Pre-Trial Matters

Lady Superior Mora confidently strode up the stairs to the Raikage's Office. The elderly woman's grey shaggy hair had been put in a pony tail and she wore a black tunic with ninja sandles. The most distinct feature of appearance was the peculiar hat she wore on her head. It was known as a Church Kaminobōshi, a black hat worn by the Lord and Lady Superiors of the Orthodox Church of Jashin. The hat was usually worn during secular affairs or non-ecclesiastical functions. It was a symbol of the Superior's ability to teach and instruct in the mortal realm as the Superior Sacristan. The word Death was boldly emblazoned on the front, a word that was central to the Church's teachings. Lady Superior Mora was flanked by four of her Sacristans. The Sacristans wore golden robes in contrast to their leader's solid black. The robes flowed down to their feet and were tied with an golden sash which glittered with precious stones. Two walked in front of her, and two behind her. Each of them varied in appearance but all of them shared a fanatical devotion to her teachings.

The eldest Sacristan (Known as the Dean of Sacristans) was a tall man (6'7) with a grotesque appearance. He was 96 and was physically disfigured due to spending all of his life physically defending the Church. He had fought in numerous battles and had even been tortured while conducting a mission in a foreign land. Sacristan Lee-hei had to stoop low to avoid heading his head on the ceiling as he walked with his hands clasped in front of him. His elegant robe seemingly shining brightly than the rest.

The second eldest Sacristan was Sacristan Anne who appeared much younger but was around 50 years old. She was bald and wore a similar elegant robe albeit in a different style than her brother Sacristan. The middle-aged woman cooled herself with an elegant folding fan as she walked forwards with her eyes fixed on their destination.

Behind her were two younger Sacristans. One of them had purple hair and a perpetually devious smirk. While she wore a golden robe of similar type to Sacristan Lee-hei underneath it she was scantily clad wearing golden bandages around her breasts and a golden loincloth without anything covering her underneath it. The woman had a scythe strapped to her back. Sacristan Wei had only recently taken her vows but she had an encyclopedic knowledge of the doctrine and only Sacristan Lee-hei matched her in terms of devotion. The final Sacristan was known as Sacristan Cairoshi, a young man of slightly taller than average height with dark red bags under his eyes. Underneath his golden robe his body was marked with bandages. Sacristan Cairoshi's bandages however had prayers scribbled on them.

Every member of the party including the Lady Superior wore a pin with the Church's symbol on it. The group arrived at the proper floor and Lady Superior broke from the quartet to march up to the Secretary's desk.

"If the Raikage is available, I would like to meet with her. Tell her that Lady Superior Mora of the Orthodox Church of Jashin would like to bring an important matter to her attention"

The secretary on duty at the moment, a woman named Lin, happened to be reading a book when the group of Jashinists arrive. She hadn't really liked Nariko's decision to legalize the religion, and the appearance of these people while she was on duty only affirmed that it was a bad call. Shocked as she was, Lin fell backwards as she tried to hastily move away, her chair catching on the corner of a tile and tipping.

Collecting herself quickly, and readjusting her glasses, she got back up and meekly spoke. "All weapons need to be left at with the guard through the door before you proceed, and you all need to sign in." she pointed to the guard who she had been referring to, who had poked his head through the hallway door at the sound of her chair crashing. She then pointed to a sign in board in front of her. "Present ID's with the guard and then you may go through, she is available at the moment."

In reality, Lin usually made people wait to go in, even when there was nobody seeing Nariko at the moment, because she liked bossing around Shinobi, but Jashinists creeped her out, and she knew their symbol. She wasn't going to get on their shit list, no sir.

When they were all disarmed of their weaponry, another guard would escort them to Nariko's office, which also had a constant guard outside. Throughout the building, patrols were regularly spotted, as it was heavily fortified.

