Editing Ninja (section)

=== Ninja weapons and gear ===
As stated above Ninja inherited their gear from Samurai and shared the same equipment. We'll try not to make it a cut and paste of the Samurai gear but since there are a lot of crossover. You should look at the [[Samurai#Samurai_Weapons_and_equipment|Samurai]] page if you want a more in depth description. This section details how the Ninja used them instead.

* Trick Katana: Since many Ninja were Samurai, so of course they would have owned Katanas. They fought quite dirty with them too. Such as filling the scabbard with red pepper, dirt, dust and iron filings. Blinding their opponent so the Shinobi could land a quick killing blow or make a fast retreat.

* Other swords: Since Katana were mainly used by Samurai and could be used to identify them if they were lost or spotted by other Samurai. Ninja would likely have used other swords as well. Such as Wakizashi(short swords) and older Chokutō or Kodachi style swords. Since the latter were for either restorations of the latter or recreations of family heirlooms. Most Japanese Swordsmiths would not ask any questions if they were hired to make these ancient blades. As long as they were getting paid.
** Note on Ninjatō: As stated above the Ninjatō did not exist. Instead they would have been based on pre-Katana straight swords or even shikomizue aka cane swords. Hollywood producers most likely confused these weapons as their own distinct swords.

* Yumi: Japanese bows and arrows. Ninja had access to these too. Larger bows could fire arrows that can penetrate the armor of most Samurai. Arrows were dipped in poison to increase the chance of killing their targets. Fire Arrows were created using Iron Filings, saltpeter, sulphur and ash. Some even had hand grenades attached to them for use in sieges.

* Firearms: You should already know were we are going with this. Contrary to popular fiction, Ninja had firearms and used them as often as they could. The most common being Tanegashima. In fact, Shinobi were aware of gunpowder and bombs hundreds of years before 1543.  Guns would often be used for assassinations and ambushes or to backup retreating Shinobi to kill any would be pursuers. Since the tech of the day made it impossible to track firearms. Thus accusing Samurai of being spies or working with them would be very difficult to prove.

* [[Shuriken]]: While inferior to guns. Shuriken like arrows were coated in poison and even [[Nurgle|excrement]]. Ninja would create traps with them, technically they were early makeshift landmines.

* Armor: Ninja used two different types. Full Samurai armour and lighter armor for infiltrators and saboteurs. A Ninja in full plate would have likely used them for hit and run attacks and false flag operations. Creating distractions that would allow spies to sneak into enemy strongholds or to protect themselves from arrows and bullets during combat.

* Improvised weapons: Since Samurai and the peasants they recruited to their cause were also farmers. Shinobi used farming tools as well. These included weaponized kama, kunai, kusarigama, sai and tonfas. Even the legendary nunchaku were originally tools used for agri-work before they were adapted into weapons. Since they looked little different than the real thing and could be used in the same fashion. This made them the perfect weapons to hide in plain sight. Many lords would hire a peasant to tend their fields not knowing that they actually worked for one of their rivals. This sort of thing tends to happen when you make your employees buy their own tools instead of purchasing and storing them yourself.