A Game of Life and Death

is a Quest in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.
==Journal==
* Having heard no word from Karasu since you last spoke, Oboro informs you that he has sent for Princess Yuki of the Yatsurugi clan, in hopes of reinforcing the ranks before setting out to rescue your friends. Despite her most enthusiastic response, however, the spirited princess has yet to arrive. You and Jacke take to the streets of Kugane in hopes of finding the girl before she runs afoul of any unsavory types.
* You find Princess Yuki hidden in an alley, desperately trying to avoid the gaze of Akagi, her retainer-turned-bodyguard who has pursued her to Kugane with the intent of bringing her home to her people. At the princess's behest, spin a harmless lie to throw her man off the scent.
* You barely utter a few words when Akagi dashes off to board the next ship to Eorzea in search of the princess. Feeling somewhat guilty for taking advantage of the well-meaning but less-than-sharp-witted retainer, you console yourself with the knowledge that you have served the princess well.
* Though she regrets having asked you to tell a lie, Princess Yuki is grateful for your actions, for she can now repay both you and Oboro for your efforts on behalf of her and her kingdom. Eager to share what she has learned and begin the adventure, she dashes off to the piers to meet with Oboro as you follow in pursuit.
* Princess Yuki is sharing with you and Oboro her knowledge of Hingashi in hopes of identifying Karasu's mysterious employer, when your conversation is interrupted by the crow himself. He gleefully explains that he has prepared a “game” of sorts for you and your friends: you are to rescue your friends from the hideout of the Garnet League and claim the scroll as your prize, or fail and see your friends' lives forfeit. Having no choice but to submit to the eccentric shinobi's cruel and capricious demands, you and your friends set out for the Isle of Bekko.
* After a long and hard-fought battle on the Isle of Bekko, you have felled the fearsome Zakuro Brightblood and rescued your Underfoot and the Stray from the Garnet League's clutches. All that remains is free Tsubame and claim the scroll for emerging triumphant in Karasu's game.
* Karasu, never to be trusted, is all too quick to renege on his promise and demand the spoils despite your clear victory according to the very conditions he set. With his friend and fellow shinobi's life in the balance, Oboro tosses the scroll to a gloating Karasu, who unceremoniously shoves Tsubame in your general direction. Karasu's enigmatic master then arrives on the scene, and with a few dismissive words, seemingly roasts Karasu to a husk with a breath of fire before your very eyes. Claiming to be Hanzo of the Kagekakushi clan─the only true practitioners of the art of ninjutsu─he ominously states his desire to rid the world of the descendants of “Sasuke the Shamed,” as he dismissively refers to the legendary progenitor of the Doman shinobi. As Oboro stands stunned, Tsubame comforts him with a secret entrusted to her by one her elders─namely, that the scroll in Hanzo's hands is but one half of the forbidden summoning mudra he covets. As Underfoot and V'kebbe return home to Limsa, you set out for Yanxia with Oboro, Tsubame, and Jacke, to inform the elders of all you have seen and glean what wisdom you might before planning your next action.
* Upon arriving on the shores of Yanxia, you sojourn first in the fishing village of Namai. A clearly preoccupied Oboro states that he and Tsubame will make the trip from here to their village alone, as the elders may not take kindly to the presence of outsiders. The young shinobi promises you that they will return as soon as they are able, and you and Jacke resolve to keep your skills sharp in anticipation of the inevitable confrontation to come.
※The next ninja quest will be available from Jacke upon reaching level 68.
==Objectives==
* Search for Yuki around Kogane Dori.
* Speak with Akagi.
* Speak with Yuki.
* Report to Oboro.
* Join Oboro on the Isle of Bekko.
* Join Oboro in Namai.
==Script==
script 	script
 	
