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Part 6: Ninja Central
When we last left off, Keroro and his friends defeated a giant purple bear, met the local deity, and Whitesnow Village went up in flames.
We should probably go check on that BUT FIRST!
Sweet treasure! The left box contained 400 Gold, while this one contained another Curry Spice.
Okay, now back to the village to dig out charred corpses.
Thanks to the conditions of the maze, we can go straight down from here...
...To get warped back to the entrance.
Despite our heroes' apparent hurry, they still have time for a new victory skit.
VIDEO: You've Gone Soft
Mere minutes later, at ground zero...
VIDEO: Ruined Whitesnow Village
Oh... oh no! This wasn't supposed to happen!
We only wanted the sacred treasure, so we agreed not to cause any harm...
Uncle!
Don't worry about us. After I heard the divine protection had vanished, I led everyone to safety. So no one got hurt. ...In other words, an emergency evacuation?
Oh, did you? That's good to hear.
Gero! Good work, Miss Moano! That was some quick thinking!
But the sacred treasure was stolen from the shrine.
I'm so sorry... It wasn't supposed to happen like this... They're probably planning to do something awful with it.
You're all going to take back the sacred treasure, aren't you? Then I'll help!
Oh, Oyuki! You've had a change of heart!
The Ninja Village is beyond Eternal Night Valley. Now let's go!
Please do your best, Uncle!
Gero? I kinda feel like I got dragged into this...
Is this not how it should be, Commander? Oyuki has reformed herself, as well. We should be more than willing to cooperate with her.
Some of the village dialogue changes post-ransacking. Talking to the greeter lady gets us this exchange.
Welcome to Whitesnow Village. It's a bit of a mess right now, but... please make yourselves at home. Er... Oyuki? Why are you...?
Oyuki was "supposed" to take up permanent residence at that forest maze, remember.
Um... well, I...
Don't fret over such trifling details.
And you are...?
Well... this is the mountain god, the one who grants protection over the village.
The mountain god...? Then it's his fault that the village was...
W--wait! There's a lot more to this...
...We should be on our way.
And talking with Moano gets us this.
Uncle, who's your new friend? ...The--the mountain god?!
Befriending even gods... you're so amazing, Uncle! Please feel free to browse my wares as well, Mr. Mountain God! ...In other words, a passionate welcome?
It's nice that some NPCs notice the people tagging alongside the party, like a runaway bride and a god. Because they can't be arsed to see the little frog aliens as anything other than strangers.
Our destination's to the south, beyond the completely logical climate line. A Valley of Endless Night awaits.
VIDEO: Endless Night Valley
Gero? What the heck? It's so dark here I can't see a thing.
This is Endless Night Valley, where no daylight reaches. Thanks to that, most people can't get through, making it a great place for ninjas to live. Here, use this to light the way.
Got the Ninja Candle!
No Hawk Eye for Keroro in this deep darkness.
The Ninja Village is on the other side of this valley. Let's hurry!
Our path is lit by a typical light-circle in the gloom for the entirety of this dungeon.
And it has our first use of the ninja enemy sprite. The valley's full of Shabby Shinobi and Shut-In Scorpions.
This place is also a giant pain to Keparrow-hunt. It's better to run around uncovering every part of the map first, which inevitably triggers lots of random battles. I got another interesting victory skit out of it, though.
VIDEO: Dibs On Pekopon
Luckily, some of the normal treasure is worth it, like Curry Spice.
Items on the Keparrow list for this dungeon:
Giga Battery
Magnifying Glass
Angel Bell
And Rekki-maru, a rip-off weapon for Dororo!
A ninja sword used for killing demons. Filled with the power of Fuuma.
Rekki-maru is Taki's sword from Soul Calibur.
Another Keparrow loot of note here is the Caterpillar Fungus. In real life, this parasitic fungus grows out of ghost moth caterpillars, and is valued as a Chinese folk medicine. It's used to treat cancer and fatigue, and is also used as an aphrodisiac.
