Naruto The Warlord

Chapter 4

Naruto quickly ducked, weaving narrowly beneath Shou's strike, the wooden practice staff grazing his hair. Quickly moving within range of Shou for hand to hand, Naruto slammed his fist into Shou's sternum. The strike pushed him backwards, air leaving his lungs and debilitating him and before he could regain his composure, Naruto twirled the staff in his own hands to jab him in his gut.

Shou managed to sidestep, blocking the jab with his own staff before throwing himself into a lunge towards Naruto mid-section. Already seeing an overextension where it occurred, Naruto deflected the strike and kicked Shou's leg from under him. Letting Shou fall to the ground hard, Naruto kicked him in the side to remind the boy to move. Falling to the ground was no excuse to give up, the enemy didn't care if you lost your breath or footing, they would kill you the same.

Shou rose into a spin, swiping wildly after Naruto who again narrowly dodged it. Repositioning themselves again, Shou heaved for breath as sweat ran down his bare torso under the baking sun. Naruto wasn't even winded, but the comparison was quite unfair all things considering.

"Alright, enough.", Naruto said, smiling at Shou whose tension left his body immediately. Leaning onto his own knees to catch for breath, Shou grinned proudly; he'd done much better against Naruto than anyone else today. Naruto patted him on the back and told him so too, before observing the rest of the training field.

2 weeks had passed since their first preparations and the village was beginning to look like a proper warcamp. Wooden, sharp poles made out of trees formed the walls surrounding the village in its entirety, watchtowers raised at the corners of the village. The trenches were well underway, but that was a huge undertaking and would take much more time than the walls.

In the field around Naruto, as of that very moment, was filled with men practicing combat with wooden staffs, simulating combat as they blocked and struck at one another under instructions from Naruto or those he had given the responsibility to instruct others. While there had been quite a few volunteers in the beginning, Naruto had feared it wasn't enough and begun a steady rotation where everyone who was old enough and fit enough had to practice. He'd delegated people between practicing archery and fighting with spears and javelins and quickly given permanent roles regarding who did best and what they needed the most. The townsfolk had grumbled and protested, but Naruto wouldn't have it. The support he had with Shou and his initial men had also formed the beginnings of a local militia, setting up watch routines and patrols through the village. Few dared to speak ill of Naruto with them nearby as everyone knew their loyalties. Despite this, Naruto was still very well respected so their grumbling had been only a minor setback.

Watching over the people practicing all around him had him smile hopefully for their future. They were beginning to look like a proper fighting force. Not real soldiers still, but maybe just enough to come out on top.

At the edge of the field, lined up as a crowd along the wall, sat a gathering of girls and women of varying ages, enjoying the scene in front of them while speaking pleasantly at one another. Naruto had a creeping suspicion a lot of the guys had begun to train without shirts to impress more than to counter the heat of the sun, but he said nothing on it. He kept his shirt on none the less.

Moving towards the nearest gate through the wall, Naruto rubbed his chin in thought. There were a lot of the women who had wanted to fight as well, at least assist with archery and Naruto was more than willing to approve of the assisted force, but many of the bigoted and old-traditioned men had protested very vehemently. Gender roles had never meant much growing up in a shinobi village, but it apparently meant a great deal for common folk. Personally, Naruto didn't see why it mattered if you were a man or a woman when the enemy came and pointed their swords at both genders alike, despite varying intentions.