Ninja

Ninjas are a group of penguins led by a Sensei who are known for their training in the elements and the ancient art of Card-Jitsu. The most recognized types of elemental ninjas are Fire Ninjas, Water Ninjas and Snow Ninjas, though there are whispers of the mysterious Shadow Ninja. The majority of Antarctica's ninja population reside locally at the Ninja Village on Club Penguin Island, where they are currently under the direction of the current Sensei, Toshi Kojima. It is the goal of all ninjas to maintain the balance of the elements for the Pectosphere.

The first ninjas were taught and led by the Three Masters at a time when Club Penguin Island was simply known as Penguin Island. Since then, they earned their powerful and mysterious reputation for their involvement throughout history and elusive contact with the outside world.

Upon the death of Sensei Hung, the ninjas as they were known and their philosophies seemed to dwindle away. The remaining ninjas have since come out of hiding after their Dojo was struck by lightning during Club Penguin Island's Great Storm of 2008. Under Sensei Toshi Kojima, the ninjas slowly rebuilt their numbers back up as training resumed at the Dojo starting November 2008. As the new students gained a greater understanding of the elements, the return of Fire Ninjas, Water Ninjas and Snow Ninjas have followed.

Grasshopper
Grasshopper is the official title given upon aspiring ninjas in training who have not yet earned their ninja mask. Every ninja once began as a grasshopper, and had to prove themselves by earning all ten belts and defeating the Sensei in a game of Card-Jitsu. All grasshoppers are given their own personal amulet by the Sensei, which is crucial to their advanced training after they earn their mask.

Their naming comes from a mythical creature described by the Three Masters to be even smaller than even the average O-Berry. Yet in spite of its size, the grasshopper has the impressive potential to jump up to forty times its own length and ten times its own height. This comparison was intended to empower all of these lesser experienced students; that while they may not be the most powerful or skilled yet, that they too have potential to take leaps of greatness.

Sensei Kojima believes that even after earning their ninja mask, that no one ever truly graduates from being a grasshopper– not even himself. He sees that even masters are still capable of learning new things, and thus developed a habit of calling even his most experienced ninjas grasshoppers after they earned their mask.

Ninja
Those experienced enough to have beaten the Sensei in a game of Card-Jitsu are awarded their ninja mask and are appropriately rewarded the rank of Ninja. With their newfound privilege, ninjas are welcomed with access to the Ninja Hideout. Inside, ninjas can train with fellow ninjas and can shop at the Flying Flippers Emporium– a boutique with many exclusive goods made by and designed by ninjas use.

A ninja's journey does not end with earning their mask. From inside the Ninja Hideout are the doorways to the three advanced elemental dojos. On that point onward, ninjas are encouraged to venture onward onto any one of them and continue their training. Following their training and defeating Sensei in a game of Card-Jitsu Fire, Card-Jitsu Water or Card-Jitsu Snow, the ninja becomes recognized as a Fire Ninja, Water Ninja or Snow Ninja respectively and earns their corresponding gem for their amulet.

While not technically an additional rank, elemental ninjas are regarded as higher authority figures than ninjas who have not yet mastered any element. It is very rare for a ninja to master all three elements and complete their amulet due to the time and commitment it usually takes to do so. Those who have completed their amulet are granted access to a hidden passageway within the Ninja Hideout to the Chamber of Masters, a room full of ninja artifacts and scrolls that are protected by the anonymous Shadow Ninjas.

Chunin
The Chunin are the group of the Sensei's most elite and loyal students who have mastered all three elements, expressed great virtue, discipline and commitment to keeping the elements in balance. The Chunin primarily act as the aid to the Sensei in training grasshoppers and ninjas. While all students are welcome to train and learn from one another, only the Chunin are the rank privileged enough to award students with belts or pieces of an elemental suit rank below the Sensei. While Chunin must have mastered every element, they are still open to having an element of preference or expertise. Historically, Senseis have been selected from the Chunin.