In the game, it heals an ally's lowered stats in battle. Not exactly miracle cure material.
I decided it was time to use my precious Curry Spice, and spent it all making Curry Bread for Kururu.
That's 3 more defense than he'd normally get, and I'm sure as hell not stopping there. Curry is all about giving normal stat parameters the middle finger.
After getting everything, I use an Angel Bell to make the trip out of the valley less annoying.
The Angel Bell works on the overworld map as well, as you can see by the aura. Also, when did it get late?
It's just this area of the map that's dark; the game doesn't have a day/night system.
Here we are: Shinobi no Sato. Or Ninja Village, for you non-ninjas.
VIDEO: Welcome To Ninja Land
Gero... so this is the Ninja Village!
The sacred treasure must be in the chief's mansion. Let's hurry there!
A highly visible ninja girl approaches.
Ahh, Oyuki! The chief... the chief's been...!
What happened to him?!
He's badly hurt! Then a new chief replaced him, but all he does is needlessly hurt innocent people! It's awful! If this keeps up, our village is done for...
So that's why Whitesnow Village got attacked.
Sounds like this new chief want us to beat him up. 
I'm going to take the treasure back, and talk to this new chief myself! Now let's go, everyone!
Our goal is straight ahead a few steps, but walking straight is for chumps. Let's explore!
This guy's pretty chill about strangers waltzing into this hidden ninja village. Probably because everyone's a ninja and can NINJA VANISH whenever they want.
This town has a few neat little features. First, at the inn...
Off to the left...
Is a wall scroll. The archaic script on it translates to, "PRESS A."
Our first secret entrance!
I wonder what this tunnel leads to!
Better weapons?
Better Guardians?
CURRY SPICE? 
250 Gold, probably some ninja's paltry savings. Well it's mine now!
This lady tells us about elemental weaknesses. Basically, if you hit an enemy with an element-aligned normal attack or Arte, and red numbers come up, you've hit their weakness. If the numbers are blue, you hit a resistance.
If you have a weapon of a certain element, all your normal attacks and non-aligned Artes will use that. Any Arte with an element already assigned overrides the weapon's, however.
This unmarked building near the entrance doesn't have any doors... from the player's point of view.
Walk against the back of it and you'll eventually find your way to the ninja weapon storage! Too bad we can't take any of it. 
What we can do is...
...Find another hidden tunnel.
This leads to another secluded corner of the village.
There's a bottle of Bandit Eyedrops jammed in that pile of wood.
This guy tells us how to set up instructions for our AI-controlled teammates. It's stuff I went over in Part 1, with the addition of him telling us we can buy more commands in the Grade Shop. Waaay ahead of you, buddy.
Kururu passes by fields of... I dunno, ninja cabbage or something.
Nothing of interest here WOAH
That chicken just phased through the wall!
I wanna phase through walls too!
Well, it's no Walk Through Walls, but another secret tunnel leads to this...
...Tree.
A highly suspicious tree.
Turns out it's a ninja girl practicing concealment. She gives us a Devil Bell so we'll bugger off and not disturb her training.
Ninja Village has ninja weapons in a ninja shop, which all suck compared to our sweet CC-boosting Keparrow loot. 
This shop sells two old Guardians and two new ones. The Guntank's skill, Magic, raises spell power by 5%. The Gouf, our first Guardian with two skills, raises attack by 5% and gives poison status resistance with Strike and Poison Guard respectively.
One Guntank and 3 Goufs later, the party is broke. May as well follow Keroro series canon right down to the sergeant's spending habits!
In this house...
There is nothing of note.
Not even Keparrow or sparkly treasures.
The walls are very sturdy, howev
More ninja trickery! Nobody saw that coming!
Here's my own ninja trick: grabbing free stuff. There's a Mask inside the pot; it's a drop from the Shabby Shinobi enemy we encountered earlier.
