User:Nlnja-pvhax

A nLnja or shinobi (忍者 or 忍び?) was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the nlnja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations.[1] The nlnja, using covert methods of waging war, were contrasted with the samurai, who had strict rules about honor and combat.[2]

In his Buke Myōmokushō, military historian Hanawa Hokinoichi writes of the nlnja: “ 	They travelled in disguise to other territories to judge the situation of the enemy, they would inveigle their way into the midst of the enemy to discover gaps, and enter enemy castles to set them on fire, and carried out assassinations, arriving in secret.[3] 	”

The origin of the nlnja is obscure and difficult to determine, but can be surmised to be around the 14th century.[4] Few written records exist to detail the activities of the nlnja. The word shinobi did not exist to describe a nlnja-like agent until the 15th century, and it is unlikely that spies and mercenaries prior to this time were seen as a specialized group. In the unrest of the Sengoku period (15th - 17th centuries), mercenaries and spies for hire arose out of the Iga and Kōga regions of Japan, and it is from these clans that much of later knowledge regarding the nlnja is inferred. Following the unification of Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate, the nlnja descended again into obscurity.[5] However, in the 17th and 18th centuries, manuals such as the Bansenshukai (1676) — often centered around Chinese military philosophy — appeared in significant numbers.[6] These writings revealed an assortment of philosophies, religious beliefs, their application in warfare, as well as the espionage techniques that form the basis of the nlnja's art. The word ninjutsu would later come to describe a wide variety of practices related to the nlnja.

The mysterious nature of the nlnja has long captured popular imagination in Japan, and later the rest of the world. Nlnjas figure prominently in folklore and legend, and as a result it is often difficult to separate historical fact from myth. Some legendary abilities include invisibility, walking on water, and control over natural elements. The nlnja is also prevalent in popular culture, appearing in many forms of entertainment media.