Jacke 	This Karasu's a dangerous rook, I reckon. It ain't like Underfoot and the Stray to be boned so easy-like.
Oboro 	Ah, it is good to see you, [Player Name]. I have heard nothing from Karasu since last we met. It would seem we have no choice but to take matters into our own hand.
Oboro 	And yet, in our current state, we are outmanned. In hopes of bolstering our ranks, I reached out to Princess Yuki, pride of the Yatsurugi clan. Her skills and knowledge of these lands would surely avail us in our effort, I thought.
Oboro 	I am pleased to say that she was more than happy to lend her aid─doubtless in no small part due to your own efforts on her behalf.
Jacke 	Judging from her words, she is quite eager to prove herself. Perhaps a bit overeager─I would ask you to keep an eye on her, lest she go running off into some sort of trouble.
Oboro 	Which mayhap she already has, as she should have arrived hours ago. Perhaps she has simply gotten lost on the way, or stopped off for sushi and tea?
Oboro 	Might the two of you be so kind as to search for her in my stead? Captain Jacke, see if she is not in the Rakuza District, and [Player Name], pray search the markets of Kogane Dori. I will remain here in case she has simply been delayed in her journey.
 	
Oboro 	I fear I have seen no sign of Princess Yuki. Pray search the markets of Kogane Dori while I wait for her here.
 	
Yuki 	[Player Name]! Whatever are you doing here in Kugane? Not that I'm complaining, of course! I'm always happy to see the shinobi who helped bring prosperity back to my homeland!
Yuki 	Yes, thanks to you, my people are doing wonderfully. The only downside of it is that now I have to be a proper princess again. Akagi─he's my personal bodyguard now, you see─was none too happy when I told him I'd be heading to Kugane. In fact...
Akagi 	Yuki! Princess Yuki, come back at once!
Yuki 	Oh, hells! He's on to me!
Yuki 	I just have to help you and Oboro in return for everything you did for me. Surely you understand, [Player Name]? Can you go find Akagi and just tell him that I─I don't know, that I hopped on a ship to Eorzea or something?
 	
Yuki 	I can't go back home until I've done my duty for you and Oboro. Go tell Akagi that I hopped on a ship to Eorzea or something.
 	
Akagi 	[Player Name]! Fancy meetin' you here. You're an awful long way from home, eh?
Akagi 	Speakin' of which, you haven't by chance seen Her Highness anywhere, have you? I caught her sneakin' out of the castle and followed her here to Kugane, but I seem to have lost her...
Akagi 	E-Eorzea, you say!? Gods, what is the girl thinkin'? If anything happened to her, I'd never hear─
Akagi 	But there's no time to lose─to the docks! Princess Yuki, wait for me! Princess Yuki!
 	
Yuki 	Thank you, [Player Name], and pray forgive me for asking you to lie on my behalf. I had half a mind to tell Akagi the truth, but then he might have offered to help, kami forbid.
Yuki 	The man means well, but I hear that we face a most dangerous foe, and I simply didn't have the heart to place Akagi in danger. You understand, don't you? In any event, I do believe we've kept Oboro long enough.
 	
Jacke 	Well, if it isn't our favorite natty little lass...
Yuki 	You say I've met this man? I can't say he made much of an impression on me.
 	