Sensei
The Sensei is recognized as the authority over all ninjas, and is rightfully a master at the ancient art of the elements and all forms of Card-Jitsu by extension. While the Chunin are allowed to award belts or elemental suit pieces, only the Sensei may award ninja masks and elemental gems for the ninja amulet. While typically only one Sensei serves at a time, there have been rare occurrences of multiple Senseis serving at a time such as in the case of the Five Senseis.

In a desperate time of survival, Senseis who proved to be powerful and skilled enough are able to enter into what is called the Sensei State. The Sensei State calls upon pushing the limits of the Sensei's own knowledge and understanding of the elements that causes a large rush of power, typically reserved as a final resort. The Sensei State was mistakenly assumed to have been exclusive to Hochstadt Family due to their abundant presence in the Sensei lineage from the nineteenth to late twentieth centuries.

Upon nearing death, the Sensei begins to have visions of the future. These visions are thought to be set in stone and cannot be altered or avoided, and there is currently no evidence to contrary. Whether or not the Sensei chooses to share these visions is their own decision and they have no obligation to do so.

Training
Ninjas must earn several belts through the training in the game Card-Jitsu before they become proper ninjas:


 * 1) No Belt
 * 2) White Belt
 * 3) Yellow Belt
 * 4) Orange Belt
 * 5) Green Belt
 * 6) Blue Belt
 * 7) Red Belt
 * 8) Purple Belt
 * 9) Brown Belt
 * 10) Black Belt

Once a potential ninja earns their black belt, they must battle the Sensei in order to earn a Ninja Mask, which makes them true ninjas. This allows ninjas to disappear, and have other priorities, such as going to the Ninja Hideout beside The Dojo.

Powers and abilities
As known by a few penguins, Hereditary Ninjas are darker than most penguins. This is because when they reach a certain age (around 12-14), their feathers become darker and they are granted the power of invisibility. There are some cases though that the Ninja keeps their old color. Trained Ninjas are just given a new color (they can switch back to their original color and vice versa at any time) and a special suit made of invisibility fabric, which becomes invisible when activated.

Origins
The core three elements of Card-Jitsu were defined for many years prior to the game's creation, with their origin and discovery shrouded in mystery. The chicks who would grow up to become the Three Masters argued over which of the three elements were superior. To put an end to their bickering, their mother gave them cards that represented each element with a number indicating the strength of that element– This was the birth of the original iteration of Card-Jitsu. The brothers shared the game with the other chicks of their community as they grew up.

As the triplets grew older, they sought a method to make their card game into a true test of the elements. They accomplished this by tapping into power from the energy that supposedly surrounds the Earth they called the Pectosphere. Through this advanced training they came to be known as the Three Masters, the first in Antarctic history to have successfully tamed the three elements.

Using their new understanding of the elements, they incorporated their power into Card-Jitsu, intending their favorite childhood game to be used as an introduction into the elements for those who sought to follow in their footsteps. They took on new students from their village who had heard of their triumphs and mastery, which gave a name to them throughout Antarctica.

Kuruk the Navigator, the monarch of the newly established High Penguin Confederacy, heard of the Three Masters and wished to hear of their teachings and their "Card-Jitsu." After being taught the basics of the elements and Card-Jitsu, and witnessing the Three Masters in action, the king recognized each of them as the Master of Fire, the Master of Water and the Master of Snow respectively.

King Kuruk offered to help the brothers locate their own personal island, by offering them ships, supplies and his navy. In return, the king requested that the brothers could be called in to help the young confederacy when it is in need. Seeing an opportunity to establish a proper headquarters in a setting where the elements co-existed, they took the opportunity and bid farewell to their village to start anew. Along with them, they took any members of their village who were old enough to be independent and sought to complete their training in the elements.

They set sail for two months and found the perfect island. Their success was a combination of the assistance of the High Penguin Confederacy's navy and a call the Three Masters felt by the elements. It was an island with a volcano, a snowy mountain range and a large powerful waterfall. They understood that their odds of finding another island with all three elements present in such a manner would've been nearly impossible, and took it as a sign of good faith that the Pectosphere itself led them there. They named it Penguin Island because they believed all penguins would be welcome to join them in learning of the elements, known today as Club Penguin Island.

