But when Akihiro Iwata came across them in 2019, the Japanese archeologist and curator was sure he’d made a “ground-breaking discovery.” He was convinced he’d found very early ninja ...

Kizu was a Ninja from a clan in Iga, a mountain-shrouded town near the ancient imperial capital of Kyoto ... he’d be punished by “big and small gods in more than 60 provinces across Japan” for ...

Japan ended centuries of war in the late 1500s, and the need for ninja warriors began to fade. When their exploits were documented generations later, this began their long path from reality to ...