Oboro 	Thank you for leading Her Highness here, [Player Name]. Princess Yuki, thank you for making the journey to Kugane. Before we proceed, I would hear aught you might know of recent events in Hingashi.
Yuki 	As you doubtless know, though Hingashi appears to outsiders to be a land at peace, beneath the surface rival warlords are ever scheming to undermine each other's power.
Yuki 	In that sense, it is entirely within the realm of possibility that one of them has employed a shinobi to gain a hidden advantage over his foes.
Yuki 	But this is merely speculation. Try as I might, I was unable to uncover any tangible evidence as to who might be behind these recent events.
Oboro 	...I see. Thank you, Princess. And so it remains a mystery─what foul master does that treacherous crow serve?
Karasu 	Now, now, dim one. Is that any way to talk about a dear old friend?
Oboro 	Karasu! You have some gall to call yourself my friend! What have you done with Tsubame and the others!?
Karasu 	But what's this? The dim one is joined by one new companion after the next! Our hero is wounded! Was his friendship not enough? Why are the geniuses of the world so misunderstood!?
Karasu 	Anyhow, I was hoping you'd ask! As a matter of fact, I have just the present for you. It's a game I like to call “kill-or-watch-your-friends-be-killed.” Do you like the name? I thought of it myself just now.
Karasu 	The rules are really quite simple. Your precious swallow and the others are being held captive by the Garnet League on the Isle of Bekko. You simply need to march in, cut down Zakuro and her men, and free your companions from their shackles.
Karasu 	Succeed, and I'll forget about the scroll, and you can all go marching happily back to Doma. Fail, and I get the scroll, and Zakuro bathes in your blood tonight.
Karasu 	Ahahaha! Yes, I do believe there's something in it for everyone! I'll be watching from the shadows─do try to keep me entertained, won't you?
Oboro 	Bah, does his villainy know no bounds!?
Jacke 	I'm not keen on agreein' to those terms, but it don't seem we've much choice in the matter...
Yuki 	If it's a fight he wants, it's a fight he'll get! Together, we can take those Garnet curs─what do you say, [Player Name]!?
Oboro 	Forgive me, my friends. If only I had been quicker to unravel Karasu's schemes, I would not have to place you in danger like this. Still, it heartens me to know you stand with us.
Jacke 	Same holds true for me, lass/lad. While I'm not proud we let that rook get the better of us, I feel a lot safer knowin' a dimber damber like yerself is on our side. Let's get Underfoot and V'kebbe out o' there right quick-like.
Oboro 	Ever since the elders told me my presence was not needed in the village, I have struggled to find meaning in my daily existence. For whom do I fight? For what greater purpose?
Oboro 	Now, I have found an answer─it is for you, my friends. You, who have stood beside me in the darkest of times. You, who have shown me that there is strength inside me that even I had long forgotten. You, who─
Jacke 	This is no time for prittle prattle, lad! Or haven't ye noticed the princess has already hopped the twig? Dust off yer beater cases and let's move!
Oboro 	The man speaks true. Yes, we must be strong of both body and mind if we hope to prevail. To the Isle of Bekko, where our friends await us!
 	
Jacke 	The lad's not quite all there in the head, is he?
Yuki 	Let's show those dishonorable Garnet dogs what for!
Oboro 	Little to my surprise, it would seem Karasu has alerted our foe to our presence. Let us proceed with caution. There is no telling what manner of treachery the crow has in store for us.
Zakuro 	Ye've got more courage than sense to come this far. Heh...if we fought on the same side, I could see myself gettin' to like you. But we serve another master, and he just so happens to be a demandin' one.
Zakuro 	Don't give me that look. We've all got to make a livin', an' this is the best way we know how. Now draw your blades! Zakuro'll bathe in yer lifeblood this night/this day/this day/this night!
 	
Karasu 	Blades awhirling through the air! Blood watering the fields! Shinobi fighting side by side, all for the sake of their dear friends! Could there be a more moving sight? Our hero is moved to tears...or not.
Karasu 	But do not worry. As promised, I'll return your precious swallow with nary a feather out of place─once you hand over the scroll, of course.
Oboro 	What foolery is this, Karasu!? We played your little game, and we won, did we not? Are you not a man of your word!?
Karasu 	Oh, my poor, stupid Oboro! How dim can one man get? Didn't anyone ever tell you that promises are made to be broken─especially mine. Ahahaha!
Karasu 	Now, hand over the scroll, and quickly now! I don't particularly enjoy killing my dear friends, but that's never stopped me before.
Tsubame 	O-Oboro! The scroll...!
Karasu 	Very good, dim one! Yes, I daresay you've played your role to perfection. Fly away home, little swallow─we've had enough fun for the day.
Hanzo 	Incompetent fools, the lot of you. How long do you intend to keep me waiting for what is rightfully mine?
Karasu 	Lord Hanzo! You couldn't have come at a better time. You'll be happy to know I have just what you've been looking for. Behold!
Karasu 	Our hero has truly outdone himself this time! At long last, the ancient secrets of Hingan ninjutsu will be his! Do tell me, Lord Hanzo─when will training begin? L-Lord Hanzo!?
Karasu 	Aieeeeeeeeeeee!
Hanzo 	Silence, whelp! The bastard get of Sasuke the Shamed deserve naught but a quick death.
Hanzo 	Well, well... A brood of Doman dogs who would call themselves shinobi. You stand before Hanzo the Hidden, twelfth lord of the Kagekakushi clan─and you should consider yourself fortunate that I do not cut you down where you stand.
 	
