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Ninja were also reported to have scaled walls that defied ordinary human endeavor. And they could run faster and farther, as well as leap higher, than any normal human being could. It was said that a ninja could even disappear before the very eyes of a pursuer, should he choose to do so. All of these things and many more, even more sensational, were said to be within the capabilities of a ninja.

The townsfolk always made the ninja out as supernatural beings. To a warrior, however, they were flesh and blood, and you never really believed all that you had heard about them— or if you did, you felt sure that your sword would show the ninja to be less supernatural than told.

Fear? What was fear but a foolish state of ignorance about something, and the blind acceptance of ignorance was a replacement for reason. But why had this feeling of fear suddenly enveloped you this night? Was it really your ignorance about the ninja that fed the fear?

Here in the darkness of the night, your tour of duty only beginning, you would have ample time to go over what you knew about the ninja and find some explanation to prove to yourself that they were no more than human beings.