Behold the Might

[Ace Trainer]

The transition from where Iron Country proper ended, and the land obtained from Fur Country began was not a firm line. The land got progressively less hostile, and the trees became a little more full. In Iron, the coniferous trees were just as present, but slightly harder, with thinner leaves, darker bark, and fewer fruiting bodies. Despite Fur country being further north than Iron, it had healthier soil, and a slightly lower altitude which seemed to positively impact the flora and fauna. The trees here were larger, healthier, fuller, and produce big bodied bright colored fruits that the locals used to consume. During the war, they had been forced out of the country when Iron seized the land, an exchange that had essentially be an agreement between Iron and Earth. Earth would take the refugees and laborers, Iron would gain the land. Iron had supported Earth in the war after all.

This type of land, however, was not land the samurai were used to or saw value in. Their culture utilized agriculture, yes, but they had developed different ways of generating and managing livestock and crops in limited space and underground regions. Developing entire new standards for above ground agriculture was nonsensical. And thus, it was the role of the Taishou to fix this.

"Taishou, this is the official border of Fur Country." the samurai would inform the young man. Shio would remove his ricecap, unveiling his chakra signature to anyone who may have been spying on them and handing it to the samurai. They were standing on a hill, so he could see a decent distance from where he stood, and could even see just barely on the horizon the wall that had been erected for Seikoujo. Much of Seikoujo had been put underground, and from above ground it would appear little more than an outpost. The samurai, like little ants, seemed to specialize in these complex underground cities. Shio's job today was to give them more space to work with.

Taking a soft breath, Shio would turn to the small blonde boy to his left, Kesu. "We've established this isn't breaking any sort of international law or agreement we made with this land?", he asked, seemingly double checking. Kesu would simply nod. The land was theirs, fully to use as they pleased. If Shio wished to terraform, then he could do exactly that. With this final confirmation, the boy would take three steps forward then clap his hands together in front of him. A bright light would resonate from his body as armor would form from the air collapsing around his body, a sword in one hand and bow in the other as he grew a fair amount in size. Placing the bow on his back, he'd take the sword with both hands and crash it into the ground.

An enormous crack would erupt from the sword and thrust forward down the hill. For a few moments there was quiet as the break got further away. But then a sudden lurch, and the ground would seemingly erupt, trees being forced to the side as an enormous slab of earth would project itself upwards. From it, seemingly thousands of locusts would pour from the ground, spreading itself out into the forest to consume the trees and then dive back into the ground, forcing new slabs of earth to erupt. Shio would stand motionless, seemingly concentrating as the swarm would ravage the land in front of them, distorting and warping the landscape as they did so.

Suddenly, Shio would lift the sword and step forward, vanishing into the air and reappearing on a recently formed 'hill' a couple hundred meters in front of where he had been. From where he stood, Kesu would squint to see Shio repeat the action, further spreading the destruction of his swarm.

The goal here was simple, make this land unusable and hostile to anyone but the samurai. Raise the elevation as much as they could, and prepare it for Iron. Seikoujo was almost ready, meaning this was some of the final steps for Shio to properly restabilize Iron and keep it secure in the long term. The swarm would dive deep into the ground, churning and disrupting the earth and then forcing it upwards, creating deep underground caverns and literal mountains and Shio would occasionally launch himself forward to start on new flat ground. He would do the entire country this way, sparing only the land the Seikoujo sat on from his locusts.

The sun would move slowly through the sky as the Taishou ravaged the land he'd gained during the war. The entourage he had brought will him would follow through, carefully recording the changes he made, being sure to keep their distance lest they end up caught in the landscaping. Much of what he changed wouldn't remain, the new land would be frail and unstable, and when the next snow and rain came, much of it would collapse, shift, or change as a consequence of it. It would likely take a years time, if not more, for the land to stabilize. Which would be about how long Kesu had projected it would take for Seikoujo to be fully prepped. With the sun finally setting, Shio was approaching the earth country border to the north, having converged at this point already from the east and west. He had been careful not to get to close to the border, lest any of the outpost think he was mounting an attack. Almost certainly though they would have seen and heard the wreckage he was causing within his own country - and there was no telling what they would think of that.

Stopping, Shio would turn and wait as his entourage approached. The locust swarm had settled on the fallen trees and slabs of earth, consuming anything biological as Shio simply stood. When Kesu approached, he'd hail Shio, who would nod, and lift his sword, sheathing it. As he did so, his armor, the sword and sheath would dissipate into blue energy, as would the entirety of the locust swarm, filling the night with light for only a moment. As the light faded, Shio would return to his normal youthful appearance.

"You have it all documented?", he'd ask. Kesu would nod. Everything went as planned. "Good, lets head to Seikoujo for the night.", is all he would offer before leaping into the air and leading them off.