Earth's Catastrophe

"Sir, we have arrived." The coachman tapped on the little window and woke Natsume up from her meditation. She stepped out and was greeted by an encirclement. Seeing this, she took out her identification. One of the warriors pulled out a booklet and flipped through it until he found the one that matched.

"Takeda Shingen of Kai Prefecture, follow us, do not wander." Natsume nodded and didn't make any movements. She could have run away at any point and disappeared into the wilds of the Land of Earth, but she was curious about what was happening. Also, she didn't wish to condemn Takeda and his family because of her selfishness. It was a naïve thought, but Natsume felt she needed to balance her negative karma.

The architecture of the daimyo's castle was very pretty. She was used to the Uchiha Clan's style of architecture, so seeing the giant stone structures was fascinating. Since the Land of Earth had access to some of the largest mineral resources, they could afford to use stone in everything. Although she was intrigued by the architecture, she saw something similar in the prefecture, so she pretended not to be too surprised by it and simply looked around curiously.

She was brought to the main hall of the daimyo's fortress and met up with dozens of other officials. Many had already formed some cliques and were chatting about how their prefecture was doing and future cooperation. Natsume spent some time to collect information from the gossiping just in time for her to use it. A group walked over to her and introduced themselves as the prefecture leaders of the Shinano, Musashi, Suruga, and Hida prefectures. She understood these to be her 'neighbors.'

"Takeda-san, you were almost late! I feared for your safety." His greedy eyes didn't escape Natsume's perception and she internally noted that he likely hoped to scoop up the remains if Takeda was branded a criminal. Seeing how hostile the group was, Natsume assumed that the righteous Takeda Shingen refused to cooperate with them in their shady deals.

"Hmph!" She grunted and walked away from the group. Noticing them get frustrated by not suspicious confirmed her judgement. Based on the people around Takeda and their reactions, combined with her interactions with him, she was able to reconstruct his personality good enough to pass for now. She always had her Sharingan to rely on incase of trouble so she wasn't worried about being caught.

Fortunately, she didn't need to converse with anyone else because several shinobi entered the main hall and the Daimyo followed them in. He was a man who looked to be in his 30s with a black and grey beard and mustache. This was her first time seeing a daimyo in person, and she noted that their outfits were a lot less developed than in the future. They perhaps were influenced by the villages and added more decorations to their costume.

"You've all kept me waiting! The remaining officials and their family for 3 generations will be executed as traitors. The castle is now sealed. No one will be allowed in or out until we are finished here." The people started to murmur and look around in confusion. The shinobi had already surrounded the hall completely. The Earth daimyo's impatience was clear on his face. "Silence! This concerns the future of the Land of Earth. Anyone with impure thoughts will be executed on the spot!"

Hearing this, the crowd went quiet and everyone slowly formed up into a huddle in front of the daimyo, afraid they would miss one of his instructions.

"Good. Now, some of you may be concerned about the plague in the north. This is a ruse to fool outsiders." He paused for a moment to let people digest the information. "The truth is the largest dormant volcano near the fertile valley has reactivated. Fortunately, it will not erupt. However, lava has begun to flow into the fertile valley, destroying one of our key grain producers. Without this valley, we would either need to go to war to claim more fertile land, or buy grain from the merchants."

Hearing this revelation, some nearly fainted in shock. Natsume didn't know anything about the agriculture or economics of the Land of Earth, but since it could exist as an independent power for so long, and mostly fight opportunistically in the future, she imagined they were self-sufficient. The reaction of some of the officials was expected if they were just told they either had to go to war, or go broke.

"Daimyo-sama, surely there must be another way. Why not ask one of the clans to divert the lava with ninjutsu?" One of the older officials spoke up. Although the ways of the shinobi were less understood by civilians, those older officials had accumulated a lot of experience and knew how things worked. Since those clans chose to live in their borders, they would have to listen to the daimyo.

"If it were just the lava, it wouldn't be an issue! The white ash and temperature change has wilted the grain and dried the land before the lava could destroy anything." The daimyo rebutted. He had already considered this issue before. "Many of you are aware of your prefecture's finances. The Land of Earth cannot afford to supplement this much grain with money. Those officials who dare not show their face are branded as traitors, and to the people, all that needs to be said is that they came from the surrounding powers to spy and sabotage us. This will be our justification for war."

Many of the officials realized why they were summoned here. The daimyo did not need their advice or permission. This was a test of loyalty. Those who did not arrive were instantly branded as traitors, and then those who arrived were notified of war. Afterwards, anyone with thoughts of fleeing or not helping with the war efforts would be thrown into the same camp as the traitors.

"Everyone, return to your prefecture, and increase the collection rates of the people with this banner of seeking justice. I must see each prefecture produce twice their annual offerings for the war. Those in the north affected by the catastrophe are exempt from this but must at least send their minimum annual offering. Every region must send strong men to join the army!"