Lin was clearly startled by the appearance of death cultists in the Raikage's office. Her physical reaction caused the younger Sacristans to smirk and even a chuckle could be heard. Mora, Lee-hei, and Anne however remained stone-faced as the receptionist informed them of the proper procedure. Mora nodded to her Sacristans and they complied with the instructions without saying a word. None of them had brought weapons save for Sacristan Wei who gave her scythe a kiss before handing it to the guard. Lady Superior Mora presented her ID but her Sacristans waited outside for her. They stood in front of the door like guards with their hands clasped together in front of them underneath the heavy sleeves of their golden robes. Lady Superior Mora entered the office and immediately bowed once she saw Nariko. She'd walk forwards and give a sincere smile before stopping right in front of the woman's desk.

"Lady Raikage it is an honor to finally be able to meet you in person. I'm sure you have received my letter expressing my sincerest gratitude but I wanted to give you my thanks in person. Your decision to legalize Jashinism has closed an ugly chapter in our Church's history. Persecution is a horrible thing and I'm glad that we have a Kage who understands the importance of religious freedom and tolerance."

Lady Superior Mora gave a second bow and returned to a standing position. She would not sit unless Nariko allowed it. The old woman was not frail and while she was not the fighter she once was, standing before the village's leader was nothing troublesome. The matter she was here to discuss was of grave importance and she would rather not waste too much time on pleasantries and small talk.

"I wanted to speak with you about the dire situation in the Land of Demons. I'm sure you've heard rumors about what was done to the people of that country."

Nariko sat mostly silently as Mora came into the office. She didn't really like Jashinism, and had only legalized it because it was useful, and the one who had posed the question was her own student and the younger sister of the Second Raikage. If it had been anyone else asking, the answer would have been no, but Nariko would do anything for her girls, as long as they were her allies. Perhaps that wasn't good for a woman of her position and status, but she held a soft spot in her heart for them and could justify her actions.

Nariko, as almost always when she was in her office, wore a simple Jounin outfit, as she wasn't someone who particularly took too much interest in looking the part of the Raikage. Everyone knew what she looked like, assuming they needed to know who she was, and she was just fine keeping it that way for the time being. It made the chance of an assassination attempt much less, given that so many people didn't 100% know what she looked like, so there was no need to dress like it and make it so much more evident who she was.

Nariko had done a lot of good for the village, but some of her policies were sure to have made her a few enemies. Jashinism being made legal had given her no small trouble. And now Mora, the leader of the church, was here to speak to her. Nariko wasn't particularly thrilled, to say the least, but she had to deal with people she didn't like on a daily basis, so she'd try to be as brief as possible.

She nodded her affirmation. "If I said I was happy to legalize your religion, I'd be lying. You know it, I know it, Shimiko knows it. I did it for her, and because you can be useful while operating under the bounds of the law. I don't care about any religion particularly, it isn't my job to care. My job is to keep my people safe, and I felt that working with you was better than not. I am glad to see that there have been no illegal incidents involving your church members reported. It makes me think I made the right decision." she said bluntly. Nariko wasn't a liar, and she saw no need for tact in this situation.

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat when asked about the Land of Demons. She'd gotten some reports, but that was only speculation. Shimiko had sent some scouts to look into the matter, but nothing official had come back yet. Pulling out a cigarette, Nariko lit it, offering a fresh one from the same pack to Lady Mora if she wanted one. Either way, she'd put the pack back into one of her flak jacket's pouches after, and smoke a little.

"Yeah, I heard some rumors. Shimiko sent some scouts to look into the matter. What about it?" She asked carefully. By all accounts, the people who had done this weren't hers to command, and they weren't hers to discipline. It was assumed a shinobi from another village, but Nariko was only the leader of Kumogakure. She didn't hold authority over any other nation.

Lady Superior Mora did not break her smile as Nariko made it abundantly clear that she did not legalize Jashinism out of the kindness of her heart. She had done it as a personal favor to Shimiko and because she felt that there was utility to be gained from the decision. Mora respected Nariko's candor and given Shimiko's description of the woman she wasn't surprised. Nonetheless, she felt obligated to verbally attribute more noble intentions to the woman as to do otherwise might be perceived as an insult. But now that Nariko was laying all her cards on the table she decided that from now on it was probably best to be as blunt as possible when it came to dealing with this Kage.