This lady teaches us about the stun status effect, which I went over last update with the bear boss. Pincer battles and lots of enemy attacks can stun or just plain flatten Keroro and co. for a short time. Fortunately, we'll be learning some Artes pretty soon that let us to the same to them (comboing them into oblivion works too).
If we chat with Oyuki's ninja friend from before, she gives us a Revival Orb for our trip to the chief's mansion.
This town's Collection Maniac trades Ninja Costumes and Masks for money. Both are dropped by the Shabby Shinobi, and he'll also take that Mask we found behind the revolving door.
This man recognizes Keroro's party for the newbie travelers they are. Taking pity, he explains what each stat does. Higher attack=higher numbers against your enemy; higher defense=lower numbers against you. More speed means enemies guard your attacks less often, and luck does RNG-related witchcraft.
No one's happy about the way their new chief runs things, if this lady is any indication. She complains that with the way things are going, all this "harming innocent people" nonsense will turn into "killing innocent people."
There's a well over here! Wells are worth inspecting in most RPGs. You never know when some lady's expensive ring might be down there.
What is it, Sarge? Be careful not to get too close.
There's something suspicious about this well.
Is there really? Doesn't look all that special to me...
Gero? I think I just saw something shiny at the bottom of the--
Slip!
KIIIYAAA!
SAAARGE!
The world was enveloped in darkness, and Keroro was never seen again. Game over...
Welp, that's it folks. LP over, go home.
NOW WAIT JUST A FROG-DARN MINUTE!
I'm still alive! Don't just go and end it like that!
Oh, Sergeant, you're okay. You had me worried for a minute there. What a relief!
Well then, please carry on with your adventure.
That's my Sarge! He's the luckiest guy in the cosmos.
Looks like he found a hidden passage.
We may as well follow him down, then.
Unlike the others, this tunnel's inhabited.
This lady rewards our perceptiveness with a new recipe. Miso Soup is an upgrade from Riceballs, healing 25% HP for everyone compared to 15%.
Down this secret passage we have a not-secret room.
With a hidden weapon!
The Kodachi is an Earth-based ninja sword for Dororo, the same one sold in this town's weapon store. It's also weaker than his current weapon, enough that the elemental bonus doesn't matter that much. I wasn't able to pinpoint the reference, as there are a few possible ones, but a certain character is famous for using a two-kodachi fighting style.
Maybe this old man has something better for us.
Oh... you've got a good eye to find this place, travelers. But I'm afraid there's nothing of interest down here. Now, if you'd be so kind as to leave... hm? Oyuki, is that you?
Yes Gramps, it's me. Where's the chief? He should be here if he's hurt, shouldn't he?
Indeed he is. But I'm keeping him hidden until his wounds heal, just in case.
Okay. As long as he's somewhere safe. We should be going, then.
All right. By the way, I heard you were going to confront the new chief. Please be careful, Oyuki.
I will!
We're not done with this tunnel yet.
Move down a little and... what's this?
The mysteries at the bottom of the well deepen!
It continues on...
...And ends with a staircase to the surface.
Oh golly what's in the pot!
It's a Zaku Guardian we already have! That was so worth it!
(It's storebought trash that has no skills.)
With all the secret tunnels found, it's time to Keparrow-hunt this place.
Ninja Village Keparrow:
Cleansing Chalice (Cures stat-downs and bad status conditions in battle)
Mega Battery
Caterpillar Fungus
Curry Spice (yet another Defense point for Kururu)
Better Herb
There's only one thing left to do here, and I'll leave that for another update.
Artes/Skills learned this update:
Keroro
Slash Rise: Attacks three times, tossing up the enemy at the last hit.
Ice Dust: A frozen upward slash. The first of many water-based physical Artes for Keroro, quick and useful for hitting that elemental weakness.
Next time, a house of tricks! Not that kind!
From the seventh Shinobi no Mono movie, directed by Kazuo Mori, 1966.