Subject: [FFML] [query]ninjas
From: "William Morse" <montanto@hotmail.com>
Date: 7/9/2001, 6:34 PM
To: ffml@anifics.com

Hi all.

I was wondering if anyone could help me with a plot hole that has been plaguing me in the current story I'm working on. What the story is a thriller involving ninjas. In this story I'm trying to keep away from the hollywood image of cannon fodder in black pajamas and going with the premise that the ninja has changed with the times as much as the rest of Japan so they resemble a very efficient freelance intelligence agency. To get this right I'm been trying to keep away from the martial arts texts and sticking with the histories. (I've been reading Hatsumi and Turnbull mostly)

The problem that I came across probably won't bother me until the next few chapters and is essentially a paradox.

Here it is.

We have a secret society of Spies and Assassins who's secrecy is so extensive  they have successfully convinced the world that with the exception of a handful of Dojos  they died out sometime after 1850.  If they're that secretive how do they get work?

Think about it if they are so good that they successfully avoided legal authorities and public scrutiny for over a hundred years it would be equally difficult for potential clients to have even heard of them.

The situation reminds me of some of  Forsythe's "Day of the Jackal" where one of the OAS members points out just how hard it is to locate the absolute best assassins and the Jackal later points out how if an assassin were to make a really great hit (in that case De Gaulle) would never be able to work again due to the ensuing manhunt.

Anyway any suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

Thanks in advance

                                           Bill Morse
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