Prologue - The World of Ninja

[Codemaster Jamal]

Prologue - The World of Ninja

No one knows entirely how the world began. Some say God rose man from the ground up and others say that there was an explosion that caused us to evolve from monkeys. Either way, humanity began to rise and the earth began to populate. Soon, the earth became divided. There were some humans who would rise above others. Human beings began to divide themselves into different classes. One class for royalty, another class for guards and another class for peasants. Even though it was odd, the entire world depended on the peasant class because, they were known for growing food but, despite this, the higher classes treated them with disgust. The peasants were slaves to the higher classes. And thus, began to ancient legend of how ninjas rose to fame and became the dominating class of Shinobu.

Over time, the world began to fill with utter chaos. There were demons, dragons and other spiritual creatures that plagued the land. The peasants, who were often in service of the elite begged them to defend their homes from demons. Very seldomly would the royals actually send assistance to them and very often the peasants would be slaughtered by bandits, demons and other raiders. It was illegal for peasants to practice martial arts, something that was widely practiced amongst the higher classes. More importantly, they were completely unaware of Qi (気).

One day, a small village was attacked by a Lesser Demon. The peasants, who grew tired of living in fear, decided to attack the Lesser Demon. They planned a secret attack for the demon as they knew when the demon was going to arrive in their village. It was then, for the first time in their lives that they felt the presence of energy surged up in their bodies. It took great numbers but, the villagers were surprisingly able to make the Lesser Demon run off back to the wilderness. Since then, the villagers began to practice what they now know as "Ninjutsu" (忍術).

Over time, the art of Ninjutsu began to evolve, as it eventually began to rival the power of the higher classes. More importantly, the "Ninja" class became more prevalent as those original villagers began to teach the art of self-defense. Since it wasn't labeled martial arts at the time, they were free to teach them to their hears desires. It is because of this, that the world began to be dominated by the Ninja class. More importantly, the philosophy of ninja began to spread everywhere.

Before they knew it, there were fewer demons walking around and less bandits taking advantage of the poor. The world became a more equal place and eventually, the art of Ninjutsu was a well respected art form, even amongst the higher classes. Eventually, even the royals would seek out tutors in this new art form. And thus, the war between classes ended.

After a while, a new calendar was created. This calendar was called the Shinobu Calendar and used the term "Era". Era is the name of the year in the Shinobu Calendar. For example, Era 352. At this time, people are free to live the lives they want but, there are always consequences to actions; regardless if the actions are good or bad. There is division between classes however, in today's society, the class you are born into only determines the role you will serve in life. Oddly, most people are content with their lives. Some people are able to redeem themselves by joining another class and others simply cannot due to their own personal behaviors. How one chooses to live their lives is completely up to themselves.

Martial Arts, Qi and other self-defense techniques are widely popular and taught to people from the time they are children. However, because of the widespread knowledge of Qi and how to manipulate one's own energy, so did the number of crimes. Not everyone was exactly a kind person in this era. Countries began to divide themselves up and man started to put borders in between one another. People began to form organizations, alliances and secret alliances in-order to protect their interests. Oddly, even though there are fewer demons,  the strength of demons in todays time are much stronger than it was in the past. As man could evolve, so could demons.

Great Demons began to appear and attack large human strongholds. It was take the best of warriors to defend against this type of threat. What made it even worst is that sometimes, these demons were being controlled by other humans. At this point, it was every-man for himself.

Eventually, clans of ninja began to form alliances in the different nations of men. The nations of men were seperated based around language and discipline. On the continent of Shinobu, the nations were seperated based on the different styles of Kung-Fu. One nation for the Birds, another for the Dogs, another for the Monkey-style, one for the Dragon-style and one last nation for the Tiger-style of Kung Fu. Each of these nations were ruled by one sole leader, the Daimyo.

In each of these nations, there was a great village that was created by ninjas. The ninjas from ninja clans decided to ban together in-order to figure out how to stop Great Demons. Each village would elect a leader, who would be known as the Kage (影). The only way to become the Kage, is the be the strongest user of Ninjutsu throughout the entire village. Being a Kage also meant that they were a political figure. In the villages that were ruled by ninjas, they voted democratically while the nation they lived was ruled by monarch. Each of these villages also had a secret forbidden technique that was passed from Kage to Kage.

In the Land of Birds, we have the Torikage (鳥影, Bird Shadow). In the Land of Dogs, we have the Inukage (犬影, Dog Shadow). In the Land of Monkeys, we have the Sarukage (猿影, Monkey Shadow). In the Land of Dragons, we have the Ryukage (竜影, Dragon Shadow). And in the Land of Tigers, we have the Torakage (虎影, Tiger Shadow).

These villages or "ninja villages" would operate in those nations as a city-state. In each of these villages, ninjas would share their secrets in hopes of strengthening their overall knowledge of Qi. However, the real purpose of the ninja villages is the sole purpose of creating the ultimate shinobi.

And this brings us to our current time period. It is currently Era 910. The world is more divided than it ever has been. Life is not easy and every day is about survival. Despite this, there are times where people can take things easy. There are times of comfort where people can enjoy a good comic book or a good meal. The appearance of Great Demons have been fewer but, due to military leaders being on ease, there is always the threat of war between nations. The purpose of the ninja villages is to keep everything else balanced. The art of Ninjutsu has become a tool for war over time. And thus, in-order to keep their ways alive, the ninja villages have a promise to war with one another once every 20 years. This gives nations plenty of time to replenish their supplies and troops. This is the only agreement they have between nations.

In this time period, everyone is some form of ninja, even if they do not refer to themselves as ninja. Everyone has some understanding of Qi and martial arts. While some choose not to do any fighting, it is a wide believe that martial arts is simply a way of life. Unfortunately, war is also a way of life for many. It is Era 910.