The ninja were stealth soldiers and mercenaries hired mostly by various people, and their roles were those of espionage and sabotage, although assassinations were also done by ninjas. In battle, the ninja could also be used to cause confusion amongst the enemy.
Espionage was the chief role of the ninja. With the aid of disguises and stealth, the ninja gathered information on the enemy, such as the terrain, building specifications, as well as obtaining passwords and communications.
Arson was the primary form of sabotage practiced by the ninja, who targeted castles and camps. They would set fires to slow down the enemy, or to make the enemy paranoid. Ninja would also use fire to get away from the enemy if they were spotted they would start a fire to divert the attention of the soldiers while they escaped.
A variety of countermeasures were taken to prevent the activities of the ninja. Precautions were often taken against ninja infiltrations, such as concealed weapons, or Buildings were constructed with traps and trip wires attached to alarm bells.
Japanese castles were designed to be difficult to navigate, with winding routes leading to the inner compound. Blind spots and holes in walls provided constant surveillance things like is nightingale floors, which rested on metal hinges that were designed to squeak loudly when walked over. Grounds were covered with gravel provided early notice of unwanted intruders, and segregated buildings allowed fires to be better contained things like these were all built to help against the ninja.
Disguises were a huge part of the ninja and they trained hard in making the disguises believable. They would disguise themselves like monks, traveling musician or merchants and even ronin to travel safely from one place to another so they would not arouse suspicion. So in order to make it believe able they would often learn medicines or a musical instrument to make the disguises more believable
The skills required of the ninja have come to be known in modern times as ninjutsu, ninjutsu covered espionage and survival skills along with combat skills.
Training of ninjas began in the mid-15th century, when certain families started to focus on covert warfare, including espionage and assassination. Like the samurai, ninja were born into the profession, where traditions were kept, and passed down through the family. Ninjas trained from childhood just like samurai. They would study survival and scouting techniques, as well as teachings in poisons and explosives. Physical training was also important, which involved long runs, climbing, stealth methods of walking and stealth swimming. Also they need medical training, so if they ever got hurt while on a mission.
The ninja did not always work alone. Teamwork was a very important skill for the ninja, in order to scale a wall for example, a group of ninja may carry each other on their backs, or provide a human platform to assist an individual in reaching greater heights.
Supernatural powers were often associated with the ninja. Some legends include flight, invisibility, shape shifting, and the ability to "split" into multiple bodies, and more have stemmed the ninja ability to distract someone.
The ninja had trained had in the ability not seem invisible. They would avoid combat when ever possible so they would not raise alarm. But when needed the ninja trained in many types of combat and in many types weaponry. they carried an array of tools and weapons which I will cover in my next blog because there are so many of them. But they had to train in many weapons incase they needed to use a weapon that they did not carry or if the situation ever happened where they needed to uses them.
The two biggest ninja clans were the Koga and the Iga and where villages devoted to the training of ninjas first appeared, because of the remoteness and inaccessibility of the surrounding mountains which also had a role in the ninja's secretive training
A distinction between the ninja from these areas, and the commoners or samurai acting as ninja, the Iga and Kōga clans produced professional ninja, specifically trained for their roles. These professional ninja were actively hired by shoguns for there wars complain. I will talk more about these to clans in a later blog because there lots on information on them and this blog is just a quick over view.
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