The situation in Yinma City has become more and more difficult after two failed breakouts.

With a total population of more than 20,000 people, about one-third of the people fled to the castle for refuge, while the rest fled to the Asahina family. And for a long time, it has been the residence of the important wealthy family in Yuanjiang. After the Imagawa family took full control of Enoe, the Sena clan Shun was also transferred to the vicinity as a relative of the Imagawa family who controlled the overall situation in the territory of Toga. Both the Iio family and the Sena family had a strong influence on Inimajo Castle, and most of the residents of the castle town who had taken refuge in the castle had lived under the jurisdiction of these two families for more than a decade. On the other hand, the Okabe family has no roots here.

At this time, both the Sena family and the Iio family were members of the encircling army, and the Okabe family, who was on the defensive side, was facing the problem of unstable public opinion. A large number of people expressed their dissatisfaction with Okabe Motonobu's occupation of Hikima Castle and the Asahina faction, and they were full of hope that the Iio family and Sena family would quickly recover Hikima Castle so that they could return to normal life. Under such a mentality, the people of Inuma Castle have a passive attitude towards all the actions of the Okabe family, and there are even some people who have served in the Sena family's army who have found a way to quietly send news to the Sena family outside the castle.

Adding insult to injury is the growing food crisis. The breakout on June 11 and 12 further depleted the little food and grass that was already left, and the Okabe family had been trying to conceal the news of the lack of food in the city, otherwise the people who were already opposed to the Okabe family would have acted aggressively. The city has become crowded due to the influx of people, and the atmosphere in the city has become not very friendly.

Since the siege, the villagers have been buying grain from the rice barns and granaries in the city every day, and the Okabe family has never interfered. However, on June 13, Motonobu Okabe still did not see any hope of a turnaround in the siege. After continuing to whitewash the peace and tighten the grain budget for a long time, he chose the latter, who has always been pragmatic. That morning, Okabe Motonobu sent people to quickly take over several rice warehouses in the city, and at the same time keep the granaries tightly guarded.

However, something unexpected happened. When the samurai of the Okabe family went to seal the second granary, they were surprisingly met with resistance from the owner of the granary. The Okabe family had no choice but to take violent measures and forcibly take down the rice barn, only to discover that the owner's treasury contained the fine work of the Sena family. The owner of the rice warehouse didn't expect the Okabe family to suddenly have such a move, and he was caught off guard and had to not let the Okabe family come in, but in the end he couldn't escape the doom of being beheaded by the whole house.

However, this farce greatly changed the situation in the whole city and intensified the conflict between the Okabe family and the people. And the Okabe family's plan to quickly seize the five rice barns was also shattered. Due to the delay in the second rice warehouse for too long, the people immediately rushed out of their homes when they heard the news that the Okabe family wanted to control the grain, and went to the remaining three rice warehouses to grab the grain—after all, there was not much surplus grain at home before the autumn harvest. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Okabe Motonobu immediately sent troops to suppress it, but it was still a step too late, and most of the grain in the three rice warehouses had already been bought or robbed by the people. Motonobu Okabe flew into a rage and put the three bosses in prison.

The original plan of the Okabe family was to control the distribution of food in the whole city in a unified manner, so as to reduce the rations of the common people and ensure the supply of the army, while also holding out as much as possible for a period of time. However, the situation is dire at the moment. The army's rations are guaranteed by the granary next to the castle tower, and if there is no problem, the residents' rations are different.

Originally, every inhabitant would go to buy food every day - since it was under siege, everyone would buy more or less more, but there was no large-scale hoarding of food. However, because the Okabe family wanted to control the operation of the rice warehouse, the people were worried that they might not be able to get food from the Okabe family in the future. As a result, some of the people who had received the news earlier immediately rushed to stock up on much more food than their families needed, while others who were far away from the rice barns had found nothing, and their remaining stocks might only be enough for three days.

In desperation, many people flocked to the castle tower and the rice barn, demanding some food from the Okabe family. The food that the Okabe family has on hand now is all for the army, so naturally it will not be given to these people. For a time, rumors spread throughout the city that the city had run out of food, which led to even greater chaos. Although Motonobu Okabe has repeatedly stressed that the food can last for a long time, his previous act of concealing the information has made him no longer credible, and the chaos in the city has become more and more serious.

On 14 and 15 June, most of the people were able to survive on food rations, wild herbs and grasses. But by the 16th, some families had no rice to cook. Some people have no choice but to take risks. Some of them stormed the gates of the castle and demanded that the guards let them go back to their homes in the castle town to get food—a refusal that of course could lead to the infiltration of the moles, and possibly an attack on the Asahina family. Others reached out to other residents who were also crowded in the city, and cases of food theft and robbery and murder began to spiral out of control that night.

