The Samurai (1962)

Master Ninja (8x1)

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Seven Phantom ninja arrive at the mansion of Matusdaira Sadanobu claiming they have been summoned by him and have run the 364 miles from Kōga to Edo in one day. Though mocked by the Iga guards as country bumpkins, they gain an audience with Sadanobu who knows nothing about such a summons. Even the samurai they say summoned them, Aoi, Sakunosuke, denies any such knowledge. Puzzled and disgruntled they leave and take up temporary residence in a temple while they consider their next move. There they see Aoi and challenge him but their leader, Devil-Fire Densai, realises this not Aoi, but Kongō of Kōga in disguise and it is he who has hired them. They swear to follow him anywhere as he is "the greatest of the ninja" and he tells them to come with him to the Lord of the Night. Later Minbu the Dragon, one of the Phantom ninja, sets upon Kawayama Daizaburō, a judge, and kills him despite Shintarō's attempt to stop him. Dying, Kawayama warns Shintarō to beware the Lord of Night.