Kakusareta Kyuden. Located on Tenshijima, a dozen miles from the coast of the southern reaches of the Midorioka region, the palace is hidden amongst dense woodland. Very few know of its existence; currently, only two reside within its walls.
Serpentine is up with the sun, preparing his report to the captain; with three of the five dojo having now been visited by the Five Scarves, the captain's plan is proceeding well. However, the viper isn't happy about it. In his view, the best solution would have been to have the approachable Hideyoshi Takenaka exploit that quality to capture and imprison all five of the enemy; they could then be killed and their bodies disposed of in the lava flows, or transported to the Kyuden for the captain to deal with personally.
His report prepared, Serpentine opens communications with the captain.
"I hope you're bringing me good news," the captain opines before Serpentine can speak.
"In a manner, yes sir," Serpentine replies.
"'In a manner'… OK, let's have it."
"Mokuzai, Kinzoku, and Kasai have all been visited now, sir; Ryoichi and Tsubaki report that they were apprehended by the Scarves, and left bound for their subordinates to discover-"
"Don't care about the details. What about Kasai?"
"Hideyoshi welcomed them openly, sir."
"An unusual tactic."
"But effective; the Scarves left Kasai convinced the dojos are not working directly for me."
"For me," the captain corrects sternly.
"I'm the one handling them!" Serpentine protests.
"You're merely a proxy for my will. Or have you forgotten who gave you your new arms? Ones with built-in explosives that I can trigger remotely? Explosives that can shred your body so thoroughly there'll be nothing left to bury?"
Serpentine doesn't respond.
"Where are they heading now?" the captain asks a few moments later.
"Their most likely next target is Mizutani," Serpentine answers.
"Has Chika been briefed?"
"Not on last night's events, sir."
"Then why are you wasting time reporting to me? And brief Kaede too, just in case."