"Nonetheless you have the Orthodoxy's thanks...whatever your reasons may be"

Nariko confirmed that she had heard rumors on the subject of the Desecration of Demon and that Shimiko had sent scouts. This was music to the Jashinist's ears. Lady Superior Mora had discussed the subject with the Arch-Priest of the Churck of Hakkin. They had come to a consensus that this "Walking Death" had to be held accountable and that Kumo and its most powerful Churches ought to be the ones to do it. She had filed a citizen's complaint with Shimiko regarding the atrocities and her disciple had promised to look into the matter. Mora knew that given Shimiko's fondness for the twins and their previous experience with brutality and abuse, she could rely on the Chinoike to move the ball forward from the military side of things. Shimiko would want vengeance against the perpetrators of these war crimes if only to show her twins that such evil should never go unpunished. However, there was only so much that one ninja could do and if Mora wanted to resolve this crisis she'd need to speak with the highest authority in the village. Mora refused the cigarette that was offered to her although she considered accepting it. She used to smoke in her younger years but had kicked the habit out of devotion to Jashin. She considered taking the death stick if only to humanize herself in the eyes of the Kage and perhaps establish more common ground. She decided against it as Nariko seemed like the type to appreciate genuineness rather than flattery. "I couldn't possibly" she said with a polite grin without elaborating further. She grew more serious as she continued to speak.

"I wanted to speak with you about resolving this crisis and punishing those responsible. If these rumors turn out to be true and this "Walking Death" shinobi really did rape and murder scores of civilians before enslaving some of them and shipping them abroad....then these acts are of grave concern to the international community. I must say Lady Raikage, as Jashinists we adore the sacred art of murder. It is a holy gift given to us by Jashin. But like any precious gift it comes with responsibilities. We kill to punish the wicked and to glorify His holy name. We do not kill for our own gratification and we certainly do not inflict misery against the undeserving for the sake of vain glory. This conqueror's actions are an affront to everything sacred and pure, and he must be punished for it. I have spoken with the Arch-Priest of the Church of Hakkin and he shares my sentiments on this matter. He is quite busy but assuming you are okay with it, I gave him my permission to drop in on this meeting. We have crafted a plan on how best to handle this situation and if you'd allow me, I'd like to share it with you."

Nariko listened to this speech. It was a rare circumstance indeed when the Jashinists and the Church of Hakkin agreed on anything. The two religions were almost completely opposed in things, beyond maybe their love of combat. Nariko was in a strange position, having trained both of the churches chosen defenders, Shimiko and Ryuko. Luckily, Nariko didn't follow either religion, and thought it best to stay out of all of their affairs.

It was that they agreed something needed to be done about this that worried Nariko. She understood the gravity of the situation completely, but she also understood that this situation was a political nightmare to deal with. "Yeah, I'm fine with him stopping by. I didn't turn you away, so I can't turn the Arch-Priest away. Still, before we go any further on this, you understand that my hands are a little tied in this matter, yes?"

She took a puff of her cigarette and rubbed one of her temples. "I have to tread carefully on any official actions I take. If I make one wrong step, there could be an international incident, which is far from anything I'd like. I don't want to be known as the Kage who started an international war. Whoever the Walking Death is, he is not a shinobi under my command, and thus I ultimately have no authority under him, nor an ability to sanction or condone his actions. Likewise, Kumo wasn't allied with the Land of Demons, so other than moral and ethical objections, Kumo has to be careful. I agree that something needs to be done, I just recognize it needs to be done carefully. So with that in mind, I'd like to hear your proposal."

As expected, Nariko expressed reluctance about making Kumo the world police. She stated that her hands were tied given the geopolitical complexities and if the situation was not handled delicately then it risked the possibility of outright war. The Raikage did agree that something needed to be done though and at this juncture Mora would accept her invitation to continue.

