What if you know that the Naruto manga is not entirely a baseless fiction, when Japanese history once witnessed a shinobi with “half-human half-demon” blood and could “control get the fire”. That person was Kazama Kotaro , also known as the Fifth Fuma.
History as well as fiction has always had an endless interest in the Ninja as well as the mysterious legends surrounding them. Among them, the battles between ninjas and pirates – a constant threat to an island nation like Japan have become the inspiration for many movies and books. But what if you knew that there once existed a legendary ninja practicing pirates called “Wind Devil” – “Demon lurking in the wind”?
Fuma Kotaro. (Illustration).
Legend has it that, Fuma Kotaro is a tall “demon”. Stories are woven about him as a creature rather than a human, up to… 2.2m tall, half devil and also one of the most powerful warriors of his time. Of course, the ancients added some mystery, because until the 1940s, the average Japanese person was only 1m50 tall, but with the legends of the half-human, half-demon ninja, it seems that Kotaro was a man. who was particularly tall in the 1600s.
According to legends, Kotaro is a half-demon, half-human and half-demon. (Illustration).
Fuma Kotaro is the leader of the Fuma Tribe – a small group of shinobi operating independently in the Kanagawa region. While other famous ninja tribes such as the Iga or Koga often avoid combat, focusing on stealth, reconnaissance and surveillance missions, the Fuma tribe chose the path of mighty guerrilla warfare, exactly the same. like the ninjas in the Naruto manga.
The name of the Fuma tribe is named after the leader; Fuma is also not really a proper name, but more of a title. The main character mentioned here is the fifth Fuma, Mr. Kotaro. Kotaro’s full name is Kazama Kotaro . It is said that he was born from a love affair between a human and a Japanese demon Oni – this makes him 2.2m tall when he is an adult, with cat-like eyes and a mouth as wide as the gills. ears. Kotaro’s voice is also very loud, it is said that he can howl so loudly that people can still be heard within a radius of 5km. Since then, he got the name “Wind devil – evil hidden in the wind”.
Unlike other ninja tribes, Kotaro’s people are quite aggressive and often fight more or less. (Illustration).
Fuma’s tribe regularly fought against large armies with relatively small and thin forces. Their skillful fighting skills combined with stealth, provocation, and ambush resulted in the defeat of armies many times larger than the size of the Fuma Tribe. In addition, the Fuma Tribe’s ability to use boats and naval combat skills is also top-notch, making them an extra side job as… pirates.
The ninja of the Fuma tribe are said to be proficient in watercraft, mastering the art of underwater reconnaissance and naval warfare by large ships. (Illustration).
During Kotaro’s era, his army was known as Rappa , meaning “Those who put an end to all battles”. The Rappas were so skilled that many of their battles went down in history; for example, in 1580, when the warlord Takeda Katsuyori – an ally of the Fuma clan was attacked by a giant army from another lord, Kotaro’s Rappa decided to aid in the war with… a type of submarine. homemade stub – something no one expected to have been around since the 1580s.
They quietly broke into the enemy’s encirclement by water, then the Fuma tribe’s half-human, half-demonic leader used the art of visual deception – Enron no jutsu – when combining smoke and fire, causing chaos. brought to the enemy and tricked them into killing each other. Then they vanished like mirages, leaving the remnants of their enemies almost wiped out. Since then, Fuma Kotaro has added the name “Fire Lord” – “Master of the flame”.
With the ability to deceive the eye and use fire in battle, Kotaro is also known as “Fire Lord”. (Illustration).
One of the other famous legends is the battle between this half-human, half-demonic shinobi and the greatest and most famous ninja in the land of cherry blossoms Hanzo Hattori. They’ve been rivals for years on end, almost comparing them to Batman and the Joker, where the loyal, upright Hattori is Batman and the cunning, multi-faceted Kotaro is the Joker.
Their last battle occurred around 1590, when the army of the Tokugawa tribe had almost wiped out the Fuma tribe with overwhelming force, but Kotaro and Kotaro’s most elite army – the Rappa – can still escape. To put an end to this threat, Lord Tokugawa sent out his best ninja – Hanzo Hattori.
Hattori has been searching for Kotaro for years to put an end to the Fuma tribe. (Illustration).
Experiencing battles that are said to be “filled with ninjutsu, monstrosities, and the art of transformation” , the pursuit lasted until 1596 when Hanzo traced Kotaro to a warship. This was a pre-arranged trap, when the ship was already filled with oil; and when Hanzo arrived, the ship was burned, creating a fiery battlefield for the final battle between Hanzo and Kotaro. Japan’s greatest ninja Hanzo Hattori finally fell in this sea battle, before the mighty half-human and half-demon opponent Fuma Kotaro.
After this battle ended, Kotaro’s army was also empty. He turned himself over to his enemies and was soon beheaded on charges of espionage, robbery, and murder. However, the name of Fuma Kotaro has become a legend with two titles “Wind Demon” and “Fire Lord” – making him a great inspiration for many Japanese cultural products later.