Though it is known that Ninjutsu has endured for over nine centuries, its roots are sparsely documented, since the purveyors of the art form would most certainly be killed if their involvement were ever discovered by people of authority. Ninjutsu, with the value it placed on the life of the individual, followed a mindset that was contrary to Japanese codes of conduct. It was a clandestine art and people practiced it in secret in order to protect their farms, their families, and their lives. In fact, it has been so tightly concealed that it was only brought to America as recently as the early 1980’s.