The First Dojo
The brothers used their supplies to build the first Dojo that they used to train their students. The young practitioners of the elements could either choose to use their abilities recreationally, or to be trained as warriors to defend the island from invaders or those who would choose to abuse this power. The elemental warriors of Penguin Island, called ninjas, became well-known for their black uniforms and basic comprehension of all three elements.

In surviving scrolls of this early era of Penguin Island, it has been described that in the middle of each elemental center the Three Masters would experience visions of what they believed were spiritual manifestations of the elements. These beings have been passed down and dubbed as the Ancient Dragon of Fire, the Sage Fish of Water and the White Monkey of Snow.

Given time, the students of the Three Masters matured and proved to be capable in the ways of the elements. The death of the Three Masters is shrouded in mystery in modern times, though it is widely accepted that the three brothers became one with their element of choice, becoming part of the Pectosphere itself.

The brothers were seceded by their nephew, Gung Hao, who had a greater understanding of all three elements than his uncles who had specialized in one of the three elements each. This was primarily due the Three Master's training favoring those who had mastery in all three elements as opposed to specializing in one element alone. It was considered taboo to commit to a singular element, in hopes of their students having a fuller picture of the Pectosphere than the Three Masters themselves.

As the new Sensei, Gung Hao felt immense pressure to meet the expectations set up by his uncles. Naturally, there was some disgust at him among other ninjas who believed he was simply chosen on familial ties alone over his mastery in the elements. Most of the distrust dissipated as Gung Hao proved his worth as the new Sensei by not trying to be exactly like his uncles before him but rather adopting his own unique style of teaching and not shying away from experimenting with new techniques.

Following Gung Hao's position of Sensei was his son, Jacques Hochstadt. Most if not many ninjas were infuriated by this decision since Jacques was seen as a lazy setback compared to his father. Some of the older ninjas held onto hope that the majority would be wrong just as the minority were wrong with his father before him who proved to be an excellent Sensei.

Sensei Hochstadt's early experience as Sensei was met with harsh criticism by most of his older students. By this point, there were so many ninjas on Penguin Island, it was a challenge for Jacques to keep track of each ninja's individual progress. To solve this issue, he developed the first belt-earning system to signify each ninja's progress without having to be reminded. Arthur Gurnstiles, one of the more experienced students at that time, was sympathetic to the new Sensei and volunteered to assist him in training those less experienced than him. Sensei Hochstadt saw the potential in the concept of having more experienced ninjas train their less advanced peers. The issue lied in his issues with trust, given how many of his older students despised him for not being like his father. He feared that his older students would betray him by turning his younger students against him. Nonetheless, he accepted Gurnstiles' offer, and promoted him as the first Chunin. Working together, they managed to train more ninjas together than any previous Sensei in history at that time.

For his generosity and loyalty, Sensei Hochstadt made Arthur Gurnstiles his heir as Sensei. Sensei Gurnstiles took on his role when Jacques Hochstadt passed away in his sleep. Those training under Gurnstiles were upset that Sensei Hochstadt had chosen an heir over loyalty rather than skill and merit, though this was a minority since he had proven himself to be a great teacher as the Chunin to the Sensei. This however did not halt the belief that Sensei Gurnstiles purposefully manipulated Sensei Hochstadt into trusting him so that could secure himself as his heir.

As Sensei, Arthur Gurnstiles noticed that romance would often hold back his students who sought to be trained as warriors of the elements. Because of this, he banned marriage among the warriors in hope of allowing them more clarity in battle. Sensei Gurnstiles also promoted many more Chunin under him, most of which were his own star pupils. One of his mistakes, that he would later admit regret towards, was when he told his Chunin that the next Sensei would be chosen from among them. While the Chunin had an understanding that this was likely the case, it only intensified their rivalry with one another. This proved to be an issue as Chunin Eric Von Kampf intentionally made his fellow Chunin out to be distrusting in the eyes of Sensei Gurnstiles. Surprisingly, the Sensei never caught on and the manipulation came through; Eric Von Kampf became heir to the Sensei.

Sensei Von Kampf knew the conflict that he had experienced as a Chunin made him more cunning and powerful than his peers, and sought the same experience for his students. He was noted as an excessively strict teacher, and would push for all of his students, recreational and warrior alike, into conflict with one another to prove themselves as superior. Eventually his harsh teaching style would disillusion his students, who came to question Card-Jitsu tradition and challenged his authority.

