Chapters 17–20

17. Okuni's Kabuki Dance

A short chapter and a new map. It opens after the second Sasaki Ganryu fight, framed around Musashi's own misgivings about how he has been chasing power, then sends you to Rokudo-chinnoji Temple to talk to Okuni and out across the riverbed to a sandbar. Two Spirit Mirrors, two Rifts, two numbered Treasures and four Malice-emitting plants; no boss.

• 1

  Before you go: the optional run to do first

  Four things come in front of this chapter rather than inside it. Two are Chance Encounters: "Noisy Neighbors", which is what opens Treasures #47 and #48, and "Hidden Treasure No. 2". One is Rift #4, and sealing it changes where the Byakue spawns from afterwards. The fourth is not a collectible at all: the Dohatsu-ten Rift respawns at this point, so if you are short of Dohatsu-ten's Horns for crafting, this is where to farm them. All of it is optional and none of it is missable.

• 2

  Speak with Okuni at Rokudo-chinnoji Temple

  The chapter does not start until you do. Go back to Rokudo-chinnoji Temple and talk to Okuni; the objective marker then points at a small sandbar south of the northwestern island.

• 3

  Cross the riverbed on the floating platforms

  The route to the sandbar runs along the riverbed over floating platforms. Meet Okuni on the northern shore for a cutscene, after which you come out on the northwestern island and the sandbar proper opens up.

• 4

  Sandbar — Entrance: the first plant and the first barrier

  The Spirit Mirror called Sandbar — Entrance is in the northwestern corner; activate it before anything else, because it is your fast-travel point back into this map. For the opening, ignore the first enemies rather than fight them, and go straight for the Malice-emitting plant above the ladder. With that down, clear the enemies and break the Malice Barrier to reach the central alley. Head north, turn east and a story sequence triggers, along with a new type of Genma. From there, wall-run to the small island to the east and then wall-run northwest, which takes you past the Malice Barriers in the middle rather than through them.

• 5

  The dock: kill the archer before you climb

  The northwestern dock is a fight among carts and planks, and the order matters: deal with the archer on the northeastern rooftop before you go up the watchtower ladder, or you take fire the whole way up. From the top of the watchtower, jump across and destroy the Malice-emitting plant, then take the wall-run west to a chest holding Iron. The barrier across this section is held up by two Weavers — one near that Iron chest and one on top of the watchtower — and it does not come down until both are dealt with.

• 6

  First Rift, and Treasure #50

  Through the barrier, another wall-run, more Genma, and then the Malice-emitting plant to the northeast. Destroy it and the first Rift opens: wave one is regular Genma, wave two brings a Byakue with it. Seal it, then turn west for Treasure #50, which holds Fine Silk Cloth.

  • Treasure #50 — Fine Silk Cloth. West of the first Rift, once it is sealed.
• 7

  Sandbar — Near Stage, second Rift, and Treasure #51

  Carry on east over another wall-run section and the second Spirit Mirror, Sandbar — Near Stage, is a short way past where you land. The second Rift opens here: regular Genma in wave one, a Dohatsu-ten in wave two. With it sealed, go north and then west for Treasure #51, which holds Tamahagane.

  • Treasure #51 — Tamahagane. North then west of the second Rift.
• 8

  The last plant, the stage, and out over the bridge

  One Malice-emitting plant is left to the north; destroying it is what pushes the corruption back off this stretch of Kyoto. Then head for the stage, which triggers a cutscene. After it, the objective marker sits on the bridge to the northeast, and walking to it begins chapter 18. The sandbar is not finished with you — the rest of it gets explored in later chapters — so do not go hunting for the remaining corners now.

18. The Demon on the Mount

The long one, and the shape of it is unusual: the chapter is named for a mountain, but its first half sweeps Eastern Kyoto, and you do not go up Mount Oe until the city is done. The reason is practical rather than narrative — Eastern Kyoto is where the bulk of this stretch's side content and materials sit, and once you are on the mountain the walkthrough keeps you there until the boss. Sixty-odd numbered Treasures pass through this chapter's pages across both areas. It ends with Shuten Doji, the first of the two bosses in this stretch, and the bronze trophy Wide Awake.

• 1

  Eastern Kyoto first: the side-content sweep

  The checklist for this chapter, before Mount Oe: seal Rifts #5, #6 and #7; the Chance Encounters "The Odd Couples" and "Hidden Treasure No. 3"; the Mysteries of Kyoto "The Faceless" and "Worm-ly Ways"; four Lion Dogs in the city plus one more at Rokudo-chinnoji Temple; craft the Hozuki Pouch: Resistance out of the cloths you have been picking up; and a visit to Lady Murasaki, who hands over a new Sword Appearance.

  One numbering warning, because it will otherwise look like you have lost dogs. These five Lion Dogs are numbered #12 to #16 in chapter order, but the Lion Dogs list groups all 36 by map, as Kiyomizu-dera Temple #1–3, Nijo-jo Castle #4–6, Mount Oe #7–12, Arashiyama #13–15 and Eastern Kyoto #16–36 — so the same dog can carry two different indexes. It is the same 36 animals either way; only the counting differs. Track the total, not the index. Lion Dogs do not unlock at all until you have completed chapter 11, "What Lurks in the Shadows", and the dogs on any given map need that map liberated and its final boss beaten first.

