Master Ninja Hanzo Hattori(1541-1596)
History of the man.
This is a man who's past is shrouded by shadows as such as a ninja should. That's right a NINJA! And no a not a ninja like Naruto, which used magic powers, but a ninja a natural born killer, that hid in the shadows and killed people.
He was a man born in the Iga providance. He was son of Hattori Yasunaga. Hanzo climbed and trained the Mt. Kurama north of Kyoto, during the age of eight yaers of age. he rained there for four years. Hanzo be came a full-fleged ninja at the age of twelve.
The Hattori family was not watari-ninja ( ninja that sold their service to the highest bidder ), they was faithful to Tokugawa.
When Oda Nobunaga was murdered by Akechi Mitsuhide, Tokugawa was in a village close to Osaka and was threatened by Akechi's troops.
Tokugawa then got assistance by Hattori Hanzo and Taro Shiro, a Koga ninja. Together with 300 ninja, they helped Tokugawa escape to Okazaki-jo by using Gotonjutsu ( skills of hiding in the nature ), and other special techniques in how to advance safely.
It seems that the aura of mystery cultivated by Hanzo coupled with a few high-profile exploits and super-competence is the dark-arts of Ninjutsu has thrown him into the realm of cult-hero. Three deductions can be made. There is more fiction than fact, cultivated by legions of followers and admirers. There is very little doubt of his abilities, at the very least considering that the Shogun who established the ‘great peace’ was in awe of Hanzo’s skills. There is very little we actually know about the man.
There some that belive that four poeple in total adopted the name of Hanzo Harutori to in crease their power or fame but in turn increased Hanzo's reputaion.
He was a man born in the Iga providance. He was son of Hattori Yasunaga. Hanzo climbed and trained the Mt. Kurama north of Kyoto, during the age of eight yaers of age. he rained there for four years. Hanzo be came a full-fleged ninja at the age of twelve.
The Hattori family was not watari-ninja ( ninja that sold their service to the highest bidder ), they was faithful to Tokugawa.
When Oda Nobunaga was murdered by Akechi Mitsuhide, Tokugawa was in a village close to Osaka and was threatened by Akechi's troops.
Tokugawa then got assistance by Hattori Hanzo and Taro Shiro, a Koga ninja. Together with 300 ninja, they helped Tokugawa escape to Okazaki-jo by using Gotonjutsu ( skills of hiding in the nature ), and other special techniques in how to advance safely.
It seems that the aura of mystery cultivated by Hanzo coupled with a few high-profile exploits and super-competence is the dark-arts of Ninjutsu has thrown him into the realm of cult-hero. Three deductions can be made. There is more fiction than fact, cultivated by legions of followers and admirers. There is very little doubt of his abilities, at the very least considering that the Shogun who established the ‘great peace’ was in awe of Hanzo’s skills. There is very little we actually know about the man.
There some that belive that four poeple in total adopted the name of Hanzo Harutori to in crease their power or fame but in turn increased Hanzo's reputaion.
Nicknames
Oni-Hanzō (鬼半蔵) or Hanzo the Ghost, this was his nick name given to him due to his high level stealth skills but is well known when durin the battlewould pull off his most famous accomplishment in 1582, while he was out kicking butt and taking names with Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Osaka Prefecture. Hanzo had just gotten finished executing an unprecedented one hundred fifty-eight hit combo on some rival ninja master, culminating when all of a sudden word came down that the warlord Akechi Mitsuhide had just betrayed and assassinated his master, Oda Nobunaga. Since Nobunaga was the leader of Tokugawa’s Clan, it meant that events were about to get really disaterous for the future shogun in a hurry. They knew Akechi was going put up security checkpoints and send out roving bands of samurai looking to decapitate Tokugawa and bury his head in a drainage ditch somewhere, and now he appeared to be trapped, alone, and surrounded, with a few hundred miles separating him from his castle in Mikawa Prefecture. Hanzo somersaulted into action like the ninja that he was, telling Tokugawa to stay back and let the Iga Clan handle the rest. He snuck into the nearby Koga and Iga Prefectures, climbed the highest mountain he could find, and started to declare a challenge. When nearby ninjas saw how many enimies Hanzo was kicking, they all met up with him and formed an insane entourage of 300 Master Ninjas all prepared to escort Tokugawa to safety or die trying. Using diplomacy, secrecy, advanced reconnaissance Hanzo and his ninja bodyguards were able to successfully escort Tokugawa to the safety of Mikawa. Tokugawa was so impressed by this display of bravery that he kept two hundred of the ninjas on his payroll, officially forming the “Men of Iga”, under the command of Hanzo Hattori. They were assigned the critical duty of protecting the West Gate of Edo Castle – the gate most susceptible to a surprise attack by enemy forces. Tokugawa knew that if event were to unfold that he wanted Hanzo Hattori and his Ninja Army to be the ones on the front lines. The West entrance to Edo was renamed Hanzo-Mon, and to this day “Hanzo’s Gate” still stands proudly, just daring motherfuckers to mess with it.
Devil Hanzō), he was gien this name during the Battle of Anagawa in 1570, where Tokugawa’s men slogged through some brutal hand-to-hand combat in the middle of a river, and later at the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1572, where Devil Hanzo and his ninja annilated, despite being outnumbered four to one by an army of hardcore samurai. After the first day of fighting Tokugawa's had been overwhelmed, and the enemy was preparing to make their final assault on the Oda Clan positions when Hanzo and his ninjas launched an all-out night raid against the enemy's main camp, lopping off heads, hitting people in the face with nunchucks, hurling ninja stars all over thep lace, causing disorder and chaos, and forcing the withdrawl of the invading armies.
Yari-Hanzō (槍半蔵, Spear Hanzō?) this was his nick name he got due to his mad stick fighting skills. Stick fighting means fighting using spears, boas, staffs, and any other stick like weapons. Hōzōin-ryū was the the spear fighting style he used.
Devil Hanzō), he was gien this name during the Battle of Anagawa in 1570, where Tokugawa’s men slogged through some brutal hand-to-hand combat in the middle of a river, and later at the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1572, where Devil Hanzo and his ninja annilated, despite being outnumbered four to one by an army of hardcore samurai. After the first day of fighting Tokugawa's had been overwhelmed, and the enemy was preparing to make their final assault on the Oda Clan positions when Hanzo and his ninjas launched an all-out night raid against the enemy's main camp, lopping off heads, hitting people in the face with nunchucks, hurling ninja stars all over thep lace, causing disorder and chaos, and forcing the withdrawl of the invading armies.
Yari-Hanzō (槍半蔵, Spear Hanzō?) this was his nick name he got due to his mad stick fighting skills. Stick fighting means fighting using spears, boas, staffs, and any other stick like weapons. Hōzōin-ryū was the the spear fighting style he used.