To the Empire, those that walk in shadow, the shinobi, do not exist. They are tales concocted by superstitious peasants and samurai making excuses to cover up their failures.
There are those that know better.
Six years ago, on the last night of summer, deep within the mountains near Beiden Pass, the Kaze Clan met its end. Man, woman, child - it did not matter to those that attacked that night. It was the attackers' intent to wipe out this shinobi clan, to take out those that stood a chance of defeating them. Seeing the massacre before him, Ryoujin Gendo, head of the Kaze Clan, ordered his lieutenants to save as many of the children as they could, through whatever means they could. Many Kaze died that night, protecting those that would be guardians of the next generation. A mere handful got away.
Six years later - today. Now the cherry trees begin to bud in anticipation of spring, but time begins to run short. The emperor, aging and feared dying, has only a young heir for the throne. The Great Clans begin to set their plans in motion. Rumors of troop movements are whispered along the highways of the Empire.
Three guardians of the Kaze, quietly hiding themselves among the populace and teaching their wards their heritage, Kakashi, Nobura and Hiruma Rokuri received a message from Nikimi, priest of the Uttara Temple in Otosan Uchi, the capital city of the Empire. The urgency was apparent in his note, and his message was simple, "Send your best."
In the mountains of the Dragon Clan, the inkyo monk Kakashi sent Hyorouko.
From the icy plains of the Unicorn, the hermit wu-jen Nobura sent Omikari.
The samurai Hiruma Rokuri sent his student Matsumo from the devastated lands of the Crab.
The three journeyed long, hurrying to Otosan Uchi to be there before the Cherry Blossom Festival began. Arriving the day before, the three cautiously approached the temple, Hyorouko watching the temple entrace from a ramen shop. Omikari, dressed in a hermit's garb and wearing many charms, arrived next. Finally, the Crab samurai Hiruma Matsumo made his appearance, appearing out of place with his scarred battle armor and ever-present swords. With their suspicions confirmed, the three meet at the temple only to discover the temple has its own secrets.
The high priest invited his guests to join him for dinner, but Hyorokou's suspicions were aroused when he saw a protective mark cleverly hidden in the roof beams. Delaying his arrival for dinner, Hyorokou watched the acolytes closely, and his observations were rewarded. The acolytes' steps were too precise, their mannerisms at odds with the holy life they supposedly led. Giving the sign taught to him by Kakashi, Hyorokou discovered that the acolyte was one of the Kaze Clan. Inquiring further, Hyorokou learns a few things about the acolytes and the high priest, but more questions come up. Why did they not know the ways of the Kaze? Why did the high priest abandon his duty as a guardian?
Joining the other two travelers, Hyorokou confronts the high priest, revealed to be the man they were sent to meet, Nikimi. He reveals that on that terrible summer night six years ago, he had just returned to one of the Kaze enclaves, and gathered as many of the children as he could, five in all, while his clansmen stood against their enemy. Itagi, as Nikimi was truly known, appealed to the protective spirits of the clan, the kami that pervade through the soil, rocks and trees of the Empire, to help him and his five charges. The kami extracted a heavy price for such an emergency - six years for six lives. Itagi's life drained from him as he was whisked away by the kami to the Kaze hideout at Uttaru Temple. Vitality drained from him, and Itagi aged forty years in the time it took to draw a handful of breaths.
Now Itagi reveals to them the reason for his urgency - at summer's end, the kami's reprieve would end, and Itagi's life would as well. The five children he had taken under his wing, the oldest only sixteen, and the youngest at ten, had barely begun their training. Itagi's body had failed him, and he was unable to show them the martial and physical training, not even the simplest of prayers to the kami, for he had agreed not to speak even an incantation to them for that single act so many years ago. Instead, Itagi broke tradition and spent endless nights writing down every technique that he knew; every secret, every skill that the Kaze clan had taught to him so that the best of the Kaze's wayward children could continue on the clan's legacy.
Itagi could not continue as the de facto leader of the Kaze Clan, and the three knew this. The three chose to follow the monk Hyorokou - no shinobi should serve more than one master. Wu-jen and shugenja are tied to the kami they pray to, and a samurai could go places no shinobi could, to the highest halls of power among the Clans and the Imperial families. Deciding to keep those ties intact, Omikari and Matsumo choose Hyorokou to lead the Clan, to restore their name, and learn from the mistakes of the past.
The first order of business on Hyorokou's list is to find out who had attacked the Clan - not for revenge, but for redemption. The way of the Clan is the way of the wind, and they would direct their enemies towards their own fate. The few inquiries that Itagi had been able to make as the priest Nikimi found the blustering Jigata, spending far too much money at a brothel and gambling house than was appropriate for his station. Taking the lessons that her guardian Nobura had taught her, those skills most appropriate to a female ninja, a kunoichi, Omikari posed as a geisha accompanying the samurai Matsumo. Engaging in a game of dice with the drunk Jigata, a shinobi who neglected his training, Matsumo "lost" several games, deceiving Jigata into taking the geisha as payment for his losses. Once Omikari lured him out of the gambling house, Hyorokou came up behind him, subduing him and taking him to the hidden room underneath Uttaru Temple. Questioning him, and making Jigata believe that they would accuse him of raping a child (in reality, one of the young female acolytes delivering a fine performance) and would either turn him over to the authorities, or letting him serve on the Kaiu Wall as penance.
Jigata decided to speak - he was a member of the Kumo Clan, the very same clan that had attacked the Kaze six years ago. He revealed to them the names of the other two Kumo dwelling in the city, and now the Three Children of the Wind could start on their quest to redeem the Kaze Clan.
Sweet sweet Oriental Adventures/Rokugan goodness. It's good to be back home.
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