忍者

Etymology
.

Noun

 * 1)  ninja
 * 2) person trained primarily in stealth, espionage, assassination

Etymology
.

The most consistent term in the historical record appears to be, the of verb. This in turn was extended into, cited to a text from 1689.

This ninja reading became more common in Japanese in the modern era, possibly due to a number of popular manga series after World War Two. This reading may have arisen as a shift in reading of the kun'yomi phrase, applying the on'yomi to the kanji alone to create a kanji-compound term.

Noun

 * 1) a ninja person trained in stealth, espionage, assassination and ninjutsu