Editing Ninja (section)

===Predecessors===
[[File:Yamato Takeru at 16-crop.jpg|thumb|upright|Yamato Takeru dressed as a maidservant, preparing to kill the Kumaso leaders. Woodblock print on paper. [[Yoshitoshi]], 1886.]]
The title ''ninja'' has sometimes been attributed retrospectively to the semi-legendary 2nd-century prince [[Yamato Takeru]].<ref name="Waterhouse 1996 34">{{Harvnb|Waterhouse|1996|pp=34}}</ref> In the ''[[Kojiki]]'', the young Yamato Takeru disguised himself as a charming maiden and assassinated two chiefs of the [[Kumaso]] people.<ref name="Chamberlain 2005 249-253">{{Harvnb|Chamberlain|2005|pp=249–253}}; Volume 2, section 80</ref> However, these records take place at a very early stage of Japanese history, and they are unlikely to be connected to the ''shinobi'' of later accounts. The first recorded use of espionage was under the employment of [[Prince Shōtoku]] in the 6th century.<ref name="ratti 1991 325">{{Harvnb|Ratti|Westbrook|1991|p=325}}</ref> Such tactics were considered unsavory even in early times, when, according to the 10th-century ''Shōmonki'', the boy spy [[Hasetsukabe no Koharumaru]] was killed for spying against the insurgent [[Taira no Masakado]].<ref name="friday 2007 58 60">{{Harvnb|Friday|2007|pp=58–60}}</ref> Later, the 14th-century war chronicle ''[[Taiheiki]]'' contained many references to ''shinobi''<ref name="Waterhouse 1996 34" /> and credited the destruction of a castle by fire to an unnamed but "highly skilled ''shinobi''".