The meeting room went silent, then murmurs began once again. However, the voices were quickly shut down by Mashiro, "You want to risk the lives of our people, for what? Territory?"
Kise scoffed, "Is that all your vision can see, Father? With the unification of the surrounding clans, we stand closer to the major powers in the Land of Wind."
Doken, a strong advocate for Mashiro, argued, "What makes you think the clans won't rebel? If we were to wage war now, the deaths on both sides could potentially weaken all of us." He paused, then continued, "Let's say we do unify the surrounding clans. What are you gonna do with those who aren't loyal? What are you gonna do to outside forces wanting to attack a weakened and loyalty-less Hosai?"
Jiren, the grandson of Doken, argued against his grandfather, "Are we so weak that we're worried about dogs who want to rebel?"
As the argument went on, Taro suddenly got a new prompt from the system.
[Quest: Looming Threats
Elite Jonin - 5/7
Jonin - 20/25
Penalty: Death of Mashiro, Nao, Kise, and half the Hosai clan. Relocation of the clan.]
After the Looming Threats quest appeared, another one popped up.
[Side Quest: The Peaceful and the Aggressor
Integrate clans - 0/3
Penalty: Decrease chances of completing the Looming Threats quest.]
Taro smiled and stopped everyone from arguing any further, "Everyone, enough of this."
All eyes turned to Taro, and Kise asked, "What is it, Taro? You don't honestly believe we stand a chance against the major clans without unification."
Taro nodded, "No, I agree with you, we should unify." As Doken and the others were about to argue, Taro stopped them, "But we should do it diplomatically."
Kise frowned, "You don't think we've tried that?"
"You probably have, but this time, it's different."
"How so?" asked Mashiro.
"We have unlimited amounts of food, we have the leverage. We can feed all of them combined! We don't need to tell them how we get the food, we just need them to know we can."
Kise chuckled, "You're smart, Taro. But you don't know human nature. What makes you think we can trust them? That they won't steal from us? Or if they can keep their mouths shut?"
Elder Nori, who had been quiet since the presentation, spoke up, "No… What he said could work. I've worked with the Hoki clan and the Netsudoku clan, and they can be trusted. The Hoki clan is only a medical-nin clan, they don't like war. While Netsudoku have been declining for decades now, they have more elderly than children, so they're desperate."
"What about the Hebidoku clan from the north of us?" one of the elders asked.
Nori sighed, "Those meat brains are the only problematic ones surrounding us, and so we should conquer them instead."
Taro sighed, as he wanted to stay out of war as much as he could. Not because he was scared, but because he didn't want to lose jonins or elite jonins for the mission rewards.
Mashiro clapped and gained the attention of everyone, "Then that settles it. Prepare for war. Elder Nori and Elder Fuji, please handle the diplomatic team for the Hoki and Netsudoku clan… Elder Doken, go get those special weapons Taro created and form a team with specialized weapons, we can't let anyone know we have them yet."
Doken nodded and Mashiro continued giving orders, "Taro, get the food ready for the diplomat, you'll be joining them. Kise, grab elite shinobis and get ready for war, you asked for it after all."
Taro began to move, but then he realized something, "I need to dilute the food. I can't let them feed it to animals and grow their own cow farm…"
After the orders of Mashiro, the clan began to move like a well-oiled machine. Everyone felt that something big was happening. The children were taken off the streets by their parents, and ninjas doing missions were called back home.
In half a day, everything was already prepared.
Inside the Hosai Cave.
"How exactly will I dilute the effects for the animals?" Taro asked.
At first, Taro washed the wheat with normal water. Although the water diluted the effect, it made the wheat more prone to going bad.
"Washing or heating doesn't really work…"
Taro sighed and morning quickly arrived. In the end, Taro figured out that if you picked the grains out of the wheat, the effects would disappear.
He once tried it out on the cows and the chickens, and they only got full, not mate.
After he was finished experimenting, he took nearly 80 tons of wheat, 40 tons each for the Hoki clan and the Netsudoku clan. Then he ordered more than twenty genins to get the grains out of the wheat.
----------------------------
Next morning, Netsudoku Clan.
POV Atakichi Netsudoku
I sat down on the roof of my house and stared at the starving children below. I clenched my fists, but there was nothing I could do.
The clan had over 300 members. However, our ninjas are only 110, with only two ninjas being elite.
The clan is dying, and it's dying fast. The children born in the clan die of hunger at the age of four. Those who survive would soon die for their clan doing dangerous missions. We have nothing left, not even a future.
As I contemplated what to do with the clan, my precious daughter arrived right next to me.
"What is it, Fushida? Why are you out of breath?" I asked.
Fushida informed me with a pale face, "Father! It's the Hosai clan! Some of our scouts spotted that they're amassing ninjas. We're assuming that they're getting ready for war… Not only that, over thirty ninjas are heading this way, with Elder Fuji leading the way!"
I sat up straight and asked my daughter, "What?! Is that true?! But why?!"
The Hosai clan wasn't territorial, if anything they were peaceful. From their legendary previous clan patriarch to their current one, both have been peaceful and only attacked when threatened.
I frowned as I thought of a culprit, "It must be that bastard Kise… I wonder if he finally revolted."
Fushida clenched her fist, "That bastard!"
I sighed as I saw the fury in my daughter's eyes. Fushida and Kise have a long and bloody one-sided rivalry. When they were young, they were considered to be the geniuses of each family. And with the smaller clans being hired by larger clans to fight for them, the two would naturally meet on the battlefield.
With the prideful heart of little Fushida, her resentment grew every time she lost on the battlefield.
"Was Fuji really the one leading the group? If that's true, then we can still negotiate."
I ordered Fushida, "Call all the elders and all available ninjas. Meet me at the entrance, I'll be heading first."
As I got ready to leave, Fushida stopped me and gave me a hug, "Be careful, Father…"
I sighed, "I'm not that old, you don't need to worry about me."
I grabbed my trusted puppet and rushed toward the entrance, where I was met with thirty Hosai ninjas and two elders.
"It's been a while, Atakichi!"