#Shinobi Sample: Kage (影, "Shadow")

Contents

"Because it sounds interesting."

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#1st Dan — Fuma Genin

#Scent

A newly adult genin (下忍) of the Fuma clan. Detached, quiet, and unreadable. The only emotion that appears is the very faint smile he shows when stepping onto a battlefield. "Because it sounds interesting" is his habit phrase.

#Background — How the Adventure Began

Kage has no real name. In the Fuma clan, a real name is permitted only until age six. At six, a child is assigned to the first mission, and when that mission ends, receives a go (号) instead of a name. The go given to this one was "Shadow (影)." A shadow neither avoids the sun nor seeks darkness.

His first mission as a genin was to recover a Kaishu's (戒主) letter. He was twelve. As he slipped into the room of the target local magnate, Kage first learned that he could freely cross the boundary between Flank Zone and Outside Zone. After the recovery, he did not escape. He stayed until he had watched the magnate fall asleep, and only then vanished. His master asked — "Why did you remain?" — "Because it sounded interesting."

For the next five years, Kage performed ordinary clan missions and made the ninja-to and kunai part of his body. He gained formal deployment eligibility at seventeen, on a scouting request from Kagura Domain. A foreign-born gunwoman named "Maria" was assigned to the same request. To Kage, she was a completely different kind of human being. Someone whose sound arrived before the wind. During their first cooperation, Kage asked for the first time what "comrade" meant. Because it sounded interesting, he decided to leave that question in place.

#Law

Kage — Shinobi 1st dan
Wounds 3, Defense 12(light armor), Energy 12
Courage+1, Finesse+2, Physique+0, Wisdom+0, Presence-1, Fate+1
Background: Wanderer (route unselected) | Heart: Demon (Way of Mystery)

Weapons: ninja-to + 5 kunai

• Straight Stab (Finesse, 2 Energy) / Reverse-Grip Cut (Courage, 1 Energy, maintain infiltration) / Scabbard Guard (reservation 1/improvised 2) / Kunai Throw (Finesse, 1 Energy, adjacent range)

Maneuver List:

Typical Breath: enter from Outside Zone → Sudden Strike (technique +3, enhanced ambush +2, target cannot react) → Reverse-Grip Cut(1) + Reverse-Grip Cut(1) = 4. Infiltration ends after the first strike.

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#5th Dan — Fuma Chunin

#Scent

No longer a genin, he has been promoted to chunin (中忍). Even within the Fuma clan, people say, "send that one alone." His school is Iga-ryu — he belongs to Fuma, but has received Iga's Secret Transmission (秘人秘伝). The privilege of crossing clan boundaries is permitted only to those who have proved that level of skill. Background route: Wild Sense (B).

#Background — How He Came This Far

After 1st dan, Kage spent two years assigned only to spy missions. He rarely stood on a battlefield. Scouting, infiltration, letter recovery, observation of important persons. During that time, Kage's realm of "interesting" slowly widened — enemy verbal habits, guard shift times, a daimyo's breathing.

In the spring of the third year, Kage was dispatched to the information war around the Shikoku rebellion. His goal was to secure intelligence that a spellcaster among the rebel forces was reverse-tracking Kagura Domain's movements. Someone who was not his master said — "This is a mission you do not return from." Kage smiled. "Because it sounds interesting." Five months later, the baggage Kage brought back contained seven volumes of the spellcaster's cipher documents. One finger was gone. He had left it behind as the price.

After that mission, Fuma's Kaishu summoned Kage and handed him an Iga-ryu Secret Transmission license. "You are too valuable to keep only inside the clan's boundary." As he received the Secret Transmission, Kage chose "Clone" and "Poison Master." His reason was that poison was an interesting tool.

He opened the background route Wild Sense around that time. When the corpse of a dead companion could not be found in a yoma lair, Kage starved for three days while tracking the trace. There he learned how to find a path by scent and airflow. He found the companion's body, but only part of it. That night, Kage felt for the first time that the battlefield was not only interesting.

