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In 1637, Ieyasu's grandson and successor, Iemitsu, used several hundred ninja from the Iga clan to help the Shogunate army capture and slaughter some 40,000 Japanese Christians who had taken refuge in a castle in Shimbara. This was to be the last major military action in which ninja played a vital role.

The ninja-turned-Shogunate-security agents and their descendants continued to dominate the police force in Edo (Tokyo) and other Japanese cities down to the 19th century, using their techniques and tactics to identify and capture criminals and enemies of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Without the intrigue and military competition that existed between Japan's some 270 clan lords (daimyo) and the Shogun before the establishment of the Tokugawa period, the fortunes of the “outside” ninja families declined rapidly.

Ninja who were not able to make the transition from secret agents to policeman or government security agents sometimes became outlaws and master criminals. The famous robber Goemon Ishikawa, often referred to as the “Robin Hood” of Japan, had been a ninja lieutenant in the Momochi clan. He was finally captured by Shogunate agents and executed by being boiled alive in a huge cauldron.