Shinobu

Shinobu
Gender	Female
Occupation	Kunoichi
Affiliation	Azuma Ninja Clan
Weapon	Ninjato
Status	Deceased
First Appearance	Tenchu Z

This article refers to the player character's Azuma Ninja partner in Tenchu Z. As the cover shows a male ninja, this article will refer to the partner in the form of an Azuma Kunoichi with her default name and appearance.

Biography

Ogawara-Gohda War and Life as an Azuma Ninja

A new recruit in the Azuma Ninja Clan, Shinobu and Kagemaru are students of Rikimaru. The two are sent on numerous missions, their very first mission being the assassination of Rokube Echigoya. She saved the life of a messenger relaying bad news to the gangster Shimizu Tatsuichi (清水 辰一) for the delay on his Kodama Leaf shipment. She apparently inflicted a fatal wound with either the blowgun or a shuriken as when she silently appeared her ninjato was still sheathed. Then she proceeded with interrogating the messenger for further information. During an earlier mission she infiltrated a temple occupied by the bandit Otoba no Tokichi (音羽の十吉) and he was pinned to the ground. She drew her katana in order to scare the information out of him. Later she and her partner silently trail the very elusive Heisuke Echigoya in the shadows through the Merchant District Nakatsuji. Finally discovering that his unpredictable movement was a ruse to throw off possible pursuer, his real destination the whole time was the Harbor Town Nakao. Making it onboard the ship, they witness his death at the hands of another ninja. After a brief but fiersome battle, the mysterious black clothed ninja introduces himself as Shigi and vanishes.

On a later misson to assassinate an Ogawara Ninja - Denki at the Kasumiume Bridge, she and Kagemaru are silently attacked by Shigi. She is wounded and captured while the Kagemaru is rendered unconscious. During capture she is tortured extensively by Shigi himself. Some time later, the protagonist tracks her down. Unfortunately, she succumbs to her injuries and dies in his arms. Even in the midst of war her short career as an Azuma Ninja proves there were four at one time seeing how she passed the initiation training. But until her death during the war between Ogawara and Gohda she was loyal to her country and died in service to both it and her clan.

Gallery

Notes

• The partner's gender is the opposite of the player's character, so for the purposes of our database we assume the female name as the partner. The male character's default name is "Kagemaru" when he becomes the partner, while the female's is "Shinobu."
• In the french version, the partner's fate seems to be a little kinder. While chastising his student for succumbing to anger, Rikimaru also tells them that his "partner lost an ear, but will survive". The partner still never appears again in story mode after been saved, perhaps due to medical leave. The reasons for that change are unclear, whether it be a result of the local standards & practices policy or the translator was merely feeling generous.