Groups of students formed who came to believe that learning all three elements weakened them, and began splitting off into groups to master one singular element alone. When Sensei Von Kampf heard of this through one of his Chunin, he threatened to banish them from Penguin Island if they did not suspend their rebellious behavior. The threat of banishment alone scared most of the Snow and Water students away, though the passionate Fire-focused students refused to back down from their teachings and continued to meet. The students referenced the Three Masters and their mastery of each element when they attempted to justify their actions and meetups.

The Fire-focused students began to plot a method of ridding themselves of Sensei Von Kampf. One night, they grouped together and struck Sensei Von Kampf down in flames, killing him. In the mist of the attack, they caught the rest of the Dojo on fire, which had stood since the Three Masters built it up. The fall of Sensei Von Kampf encouraged some of the Water and Snow-focused ninjas to join with the rogue fire students. The majority of Penguin Island's population refused to align themselves with the rivaling clan, and thus began the War of the Elements.

War of the Elements
The War of the Elements was arguably the darkest time in all of ninja history. Due to the on-going conflict, there would never be time to build a proper replacement for the Dojo and many of the old scrolls of ninja history were lost. For the first time in history as a result of the war, Penguin Island was closed off from the rest of Antarctica, rejecting any new ninja recruits and preventing anyone from leaving the island.

Upon the death of Sensei Von Kampf, there was mass confusion among the ninja students for who to look up at as his successor. Sensei Von Kampf had never anticipated the need for a successor with his relatively short reign as Sensei which caused bickering among the Chunin over who would be the next to take lead. Eventually, the oldest member of the Chunin rose up to the occasion, whose name was lost to history. The newest sixth Sensei sought to put an end to the rogue tribe of ninjas that killed Sensei Von Kampf, who he was described to have been particularly close to. Recreational ninjas were drafted into becoming warriors to prepare for the elimination of the rivaling ninjas. These decisions were seen as excessive at the time since the Sensei's ninjas very clearly outnumbered the rogue clan of ninjas. Still, the rogue ninjas were despised universally for the destruction of the original Dojo alone and understood why the Sensei sought their immediate demise.

The rivaling ninjas began calling themselves the Clan of Muryō, which roughly translated to the Clan of the Free Ones in the native language of the Three Masters. The Clan of Muryō hid and set up a temporary base in the wilderness of Penguin Island where they continued to practice the mastery of their preferred element. It was mutually agreed that they would have no Sensei or equivalent, believing that such a title would lead to corruption and cruelty in a manner of generations just like Sensei Von Kampf. They chose to be equals; that they could learn from one another and respect each other.

The sixth Sensei sent scouts across Penguin Island's wilderness in hopes of locating the base of the Clan of Muryō. He also sent ninjas to guard the docks and ordered them to set their boats to flames and sink them should anyone dare to try and use them to escape. While the hunt for the Clan of Muryō occurred, there was no ninja training due to the emphasis on the war that had just begun. The sixth Sensei focused on toppling the Clan of Muryō using the established ninjas of Sensei Von Kampf's reign, ignoring training his grasshoppers who were now trapped on the island. When asked, he assured them their training would resume upon the construction of a new Dojo.

With given time, the ninjas located the Clan of Muryō's base and went for a surprise attack. A few of the Clan's members were taken out during the spectacle and it seemed that the war would come to a swift end. Some surrendered, though the remaining members of Clan managed to lure their hunters into a trap they had set up, slowing them down enough to a point where they could completely escape. The Clan knew that while they were being hunted that they could never comfortably establish a base of that caliber again, and began setting up very temporary bases that they would move every few days.

One night a group of inexperienced grasshoppers wandered into the wilderness to camp to try and pass time during the war, knowing full well that they would not have any opportunity to train any time soon. The sixth Sensei constantly warned all of the grasshoppers to avoid the wilderness in fear of them facing the Clan of Muryō. The last thing the Sensei wanted was a hostage situation that involved his own loyal students, or even worse if they would be swayed into their rebellion. The students assumed their odds of accidentally encountering the Clan were very low since the ninjas were struggling to even intentionally locate them after the initial attack.

