Naruto - Warlord

AN:

Okay, so this is a chapter i have been a bit more hesitant to release. I am sure there's a lot of "experts" out there with a lot of opinions and "knowledge" on how people waged war realistically, as well as the physics regarding the katana, but i will respectfully keep my own opinion despite whatever expertise i am sure you have under your belt. For some reason, a lot of people think the katana could cut through nearly anything, while in truth, the katana is an incredibly light blade with very little durability. It was a weapon that needed to be mastered in its use because it chipped incredibly easily due to its thin and sharp edge and had little to no weight to cut through anything more durable than leather. Sure, we have a lot of demo's out there showing katana's cutting through posts (not made of wood), but a katana isnt able to cut through through metal or thick enough wood, it just doesnt have the weight for it. Its a precision instrument after all.

If you want to make your opinion known or if you think i have my facts wrong, please feel free to post a review about it, but please understand that i will stay hesitantly doubtful. I dont claim to be an expert of this myself, that isnt what i am saying at all, but i'd rather trust my own research than yours is all.

Also, i have been getting some comments about what pairings there will be in the story. I can say that i do indeed plan to make a pairing between Naruto and someone, but who? That i do not want to spoil just yet. Feel free to let me know who you think it should be though, either an original character or one from canon. While i do have my ideas on where this story will be going, i am very much free and open to suggestion. If i get an idea that i think is better than what i have currently, i will move to accommodate to make a better story.

Chapter 5

Standing on top of the wall, over the gate which pointed out towards 'The Quiet Vein', Naruto narrowed his eyes upon the movement in the forest. He could see armored men scouting for the village and he knew the Daimyo's men were soon upon them.

Hours had passed since they made ready for war and the sun was now in full bloom above them. Its glaring heat went ignored in favor of pre-battle nerves.

An archer next to Naruto, a boy younger than himself, suddenly heaved and puked, nerves obviously not agreeing with his last meal. Naruto ignored it, despite his sympathies and continued to scout ahead into the forest. Minutes passed and the scouts eventually disappeared into the forest.

This was it.

Naruto knew the Daimyo's men wouldn't stop to parlay with them. In their eyes, they were criminals and murderers, rebelling against their rightful lord and undeserving any mercy. When they came, they would throw everything they had into a decisive blow; such was their way of the sword.

Seeing movement in the forest, Naruto could hear the sound of horses galloping along with the warcry of a hundred men.

The sound sent a shiver down Naruto's spine, but he refused to let it show.

"Open the gate!", Naruto barked and turned briskly, making his way down the ramps on the wall. Men yelled in confirmation and opened the gate before the wide row of men which Naruto would personally lead into battle. Coming down the ramp, Naruto gave Shou who would fight alongside of him a nod, before facing the gate. Taking a deep breath, Naruto tried to calm his beating heart. "Forward.", he said in a firm voice and Shou nodded.

"Forward!", Shou roared.

"Osu!", the men behind them yelled. Breaking into a jog, the entire platoon behind him mirrored his movement and followed bravely out the gate.

His shield and javelin in his left hand felt light, his halberd in his right bobbing along with his jogging steps. Adrenaline was beginning to rush past his ears now in preparation for the coming battle. He couldn't imagine how it was for those behind him, those who had never been in a true battle for life and death.

As the last man left the gate, it was promptly shut behind them. They jogged quickly past the many wooden palisades which laid around the village and into the open, flat field in front of them that was between them and the forest.

The sounds of horses and warcries from the forest were loud now.

"Spread out.", Naruto said to Shou, coming to a stop as the rest halted behind him. "Loose formation."

"Spread out! Loose formation!", Shou roared next to him. The platoon moved out into a line with 5 rows, about a 30 men in width, making them a force of about 150 fighting men. The group of archers behind them which had followed crouched and waited behind their lines. "Stand ready!"

"Osu!", they thundered again as they pointed their spears forward in a hunched and battle ready position.

Every breath felt as if it was unnaturally long now. The urge to hyperventilate had began to grow and Naruto had to remind himself to breathe slowly.

200 meters in front of them, a contingent of samurai on horseback came riding out of the forest, straight for them. Their warcries thundered across the field, shaking the men in their shoes.

"Now, my Lord?", Shou questioned nervously, but Naruto shook his head.

Dust rose from the horses as they ran, their riders wearing intricate golden armors of leather and iron, ornaments depicting dragons and heroes upon their vests. Those who didn't wear masks depicting demons and what not were almost close enough to see their frothing snarls.

