[quote1188432576=[REB]P.T. Flea]
Ninjas would not waste pirates. The european "pirates" were why the Japanese realized their ninja-samurai system was crap and lead to them modernizing to a more european style of combat. You silly ninjas were paying the pirates so you could get guns and cannons.
I'm telling ya, research. Ninjas were not as great as you all think.
[/quote1188432576]
Lol. Let us see what wikipedia has to say:
"The ninja use of stealth tactics against better-armed enemy samurai does not mean that they were limited to espionage and undercover work: that is simply where their actions most notably differed from the more accepted tactics of samurai. Their weapons and tactics were partially derived from the need to conceal or defend themselves quickly from samurai, which can be seen from the similarities between many of their weapons and various sickles and threshing tools used at the time.
"Ninjas as a group first began to be written about in 15th century feudal Japan as martial organizations predominately in the regions of Iga and Koga of central Japan, though the practice of guerrilla warfare and undercover espionage operations goes back much further.
"At this time, the conflicts between the clans of daimyo that controlled small regions of land had established guerrilla warfare and assassination as a valuable alternative to frontal assault. Since Bushido, the Samurai Code, forbade such tactics as dishonorable, a daimyo could not expect his own troops to perform the tasks required; thus, he had to buy or broker the assistance of ninja to perform selective strikes, espionage, assassination, and infiltration of enemy strongholds. (Stephen Turnbull).
"There are a few people and groups of people regarded as having been potential historical ninja from approximately the same time period. It is rumored that some of the higher-ranking daimyos and shoguns were in fact ninja, and exploited their role as ninja-hunters to deflect suspicion and obscure their participation in the 'dishonorable' ninja methods and training.
See, some of the daimyos (clan leaders and lesser generals) and shoguns (the supreme military rulers of Japan, second only to the Emperor) were ninjas, meaning that they had uber skillz. The ninja-hunting obviously shows that the ninja were so pro, they
had to be hunted for the others to survive. However, only other, better ninjas (e.g. the daiymos and shoguns) can kill ninjas.
"Though typically classified as assassins, many of the ninja were warriors in all senses. In Stephen K. Hayes's book, Mystic Arts of the Ninja, Hattori Hanzo, one of the most well-known ninja, is depicted in armor similar to that of a samurai. Hayes also says that those who ended up recording the history of the ninja were typically those within positions of power in the military dictatorships, and that students of history should realize that the history of the ninja was kept by observers writing about their activities as seen from the outside."
Check out there armaments:
Camoflage: Usually Dark colored garments for night time attacks, but could also be white for snow combat.
Boots: "Ninja boots (jika-tabi), like much of the rest of Japanese footwear from the time, have a split-toe design that improves gripping and wall/rope climbing. They are soft enough to be virtually silent. Ninja also attached special spikes to the bottoms of the boots called ashiko."
Gun powder, Smoke bombs, and cannons. (check wikipedia
)
"Even land mines were constructed that used a mechanical fuse or a lit, oil-soaked string. Secrets of making desirable mixes of gunpowder were strictly guarded in many ninja clans."
Plus Katanas and other swords/throwing knives/other sharp weapons of death.
Also, to further prove my point.
BATMAN WAS A NINJA! Top that, Pirates.