Alas, the grasshoppers unknowingly walked right into the Clan of Muryō's latest temporary base and they were quickly captured and incapacitated due to their vast inexperience. The members of the Clan were dumbstruck on what to do with them. Some of the water members wanted to drown and leave behind their corpses to set them up as an example to avenge their fallen members from the initial surprise attack. The fire members wanted no more violence, understanding that they had already ended the life of the previous Sensei, and the snow members suggested to show them their own point of view and convert them. The Clan never came to an agreement and planned to put it to a vote in the morning. The following night, one of the water members sneaked while everyone was sleeping and used their abilities to drown the defenseless grasshoppers to make a statement to the sixth Sensei. After an intense argument in the morning for the water members not being able to contain themselves for the night, the fire members began to cremate the bodies, but they realized that the smoke would draw attention to their location. They quickly halted, and the snow members buried the bodies as a precaution. The Clan of Muryō hurried along to a new site, and the bodies were discovered by the ninjas only a matter of hours later in thanks to the smoke.

When the sixth Sensei heard of this news, he was furious and only doubled down on his efforts to locate them. By this point his own students began to lose faith in him, seeing that the vulnerable grasshoppers were still neglected from being trained. The sixth Sensei appeared obsessed with ending the war to his own Chunin, one of which began to disregard his war duties to train grasshoppers to fend for themselves. The Chunin expressed his doubts privately among the other Chunin, some of which agreed with him that the Sensei's own obsession would lead to his downfall. In secret, one of the Chunin saw this as an opportunity to overthrow the Sensei and take his title for himself.

Future
Sensei, a Dufflepud, eventually will give the position to Ninjahopper in 2023, although Sensei doesn't die until 100 years later. Ninjahopper's reign of Ninjas brought a success of new Ninjas, and Card Jitsu became more widespread across Antarctica with the help of the retired Sensei, Spider880, and Fuut Ga. However, as more Ninjas were trained, the more it angered Sensei Wraith, who was still in hiding; this caused Sensei Wraith to challenge Ninjahopper to an extreme duel in Card-Jitsu in 2035. Sensei Wraith bitterly lost, which made him do the unthinkable- at the end of the game, Sensei Wraith blasted Ninjahopper with his Dragon Flame power. Ninjahopper was blasted across the room and was slammed hardly against the Dojo walls, and fell to the floor. Badly bruised and severely burned, Ninjahopper passed away while Sensei Wraith disappeared into the shadows. Ninjahopper was buried in the mountains, and many Ninjas began to fight over the position of Sensei. Eventually, Sensei and Fuut Ga agree to have Hat Pop, a kind and well-trained ninja, to be the honorable Sensei who was the first to resign from her post after a few years to let others have the chance. The next ninja became Spider880, who was humble and a good Sensei who trained several Senseis, but some Ninjas who had fought for the position of Sensei before began to question Spider880's authority, and eventually the questioning grew to arguments, which grew to hate. Although most Ninjas stayed true to Spider880, the other Ninjas began forming their own sects, seeking revenge on Spider880, Sensei, and Fuut Ga. Before any Ninja war could begin, Emperor Pengvintine killed Spider880 in 2041 and proclaimed himself Sensei. The few Ninjas who had opposed Spider880 joined Emperor Pengvintine, while the many Good Ninjas stayed with Fuut Ga and Sensei who formed a resistance. Thus, Ninjas were divided by Good and Bad, and a brutal Civil War known as the Great Ninja Schism broke out for 4 long years, with no one winning. However, in the last year of the Ninja Civil War, 2045, The Last Stand was conducted, and Emperor Pengvintine was defeated. Fuut Ga was named Sensei after over 60 years of training as a Ninja. Fuut Ga lived and trained Ninjas for 955 years, and died of old age in the year 3000.

Trivia

 * It is currently unknown how the Ninja Archipelago is related to the ninjas or why it was named after them. This has boggled the minds of historians for years as the ninjas seem to have had no influence or impact over the archipelago that would deem naming the region after them.