NINJA

By Sunaryono Basuki Ks

Ninja! Suddenly ninja leaped out from a kung fu film, dressed in black, armed with swords and equipped with all the weapons to escape, deceive, attack and kill their enemies.

They were among us. The local people believed that only children and women could see them. The ninja ran on electric wires, noiselessly jumped from roof to roof. They arrived like the wind and disappeared like the breeze. Sometimes the ninja transformed into cats, dogs, birds, into anything. When a ninja was cornered, he would throw a smoke bomb or plunge into a deep river and never reappear. Although the riverbanks were guarded by men holding torches around the clock, the ninja never resurfaced.

"Sometimes he could change himself into a fish," one of the men whispered to fellow villagers.

"Or into a crocodile!" another added.

So, the ninja became intractable, snatching the heads of people, mostly Muslim clerics, who are locally called santri. The village head ordered all young men to act as neighborhood security officers from the time they finished their evening prayers until dawn.

It was not only in the East Java town of Banyuwangi that they were on red alert, but also in small villages far to the west, about two hundred kilometers away. Ninja fever had spread wide and far.

"It must have been done by a ninja. Look at the stroke of the sword that killed Kiai Sodiq," a villager said.

No one could believe it; Sodiq's head was almost severed.

"Stop the ninja from claiming more victims!" one person commented.

"Activate the neighborhood security guards."

But that very night another man was slain. The victim was Kiai Ilyas, a senior cleric. He was brutally murdered. In his hand was the Koran. Ilyas' body was cut into pieces.

"I saw it myself, the ninja swung his sword and cut Kiai Ilyas' body," said Rokhim, a young santri who was barely 10 years old.

Most people believed what he said because children could see the ninja because they are still innocent. They have never been influenced by black magic. "Our sinful eyes can easily be deceived," said one of the villagers.

Curious people encircled Rokhim and bombarded him with questions.

"After killing Kiai Ilyas, the ninja calmly left the scene," Rokhim said.

"Since we can't see him why didn't you inform us?"

"I could not speak. I felt my mouth was gagged. It was when we met at ... "

"So, he was there ... ?"

"Yes."

"I was there too, but I saw nothing but a cat."

"A cat? That one that walked calmly in front of Kang Sobari?"

"That cat? Damn it! You're not lying, are you?"

"I already pointed it out, but suddenly I could not speak."

The people said the ninja had turned himself into a cat.

After this, they improved the local security system and increased the number of neighborhood security officers. They were told to open their ears and eyes.

They had to search every moving object and any noise in the bushes. When they found a hen hiding in the bushes they killed it with their sword. The hen bled and the hen remained a hen. No ninja was seen and nothing disappeared, like the mystical pig that would disappear when his guard extinguished the oil lamp.

Dozens of chickens were slaughtered as chickens. Dozens of cats lost their heads as cats. Some dogs decayed on the sides of the streets as dogs. None changed into the corpse of a ninja. Birds, butterflies, lizards, grasshoppers, snakes, all died as themselves at the hands of the bloodthirsty young men, while the ninja continued to kill their victims.

One night a villager was killed after the people mistook him for a ninja. He was from the village but he had worked in Jakarta for a long time. Last week he came home to see his family. The poor man's head was cut off and later paraded around the village. Local people believed that a ninja's head should be paraded around to frighten other ninjas and wicked spirits. Hundreds of torches were lit, as if they were celebrating the victory of good over evil.

Everyone was happy that night, they did not care whose head they were parading around. The head was later put on the end of a wooden pole near the town's gate. Everyone was satisfied and went home to their beds and had sweet dreams.

The next morning the village was again gripped by terror when Grandma Painah cried hysterically at the foot of the pole.

"You're cruel! You're terribly cruel," she screamed.

"Don't be so sad, Grandma," a villager said trying to soothe her anger.

"Have you forgotten this man? He left the village not so long ago, and you have already forgotten him. He was my grandson Manap, who worked in Jakarta. Why didn't you recognize him? Why did you all kill him?"

News of the mistaken identity spread through the village like a brushfire. Everyone felt terrified.

Manap's head was taken down. The people seemed to be deeply regretful and confused. After the burial ceremony, everyone looked morose. But they still held their swords in their hands and the neighborhood security officers continued their work.

From that day there was no trouble from ninja for seven days and nights. But on the eighth day, another casualty was reported. Another santri was killed, and after doing his job the ninja vanished into the forest.

The villagers gave chase to the ninja, and found in the forest an insane man. After serious discussion it was concluded that this man was the ninja. Although one of them said his body was as hard as stone, they did not hesitate to kill him.

Another night someone saw a human shadow moving swiftly in the dark.

"What day is it?" a man whispered.

"Thursday evening. I read the Yasin chapter of the Holy Koran before I left."

"Let's go back to the post," another said.

"It could be ... "

"Yes, it could be ... ," a third man said more firmly.

Before they moved, a beautiful woman stepped out from the trees.

"I'm not a kuntilanak," she said.

The three men stood still.

"Can we trust her words? Why then is she here at this time of night? And why does she smell like a flower?" one man asked.

"I think she might be one. Check her back, please! Is there a big hole in it," one asked.

One of the men smiled and moved closer to the woman, trying to check her back. The woman was cooperative and said:

"Look for yourself. There is no hole, is there? As I walk, my feet touch the ground, you see? I come from the next village."

"But why are you here at this time of night?"

"Looking for my husband, who I suspect is having an affair with a woman whose husband is guarding the village."

"Who is she?" asked one of the men.

"They say Kang Soleh's wife."

"You say Soleh? There's no other Soleh here but me."

Soleh suddenly ran away wielding his sword. Arriving home, Soleh rushed into the bedroom. In the poorly lit room he could see his wife sleeping with Amir, their 3-year-old son. Both of them slept soundly. There was no indication that his wife had betrayed him with another man. But who knew? She might be waiting for a man.

Soleh left and stood alone outside, on alert. Suddenly he heard the sound of a bamboo drum. Someone was sounding the alarm. Soleh ran back to the village meeting hall, where he saw people gripped by fear. They told him his two friends had been killed by a ninja. Soleh gnashed his teeth.

"The cursed woman must be a ninja!" he said. They tried to find her but she was gone.

The following night the woman came again, spreading the sweet fragrance of flowers. Soleh could not control himself. He believed the woman was a ninja whose husband was planning to sleep with his wife. Soleh swung his sword and the woman's head separated from her body, producing yet another strong sweet fragrance.

"Death to ninja. She killed our two friends!" Soleh shouted.

When the morning broke the people could recognize her. She was a beautiful, single woman. She was mentally disturbed, they said. Soleh was silent. His blood-stained sword was still in his hand. "Where were the ninja? Where? Ninja, where?!

1) Kiai is the title of an Islamic preacher. 2) Kuntilanak is a female ghost who, people believe, has a hole in her back and when she walks her feet do not touch the ground.