Ninja

Ninja are warriors in Wano Country who specialize in infiltration, espionage, and assassination. Female ninja are known as kunoichi (くの一).

They are considered members of the samurai warrior class and are sometimes referred to as samurai, although the term typically denotes traditional swordsmen.

Roles and Duties
Ninja are typically servants to powerful groups in Wano, with the most prominent group, the Oniwabanshu, having served Wano's shogunate. For powerful groups, ninja mainly serve as guards who take down enemies and intruders. In contrast, ninja who are opposed to powerful groups, such as Raizo and Shinobu in the Kozuki Family, are often sent on infiltration missions to obtain secret information from enemy groups or liberate imprisoned allies.

Unlike traditional samurai, ninja frequently rely on stealth and surprise to take out their targets and use a much greater variety of weapons and tools. Although they are more likely to ambush opponents, ninja have taken part in open combat in certain instances, with experienced members having the strength and skill to hold their own in such brawls.

Many ninja obscure their appearances with masks and full-body coverings, though several do not do this.



Although they appear to be exclusive to Wano, the ninja occupation is well-known all over the world and the prospect of meeting a real ninja is one that excites a great many people, namely males.

Abilities
Ninja use techniques known as ninjutsu or ninpo (meaning "ninja arts") to help them achieve objectives including attacking, distracting, or escaping from opponents. Ninjutsu techniques typically involve the usage of special weapons and tools, although ninja are also known to use the term for maneuvers that a normal person could do or even for simple actions like a hug.

Stealth is the key skill for ninja to have, as moving soundlessly and out of sight is imperative in order to take opponents by surprise and infiltrate locations. Experienced ninja like the Orochi Oniwabanshu can infiltrate a room as an entire group without their target noticing, as well as prowl around a crowded banquet hall without attracting attention, while Raizo was capable of infiltrating the heavily guarded Prisoner Mine for several days and remaining unspotted almost the entire time.



Ninja possess a vast variety of weapons and tools. The most common weapons used are swords, shuriken, and kunai, with Jigoku Benten known to use a gun. In terms of tools, ninja are shown to carry smoke bombs to hide themselves, monoculars to spy on events, gliders to safely exit buildings, and ropes to restrain targets.

Ninja also possess tremendous physical skills, as it is common to see them standing and crawling on walls and ceilings; they are also able to jump great distances in order to quickly escape an enemy's eyesight.

In her youth, Shinobu used her attractive appearance to distract opponents and allow her to easily take them out. She refers to this as the "Art of Bewitchment" (妖艶の術) and still attempts to practice it currently, although her age has substantially reduced its effectiveness.

Past
Raizo was a member of the Kozuki Oniwabanshu over 41 years ago, but resigned after being rejected by a kunoichi; he later became the retainer of the daimyo of Kuri and heir to the shogunate, Kozuki Oden. Shinobu, after being trained by Oden's retainer Kin'emon in her youth, would go on to join the Oniwabanshu. However, when Kurozumi Orochi took over the shogunate, the Oniwabanshu's loyalty switched from the Kozuki Family to the Kurozumi Family and they became the Orochi Oniwabanshu. Shinobu was the only member to remain loyal to the Kozuki, and so she defected from the Oniwabanshu to aid Oden and his retainers against the Beasts Pirates 20 years ago.

Zou Arc
After being sent 20 years forward in time by Kozuki Toki's Toki Toki no Mi, Raizo accompanied Kin'emon, Kanjuro, and Momonosuke to sea to recruit allies against Orochi and Kaidou. However, he ended up separated from the rest of the group and arrived at Zou. A platoon of Beasts Pirates led by Jack then invaded Zou to find Raizo; the Mink Tribe residents denied he was there even as they were nearly wiped out. Raizo would be freed a few weeks later after the Straw Hat Pirates helped to rehabilitate the minks, and he reunited with Kin'emon, Kanjuro, and Momonosuke.

Wano Country Arc
When Kin'emon's group returned to Wano, they reunited with Shinobu. Shinobu trained Nami in espionage, while Raizo infiltrated the Prisoner Mine to free Luffy. Nico Robin posed as a geisha to infiltrate Orochi Castle, but she was caught by the Orochi Oniwabanshu. She managed to elude capture and repel them with the help of Brook, Nami, and Shinobu, who had also infiltrated Orochi Castle.

A few days later, the Oniwabanshu went to Rasetsu Town to quell a fight caused by the Straw Hats trying to attack Orochi. Several members went after Roronoa Zoro, but were all defeated.

On the day of the Fire Festival, the Oniwabanshu accompanied Orochi to Onigashima to have a banquet with the Beasts Pirates. During the banquet, Kaidou killed Orochi as part of his plot to take control of Wano, and told the shogun's subordinates to join him or die. Fukurokuju pledged the Oniwabanshu's allegiance to Kaidou, and when the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance raided Onigashima, the ninja aided the Beasts Pirates in the counterattack.

Trivia

 * Uzumaki Naruto, the main character of the ninja manga and anime series Naruto, made a partial cameo appearance on the cover of Chapter 766 as a tribute to the Naruto manga's serialization ending.

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