A ninja has three important roles.
I have already lectured my son Shinichiro on espionage and sabotage, and this will be the final installment.
The content of this issue may be close to what Shinichiro expects from a dark hero.
Ninja’s Work, the Final Installment
(For the sake of clarity, I, Mineyuki Hattori, will be referred to as “M” and my son Shinichiro as “S.”)
M: I will talk about the third role of the ninja. This is the last one. Maybe Shinichiro will like it this time.
S: Huh? I want to know!
M: It’s…
S: Oh, wait a minute, I’ll think about it myself.
Shinichiro started thinking again.
S: You mean I might like it… they’re going to use some kind of cool technique!
M: You mean ninjutsu?
S: Yes, ninjutsu. So, they would help people in trouble! For example, if someone is lost on the road, ninja would secretly throw some kind of landmarks from afar and line them up in a row on the road. Then the lost person can follow the marker to the right path.
Shinichiro acted as an imaginary ninja by making a shuriken-throwing motion.
S: Or something even more amazing. When a bad lord comes to the village to collect an exorbitant amount of tribute, ninja covers the whole village with a big piece of cloth with ninjutsu for hiding and makes it invisible.
At the mention of a “big cloth,” Shinichiro walked back and forth from one end of the room to the other with his hands outstretched.
M: I see. If there were such ninjas, people in nearby villages would be very thankful.
S: Right?
M: But the correct answer is different. Unfortunately, they would not help the nearby villagers or anything like that.
S: I see. If it’s not helping people, then…hmmm, I can’t think of anything.
M: The third role of a ninja is assassination.
S: Assassination?
M: To kill important enemy figures in secret. They sneak up on their targets in secluded places or at night, and take the target’s life without being found by anyone.
S: What! That’s a bad guy.
M: Well, that depends on how you look at it. Good and evil differ depending on one’s position. In the case of assassination, I don’t think it can be said that the ninja is necessarily the bad guy. For example, it is often the case that the target feudal lord had a very tyrannical political system. There may be many people who would be saved by a successful assassination.
S: But some people might be saddened…?
Apparently, Shinichiro was shocked to hear that a ninja would kill someone. I chose my words carefully.
M: Yeah, I’m sure there were people like that.
Shinichiro’s face remained clouded.
For a while, the ticking of the clock’s hands sounded awfully loud.
S: …Hey, Dad. You know we don’t have a mom in our house.
M: Yes, we don’t.
S: When we heard that Mom died, we were sad.
I nodded silently.
S: Even if Mom was a bad person who was mean to someone, it doesn’t change the fact that we were sad.
I nodded again.
Well, to Shinichiro, a hero defeating a bad guy is only an act of punishing someone who has done something wrong, never something as decisive as taking a life.
At first I felt uncomfortable when I saw Shinichiro shocked to hear that a ninja kills people.
Whether it is assassination or combat, the meaning of destroying the enemy is the same.
However, I learned that whether or not to take a human life is a very big turning point for Shinichiro.
M: It is true that assassination may not be praiseworthy, but the time when the ninja were active was a very harsh warring period. In such a harsh world where they never know when they might be killed, assassination was accepted as a necessary mission. It is true that the way we feel today may be quite different from that of the past.
I could do nothing else but let history take that responsibility.
S: Dad, is it true that the ninja were killers?
M: I think it is true. But actually, there is almost nothing left that can be called evidence.
S: Then…
M: There is a reason why there is no evidence left. In those days, family honor was highly valued. In such an era, why would anyone bother to keep a record of the murder of a monarch by a person whose identity was unknown? Even if he had been assassinated, it would not be surprising if it was treated as a death from illness or natural causes. However, it is certain that there were many important persons in history who met their deaths, most likely due to assassination by ninja. Therefore, it is said that there were ninja who acted as bodyguards for important persons. This may be considered as one of the roles of the ninja.
S: But if that is the case, why did they use assassination as a method? Wouldn’t it have been better to kill him in a way that everyone could see, instead of sneaking around?
M: This involves imagination, but one of the advantages of assassination is the damage it can do to the enemy. As I said before, assassinated relatives hide it. But is it possible to never know who the enemy is? Probably not. Even if they did not know who the ninja was who carried out the assassination, they probably had a pretty good idea of the enemy forces who had arranged the assassination. It is not so difficult to predict who would gain the most from the assassination, if you think about it.
Shinichiro is silently waiting for the rest of the story.
M: In other words, from the assassinated party’s point of view, it is a situation where they cannot make a big deal about it, but they know who is behind it. And the other party is capable of pulling it off. When you think about it, there is nothing more terrifying than that. The next target may be number 2 or 3, and even if they are not, the fear of being watched at all times is undeniable. I think that the damage done to the opponent would have been greater than defeating him in a normal fight, which is why assassination was always an option.
At first I started this story thinking Shinichiro might be interested, but now I somewhat regret my shallowness.
However, I could only comfort myself with the thought that I couldn’t fully explain the ninja without this story.
Had Shinichiro lost interest in ninja? Would he have suffered a deeper wound than that?
S: Hey, Dad, if I were to become a ninja, I would be a ninja who doesn’t kill people. I will be a cool ninja.
M: I see. I think that’s a good idea, but I don’t think you should become a ninja.
Shinichiro had a complicated expression on his face for a moment, but then he put on a cheerful face as if to reassure me.
S: I’m not really thinking of becoming a ninja. It’s not easy, that’s why heroes are cool.
Shinichiro imitated slashing enemies with his sword.
I am sure that the slain enemy will not die.
Heroes don’t kill people.
To be continued…