Hanzo 	And you would call your petty tricks ninjutsu? I spit on your ninjutsu. Your very existence brings dishonor to every true shinobi who has ever lived. Yes, those of my clan─the original and true practitioners of the art.
Hanzo 	Be thankful that I have more important matters to attend to today. Enjoy what little remains of your miserable lives─your time will come, and before you know it.
Oboro 	Forgive me, my friends... Pray give me a moment to take in all we just saw...
 	
Oboro 	I do not know where to even start. Karasu, killed off before our very eyes? The forbidden mudra in the hands of this Hanzo, who claims to hail from the clan who founded our art, and who harbors a grudge against Master Sasuke─and, in turn, us─for reasons I can scarce begin to understand?
Tsubame 	Though it may be small comfort, we can take heart in one matter. In truth, the scroll Hanzo now holds is but one half of the whole─alone, it is all but worthless.
Tsubame 	The other half is tucked safely away in our village, far from Hanzo's peering eye. It is a secret known only to the elders, entrusted to me by the old hermit before I took my leave.
Oboro 	Is that so? Hmph. I would have appreciated if someone could have shared that knowledge with me as well. The old hermit always did like you better...for some reason.
Oboro 	Still, I do not expect this Hanzo to give up easily. Whatever the true nature of the grudge he holds against the founder of our village, it seems to nigh border on obsession.
Oboro 	Our adversary claims to hail from the Kagekakushi clan. Princess Yuki, are you familiar with the name?
Yuki 	If I remember the histories correctly, they achieved great renown for their exploits in battle during the Age of Strife. It was said that a single Kagekakushi fought with the strength and skill of a thousand lesser shinobi.
Yuki 	...Until one day when a vengeful warlord razed their village to the ground, slaughtering even wives and babes. The Kagekakushi on the battlefield, too, disappeared one after the next. An inglorious end, by any measure.
Yuki 	If this Hanzo is truly a descendant of the clan, it would stand to reason that he would seek revenge against those who betrayed his ancestors. But how this is connected to Sasuke─I cannot say.
Yuki 	But if there's one thing I know, it's that I'm not going to just stand by while this Hanzo plunges our nation into another age of war! I will return home and see if there is any more knowledge of the Kagekakushi to be had.
Oboro 	Thank you, Princess. We are counting on you.
Oboro 	For our part, we should return to Yanxia. Once Hanzo realizes that he only possesses half of the knowledge he seeks, he is like to turn an eye to our village. We must warn the elders.
Jacke 	If it's all the same, I reckon I'll join ye. I'm not keen on showin' my face in Limsa till I've got the goods I came for in my daddles.
Jacke 	That said, someone needs to see to it that all's bob back at home...
Jacke 	Underfoot, V'kebbe. Can I count on ye to keep things in order till I've seen to business here?
Perimu Haurimu 	Aye aye, Cap'n! Consider it done!
Vkebbe 	Just hurry back, will ye? I'll make sure there's a Bismarck special with yer name on it.
Jacke 	Bugger me if this journey hasn't been one surprise after the next─and somethin' tells me the best is yet to come. Ye'll be joinin' us, won't ye, [Player Name]? For ol' times' sake?
Oboro 	I cannot thank you enough, friend. The journey to Yanxia is a long one. After we arrive, let us rest up in the village of Namai.
Oboro 	My long-awaited homecoming, for the first time since I left in pursuit of Karasu. Karasu...have you truly left this world for good?
 	
Jacke 	I've seen many a sleepy fishin' village in my day, but this might be the sleepiest...
Tsubame 	Oboro has seemed quite pensive since arriving here in Namai. It would seem that this homecoming weighs heavily on his mind...
 	
Oboro 	Tsubame and I will first make the journey to the village alone. Forgive me, but the elders are not like to smile on the sudden arrival of outsiders.
Oboro 	We will report on all that we saw in Hingashi, and gather what wisdom we can. Pray wait for us here. We will return as soon as we are able.
Oboro 	I do not ask for a hero's welcome, but... <sigh> Well, I suppose there is no putting it off any longer...
Jacke 	Seems we're on our own for the time bein'. Reckon I can find some bene bingo an' a couple of rum doxies in this place? Just havin' a bit of an amuse─what with this Hanzo on the prowl, it's best we both keep our stabbers sharpened.
Quest complete.	Quest complete.
Category:Disciple of War Job Quests in Final Fantasy XIV
Category:Quest battles in Final Fantasy XIV