As they passed the 150 meter mark, Shou questioned him again, but Naruto couldn't even hear him as he observed the riders. He would assume they had about a 120 men, not counting anyone in reserve.

At the 100 meter mark, Shou questioned him again and sounded like he was about to panic, but Naruto ignored it. The riders could be seen in clear detail now.

At the 70 meter mark, his men were about to panic and break rank, but that was when IT happened.

Their horses stepped into the hidden trenches that they had covered with branches, leaves and dirt. The trench was 5 meter wide and deep, poles of spikes in the bottom. As the upper, thin branches broke the layer under the hooves of their horses, the first in the line fell, horse and rider both, into the spike pit. Naruto couldn't see the result, but they could hear the pained screams of the many riders who suffered at the bottom. The lucky ones died instantly.

The riders behind them quickly halted, their horses rearing up on their hind legs in panic as the riders behind them nearly pushed the front further into the pit.

Smirking, Naruto gave Shou a nasty grin.

"Now.", Naruto growled deeply and Shou nodded.

"Archers forward!", Shou roared. The spearmen stood rooted in their loose and open formation while the archers behind quickly ran through up to the front, forming 2 rows of about 30 men in width in front of them. "Nock!", Shou continued and the archers nocked their first arrows in preparation. "Draw!" The archers pointed their bows towards the air in front of them and drew their arrows back in their strings. "Loose!"

At his last command, the archers let their arrows fly.

The volley rained across the field and the panicking samurai were too late to realize what was happening. The volley rained over the riders and the horses, but the wooden tips of the arrows no matter how sharp did very little damage. Their armor took the brunt of the damage, but some arrow heads managed to pierce, causing both the unlucky horses and riders to scream.

As the first volley hit, Shou had already begun his command for preparing the next volley which quickly followed the first.

Naruto frowned as Shou continued to rain arrows on them. Dust and panic among the enemy riders made it difficult to see and judge how many were left, but every one of them who fell was a gift to be relished. One less soldier to harm his own after all.

After a minute of punishment, the Daimyo's men eventually figured out where the trench ended and made their way around. Most of their horses were either panicking or had been wounded, so the samurai had abandoned the animals.

Naruto almost snorted with amusement. So far, this had been much easier than expected. Whoever was leading these men had obviously underestimated them gravely.

As Shou ordered the last volley, Naruto glanced over at him.

"Archers, retreat."

"Archers!", Shou roared faithfully. "Retreat!"

As the archers turned and made their way back through the spearmen ranks, Naruto caught Ryu among them.

"Ryu!", Naruto barked, drawing his attention as he passed him by. "Prepare for flanking!" Ryu nodded and ran along with his unit. Glancing over his shoulder, Naruto saw the last of the archers make their way out of the spearmen's loose formation. "Ready javelins."

"Ready Javelins!", Shou roared. All the spearmen lowered their spears to the ground, switching their grips on the javelin from left hand to the right. "Javelins at the ready!"

"On my command.", Naruto muttered, receiving a nod from Shou. The Daimyo's men had made it passed the trenches, but their fear of another arrow volley had obviously rendered them unable to think straight as they hadn't resumed their formations. With nerves as steel, Naruto calmly reared his javelin back in preparation for the throw. The men around him mirrored his action.

As the enemy ran passed the 40 meter mark, the tip of the javelin rested right next to the tip of his nose.

"Throw!", Naruto roared and Shou for once didn't repeat his words. They let their javelins fly, raining towards the enemy forces. Naruto saw his own javelin slam through the body of one of the samurai in front, several more falling to the javelins of his men. The soldiers remained just as motivated as before however, and continued to storm passed their fallen towards the town. "Ready spears.", Naruto growled, adrenaline really beginning to push into his ears now.

"Ready spears!", Shou roared and the men quickly picked them up again, readying themselves for the enemy now only a short distance away. "Spears ready!"

"Close ranks."

"Close!"

Quick as they could be, everyone huddled together, shoulder to shoulder as they formed a wall of shields and spears. Naruto's breathing picked up and he could hear the men around him suffering the same as the samurai were now right in front of them.

"Brace!", Naruto roared right before the samurai charged into them, leaning into his shield as the wave of enemy ran straight into them.

"Osu!"

With a snarl, Naruto stopped the first one to reach him with the tip of his halberd, stabbing forward and piercing the warrior's armor at the middle. The chakra in his muscles sent spear straight through the armor, but the axe prevented the spear from going further. Drawing his halberd back, Naruto grit his teeth as one of the warrior's comrades ran straight into his shield with his shoulder.

