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A daimyo warlord wishing to hire ninja in the furtherance of his military or political cause usually chose and trained his own men, but on occasion he would make contact with ninja leaders through the chunin simply by sending an envoy into the areas where chunin were known to operate. The chunin would find the envoy. The uncertainty of this process of communication was lessened by the constant activities of chunin who were always alert to the possibilities of engaging in espionage.

But the process was fraught with danger to the lord hiring the ninja, for such a contract might result in employing such men who were unfriendly. For this important reason all lords had means of their own by which ninja were to be tested and proven loyal. A newly hired ninja might be given some false data or a meaningless task, the treacherous discloser of which would produce a certain calculated result, sure evidence that the ninja had betrayed his employer.

Then too, ninja who had served a lord faithfully for a period of time could be expected to be approached by enemy ninja who would urge severance of that loyalty.