left. But we do not know what a forced approach could generate in the strategic vision of the large villages. We could unleash a conflict," adds Daizen, the strategist.
"As far as we've been able to find out about the ninja presence, it's mostly just genins and chunins. We could wipe them all out if we really set our minds to it. But the consequences are unpredictable," Shizuki says.
The Leader shows a thoughtful posture, to which everyone remains silent, and after several seconds he says "The land of noodles is a strategic point for us, since its control opens up close access to the land of water and secures the sea routes. But from what I hear it seems to be impossible to gain influence for now, however... It is a perfect place to cause a huge distraction. What would happen if most of the ninja agents suddenly disappeared from there, coupled with the death of the Daimyo?"
"Chaos," Shizuki replies.
"Perfect timing for a certain organization to take complete control of the land of tea. After all, the Daimyo is getting old and needs to hand over the position to one of his sons," the Leader continues.
"The son who is in the palm of our hands," says Daizen.
"We can use all the information we have against the Daimyo to force him to abdicate. Then all that remains is to be quick and completely purge the court, leaving only those who benefit us," adds Bunji.
"It is a small nation, but a nation nonetheless, with enough political weight to influence at the regional level, especially the actions of the larger villages," says the Leader.
"But the chaos in the land of noodles would be great, many lives would be lost," interrupts one of the apostles, with a slightly apprehensive tone.
"A regrettable price, but necessary" Susumu intervenes, known for advocating aggressive policies.
"Precisely the perfect time to start influencing the new authorities," says Norio, a very pragmatic man.
"Sometimes it hurts to have to resort to this kind of thing, but the end justifies the means. Furthermore, we can use that moment to go unnoticed and hit many of the pending points within the land of fire, after all, it is the nation bordering the land of noodles, and it is going to be the most shaken" The Leader finishes saying.
In the end, everyone agrees with their Leader's logic, naming many of the outstanding issues within the Land of Fire, some even naming individuals whose assassination could be considered. All under the cold gaze of their Leader, an enigmatic man, merciful in his speech, but brutal in his actions.