All around them, the samurai with their broken formation rammed into their shields where a bloody dance as old as time began. Lifting his shield to prevent a cut to his face, Naruto stabbed blindly again and again as he did his best to block whatever the samurai attempted to throw at him. Nicks and cuts got to him eventually, but they were only minor. The men behind him pushed up against his back with their own shields, stopping the first line from being pushed backwards as they used their own spears in a reversed grip to stab at the enemy from above their own frontline.

Seconds passed as they shoved and stabbed at the samurai who fought with reckless abandon. While it was obvious these warriors had little to no experience fighting against a shieldwall, they were warriors while Naruto's men were not. They had the numbers however as every time one of Naruto's fell, another quickly took his place at the shield wall.

A chorus of warcries came from the side of the samurai and Naruto smirked as he fought onward. Ryu and his archers had pulled out their hatches and were now running straight for the samurai's flank. Armed with shields and hatchets, they looked like brigands as they slammed into the samurais backs.

The difference in pressure from the samurai at the spearwall was felt immediately as the samurai attempted to fall back to get more control of their flanks, but Naruto would never let them.

"Break ranks!", Naruto roared and stepped forward and out of formation. Stabbing a samurai through the back as he turned, he blocked another one's strike from the side and swept his legs from under him with the halberd. Before the man could move, Naruto slammed the edge of his shield into the samurai's face, his strength bursting the man's skull like an egg upon the dirt. "Fight free!"

"Osu!", the men roared and like a starved beast fueled by fear and bloodlust and charged forward into the now retreating samurai.

Despite their superior training, the samurai now floundered. Attacked with hatchets at one side and spears from the other, the few who attempted to fight on were quickly mowed down by their superior numbers.

With a fierce grunt, Naruto drove the axe'd blade of the halberd sideways into the chest of a samurai who attempted to flee. Locking the handle under the pit of his arm, he used his body for leverage to swing the halberd back quickly like a pendulum. The samurai he'd aimed for threw himself to his back, the spear swiping by the tip of his nose in a miss. Grunting in exertion, Naruto used the momentum he already had to push the halberd away from his body into a twirl at his wrist. Hefting the halberd in a javelin like grip, he jabbed forward towards the downed samurai who screamed briefly in protest before he was silenced forever.

Drawing his weapon back into a standard grip again with a grim expression, Naruto took a breather to observe the battlefield. The samurai were now in full retreat, but he doubted they had seen the last of them. His men, both spearmen and archers with hatches alike were chasing down the remaining samurai, cutting them down as they fled the area and ran back towards the forest.

"Cease!", Naruto roared and his men slowly, but surely began to make their way back to the walls of their town. "Tend to the wounded! Get them inside! Shou!? Shou and Ryu, where the hell are you!?"

As his men began the grim task of tending to their wounded and dead, dragging both towards the town, Ryu and Shou ran up to Naruto looking relatively unharmed. Ryu had a gash at the side of his head, Shou a limp at his right leg, but they looked fine otherwise.

"You both alright?" They both nodded and Shou looked to him with worried eyes.

"And you, my Lord?"

"I'm fine.", Naruto waved him off. "Get our people fed, rested and aid for those in need. I want full control of how many capable we have left to fight with.", Naruto muttered, casting a glance over his shoulder towards the forest where the samurai was stilling running towards. "I don't think we have seen the last of these fuckers."

Naruto sat at a box outside many of the town's workshops. He watched his men lying around at makeshift blankets as people doted on them, bringing them water and food in their break from the fight.

To the side, in the shade of the wall, laid the wounded.

In the end, they had done better than what Naruto had hoped for. Only 7 men had died, but many more had been wounded. Some of those wounded wouldn't make it past the next hour, some would be ready to fight within minutes.

Naruto's gaze traveled to the bodies, draped with white cloth from top to toe to hide them from view. A father sat by the end of one such, a dark expression upon his face while a family wept for another nearby. One of the girls who had been tending to the wounded laid a blanket over one who had been speaking just minutes ago with a shake of her head.

8 dead then.

Regret was heavy in his heart, but this was what they had known would happen. They had all made their choices and Naruto found comfort that their amount of dead was much fewer than expected. The samurai had lost many more men than them after all, but Naruto didn't think for a second they had won just yet.

Naruto blinked as someone pushed a piece of bread beneath his chin.

"You should eat.", Shou murmured down at him with a worried look. Glancing up at his adviser, Naruto accepted the bread with a muted thanks. Shou seated himself on a box next to Naruto with a groan. Shou's leg had received a beating during the tussle, but he was otherwise fit to fight.