"We hold a trial. A public trial where this 'Walking Death' character is made to answer for his atrocities in front of the whole world. He will be entitled to present his defense and we will establish a prosecutor to collect evidence and witnesses of his crimes against humanity. The Orthodox Church of Jashin and the Church of Hakkin as neutral parties will preside over the trial and when overwhelming evidence of his guilt is proven, he will be sent to the Blood Prison. This trial will shame Kirigakure into never repeating such an incident again. It will also bolster Kumo's reputation as the guardian of minor nations across the world. The only question is...how to apprehend this man without sparking an international incident"

Mora gestured with one hand for emphasis.

"We provide Kiri the opportunity to save face. I propose that you allow the Orthodoxy to enter into talks with the Kirigakure government. We will explain to Kiri our intentions to try one of their shinobi for war crimes and give them the chance to do what is right and turn him over to us. We will also negotiate to achieve several concessions from Kirigakure that will weaken their standing and strengthen Kumo's position. They will need to make a formal and public apology for their criminals acts, pay 1 million ryou in restitution to the Church's charities set up to assist those affected by the Desecration, they must release all slaves that are currently in bondage, and of course they must permanently relinquish any claim to the Land of Demons. I realize all of these planks are controversial but I ask that you trust the Orthodoxy when it comes to negotiation. Ultimately, some are more important than others but most important of all is getting Kiri's blessing to arrest and try The Walking Death"


Mora raised her head a bit and placed her hands behind her back as she looked into Nariko's eyes.

"Of course if Kirigakure categorically refuses any of our terms or even refuses to meet then I will leave it to you as to how best to respond. I am but a humble servant of the faithful and I trust your judgment on how best to respond to Kiri's refusal to take responsibility for its actions"

What Mora said had a double-meaning to it. The Orthodoxy was in no-position per se to outright attack Kiri. They had no means of forcing her to declare war. However, Mora knew that Shimiko would not tolerate inaction on the part of Kumo. The Defender of Faith would take drastic measures to hold Kirigakure accountable and she was confident that if Shimiko couldn't persuade Nariko to act then Shimiko would find a way to punish Kirigakure. And if at some point, the war criminal happened to end up inside a Kumogakure jail cell somewhere along the way then all the better. He'd be tried as normal and his sudden appearance in Kumo would merely be treated as him "turning himself in".

If there was one thing Nariko was good at, it was listening to proposals and thinking through different possible scenarios that may come about as a result of them. To the Jashinist's credit, her proposal was rather tame, and overall was a good one for Kumogakure's image, while at the same point, helped paint the Churches of Jashin and Hakkin in a good light. Nariko wasn't opposed to her proposal, but she needed to think about it before she agreed on anything.

She sat mostly in silence while she pondered this, smoking away at her cigarette while she figured out how to address it. "I... can't... stop your churches from contacting Kirigakure, although I feel like you know that already." she replied carefully. Whatever her actual response was, she wanted that to be known. Ultimately, the churches were allowed to exist in Kumogakure, but Nariko was not an authority in charge of them, as they had their own agency.

"So what it seems like you're asking me, is if you can host a trial in Kumogakure, using our resources to detain whoever this man is. I think that sounds like a reasonable request, and one I can agree to. Whatever the details of your negotiations are, that's ultimately up to you, as Kumo will not benefit from this in any way other than public standing among other nations. I don't want this to reflect back to my nation as a power grab."

She frowned and leaned back in her chair, looking up at the ceiling in a contemplative manner. "Although I don't quite know what to do if Kirigakure refuses. That really only leaves me with a few options. Declare war on their nation, which I don't want to do. Let the issue go with no follow through? Then we are just delivering empty threats and promises. Trade embargo their nation? We already don't have any trade. Maybe blockade their island, but that might lead to war. Send relief aid to the Land of Demons and free them? Could be seen as an act of war as well. At the very least, I'm leaning towards the last option as something to do regardless. Relief aid  there seems necessary."

