Katsumi rushed toward the main hall of the Hosai Clan, ready to gather ninjas to transport and protect the newly found wheat.
Upon arriving at the main hall, various elders were just entering for their daily meeting, and elite ninjas guarded the building.
Noticing Katsumi's serious face, one of the elders asked, "What's wrong, Lady Katsumi? Where is the clan patriarch? The meeting is about to start."
Katsumi answered, "Elder Fuji, forget the meeting for now." She looked around and saw the elite ninjas guarding. "Call forty available ninjas. I want them here in less than ten minutes. And bring all the wagons we have."
The elite ninjas didn't question her words and instantly disappeared. However, the elders were confused, and one asked, "What's going on, Katsumi? Are we going to war?"
An elder gasped, "We can't go to war! Over eighty percent of our ninjas are on missions outside of the Land of Wind!"
Discussions began to get out of control until Elder Fuji stepped in. "Enough, you old fools! The Daimyo's assistance isn't arriving for a while, and the neighboring clans aren't that desperate yet! So enough of this unnecessary worrying!"
Elder Fuji was the oldest elder who served under the previous clan head. He was an elite ninja who fought in countless battles and survived. Even though he was in his late fifties, he was still the fourth strongest in the clan, a feat that demanded respect.
As the elders quieted down, Elder Fuji sighed and turned to Katsumi. "Lady Katsumi, would you mind telling us why we're gathering our remaining ninjas? If it's for battle, I'm afraid all the remaining ninjas aren't that strong. The few remaining elites aren't enough if it's a large-scale battle."
Although he believed there would be no fighting, as he had said before, there was no reason for the wife of the patriarch to gather forty ninjas other than to fight.
Katsumi shook her head while smiling. "The forty ninjas are for protecting and collecting fifty tons of wheat."
The hall fell silent, and all eyes stared at Katsumi with utter shock. Although all of them were skeptical, there was no reason for her to lie.
After a moment of silence, everyone burst into questioning.
"What?! Where would we get such an amount of wheat?"
"Where is it?! I want to see it!"
"Did we buy it?! Or did the Daimyo bless our clan?!"
"Why would the Daimyo give such an enormous amount of wheat?!"
Everyone began to debate where the wheat came from.
"Enough!" yelled Fuji. "Lady Katsumi, is this really true? Fifty tons of wheat could feed the entire clan for months!"
Katsumi nodded. "Yes. You all can verify it once we arrive at the cave where father-in-law was born."
Fuji's eyes widened and he was about to ask why it would be there, but then everyone sensed the energy of forty ninjas heading their way. In the distance, many pulled wagons while others were jumping from rooftop to rooftop.
Once everyone was gathered, Katsumi announced, "Everyone, head to the Hosai Cave!"
[Author's note: I decided to name it Hosai Cave—too lazy to make a cool name.]
Everyone was confused, yet all of them followed the order. Even the elders went with the wave of ninjas.
On the side, many civilians of the Hosai Clan began to feel anxious, as the gathering of ninjas isn't a good sign.
"Is it war?" a mother asked.
Civilians are the ones who suffer the most in wars, as ninjas are prioritized by the village, killing many civilians because of hunger.
Once everyone arrived at the entrance of the Hosai Cave, Mashiro stepped out of the cave and gave orders.
The elders entered with the ninjas, hopeful that what Katsumi said was true.
"T-This…"
The elders and the ninjas stared at the enormous amount of wheat in front of them.
"C-Clan Patriarch, where did you get this from?" asked one of the elders.
Mashiro looked at the ninjas and the elders. "Enough questions—go gather everything and bring it to the storage."
With one simple order, no one asked any more questions. This was Mashiro's way of saying that no one should ask further. And from his title as the clan head and his strength as the strongest, his words were absolute.
As all the ninjas and even some elders transported the food, many civilians noticed wagons coming into the clan grounds filled with wheat. The ninjas were all grinning, explaining that they now had enough food to feed the entire clan for months.
The news spread like wildfire, and everyone began asking for wheat to feed their families. Katsumi personally gave out bags of wheat to each family, causing cries and thankful shouts all around the clan.
The final batch finally came after three hours of grueling back-and-forth transportation. Although it was tiring, none of the ninjas were angry; on the contrary, they were ecstatic.
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Hosai Clan Meeting Room
Elder Nori, the elder who dealt with finance and trade, spoke. "Calculating all the wheat we have right now, it's around fifty-six tons."
One of the elders who dealt with structures smiled. "We're gonna need another storage building after today. It's the first time this has happened in our clan's history."
Everyone chuckled, and Nori continued, "That's right. And from the diplomats of the Daimyo, they said they'll be sending around ten tons of food and one million ryo. Their request this time is to send elite ninjas, as the contract from last year has expired. The goods should be arriving about three months from now."
Throughout history, the only reason clans survived in the Land of Wind was because of the Daimyo. Although the Daimyo had little to no military strength, he had the money and loyalty of all clans that resided in the Land of Wind.
If the Daimyo were to say that he wanted to attack the Land of Rivers or any neighboring nation, all clans would attack without question.
Fuji nodded. "Then it's about time we call all ninjas doing missions. We need to start the selection process for the Daimyo."
Each year, the Daimyo reaches out to each clan to form contracts and gain elite ninjas under him—not to go to war, but to maintain stability in the capital and to protect the Daimyo's family.
In return, the Daimyo sends money and food as compensation based on the agreed-upon deal. Large clans usually send more than ten elite ninjas because they have the resources and manpower to do so, meaning they get more benefits than the smaller clans from the Daimyo.
Doken, the elder who deals with missions and is the right-hand man during wartime, spoke. "With all the seasoned ninjas coming back, we should send new batches of fresh meat on missions with elite ninjas guiding them."
Each year, when the veteran ninjas come back, newly trained ninjas are given an elite ninja and form teams to gain experience while earning for the clan. However, most of the missions are still dangerous, as the mission market is competitive, and the current era is yet to be peaceful.
Mashiro smiled, "I'll form a team myself. Elder Doken, please find a suitable mission for me, Nao, Taro, and another ninja to assist me."
Fuji's eyes widened, "Patriarch, is young master Taro finally gonna become a ninja?!"
Fuji had always believed that Taro would be a genius, as he saw the previous clan head in Taro. What's more, from a young age, he was smart, though sickly. If the heavens hadn't given him such a weak body, he truly believed that he would've been stronger than Nao by now.
Mashiro smiled, "Yes. I helped him open his chakra pathway. Not only does he have a massive amount of chakra for his age as a child of the Hosai Clan, he mastered chakra control in one day! Hahahahaha!"
Gasps echoed throughout the room, then a boom of joyous cheers. "Not only did we get food, we're now getting another genius! Truly, the heavens have answered our prayers!"