Ninja

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A ninja is the Japanese equivalent of a commando: an individual trained to perform under exceptionally adverse circumstances. There are a total of five ninja clans operating in Japan; the Iga, the Koga, The Hand, The Foot, and the Haga. The Iga and Koga serve the Kami, while The Hand serves a dangerous entity called The Beast. The Foot Clan works largely as secret operatives for organized crime such as the Yakuza, and the Haga are often recruited as freelancers and mercenaries.

Originally the ninja were assassins and infiltrators working for daimyo and shogun alike. Many had some magical knowledge and martial arts training that exceeded military practice. Some were merely highly competent but otherwise 'normal' humans with little exceptional skills beyond raw talent.

The two most famous clans of ninja are the Iga and the Koga. The Koga clan were first, formed and recruited by the Kunitsu-Kami, lesser deities of the Kami tied to the Earth. They saw the unique advantages to be claimed by a clan of disciplined and elite warriors trained in stealth and subtlety as well as spiritual and religious devotion to the Kunitsu-Kami.

Upon realizing that the Kunitsu-Kami had such a resource, the Amatsu-Kami (greater gods) scrambled to train their own operatives. They at first recruited from their ranks of warriors and monks; later, traditions of ninja training unique to the Amatsu-Kami emerged as the Iga school.

Although bound from providing immediate aid in the same way at the Kunitsu-Kami, the Amatsu-Kami empowered their warriors with supernatural capabilities and magical talents. These sorcerer/ninja became known as Shinobi.