Naruto The Warlord

Chapter 8

The former people of Kisara traveled for days on end, moving across hills, rivers and forests. Their first destination were a village they knew laid only a week's travel away from the 'Kisara Mountains', but they hadn't heard or seen anything from anyone from that village since during the 2 months of preparation for the Daimyo's men. They spent the time they traveled to forage food, living off the rich lands around them for as much as they could before the lands turned barren, which they would the closer they got to the desserts of the 'Land of Wind'. Naruto was careful to send scouts as far and often as he could without fear of them getting lost. They had horses and moved much faster than the rest of their migratory flock, so the scouts rarely had much trouble finding their way back.

As they traveled, Naruto had made a very grave decision regarding the Daimyo's swords that they had salvaged from his army, as well as that of their armors. The swords and armors wore the colors of the royal army of 'Earth' and only a fool trader would ever buy it since it was still technically the property of the royal army of 'Earth'. They couldn't use it or wear it, because the last thing Naruto wanted was to travel through lands of another Daimyo and be affiliated with with an opposing force. The katanas were also weapons of mastery, warriors spending years to master the blade and its usage, which would be a problem for his men to learn since they weren't just warriors; they were farmers, hunters and craftsmen aside from defending their people. They didn't have the time to master the katana for years to come. They needed something simpler and easier to use.

Spears and axes however. THAT, they did know how to use and his people were becoming startlingly good at their usage in combat. Those that had survived battle with the Daimyo's men were the best they had left and would be vital for their continued survival, but they needed better gear. It was with this in mind that Naruto made a radical decision to have them melt down all of the salvaged blades and armor in order to remake it into metal for their spears, hatchets and metal plating for their leather armors. They would do this whenever they camped, putting up makeshift forges with stone that burned hot with wood. Jiro had the tools necessary for it from when they escaped, but it was a slow process.

Naruto never stopped training his people, never stopping his lessons as he called on all of the knowledge he had, both from his own experiences and what he had learned from Nobu's journal. His spearmen and archers were getting better and better, learning how to use hatchets for close quarter as well. As they were slowly replacing all of their wood with metal, wooden spears, javelins and arrows getting metal tips and more hatchets for everyone, Naruto had them move on to more personalized trained, where his men would spar against one another. This meant that they needed training equipment, but that was easily crafted from the surrounding woods. They needed blunted edges, not metal for such training. He wanted them to learn, not kill each other after all.

Naruto had also been thinking of revealing a bit more of his past to his people, or at least his close and trusted advisers. They didn't have to worry about the Daimyo of 'Earth's' armies or Shinobi any longer, so Naruto had began to consider learning his people the use of chakra. He doubted many would show proficiency in it, but it would give them an edge whenever the next conflict would arrive.

It was as he considered this, that they finally came upon the horrid sight of the first village.

Corpses littered the streets of the small village. Most houses were burnt, the farms despoiled and ruined. As Naruto approached with his guardsmen warily surrounding him, they muttered and cursed upon the sight.

"Who the hell would do something like this?", Shou whispered with a grimace, looking around at the surrounding corpses. They were just village folk, no harm or threat to anyone.

Not opting to answer immediately, Naruto broke formation, much to the protest of his guards, and crouched over one of the nearby corpses. While there were no more cinders from the ruins around them, Naruto could tell by the corpses that the wounds and festering flesh were fresh, at most only a couple of days old.