Nariko stated that she could not stop the Churches from negotiating. This caught Mora a bit off guard. She was under the impression that the Raikage could do whatever she liked. She had unilaterally legalized one of the most dangerous and violent religions in the nation's history. Perhaps she was more restrained when it came to restricting the rights of Churches, once those rights had been established. It seemd as though Nariko sought to distance herself from the operation as a whole. She agreed to host the trial in the village and to use the village's resources to detain The Walking Death but other than that she seemed content to leave the negotiating entirely in Mora's hands. She did point out how a refusal could be problematic for their side. Mora nodded and replied.

"If I may Lady Raikage, I do have a few suggestions on that front. I think the blockade is a good idea and while war may follow I am confident in our ability to best them before it becomes a serious issue. However, before moving to a blockade I suggest that we first allow the vigilantes of the world to punish Kirigakure for its actions. As Lady Superior of the Orthodoxy I make it my business to know the various Jashinist cults that operate around the world. If some of them were to perhaps engage in guerrilla warfare against Kirigakure until they were forced to come to the table then that would be best for Kumogakure, the Land of Demons, and the world. These zealots cannot not be traced back to the Orthodoxy or Kumo as they operate independently of my flock. If Kiri wishes not to take responsibility for those acting under its psuedo-orders then two can play at that game. The attacks will stop when Kirigakure heeds its international obligations. If Kiri attributes the actions of these religious terrorists to Kumogakure and attacks us then they will be the aggressor and we will have every right to defend ourselves."

Mora was quite pleased with this plan and she hoped that Nariko would approve.

Nariko gave it a little thought, and in the end decided that Mora had come up with a decent solution to their problem. "I can agree to that. If I blockade Kirigakure though, it won't be to seize control, it'll be just to stop them from leaving their own grounds until proper terms are negotiated. I'm hoping it won't come to it, and that they'll agree to handing over the Walking Death to face his crimes."

She cleared her throat. "So just to be clear. Our plan of action is to contact Kirigakure and allow them to get ahead of the situation by turning him over directly, or allowing us to take him in with no resistance from them. During this, Kumogakure will be offering relief aid to the people of the Land of Demons, regardless of the consequence." She ashed her cigarette and put it out on the ash tray on her desk.

"Should Kirigakure refuse, our options are to engage in guerrilla warfare via rogue elements until they eventually seek out aid and agree to terms, or for Kumogakure to blockade their main Island and not allow any resources to reach them. Of these two choices, it's better for Kumogakure to not initiate anything, so you'll see if your rogue elements will be able to get the job done?"

"And the terms set would see that Kirigakure give up all claims on the Land of Demons permanently, unless they reach a diplomatic alliance with them that consentually states otherwise. Other nations may be taken through war, but war crimes themselves are punishable by sanctions?" she wanted to make sure that she had everything correct. If they were going to do this, then they would need to have some sort of rules set up on what defined war crimes, and what was just a regular occurrence of war. "So then of course we need to figure out what exactly is a war crime and what isn't." she said, mainly to herself. She didn't expect Mora to be the one to come up with that list, it wasn't exactly her churches sole prerogative to do so. That might require some world summit.

Mora listened to Nariko's summation of her proposal and nodded her head in agreement. She spoke out to add:

"If Kiri retaliates against Kumo for the actions of these rogue elements, I think a blockade and further military action can be considered as options but for the now if they refuse to even negotiate I'm sure my rogues can bring them to the table."

Mora's age and experience kept her from getting giddy at the fact that she was discussing military strategy with the Raikage. Centuries ago, the Superior Sacristans of the Church were hiding in caves on the outskirts of the country living a meager existence. Now she was ushering Jashin's Church into a new era. One that would see their power and influence rise meteorically.

"Something tells me that the Land of Demons will never consent to being governed by Kirigakure...at least not for another few hundred generations or so. But to be on the safe side, we should prohibit them from even trying to acquire the State through any means. Land of Demons will be off-limits as they need time to rebuild and heal from the devastation caused."

