Let me see, I would say Ninjas
Reasons being
Pirate fans do not say crap about "Oh ninja's need to be told when to kill or they obey a master"
My counter....Pirates take orders from Captain...any difference here from a Master? No They both take orders....Pirates have no law, Nijnjas do. This is a deciding factor over this claim. Ninjas, if threatened will kill. Pirates do for the hell of it, if a pirate attacks a Ninja they will kill him no questions asked. So Pirates 0 Ninjas 1
Ninjas, they have mastery over sneaking....they are stealth killers. Pirates charge in making a big commotion. Ninjas will sneak up on pirates and own and Pirates would get owned trying to "sneak" up on Ninjas.
Pirates 0 Ninjas 2
Aside from blade master they train in Martial arts and do not give up until the aquired target is dead. Pirates will fight until dead as well. But Pirates have no skills in blades other than basic sparring. Ninjas also have poision darks for silent kills, Kunai , and Shurikin, aside from basic smoke bombs. Again Ninjas will win in Sparring.
Pirates 0 Ninjas 3
I will keep going on because right now Pirates are getting owned! Do not get me wrong. I love Pirates and all that jazz, but I am tired of this stupid discussion that is hands down the Ninja's win.
Pirates cannot take damage like nothing. Eye patches are not for litteral eye missing. They used eyd patches for covering the eye and at night use that eye for seeing. Peg legs, this only makes a pirate easier to kill, missing arms...well without another arm they are basically handicaped and will get owned. Ninjas, as said, are martial arts masters and take beatings from training. They would obviously have more stamina than pirates. Hands down Ninjas 4 Pirates 0
So Pirates have guns...point is? The most damage it could do would either be a non fatal wound or a fatal wound. Though chances of hitting a ninja when sneaking is less likely and if it is an all out battle then yes they would get a few hits in. Though how about this one...Ninjas are masters, not just swords, but archery. So again this would be a tie here so Pirates Finally get somewhere. Pirates 1 Ninjas 5.
Ninjas will kick any day so if you really want to say pirates own....take this into consideration that I just wrote.