Infiltrating a Forbidden Mansion

禁宿取入ル習

Kinshuku Toriiru Narai

One of the iconic images of the ninja is that of a creeping figure gaining entrance into a forbidden place, climbing a wall and entering the home of the target. Later, Natori deals with this traditional image, but here, in this next chapter, he shows that a ninja would need an even sterner backbone than we first thought. Here he describes deception in the most casual but dangerous way possible: To walk up and simply enter a house under false pretenses or to join an army on the march or even to ask the intended target for aid and shelter, when, in fact, you are plotting against him.

One legendary feat of the ninja has always been their amazing ability to count and survey enemy troops and give accurate descriptions of their strength of arms. The secrets are simple but effective and also show how a shinobi could walk amongst the opposition counting and taking statistics without ever thinking of a single number. Remembering that capture or discovery would result in torture, if not execution, the spirit of a shinobi soldier must have been solid to the core. Calmly infiltrating and conversing with the enemy without a fear of death displays a level of courage rarely replicated in today’s world.

Even if you have been to a place before, you may still feel uneasy if the area is quite unfamiliar. This is even more so with a forbidden or restricted area. It is essential for the shinobi to know how to get into such mansions without difficulty or fear; it is one of the essential things a ninja must know.

In another province, sometimes you have to make an educated guess about the building complex that you need to infiltrate. Such buildings maybe strictly forbidden to outsiders. It is best for you to walk by the gate a few times with a phony intention in mind. One method of getting information is to feign illness in front of the gate, take a rest there and have your servant or accomplice ask the inhabitants for medicine, hot water, or simply just cool water. Choose a sudden illness such as omushi 大虫 (stomach ache), kakuran 霍乱 (sudden vomiting), gansho 含傷 (food poisoning), epilepsy, or diarrhea or something else along these lines. Though, being drunk would not be proper at all and you should never pretend to be so in this situation. After you have been given what you asked for and have feigned recovery, you should go in to your target area to say thank you so that you become acquainted with them, and leave without pushing your luck.

At a later date, you may come back, giving the occupants presents to show your gratitude for their help; flatter and get intimate with them. Basically, when you visit someone’s place you should praise their children as an effective way to gain entry. When you give presents, don’t forget to give one to the master’s wife first. Next you should treat his favorite servant(s), whether they are men or women. The master will be pleased about that, rather than having one gift just for him, he sees that his people are happy and this will influence him. Thus, in this way you could glean information about what you want while talking to the people of the mansion.

An oral tradition says that you should test metal with fire and humans with words.

The uguisu (Japanese bush warbler) that chirps among blossoms is fragrant like blossoms even though they are not even flowers.

The poem above means that if you creep into someone’s favor with smooth words, you can deduce valuable information even from the smallest of small talk.

To estimate the area of a place, you should figure it out by multiplying any distance you do know for sure or that at which you can take an educated guess. To know the number of houses within a compound, you should prepare two bags of a certain number of pebbles or beans and write that amount on each bag. Now, with one bag up each sleeve you have walk around and discard a pebble or bean for each house individually. If it’s an unoccupied house, you take one from the left sleeve and if it’s a house with inhabitants, from the right sleeve, be careful and do not mix them up. Then, when you have finished, count the number left in the bags and subtract it from the original number that you had at the start. This way you can know the exact number of houses within the compound without having to count them. You can also apply this technique to counting the numbers of people in a procession. In this case, you will have to use a higher number of bags for such things as: foot soldiers, mounted warriors, spearmen, etc. Make sure to put more pebbles than the numbers you expect so that you do not run out half way through. When you do the counting, you should position yourself at a place where they have to walk in single file so that you have a good view and enough time to count them, places such as narrow tracks or a bridge would be good for this.

If it is difficult for you to get the whole picture, slip among the retinue or pretend to be a merchant accompanying the army and act as if you wish to accompany them for a couple of days of trade. How could you ever fail to count them within this period? A few days is more than you need. Be careful to take every measure possible. When infiltrating an army you should engage with no one but the servants. Treat them liberally and do favors for them without allowing them to know you are being deceitful. Nothing could be worse than your intentions becoming too easily detected. Be warned, even if you could gain the favor of a higher-ranking person, it would prevent you from achieving the desired effect that you originally wanted. This is because you will be hated by the lower-ranking people for the favor you are being shown by those above you.