Did ninjas exist?

Did ninjas exist?

Yes, but not like in the meme image developed by kabuki theater, they usually just functioned as mercenary spies and saboteurs

They didn't even wear black. The notion of the black clade ninja comes from stage plays were guys wore black to blend into black backgrounds. During ninja plays where the characters were doing amazing thins the background guys would do all the magic tricks and lift the actors in the air for crazy moves.

This misinterpretation of ninja attire stuck in the popular culture. Believe it or not, Naruto got it more accurate. They were spies and assassins.

they all died in the outerworld. But they're undead now so its all cool

>they usually just functioned as mercenary spies and saboteurs
which is what ninjas are associated with

>They were spies and assassins.
no fucking shit I thought ninjas were blacksmiths and math teachers

Also occasionally as like skirmisher soldiers.

>Believe it or not, Naruto got it more accurate
The sad this is this is completely true.

Nah they're associated with ridiculous shit, like Total War Shogun 2 having meme detachments of invisible on open plains shuriken throwing infantry

Spies and assassins in the traditional sense. They didn't dress up or distinguish themselves culturally.

Ninjas are cool

Ninja is a mostly modern catch all term for people who practiced any kind of espionage or irregular warfare.

So when people say "this person was a ninja" that just means he engaged in various covert tactics or organized people who did.

In period they had lots of terms that were often regional, and they were not all equal. A samurai could organize spies but to be a spy would not necessarily be acceptable.

Image you're a soldier in soviet Russia
>Hey, I'm Mikhail, I'm a spy, I come from the spy-ville! All of us wear this belt with the symbol from our village so we can recognise each other.

Now change "Mikhail" to Naruto and "spy" to "ninja". That's how ridiculous or stupid (or both) naruto is. Claiming they got more accurate ninjas because they don't wear black pijamas is like claiming saving private ryan is more accurate to WWII (compared to inglorious bastard) because a lot of soldiers were killed on screen and the invasion of Normandy is a real event.

Yes. Not like that. Think more Al-Qaeda or ISIS. Guerrilla fighters.

>Total War Shogun 2

It's disappointing to see this series being so unhistorical.

If they did you'd be dead

I imagine by "more accurate", he's not referring to their outfit, nor is he referring to their magic powers, the fact that their is a ninja school or the family-clan stuff.

In the first chapters of Naruto you see them having to accept contracts from the rich families of the city. They run errands like mercenaries. That's pretty much where Naruto got it right.

Naruto is retarded of course. But they were groups contracted and employed openly by regional lords as mercenary troops, spies and assassins.

I heard they were just poor farmers who got tired of being shitted on by their feudal lords and their loyal lap dog warriors desu.

My name's Hideyoshi Totoyami, and I'm gonna become the Shogun of Japan

Dattebayo!

>Ninjas don't exist
>Ninjas are heavily romanticized
>Ninjas are not elite black-clad assassin masters of the shadow and of the blade
t. ninjas

...

Sure. The largest statue in the world is actually of the greatest ninja who ever lived. No one's seen it, though.

>Yes. Not like that. Think more Al-Qaeda or ISIS.
>not like that
>ISIS
???

here is a fucking ninja for you
that nigga would stab you with a sharpened farming implement and run away

It seema likw ninjas in naruto were also front line soldiers as well