"How are we looking, Shou?", Naruto breathed, eating slowly as he continued to watch his people milling about in worry.

"We're looking surprisingly good.", Shou muttered, speaking low in order to keep the conversation private. "Most of the boys are in pretty high spirits after the fight. They think we have a real good fighting chance in all of this, considering how the last engagement went.", Shou trailed off as he ate another piece of the bread in his hand. "I can say with complete surety that we have at least 120 fighting men left with spears, while most of our archers are still good. Those left on the wall haven't seen any action yet, but they seem fairly motivated considering how the last one went. Ryu only lost 4 men i think."

"These numbers are likely incorrect.", Naruto murmured. "We have more wounded than this."

"Might be, but hard to tell with our current wounded, seeing as many of them will be ready to fight again.", Shou conceded as Naruto glanced across the square.

"Where's Ryu?"

"With his fiancee." Naruto took a breath at this, Shou giving him a worried look. "Should i find him, my Lord?"

"...No...", Naruto muttered. While he would have appreciated Ryu's presence right now, he was well within his rights to be with his fiancee that moment. "It's fine.", Naruto muttered as he finished eating. "This was good."

"Yeah.", Shou chuckled. "My sister's always been good at baking."

"I never asked before, but how old's your sister?", Naruto murmured as he leaned back against the pole the boxes were lined up next to. Some small talk would do them good while they waited.

"She's 14." Shou rubbed his chin in thought. "She was 5 when we left the capital."

"You're from the capital of Earth?", Naruto cocked a brow at Shou. While they had worked together for a long while, they hadn't actually spoken much outside of work. Seeing his nod, Naruto was about to ask another question when someone yelled out from the nearby watchtower.

"Rider!", the man yelled out, waving fiercely towards Naruto. "Rider to the southeast, towards 'The Quiet Vein'!"

Naruto grunted and heaved himself to his feet. He quickly ran towards the ramp of the corresponding wall to see, Shou following as quick as he was able to.

Coming to the top of the wall, Naruto saw the rider leave the forest, riding at a slow pace towards the trenches where they had lost many of their own men. About a 100 meters away from their camp, he stopped, barely beyond the range of their shortbows.

"...What do they want?", Shou murmured after a couple of seconds, the archers on the wall next to them shuffling nervously.

"To negotiate, i assume." Naruto frowned. It made sense that they intended to negotiate after losing so much more men than them, but it also told Naruto that they had no intentions of giving up just yet. They had more men to spare. "Shou."

"Yes, my Lord?"

"You have the wall.", Naruto grunted, turning towards the ramp again. Clapping Shou on the shoulder as he passed him, he moved to leave the ramps.

"I will await your return, my Lord.", Shou responded without argument. His loyalty was commendable and very much a necessity in their situation.

The gate was opened for him as he left, entering the fields of the earlier battle. Blood, guts and corpses still littered the area, but Naruto didn't pay them any mind. They weren't his dead; they had already been dragged back into town to the people that had loved them. Stepping up towards the rider, Naruto wasn't sure what to expect. The rider hadn't been armed, so Naruto had intended the same courtesy, but he could easily kill 1 rider with his hands alone if the rider tried anything.

Coming to a stop before the trenches, the pit filled with the dead was eventually the only thing left between Naruto and the samurai's rider. The rider had a highly intricate and neatly designed armor, trims of gold and red along its edges, silk binding many of the pieces of cloth together. He wore a standard samurai helmet that had some ornaments of dragons which Naruto hadn't seen on any of the others. Naruto assumed the rider in front of him was their leader.

He jumped off the horse and paced towards the edge of the pit, glaring at Naruto with hatred in his gaze. The mask covered everything below the bridge of his nose, revealing a disturbingly cold set gray eyes.

Naruto let the silence between them grow for a moment with a stoic and unamused expression. The rider had called him out there so he would be the first to speak.

"...You're younger than what i expected.", the samurai muttered with a cold gaze. He seemed curious, beneath the boiling anger in his eyes.

"I suppose i am.", Naruto shrugged, his expression unchanging. Even so, he wasn't in the mood for small talk. "Why did you come out here to meet me? Surely not to throw insults?"

The rider eyed him for another moment before shaking his head.

