Why were ninja warriors so sneaky?

These black-clad warriors emerged from the shadows in the 16th century, when hundreds of power-hungry warlords squabbled over control of Japan. During this violent “feudal” era, warlords relied on their armies of samurai – noble warriors whose code of battle forbade sneaky tactics – to defend their lands and attack rivals. But when they needed to spy on, assassinate, or create confusion among rivals, the warlords hired ninjas.

With no code of honor to put a damper on their business, ninjas hired themselves out to the highest bidder. A ninja might work for a warlord one year, and then spy on that same warlord the next. A ninja on a mission needed to blend in anywhere, from a bustling village to a castle rooftop at midnight. That meant he or she was a master of disguise. When they weren’t wearing their traditional full-body suit to blend in with the shadows, ninjas would dress as farmers, merchants, or musicians to slip unnoticed through the countryside. In one famous siege, a team of ninjas dressed as the castle’s guards and marched right through the front gate, set fire to the fortress, and escaped as the inhabitants bickered over who had started the flames.

The roots of the ninja stretch back to the eighth century – to secretive mountain clans trained in survival, self-defense, stealth, and the art of assassination. These warriors were feared and despised for their sneaky tactics and supposed supernatural powers. According to legend, a ninja could fly, walk on water, and vanish. Two of these powers were real, sort of. (Ninjas wore special wooden shoes to tread on water and explosive powders to disappear in a cloud of smoke.)

 

 

Picture Credit : Google