| Who is the Phantom Ninja? | |
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| Language(s) |
English |
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The Phantom Ninja is a Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu graphic novel set during the events of the third season and focusing on the titular character.
Synopsis[]
Nindroids occupying the town of Nom find themselves challenged by a mysterious assailant who refers to themself as the Phantom Ninja. Elsewhere, while Cole is informing Sensei Garmadon of the Overlord's return, Jay arrives with news of Nindroids in Nom. Taking charge, Cole has Jay summon Kai, Nya, and Zane, and together the five of them go to investigate the town. They soon discover that a factory in the town has been put to work assembling what appear to be components for more Nindroids.
The next day, Nya enters town in the guise of a traveler looking for work and learns that a shipment of metal destined for the factory is arriving in town that night, and the heroes prepare to intercept it. However, to their surprise, the Phantom Ninja beats them to the punch, disabling the truck and preparing to attack the driver before they manage to escape due to the Phantom confronting the Ninja and Nya. Angered, the Phantom Ninja briefly faces off with Nya, before escaping through the use of a smokescreen. Cole questions why the townspeople are working for the Nindroids, while Jay comes to suspect that the Phantom Ninja is a Nindroid.
Despite Cole's orders not to do so, Jay sneaks off later to find the Phantom Ninja and expose them and is unknowingly followed by Nya. Jay uses a magnet against the Phantom in an effort to expose their Nindroid nature, only to pull in only the Phantom's katana. The Phantom retrieves their swords, and Jay is distracted by Nya calling out to him. Taking advantage of the distraction, the Phantom calls up another smokescreen, but Nya tackles them. Both combatants fall off the roof where they are fighting, but the Phantom spreads a pair of glider wings to escape while Jay saves Nya.
Looking for answers, the Ninja visit the home of Nya's contact and his daughter Eve and learn from them that the Nindroids have taken the town's mayor and his daughter Seliel hostage in order to force the citizens to work as slave labor. Shortly thereafter, the Phantom Ninja appeared and began fighting back against the Nindroids. Zane develops a suspicion regarding the Phantom Ninja, and the heroes scatter to attend to various tasks. Nya, deducing that Seliel and her father must be held in the factory itself, investigates this while Kai and Jay go to the nearby power plant. They are then attacked by weaponized power lines, but Kai manages to tangle them using his Spinjitzu.
Zane dons a Nindroid disguise, while Nya finds herself surrounded and captured by the real deal. After Kai and Jay shut down the power, Cole encourages the factory workers to ignore the Nindroids' orders and scatter. The Phantom Ninja reappears in the midst of the escape, and Zane is discovered as he attempts to prevent the Nindroids from carrying out their plans to move their workforce to New Ninjago City. Cole, Jay, Kai, Zane, and the Phantom Ninja face off with their robotic adversaries, but they are halted in their tracks when the Nindroids reveal a captive Nya.
As Nya's friends hesitate, the Phantom Ninja escapes via another smokescreen, and Nya takes advantage of the moment to affect her own escape. Cole and Jay catch her-to the annoyance of all three-and the heroes then break away from the battle. Acting on Nya's intelligence, Cole intercepts the Phantom Ninja as they are making their way into the factory, and angrily rips off their helmet when they dismiss his complaints about endangering his team. To Cole's surprise, the Phantom Ninja proves to be a young woman; however, he quickly reveals that he's discovered the secret behind her smokescreen, before correctly guessing that she is none other than Seliel, the mayor's daughter.
Angrily, Seliel attacks Cole, and briefly gains the upper hand before being subdued by his Spinjitzu. He then convinces her that they can achieve more together than apart, and she agrees. On Cole's suggestion, she appears to the Nindroids and informs them of the apparent whereabouts of the Ninja. The Nindroids proceed there only to be caught in an ambush, with various booby traps quickly thinning the robotic ranks. Angrily, the Nindroid commander threatens to punish Seliel and her father, only to discover that the Phantom Ninja has taken advantage of the distraction to rescue her father.
With their leverage gone, the Nindroids depart, and the Ninja listen as Seliel shares her story. Inspired by stories of their heroism, she trained and developed her smoke pellets and other equipment, only to be forced to put them to use when the Nindroids took over her town. Refusing to remain a hostage, she created her Phantom Ninja persona and began sneaking out at night to sabotage the occupation. Seliel then shows the Ninja one of the Nindroid "components" her townsfolk were forced to build, only to discover that they are all fake.
Cole, putting two and two together, realizes this whole operation was meant to distract the Ninja from whatever the Overlord is actually planning. He invites Seliel to join his team in finding their common foe and stopping him, but Seliel politely declines, feeling that there is enough work for her to do on her own. She offers the Ninja her assistance if they ever need it, before disappearing with her father in her customary smokescreen. Later, Seliel's father reluctantly accepts her determination to continue working as the Phantom Ninja, and Seliel makes a wish that she might see Cole and the other Ninja again. Unbeknownst to her, the shooting star upon which she is wishing is actually a comet, where Cole is currently locked in battle with...himself?!
