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Mercenary Ninja

Mercenary ninja.

A Mercenary ninja (傭兵忍者, Yōhei Ninja) is a skilled ninja who is hired to fight for another country other than their own in exchange for money.

Before the founding of shinobi villages, the majority of the clans in existence at that point were mercenary military forces for hire by whomever.[1] After shinobi are united in villages, however, such mercenary ninjas fight not out of loyalty to their own country, which would classify them all as missing-nin.

Due to mercenaries not being bound to the laws of the legal shinobi system, it is a risk to employ their services as they may betray their clients, as Zabuza plotted to kill Gatō once he gets enough money, and Hidari and Ashimaru killing Iori amid a mission for a bigger payoff. Inversely, clients may also betray the mercenaries to avoid paying any exorbitant prices as the legal system would not care about these renegades being betrayed, as Gatō betrayed Zabuza for that very reason.

Known Mercenaries[]

Trivia[]

  • According to Obito Uchiha, back in the days before the hidden villages were created, if one side hired the Senju clan, the other would hire the Uchiha clan, and vice versa, as both were the strongest among all mercenary clans.[1]
  • Despite some mercenary ninja being criminals, they have nevertheless been hired by even the likes of a Kage, as Ōnoki of Iwagakure has hired Akatsuki on many occasions in the past.[3]
  • Although not ninja, other known mercenaries include:
    • Kusabi is one of the many mercenaries hired by Gatō to take down the more expensive Zabuza, to save money.
    • Tatewaki was a former samurai hired by the Daimyō of Land of This to guard and train Shū.
    • Sazanka was a renegade samurai hired by a group of bandits for protection against shinobi.
  • In Naruto: Shippūden episode 233, a group of mercenary ninja believed Naruto Uzumaki to be a missing-nin and tried to capture him for a bounty they assumed was on his head.

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Naruto chapter 398, page 11
  2. Naruto chapter 458, page 8
  3. Naruto chapter 458, page 11
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