OtomoNin Paonmaru

"Dare ja, dare ja?! Da~re, dare ja?! Dare ja, dare ja?! Da~re, dare ja?! Paonmaru!"

- Summoning announcment

OtomoNin Paonmaru (オトモ忍パオンマル) is a green auxiliary OtomoNin modeled after an elephant.

Overview
Paonmaru is the first OtomoNin to be borne out of a purified Sealing Shuriken obtained during their previous battle, which occurs when the five Ninningers managed to work together to defeat Youkai Tsuchigumo. When summoned, it arrives riding on a giant round boulder, mimicking a circus elephant. In this form Paonmaru can perform a vacuum cleaner attack with its trunk which it used to suck up Tsuchigumo's webbing which the OtomoNin Companions had been bound in.

History
Like all OtomoNins, Paonmaru was created by Yoshitaka Igasaki throughout the cooperation of alien races, using UFOmaru as it's main basis. Paonmaru hides itself in a mountain until it was needed.

After the Ninningers defeated Youkai Tsuchigumo by capitalizing on their impeccable teamwork, their Nintality levels reached a level enough for the purified Sealing Shuriken to transform itself into the OtomoNin Shuriken - Paon. Later when their OtomoNins are fighting Youkai Tsuchigumo in its Giant Youkai form, Tsuchigomo was still able to trap their OtomoNin in its spider web threads, unable to move. AkaNinger had no choice but to make use of the new OtomoNin Shuriken to summon Paonmaru on MomoNinger's advice and transferred to the new companion, where the OtomoNin not only was able to neutralize Youkai Tsuchigumo's spider web threads by absorbing them, but also used the same technique to free the Ninningers and their OtomoNins by sucking up the spider web threads that bounded them.

After transforming into its humanoid form, Paonmaru was able to use its machine cannons to destroy the four extra limbs on the back of Giant Youkai Tsuchigumo and severely crippling its ability to attack close-range.

Paonmaru then combined with the other OtomoNins to form Shurikenjin Paon and eliminate the Giant Youkai. From then on, this new ally would be part of the Ninningers' Arsenal which can be summoned in future battles against Giant Youkai. It can also be used during regular battles to perform Shuriken Ninja Arts reflective of of Paonmaru's abilities, such as stretching a Ninninger's arm to reach Youkai faraway and pound it like an elephant's trunk.

Humanoid Form
When the Ninninger piloting Paonmaru announces OtomoNin Transformation (オトモ忍・変形), Paonmaru splits itself up and recombines into its Humanoid Form, removing the giant OtomoNin Shuriken: Paon in the process. In this form, the hind legs of Paonmaru's elephant form become apair of shoulder mounted missile launchers.

Shurikenjin Paon
"Paon, Paoooooon! Wasshoi! Paon, Paooooooon! Wasshoi! Shurikenjin... Paooooon! (Indian musical fanfare)"

- Shurikenjin Paon combination

Shurikenjin Paon (シュリケンジンパオーン) is the alternate form of Shurikenjin formed when Paonmaru takes over Shinobimaru's place in the cockpit while Shinobimaru becomes the right hand and the giant OtomoNin Shuriken - Paon replaces the Shinobimaru one as the head. This is performed when AkaNinger spins his OtomoNin Shuriken - Paon in the Ninja Ichibantou and the Shuriken Paon Combination (シュリケンパオン合体) is announced. As elephants are renowned for their strength, Shurikenjin Paon specializes in power-type attacks.

Shurikenjin Paon is armed with twin Paon Axes (パオンアックス) formed by Paonmaru's rear feet (machine gun cannons in its Humanoid Form) to hack at the giant Youkai, while the Paon Jet (パオンジェッ) used in the Normal OtomoNin form can be used to fire a high preassure air jet to damage opponents. In, it is also able to counter Giant Youkai Tengu's nose attack , which previously the normal Shurikenjin couldn't, by grabbing that same nose and crushing it to bits before launching the finisher and destroy it once and for all.

Shurikenjin Paon's finisher is Shurikenjin: Paon Boomerang (シュリケンジン・パオーンブーメラン). In this finisher, the Ninningers inside Shurikenjin Paon's cockpit performs a double slash with their Ninja Ichibantous, allowing Shurikenjin Paon to throw its twin Paon Axes at the giant Youkai, creating a X-slash before returning to the hands of Shurikenjin Paon like boomerangs.

It Shinobi 15: Youkai, I Never Failed, an alternate version of Shurikenjin Paon is seen with Dumpmaru's arm instead of Shinobimaru as the latter had left with AkaNinger to battle Rodeomaru, who was under Youkai Futakuchi-onna's control.