Although shorter swords and daggers were used, the katana was probably the ninja's weapon of choice, and was sometimes carried on the back.[70] The katana had several uses beyond normal combat. In dark places, the scabbard could be extended out of the sword, and used as a long probing device.[84] The sword could also be laid against the wall, where the ninja could use the sword guard (tsuba) to gain a higher foothold.[85] The katana could even be used as a device to stun enemies before attacking them, by putting a combination of red pepper, dirt or dust, and iron filings into the area near the top of the scabbard, so that as the sword was drawn the concoction would fly into the enemy's eyes, stunning him until a lethal blow could be made. While straight swords were used before the invention of the katana,[86]the straight ninjatō has no historical precedent and is likely a modern invention.
An array of darts, spikes, knives, and sharp, star-shaped discs were known collectively asshuriken. While not exclusive to the ninja,[87] they were an important part of the arsenal, where they could be thrown in any direction.[88] Bows were used for sharpshooting, and some ninjas bows were intentionally made smaller than the traditional yumi (longbow).[89] The chain and sickle (kusarigama) was also used by the ninja.[90] This weapon consisted of a weight on one end of a chain, and a sickle (kama) on the other. The weight was swung to injure or disable an opponent, and the sickle used to kill at close range. Simple gardening tools such as Kunai and sickles were used as weaponry so that, if discovered, a ninja could claim they are his tools and not weapons, despite their ability to be used in battle.
Explosives introduced from China were known in Japan by the time of the Mongol Invasions (13th century).[91] Later, explosives such as hand-held bombs and grenades were adopted by the ninja.[82] Soft-cased bombs were designed to release smoke or poison gas, along with fragmentation explosives packed with iron or pottery shrapnel.[66]
Along with common weapons, a large assortment of miscellaneous arms were associated with the ninja. Some examples include poison,[71] caltrops,[92] cane swords (shikomizue),[93] land mines,[94] blowguns, poisoned darts, acid-spurting tubes, and firearms.[82] Thehappō, a small eggshell filled with blinding powder (metsubushi), was also used to facilitate escape.[95]
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