In the first mission, you need to choose between killing the bandits or the peasants. Kill the bandits to get the Dragon route, or kill the peasants for the Serpent route.

Arah or Garrin

At the beginning of Mission #4, you need to decide whether you go to the Wolf Clan shanty town (left), Riverside (centre), or the Lotus tower (right). The Zen Masters are mutually exclusive. Choose the Wolf Clan shanty town (left) for Arah, or Riverside (centre) for Garrin.

• At the beginning of the mission, Arah stands north of your base and gets attacked by Wolf Clan units. Eliminate them and she joins you. She must survive to become available later.

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• Garrin appears automatically as an allied NPC during the mission. He must survive to become available later.

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Gaihla or Soban

At the beginning of Mission #8. you need to decide whether you go to the swamps (left), the mines (centre), or the Lotus province (right). The Zen Masters are mutually exclusive. Choose the mines (centre) for Gaihla, or the Lotus province (right) for Soban.

• Gaihla is located north of your starting position in the centre of the area. Defeat the pitch slingers next to her and she joins you.

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• Warning: There is a Lotus clan base in the centre top of the area with Koril in it. Do not approach this base and kill Koril before you find Soban, or otherwise you can't obtain him.
  

• Soban is located on a hill in the bottom centre of the area. He joins you when his argument with Koril is over.

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Tao

At the beginning of Mission #12 you need to decide whether you go to the ninjas (left), or the monks (right). Choose the ninjas.

• Tao joins you automatically during the opening cutscene.

Vetkin & Budo

At the beginning of Mission #4, you need to decide whether you go to the Wolf Clan shanty town (left), Riverside (centre), or the Lotus tower (right). Choose Riverside (centre).

• Vetkin joins you automatically during the mission. He must survive to become available later.

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• If you have chosen Riverside, Mission #6 is going to be the Wolf Clan shanty town. Budo is located in the bottom left corner of the area. Bring Kenji and a geisha to Budo. He joins you after the dialogues are over. He must survive to become available later.
  
  Important note: It's better to go to him right at the start of the mission. In some playthroughs, Budo got killed by the Wolf Clan before I even met him. As long as you walk on the bottom edge of the area, you won't encounter enemies on your way.

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Utara or Koril

At the beginning of Mission #8. you need to decide whether you go to the swamps (left), the mines (centre), or the Lotus province (right). The Zen Masters are mutually exclusive. Choose the swamps (left) for Utara, or the Lotus province (right) for Koril.

• There is a Wolf Clan keep in the centre of the area. Destroy it and Utara joins you.

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• Koril is located in the Lotus base in the centre top of the area. Attack him until he joins you.

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Tao

At the beginning of Mission #12 you need to decide whether you go to the ninjas (left), or the monks (right). Choose the monks.

• Tao is in the bottom right corner of the area. Defeat the monks next to him and he joins you.

Thanks to user Imlerith for the information about the correct trigger for obtaining Soban.