The Clumsy Ninja
In a hidden ninja village deep in the mountains, there was a ninja named RM. He was strong, fast, and had the heart of a true warrior.
But there was one small problem—he had no sense of balance.
\"RM, a ninja must be swift and silent,\" Master Masaky said, watching RM train.
\"I am swift and silent!\" RM insisted.
Then, as if the universe wanted to prove him wrong, he took one step forward, tripped over his own feet, and crashed straight into a pile of bamboo sticks.
Master Masaky sighed. \"No. You are swift like a rolling watermelon and silent like an exploding firecracker.\"
Other ninjas in the village tried to help him.
\"Try walking on this thin log,\" said Yuki, one of the most graceful ninjas.
RM stepped on the log. He wobbled left, wobbled right, and then—
SPLASH!
He fell straight into the training pond.
The villagers shook their heads. RM refused to give up. He dreamed of becoming the best ninja in the village. Even if he spent half his time face-down in the dirt.
One night, RM received his first secret mission.
\"You must sneak into Lord Takahara’s castle and steal the secret scroll,\" Master Masaky said. \"This mission requires absolute silence.\"
\"Silence? Easy!\" RM grinned.
Dressed in black, RM climbed onto the rooftops, moving carefully. He was focused. He was ready. He was—
CRASH!
He stepped on a loose tile and fell through the roof, landing face-first on Lord Takahara’s dining table. Lord Takahara and his family froze, their chopsticks halfway to their mouths.
\"Uh… good evening,\" RM said. \"Nice weather, huh?\"
A guard shouted, \"Intruder!\"
RM panicked. He grabbed the scroll, knocked over a plate of dumplings, tripped on a rug, and sent a suit of armor crashing down the stairs with him.
By the time he rolled out the front door, the entire castle was awake.
\"Mission… accomplished,\" RM groaned as he limped back to the village.
Master Masaky stared at him. \"You were supposed to be sneaky!\"
\"I was sneaky!\" RM protested. \"Until I wasn’t.\"
For his next mission, RM had to gather information at a royal banquet.
\"This time, no falling,\" Master Masaky warned.
\"I promise,\" RM said.
Dressed as a nobleman, RM entered the banquet. He walked with slow, careful steps. Everything was going well—until his foot got tangled in the carpet.
He tripped forward, knocked over a waiter, and sent an entire tray of soup flying. The soup landed on a nobleman’s bald head.
\"Who threw the soup?!\" the man shouted.
\"Uh… the wind?\" RM said.
Guards rushed toward him. RM tried to escape, but his robe got caught under a chair. He flipped over, knocking down two musicians and landing headfirst in a bowl of rice.
Back at the village, Master Masaky rubbed his temples. \"Maybe you should try a different career.\"
\"But I love being a ninja!\" RM said, shaking rice out of his ears.
Master Masaky sighed. \"Alright. One last mission.\"
RM’s final test was simple: steal an important message from an enemy camp.
This time, he was careful. He tiptoed past guards, avoided loose stones, and reached the message. Just as he grabbed it—
A chicken appeared.
A tiny, harmless chicken.
RM took a step back. His foot hit a bucket. The bucket flew into the air and landed on a guard’s head. The guard panicked, knocked over a lantern, and started a small fire.
\"Intruder!\" someone shouted.
RM turned to run, but the chicken was in his way. He sidestepped it—only to slip on a banana peel. He crashed into a tent pole, bringing down the entire tent.
Guards ran everywhere. The camp was in chaos.
\"Well… at least no one saw me,\" RM whispered.
Then he realized—he was holding the chicken instead of the message.
\"Wrong thing! Wrong thing!\" he muttered, tossing the chicken. He grabbed the real message and ran.
Determined to fix his clumsiness, RM trained with the village’s elder ninja, Master Sato.
\"You must learn balance,\" Master Sato said. \"Stand on one leg.\"
RM lifted one leg. He wobbled. He wobbled more. Then—
THUD!
Flat on his back.
The other ninjas watched. Some tried not to laugh. Others took bets on how long he’d last standing still. The record was seven seconds.
Master Sato sighed. \"Let’s try walking across this rope bridge.\"
RM took one step. The bridge wobbled.
Another step. His foot slipped.
Then—
WHOOSH!
He swung under the bridge, hanging by one hand. \"I meant to do that,\" he said.
The entire ninja village groaned.
RM’s next mission was serious. He had to retrieve a forbidden scroll from an abandoned temple.
\"Be careful. There are traps,\" Master Masaky warned.
\"Traps?\" RM asked.
\"Yes. Do NOT touch anything suspicious.\"
RM nodded. \"Got it.\"
He entered the temple. It was quiet. Too quiet. He tiptoed forward, then sneezed. His sneeze echoed through the hall.
Then—
CLICK.
A giant boulder rolled toward him.
\"Oh no.\"
RM sprinted. He dodged left, dodged right—then tripped over his own foot. The boulder rolled past him and crashed through a wall.
He stood up, dusted himself off, and grinned. \"See? Stealthy!\"
He grabbed the scroll and ran back to the village.
Master Masaky saw him covered in dust. \"Did you trigger a trap?\"
\"Me? Never!\" RM said.
The sound of the temple collapsing in the distance said otherwise.
Despite all his disasters, RM always completed his missions.
He wasn’t the quietest. Or the fastest. Or the most graceful.
But he never gave up.
\"RM,\" Master Masaky said. \"You are the loudest, clumsiest ninja in history. But somehow, you succeed.\"
RM grinned. \"That’s my ninja way!\"
The other ninjas groaned.
And so, despite his lack of balance, RM became a legend—the ninja who completed missions in the most chaotic way possible.
Somewhere in the world, a chicken still feared his return.