Nariko then raised a good question. She said the key to making this play work was justifying it through an immutable principle. An answer to the question of what was considered a war crime and what was not. The line was very fine as conquest had been a regular part of the ninja world for centuries. Yet Mora could only think of a handful of historical examples of shinobi nations engaging in the level of barbarism that Kiri displayed. The incidents were so isolated and rare that it was clear that global practice shunned such tactics as they had never been universally adopted. Nariko's thoughts on the subject were correct in that Mora was probably not fit to draw up a detailed proposal on the subject but she could provide some guidance.

"To start, rape and enslavement are completely outside of the bounds of lawful warfare. Any international agreement on the prohibition of war crimes must bar those acts"

"Honestly, I'm just going to flat out say that any crimes against a civilian population are to be taken as war crimes. Wars are to be waged between military groups. If the civilians take it upon themselves to fight back, then they are considered militia, but the general populace of a nation is non combatant anyhow. But anyhow, that can be ironed out at a later date. For now, I believe we've reached an agreement." Nariko said, standing up so she could stretch a little bit.

"Is that all, or did you have something further you wanted to discuss?" Nariko asked her guest. Lady Mora seemed to be somewhat of a humanitarian, which was a decent surprise to the Raikage. She could see why Shimiko was so drawn to this sect of Jashinism, although it did appear that she had some modicum of control over rogue elements that didn't operate quite within her branch of Jashinism, and that was something Nariko would have to keep in mind.

Just because they were currently working together didn't mean that she couldn't end up becoming an enemy and trying to get more control and more power. With Jashinism growing as a religion, she only got more power and backing on her authority, and left unchecked, it could become a very dangerous thing.

Lady Superior Mora did have one more thing to tack on to their agreement. "Yes Lady Raikage. If does become necessary that rogue elements of the Jashinist community choose to hold Kiri acccountable for its war crimes. They would require support from an unknown and external third party. A third party whose involvement and identity will remain an ascertainable secret....I'm sure the capable men and women of ANBU could come up with an exact figure on what would be appropriate. I'm sure there is one in particular that would have direct knowledge on the matter. I'll leave that to her. " Lady Superior Mora trailed off hoping that the Raikage would pick up the meaning.

Nariko nodded. She knew that nations often operated in the shadows of another enemy, supporting them from the background. It wouldn't be unheard of for Nariko to have shinobi backing the Church, although her involvement was already clear from the onset. She was, obviously, hosting the trial should the Walking Death be brought here. That already implicated her plenty. "She has my permission to act, in the event that it comes to it. I trust her judgement and abilities to maintain discreetness."

It was obvious that the Lady Superior was talking about Shimiko. Nariko couldn't think of a better choice, honestly. Shimiko was one of the most capable shinobi around, certainly in Kumo at the very least. If she couldn't do this task, then there were other issues. She didn't think that Kiri was stronger than Kumogakure's own forces after all. Nariko didn't actually think any of the other nations rivalled them currently. That had been part of the reason for the High Tier Tourney. She had wanted to gauge the other nation's abilities. Konoha had Masuyo, but Kiri had sank in one fell swoop.

"Of course" Mora bowed and said her farewells. "This meeting was constructive Lady Raikage. I will inform you of our progress through my intermediaries but if you have need of me, just send for me and I will come. Naturally, you are also welcome at the Church. We are finalizing the construction plans and it will be a splendid place of worship" Lady Superior Mora then turned and walked out of the office. Her Sacristances collected their effects and then the group left the area.

Exit

Nariko wasn't particularly happy with the conversation they'd had, but it appeared to be done for now. She was going to have to deal with the church as an enemy at some point, and she wasn't really looking forward to it. Lady Mora was unsettling, and appeared to be making some calculated moves. For now, though, they appeared to need to work together, and Nariko didn't like it in the slightest.

[Exit]