"You fought well and shamed us in the first battle. We will not underestimate you again.", the rider muttered. "Honorless dogs deserving to be put down for your insolence you may be, but i do not wish for further bloodshed if possible. Therefore, i am here to bring you the terms of your surrender."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the warrior's words. His insult showed clearly what they thought of him and his people, and it angered him that they cared so little for the reasons of their rebellion. A part of him wanted to ask the warrior for his name, but he didn't want to give him the courtesy.

"Lets hear it then.", Naruto muttered, nearly scowling at the warrior across the trench.

"You and yours will lay down your arms immediately and allow our forces to secure the town. You will have my word that we will not lay a finger on any of your people."

Naruto frowned at this. He didn't think for a single second that the Daimyo would allow the people to go unpunished. While the army, on their honor, perhaps would not despoil them, whoever got responsibility over the village afterwards wasn't bound to any such promises.

"Am i to believe that we are let off, without punishment, just like that?", Naruto snorted condescendingly, clearly showing what he believed the worth of the warrior's words were.

"Only the life of whoever leads you are forfeit.", the warrior growled. "I understand that the concept of honor is difficult for you, but it is the foundation of our civilization. When we promise something, we keep it."

Ah, there it was. Naruto couldn't help but snort in derisiveness.

"The last noble family was sworn to defend us. Instead, they robbed us, beat us and did whatever they pleased with us." Naruto shrugged. "Honor didn't mean shit to them. We will bring you an answer before nightfall, if not..." Naruto let the sentence trail off, but the meaning was clear and Naruto had said his piece. He turned to return to the town.

"What is your name?", the rider called after him and Naruto's gaze darkened.

"I am just a commoner!", Naruto yelled back as he left. "Nobody important."

His advisers stood gathered around the map in the 'War Room.' Naruto had quickly called an emergency meeting as soon as he entered the village again and they had much to talk about.

"So they want your life and expect the rest of us to throw down our arms and let them march in here?", Shou muttered derisively, lips drawn in disgust. "Unacceptable."

"I have to agree.", Ichiro, the carpenter muttered as he crossed his arms. "Our people will never accept this."

"I know.", Naruto sighed. A part of him was almost tempted to take the deal, forfeiting his own life if only for the chance that his people wouldn't suffer, but doing so would mean the sacrifices of those they had lost would be meaningless as another noble scoundrel would surely take the place where Nobu had left. "And i do not believe for a second that the Daimyo will accept our people going unpunished after killing the head of a noble house. No matter what promises the general here makes, it is the Daimyo's word that is final after all."

Silence fell among them as they took in his words. The mood was dim and grave.

"So what happens now?", Shou looked to Naruto with the same conviction as always; belief that he would find a way through this for them.

The expectations were stifling, but it was a responsibility Naruto had accepted a long time ago.

"For now, we have until nightfall to prepare, although i want our guard schedule on the wall to remain unchanged." Shou nodded at this. "Jiro." The man in question looked at Naruto inquisitively. "The people are packed and ready for the worst, yes?"

"They are, my Lord.", Jiro nodded, looking worried. "Are you thinking we may have to...?", he let his words trail off meaningfully. The group looked to Naruto with baited breath as he sighed.

"I will be honest with you.", Naruto began with a frown. "I have no idea how many men they have left, but they have enough to think they can win despite the odds. We got lucky." Naruto held up his hand as the group was about to protest. "No matter how you think the first battle went down, we got lucky. They underestimated us and thought they could charge us down like whatever peasants they're usually used to suppressing. It won't happen a second time." Naruto paused, looking them each in the eye as they considered his words. "Now, i have no idea what they are going to hit us with next, be it arrows, swords or hooks to climb the walls. I do know however, that even IF we manage to win this, we aren't going to be able to survive here at length."

"What do you mean?", Jiro frowned, but the rest seemed to wonder the same.

"This was merely 1 unit of men, barely more than a hundred.", Naruto began gravely. "When the Daimyo hears of our victory, IF we win, what do you think will happen next? Do you think he'll just leave us alone or send an actual army next time?"

The severity of their situation was beginning to dawn on them now, some looking to the table with hollow grimaces. They were beginning to realize the futility of their efforts.

"So then.", Shou murmured, ever faithful as he looked to Naruto for guidance. The rest did the same, looking to Naruto for direction. "What do we do now?"

Naruto closed his eyes with a sad smile.

"We need to abandon Kisara Valley."

And there is it. Nest chapter will be up tomorrow and after that i might have to take a break from writing. I might have a new job waiting for me on friday, so i dont know when i will get time to write again after that.

In any case, i hope you enjoyed this chapter, just leave a review if you have a question and i will do my best to answer.

MiNdZeRo here, signing out.