#Law

Kage — Shinobi 5th dan
Wounds 4(3+Tough 1), Defense 13(light armor+Finesse modifier), Energy 13(10+Finesse 3)

![Kage the "Formless Shadow" dissolving into negative space, only a slender blank tanto catching light, body as line fragments](../../../../assets/interior/20260624/batch-5-additional/CDAN-02.webp)

Courage+1, Finesse+3, Physique+0, Wisdom+1, Presence-1, Fate+1
Background: Wanderer route B (Wild Sense) | Heart: Demon (Way of Mystery)
School: Iga-ryu (Ninjutsu — Secret Transmission)

Weapons: ninja-to(Fine Work) + poison-coated kunai + 3 smoke bombs

• basic technique + [license] Poison Master(poison effects 2 times) + [3rd dan] Ambush(automatic Critical Hit)

Additional Maneuvers:

Typical Breath: go straight from Outside Zone to the target zone → Ambush(automatic Critical Hit) + poison kunai(1) + Clone(3) = 4. Strike multiple targets at once in the same round.

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#10th Dan (Tatsujin) — "Formless Kage"

#Scent

A legendary shinobi. People do not even speak his name. Most Iga and Koga clans call him "teacher" and seek his advice. There is a rumor that he refused the seat of Fuma chief. Because he does not open his mouth, there is no way to confirm it.

Renown Title: Class Capstone — King of Shadows. Always infiltrating. Ambush = instant death.

#Background — How He Earned the Renown Title

Kage's legend was completed in the Foiled Taiko Assassination incident. Several assassination teams were organized against Hideyoshi, and the most dangerous of them was a team of Shikome-no-Tsukai allied with Hannyakai fiends. On the night just before they infiltrated the Taiko's camp, Kage was alone in the surrounding Flank Zone.

There were no witnesses to what happened over the next three rounds. The next morning, four Shikome-no-Tsukai corpses were found in the Flank Zone around the camp. All had died by poison, or by severed necks. None of the bodies showed signs of resistance. It was as if they had died while asleep. But Shikome-no-Tsukai are not beings that can sleep. Kage had cut them inside the illusion of falling asleep.

Hideyoshi tried to reward him in secret. Kage did not accept. Instead, he is said to have answered — "I did it because it sounded interesting. I have no reason to receive anything."

After choosing the Renown Title King of Shadows, Kage became the inheritor of Yoshimitsu, a legendary masterwork dagger. On the day he received the masterwork, the previous inheritor asked — "What will you use that blade for?" Kage answered — "For an interesting moment."

He still belongs to the Fuma clan, and at the same time belongs to no clan at all. When he enters the Core Zone, he returns — but no enemy survives in the place he passed through.

#Law

Kage — Shinobi Tatsujin
Wounds 5(3+Tough 1+Physique 1), Defense 14(light armor+Finesse modifier+defense aptitude), Energy 14(10+Finesse 3+Speed Master +1)
Courage+1, Finesse+3, Physique+1, Wisdom+2, Presence-1, Fate+2
Background: Wanderer Tatsujin (Deathless Wanderer — retry right 1/campaign)
Heart: Demon (Way of Mystery, unshaken)
School: Iga-ryu (secret art — Killing Incense)
Renown Title: King of Shadows (Class Capstone)

Weapons: Yoshimitsu (masterwork — apex dagger)

• Straight Stab / Reverse-Grip Cut / Scabbard Guard / Sudden Strike / [masterwork] Death Severance(2 Energy, 3 Wounds, infiltration only) / [school secret art] Killing Incense(zone poison mist)

Additional Maneuvers:

One Breath 7 (Speed Master): Outside Zone entry + Ambush(instant death) + Death Severance(2) + Reverse-Grip Cut(1) + Vanish(1) = 4. The battle itself ends in "one breath."

"What cannot be seen is the most frightening thing."