Is Hatchie-Ryu Ninpo "Real" Ninjutsu?

A little history lesson regarding "real ninjutsu"

First of all "ninjutsu" does not formally exist historically. The people called "ninja" and their practices/techniques or "jutsu" were neither called that during their time.
Secondly, the specialist training and techniques (jutsu) given to those samurai special-operatives known at the time as "Shinobi" (among other names) was primarily about infiltration, avoidance, sabotage and espionage, none of which look very interesting on YouTube. Doing "real ninjutsu" on camera would either implicate me in a crime, or just look like nothing happened, which is really the goal of any covert operation, which is what historical "ninja" were all about.
The physical arts, sometimes called "taijutsu" (lit. "body techniques") of the so-called "ninja" would have been the same as other samurai, with some additional focus on concealable/expedient weapons and guerrilla tactics.

It is known among aikidoka that Aikido has it's roots in samurai fighting techniques. Probably the nearest thing to "real ninja" unarmed combat is found in daito-ryu aikijujutsu, from which modern Aikido and jujutsu are derived. Even daito-ryu has an uncertain lineage, allegedly back to Yoshimitsu around 900 years ago, but we can only be certain about Takeda, who founded the school in the early 1900's.
"Bujinkan" has done a decent job of combining this type of unarmed combat with many of the traditional weapons and other elements. It is widely accepted as the only "real ninjutsu" school, but there even bujinkan has seen a fair share of criticism and doubt. Even those aspects which go back beyond Soke Haatsumi may not go that far, and many frauds have since latched on and promoted their own versions of the arts.
So... it comes down to a simple question; "does it work?" Lineage or not, every master evolves their art, so nothing is as it was at its inception anyway. Even if Takamatsu "made up" togakure-ryu based on "ninja games" he played as a kid, if he translated it into a functional art which in turn played a part in the formation of bujinkan, which itself came together in a functional art, then what is the point of disputing it? Furthermore, why debase yourself and your art by fabricating lineage at all? People always find out, and it always makes you look bad, to the point that even if you had something worthwhile to offer, no one wants it, because you lied.

"Hatchie-Ryu Ninpo" is unapologetically modern. I make no false claims about "lineage" as so many modern schools do (like it or not, even bujinkan is disputable, and most others have been outright disproven). Instead, what I have done is taken a lifetime of experience and made a complete system out of it.
Aikido (the "pre-enlightenment" type which still accepted hitting people and taking them out as opposed to the gentle dancing and "submission" tactics found in some modern schools) and Kung Fu form the foundations of our unarmed techniques. Specifically, with regards to Kung Fu, we focus heavily on qin-na and some of the animal styles which use it. Striking techniques are largely based upon dian-xue (Chinese, an aspect of qin-na) and kyushojutsu (Japanese) which focus on targeting and striking vital points, often with specialized hand techniques used to maximize effect. Weapons found in Hatchie-Ryu come from all over, adopting any that suit our purposes, and we look to the styles that use them best for our techniques.
We also put a lot into improvised and expedient weapons, for practicality's sake. Some of the weapons we include because their techniques transfer easily to other common tools.

Tui na and zheng gu- Chinese meridian massage, acupressure, and bone setting- teach us to heal while also giving us hands-on experience with the vital points we use in combat. We also study herbalism, which plays into the next feature of our school. This also means learning about potential poisons.
Survivalism, or, as I prefer to call it, "wilderness skills" because we aren't just "surviving" but actually living as humans were designed to do in nature- is another cornerstone of Hatchie-Ryu. Here we learn to provide for all our needs using only the resources provided by our surroundings. We also learn to read terrain, weather and animal signs, make tools and weapons, hunt, stalk and camouflage.

"Seishinteki kyo-yo" or "spiritual refinement" we feel takes place as a natural result of our style of training. There is no need to press any kind of dogma or philosophy. We train to merge our energy with others (ai-ki-do literally joining energy way), to hurt and to heal, to exist in harmony with nature. This transforms the practitioner, and makes us better people, highly skilled in many disciplines.

So if you consider "ninja" to mean a thief and assassin then, no, I won't teach you to be a ninja. If you believe "ninjutsu" should have an unbroken lineage back to Iga or Koga and specifically designated practitioners who received the right to pass along that lineage from generation to generation, then, no, I don't teach "real" ninjutsu, nor does anyone.

However, what I teach is real, in that it really works, and these are real skills for the real world. Hatchie-Ryu Ninpo is what it's called. I poured my life into this, so I get to call it whatever I like, and it is as real as any other martial art or MMA out there.

All that I've been through, all my suffering and hardships that forced me to learn these skills or die... I just want it to mean something. It started when I was far too young, the necessity to fight for my life. Then, on into adulthood, the reliance on my herbalism, wilderness, and stealth skills to survive. I have kids of my own now, and an opportunity to teach them, in a fun way, what I suffered so long for. This is my legacy to them, a reason to take pride in where they came from, skills that will avail them in the darkest of times, and make them stronger, better people, for the best life I can provide them