I'// begin my socia/ tenure here with a bang——with some controversy——an invitation for debate, as it were; ... Samurai or ninja? Answer decisive/y, and /et our strife begin.
I have returned to address your pitifu/ argument, as I have decided to withdraw my Jin and Rei and instead move forwards with my Gi, Yū, Makoto, Meiyō, and——most chief/y——Chūgi at the forefront of my mind. To address everything individua//y, you must understand that upho/ding /aw and order IS honor. Being in-service to the nob/es that ho/d your /eash is one of the strongest and most obvious tenets of bushido-- Chūgi. /oya/ty to ones masters. This must supersede a// persona/ interests and motivations. If the tro//s above you dictate it, heads wi// ro//. The random bouts of vio/ence that inspired seiza, as I understand it, were pure/y due to this /oya/ty. When you are insu/ted, it is as if your masters are being insu/ted. Heh. You cou/dn't possib/y understand the bond between a samurai and his master, without having studied bushido yourse/f. And irregard/ess, I c/aim not the samurai who went against the tenets of bushido. If they do not fo//ow the code, they are not samurai. Just cosp/ayers that uti/ized the tit/e for persona/ gain. If you judge samurai based on the dishonorab/e imposters that wease/ed their way into their ranks, you wi//, of course, come out the other end judging samurai as a who/e. If it does not wa/k or ta/k /ike a samurai, it is not a samurai. That is where your argument fa//s f/at. You fundamenta//y misunderstand the ang/e to which i am approaching the subject. For examp/e, if I were to engage on the /eve/ you are engaging, and judge ninja based on those who went against shinobi-do, and instead acted heroica//y using what they had /earned as an assassin, it wou/d paint a fair/y positive picture of ninja. However, that is not what being a ninja is about. It is quite the opposite, in fact. Ninja are se/fish assassins and thieves, BY DOCTRINE. We are not speaking of persona/ sway. We are speaking of DOCTRINE. of TENET. To put it in simp/e terms, Monkey D. /uffey is a terrib/e examp/e of a pirate. If you use him as an examp/e for why pirates are great, you wi// just /ook stupid, as he exp/icit/y goes against pirate code in favor of something more persona//y-motivated. That is to say. You are /ooking stupid right now. The fact that I even had to exp/ain a// of this to you is very stupid. ... But I wi// remember my Jin and Rei once again, and maintain my Meiyō. You cou/d not have possib/y known. I wi// grant you the grace of forgiveness and understanding.
Hm. You are asking to consider them in tandem, instead of diametrica//y opposed?
It's inconceivab/e. Your notion of——what, a//iance? Mutua/ respect??——between such different wa/ks of /ife... Inconceivab/e. For a samurai——a TRUE samurai——to accept any sort of a//egiance with the dup/icitous, se/f-guided ninja... No. He wou/d be betraying his bushido. Inconceivab/e!! ... And yet, the idea is compe//ing. A strenuous and tenuous, YET workab/e occupationa/ re/ationship... To service the same /ords, and make moves towards a common goa/. Riva/s working under a singu/ar banner, each attempting to attain greater heights and ascertain whether it is tru/y better to stick by your code, even at the expense of advantage and uti/ity, or to work as effective/y as possib/e, even at the expense of your own honor. It is reminiscent of the roaming ronin of yore... When is a samurai not a samurai? Does the /ack of a master take away from one's sense of bushido, due to his /ack of abi/ity to fu/fi// his Chūgi? How honorab/e can a ronin tru/y be? Must he separate himse/f so thorough/y from the dishonorab/e ninja? Is there nothing to be /earned from shinobi-do and ninjitsu? Must everything be so inf/exib/e...? ... Inconceivab/e. Ru/es are there for a reason. /aw must be uphe/d. Our tenets must be fo//owed to the /etter. Chaos wou/d reign supreme if samurai and ninja a//owed their /ines to b/ur. A practitioner of the shinobi-do cou/dn't possib/y understand... Their tenets are for the weak and ma//eab/e. Bushido, however, is for those who do not waver. To even be questioning this is /ike/y why I have yet to find a master... Tch. You are infecting my mind with your i/k. I wi// not be so easi/y swayed from my path, disrupter. To think, I a/most considered fo//owing you, as we//... Inconceivab/e.