Tsuruchi Kaito

Please note: This article is about the Mantis Bushi. For other uses of the term, please see Kaito (disambiguation).
Tsuruchi Kaito was a bushi of the Mantis Clan. The han-kyu was his preferred weapon. Echoes of Thunder, by Robert Denton III, Shawn Carman and Fred Wan
== Colonies ==
Kaito was advisor to Yoritomo Hiromi himself, the Mantis Clan Champion. He was sent to manage several matters in the Colonies, alongside the Mantis' chief diplomat there, Yoritomo Yashinko. A silent war initiated by the Fallen Tsuruchi Gombei put the Mantis in risk of retaliation by the recently restored Imperial Governor of the Colonies, Otomo Suikihime. Kaito ordered to hunt down Gombei, who was composing himself off as Mantis' officer and conscripting samurai as well as peasants to make war on the Crane. He also brought Imperial orders about dealing with the remaining gaijin in the Colonies. The survivors of the Ivory Kingdoms were to be treated as a single entity and dealt with as either a friendly nation or to be eliminated as a threat. Age of Ivory, Part 2, by Shawn Carman
== Fall of the Mantis ==
=== Rise of Jigoku ===
In 1200 the Sinking Blossom returned him home, as replacement of Yoritomo Kinshikirai, a decorated magistrate who was busy in another task. Two Yoritomo Elite Guards, Lady Oak and Yoritomo Tachiko brought him to the presence of their Lord Hiromi, who ordered Kaito to investigate why students from Gotei Island's finest dojos had been disappearing on the beaches. He met Moshi Madohime, who reported that disappearances had been happening for months, and that they were related location of the Third Seal of Jigoku. During the investigation Kaito found and took a pearl with sticky strands on the beach, being dragged into the sea. He managed to kill the kumo which had planted the pearl, while Madohime was wounded in the fight. Shortly after the island was invaded by Shadowlands creatures, who destroyed the Third Seal. 
=== Evacuation of the Mantis ===
The Mantis were ordered to evacuate and Hiromi himself entrusted Kaito with the Mantis Clan Charter, to ensure it would reach the mainland. He fought his way back to Rokugan, while he saw how his Lord and brothers were killed by a gigantic oni during the destruction of the Mantis Islands. Kaito took a peasant refugee, Noa, as a doshin. At Cold Wind City he met his Lady Tsuruchi Fusako who was rallying the Tsuruchi to make an attempt to recover their lands, as ordered to all the Mantis families by Yashinko, the senior existing Yoritomo. Kaito despised the order, and in front of Yoritomo Fuyumi considered it a suicide for their Clan. 
== External Links ==
* Tsuruchi Kaito (Ivory)
Category:Mantis Clan Members