March 12, Kaiyuan Year 3.
The late-spring breeze swept in from the fields, carrying the damp scent of earth after rain.
Lush green wheat seedlings stretched to the horizon, dotted here and there with early wildflowers, purple and yellow.
A small town under the Tea Capital's jurisdiction basked in the gentle afternoon sun.
The town was small. A bluestone road ran from east to west, lined with white-walled homes beneath gray-tiled roofs. Dried chilies left over from the previous autumn's harvest hung under the eaves.
Ordinarily, a few local dogs dozed in sunny spots, barely lifting their eyelids at strangers passing along the street.
Today, however, the little town was livelier than usual.
"The latest batch of Crystal Coin Cards has arrived from the capital! Every ninja needs one! Don't crowd—go by house number!"
Mitokado of the Police Force stood at the alley entrance, his voice loud enough to shake the sparrows out of the trees.
He wore a navy-blue uniform, with a short sword at his waist and a thick stack of registers in his hands.
Beside him stood a younger member of the Sarutobi Clan from the Civil Affairs Bureau, his face still somewhat boyish.
He had his head lowered, fiddling with the newly issued portable chakra detector in his hands.
The Imperial Academy of Sciences had only begun mass-producing these devices before the new year. They could detect chakra signatures, ensuring no one slipped through the net.
Behind the two men waited a team of locally recruited grassroots workers, ready to visit the households.
"Next household, 17 West Street."
Mitokado flipped through the register and headed inside.
Knock, enter, verify identities.
They had repeated the procedure more than a hundred times. Everyone knew it by heart.
"Name."
"Yamashita Kenichi."
"Age."
"Twenty-three."
"Address."
"17 West Street."
"Ninja rank."