On 17 June, the Okabe family sent troops to try to suppress the entire city and try to restore order, but with little success, because the Okabe family had to take care of the defense of the city, and it was impossible to devote too many troops to maintain law and order. Many people who were short of food demanded that the Okabe army immediately confiscate the families of those who had looted the food and divide the food equally – which of course provoked a fierce backlash. Two or three large-scale fights for food broke out in the south of the city, and only subsided after the arrival of the Okabe samurai and Ashigaru. At the same time, more people pointed the finger at Okabe Motonobu, accusing him of not caring about the lives of the people of Soma Castle for the sake of army rations. That night, there were some of the old subordinates of Sena Shitoshi and Iio Renlong who instigated the starving people to try to seize the southern city gate. Although the rebellion was put down in time, Okabe Motonobu completely opposed the people of Ikama Castle. That night, several of the Okabe family's barracks in the castle were burned. Although Okabe Motonobu was angry, he also understood that this was not the time to suppress the people - the turmoil inside the city would only provide an opportunity for the army outside the city to take advantage of.

On June 18, in desperation, Motonobu Okabe was forced to open the army's granaries and distribute food to the hungry. However, the number of people who came to collect food far exceeded Okabe Motonobu's imagination - it was clear that some people who were not short of food had also come to fish in troubled waters. In order to identify this group, fierce clashes broke out between the samurai of the Okabe clan and the common people, and many hungry people were mistakenly identified as people with food. Enraged, they began to snatch the food, and the situation spiraled out of control again. With only more than 200 people in order to maintain order, Ashigaru was unable to control the situation and was forced to call for help from the castle tower. In a hurry, Okabe Motoshin withdrew 400 people from the guards of the four gates, and finally suppressed the rebels.

Although Yu Qiuping, who was outside the city, noticed the changes in the city, he had always been more conservative and did not immediately send troops to try to attack. Sanada Masayuki, who had been in charge of intelligence infiltration in the castle before, speculated that it was likely that the people in the castle had rioted due to a lack of food, and that Motonobu Okabe was busy suppressing the civil unrest. Therefore, he and Amano Jingde suggested that Yu Qiuping immediately launch a general attack of the whole army. However, Yu Qiuping does not like to attack, and is more inclined to defensive, which is a conservative old mistake. He felt that as a temporary commander-in-chief, he lacked prestige and qualifications, and rashly launched a general offensive of the whole army, which might not be resolutely carried out by the other armies. In addition, the situation in the city is still unclear, and Okabe Motonobu has used fraud many times before, so that Yu Qiuping can't make up his mind. hesitated, delayed for a long time.

By noon of the same day, when Asahina Taehyung and Okupei Sadakatsu sent heralds to request an attack, Woo Chohei couldn't help but be a little shaken. But he thought about it, since he had missed the best time in the morning, attacking again now would inevitably increase the casualties. The longer you hesitate, the more you miss the opportunity. In the end, Yu Qiuping still failed to make up his mind, and finally gave up his intention to attack - which also saved Okabe Motonobu's life.

On June 19, after yesterday's second rush for food, Okabe Motonobu had little food left. However, this lightened his burden, and the people no longer forced him to open a warehouse to release grain, but turned to his companions, who seemed to have a lot of food. Thefts and robberies have reached new peaks since the 16th. And the food supplied by Okabe Motonobu to the army was only for 3 days.

Okabe Motonobu was planning to attack one day when Yuakihei attacked, but he took the opportunity to play a defensive counterattack, and then led the whole army to break through. However, Yu Qiuping was like a king eating scales, and he was determined not to attack, but he was honestly defending there, intending to trap Okabe Motoshin. Okabe Motoshin has no tricks at all, and can only look forward to the arrival of the mediation envoy - this is also something that Yu Qiuping is puzzled about. It had been several days since Sena Toshiwa Asahina had gone to Sunfu, but the mediator had not arrived as promised. Yu Qiuping sent a messenger to inquire, but did not receive any reply.

On the evening of June 19, Motonobu Okabe had already begun to draw up plans for a breakthrough. If he doesn't do something, he will really sit back and wait until the food runs out. Even if you fight it, you have to rush out of the city. Even if you can't take the whole army away, at least you have to break through with yourself and your core retainers. Late at night, he once again personally urged the ninjas of the Okabe family to patrol the castle to prevent the ninjas of the Asahina clan from sneaking into the castle from the castle town while it was dark. However, tonight, Motonobu Okabe, who was on patrol at night, noticed something unusual. It seems that in addition to the Asahina family, there is another family of ninjas who are active in the night.