As Dongfang Mao's orders gradually took effect, more than a thousand people had come to register and receive identity bamboo tags in less than five days.
There were countless elderly people, women, and children who had come along with them, too.
The growing crowd had made the once-empty Desolate Village feel cramped. Most of the newly enlisted soldiers could only lie down in the training ground at the village entrance, using the sky as their blanket.
At the same time, Dongfang Mao realized that the system he had used to manage the stronghold's fewer than 300 people was no longer adequate.
After giving it some thought, Dongfang Mao decided to reform the military system.
He divided the soldiers into groups of ten, selecting someone who could read or was well respected by the others from among the refugees to serve as each group's leader.
Ten groups formed a squad, with one squad leader and one deputy. Both positions went to old comrades from Dongfang Mao's former stronghold.
Five squads formed a battalion of 500 soldiers. For now, there were two battalions, commanded by Yasuke and Kyuzo, another veteran of the stronghold. Each commander had two deputies.
He also established a staff group, made up of stronghold veterans who had recovered from their injuries but been left with lasting ailments that prevented them from fighting. Luzhen led the group.
Its main duties were distributing provisions and weapons, supervising discipline, and recording merits and demerits.
Rewards and punishments followed a collective-responsibility system.
If a group performed well in training, the whole group was rewarded. If anyone slacked off or shirked their duties, the whole group was punished.
The group leader would bear the brunt of the punishment.
However, there was also an appeals process to prevent abuse of authority.
The newly established Night Patrol Bureau had already grown to 100 members over the past few days. Inumaru led it, and, like Yasuke, Kyuzo, and Luzhen, reported directly to Dongfang Mao.
Dongfang Mao also renamed the entire force the New Martial Army and gave himself the title of New Martial Grand Governor, meaning he commanded the whole army.
He also ordered a black banner with red lettering—"New Martial"—to be made. It looked imposing.
After all these changes, the village, which had begun to descend into chaos as its population rapidly grew, had finally settled down and gradually become well organized.
In the mornings, each squad leader led his own soldiers in drills on the training ground.
In the afternoons, the squads gathered for joint training under the command of Yasuke and Kyuzo.
After dinner, a group of soldiers would head to the makeshift Propaganda Department to take part in the grievance meetings organized by Tōkichi-rō.
The man had lived up to Dongfang Mao's expectations. Using his gift for words, he kept deepening the recruits' awareness of their own suffering.
From dusk until late at night, their heart-wrenching sobs echoed above Desolate Village without pause. Combined with the village's location, the sound terrified merchants passing by.
After they had wept, Tōkichi-rō would slip in his own message, portraying the nobles and officials as vile and emphasizing how their actions had caused the people's suffering, stoking their hatred and anger.
At the same time, he stressed how much Dongfang Mao had done for them and how important he was.
These people had already been worn down by a day of grueling training. With Tōkichi-rō stirring them up, Dongfang Mao's image in their hearts grew grander still, as if he had become a sun cloaked in a thousand rays of dawn, shining light into their once-dark, cold world!
Of course, although the grievance meetings were highly effective, they couldn't be held every day. Too much of a good thing could backfire.
Usually, new recruits attended one on their first day of service, followed by a regular meeting once a week. This kept them from becoming irritated by excessive repetition while ensuring that their "loyalty" remained steady and uncorrupted.
Even after the grievance meetings ended, the soldiers still couldn't rest.
They had to visit Luzhen to learn the basics of reading and writing, so they could understand military orders and would not be led astray.
When Dongfang Mao first made this decision, he had another flash of inspiration.
Since these people barely knew how to read, he might as well teach them the writing system from his previous life. After all, many characters in this world were almost identical to the new script, so it wouldn't seem too unfamiliar to them.
So Dongfang Mao wrote a dictionary of commonly used words, added their phonetic spellings, and handed the whole thing over to Luzhen.
He was sure Luzhen was clever enough to master it easily.
As for whether Luzhen would be too busy managing the staff group, studying the new script and its pronunciation, and teaching classes to find time to learn ninjutsu, that wasn't something Dongfang Mao needed to worry about.
As the New Martial Army flourished, Dongfang Mao kept himself busy, too.
He could now fully control his Chakra. Attaching it to his feet was effortless, and he could travel by hopping and bounding like an ordinary ninja.
The ten-odd li between Desolate Village and Tsukimiura wasn't enough to warm him up. He could cover it in ten minutes.
So, each day, he went to Tsukimiura to spend time with Tsunade and learn ninjutsu.
In the afternoon, he returned to Desolate Village to inspect the training ground.
After all, he had put in so much effort. He had to make sure everyone knew who was in charge and reinforce that impression.
At night, he trained in ninjutsu in an open space outside the village, listening to the melodious, pleasant sobs coming from the Propaganda Department.
After about two months, Dongfang Mao's strength had improved considerably.
First was his Chakra. If his reserves had once been a bottle of water, they were now overflowing and needed a basin to contain them.
He had also mastered the Three Body Technique, the standard requirement for a ninja beginner, along with the Taijutsu technique Konoha Whirlwind and the genjutsu Hell Viewing Technique.
He had also learned most of the basic Fire Release and Earth Release techniques.
Dongfang Mao felt that if he went to Konoha now to take the Chunin exam, he might even sweep through it.
That was, of course, assuming the exam didn't include something like a Tailed Beast Jinchūriki or a Cursed Seal ninja.
Besides Dongfang Mao's own progress, the New Martial Army had grown to around 2,000 members over this period.
It had expanded by another ten squads and two battalions.
That was far more people than Dongfang Mao had initially expected.
They had enough provisions, but their weapons were in short supply.
There was no choice. Dongfang Mao had to approach Yoshikawa, who was still in Tsukimiura.
He spent another 3.2 million taels to buy 400 long blades.
He now had only a little over 300,000 taels left, and his funds were about to run out.
At the same time, the recruits' training was beginning to pay off, and they were gradually developing into an effective fighting force.
The dwindling number of refugees also seemed to have caught the attention of certain people.
It seemed the moment of truth was almost at hand.
As he walked back to Desolate Village, Dongfang Mao turned to look at the city, now blurred into little more than a silhouette. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
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