• 2

  The northwestern sandbar and the courtyards east of it

  Start at the watchtower, where a Treasure holds a Power Stone. Cross the bridge east and then south to a dock with enemies on it and a ladder that gets you onto the roofs for the wall-running sections. Work through the connected courtyards, clearing as you go: the Treasures here hold a Skeleton Hozuki, Cotton Cloth twice over and Iron. Oni Glyph #21 is in this stretch too, behind a Malice Barrier — break the barrier, activate the glyph, and it reveals Oni Cloth (Resistance).

• 3

  Shijo Street, and the houses and stalls south of it

  Ladders inside the houses along the northern edge lead to a Treasure with Fine Silk Cloth. Keep east to reach the Shijo Street Spirit Mirror, which is the fast-travel point this chapter and the next two keep sending you back to, so activate it. From there, search the houses and stalls to the southeast methodically rather than following any route: what comes out of them is an Oni Stone, Tamahagane in two separate places, Leather, Hempen Cloth, Cotton Cloth, a spread of Iron and Tempered Iron chests, a Whetstone, and Power Stones in two more Treasures.

• 4

  Yasaka Shrine and the Third Oni Gate temple

  Ladder routes get you up to the raised ground around the shrine; southeast of Yasaka Shrine there are Treasures with two Oni Stones and Fine Silk Cloth. Then the temple with the third Oni Gate, where the barrier is unlike the others you have been breaking — it has a single Weaver rather than a pair or a trio. Past it there is a Byakue to beat, a Treasure with a Skeleton Hozuki, a chest with two Leather, and Oni Glyph #22, which gives Oni Cloth (Awakening). The well area beyond holds Tempered Iron, and Oni Glyph #23 is what actually opens Oni Gate #3.

• 5

  Mount Oe: the ruins, the bridge mechanism and two Genma Notes

  Follow the trails to the Ruins Area I Spirit Mirror. The northeastern courtyard has an Iron chest; the upper floors have Genma and the Weavers holding the barriers up there; a ground-floor door chest holds Cotton Cloth. To get out of the valley you shoot the bridge mechanism. Two Oni Glyphs along here each reveal a Treasure with a Genma Note in it — Oboro Garasu and Hirehime, both among the 23 notes. There are also explosives to shoot behind locked gates, and a hanging-crate area you reach by wall-running and then work with levers, which is where the next Power Stone Treasure is.

• 6

  Oni Armament: The Flashing Void

  This is the collectible in the chapter most worth going out of your way for, because it is one of only seven of its kind and all seven are the silver trophy Oni Armory. Reach the Castle Entrance Spirit Mirror on Mount Oe and take it from a Treasure in a cave to the west, at the Castle Courtyard, which you get into by sliding. This is the sixth of the seven, with only Still Water left after it.

  • Oni Armament: The Flashing Void — 6th of 7. In a cave at Mount Oe, west of the Castle Entrance Spirit Mirror, at the Castle Courtyard, entered by sliding.
• 7

  The mountain trail to the watermill, and one mandatory Rift

  Speak to Takamura, which triggers a cutscene, then go north. There is a barrier with Weavers holding it, and a Malice Barrier whose destruction opens a shortcut — worth doing even though you can get past without it, because this stretch gets walked more than once. The pit area beyond has archers in it. In the building past that, shoot the mechanism to open a Treasure holding Tamahagane, and leave through the hole in the eastern side to pick up Tempered Iron. The Rift here is not optional: it is mandatory.

• 8

  The dungeon, the Dungeon Key, and the last Treasures before the boss

  Cave II Spirit Mirror first. Wall-run the southwestern slopes, then crawl through the gaps to reach the cells. The Dungeon Key comes out of a Malice Barrier you destroy down here, and it opens gates holding Tempered Iron and Cotton Cloth. The corrupted section after that is the one to slow down in: use Oni Vision to find the two Weavers in it, because the Malice makes them hard to pick out otherwise. Levers move crates around to open alternate routes; the Oni Stone Treasures are on the northwestern platform and in the circular room. The Storehouse Spirit Mirror is the last one before the fight, with a Power Stone Treasure beside it — activate it, because the exit from here leads straight to the boss.

• 9

  Boss: Shuten Doji, Gourd Drainer

  His full title is Shuten Doji, Gourd Drainer, and the fight is in the Castle Courtyard past the dungeon exit. It has more than one phase, and fire is his element.

  His moves. He leans on unarmed attacks more than sword strikes. He kicks with his right leg, and often ends up on the ground as part of that sequence. He swings the sake gourd in combos that may also end with him falling over. The gourd is the mechanic to know: whenever he drinks from it during the fight he recovers health and stamina, and if you hit him while he is drinking standing up he drops it — at which point he jumps onto the gourd and sets off an explosion you have to dodge. His sword attacks are readable, with one deceptive exception: he appears to stumble to one side and then suddenly unleashes a fast slash. Once he has taken enough damage, the fire starts — first an area blast, then an aerial flamethrower-and-mortar combination that hurts both from the flames themselves and from the fire falling back down. The answer to the fire is a Reflex Combo or an Oni Armament, and the last phase is simply more of the same with a lot more fire in it.

  More moves, and a strategy. On Carnage the fight has two phases, and more moves: greatsword strikes with deliberately delayed timing, a leap into a ground-piercing thrust, and a white-glowing sword strike that reels you in first. In phase two his severed head joins in as a second attacker, charging at you and throwing four-hit combos, and there is an explosive balloon inflation to watch for. The strategy is to stay aggressive so he cannot regenerate health, deflect or parry in phase one, and use the Oni bow to interrupt the flame breath rather than trying to outrun it; then build the Oni Awakening gauge, land Issen strikes, and finish with the R1 attack.

  • Trophy: Wide Awake (bronze). "Defeat Shuten Doji."
  • Boss Rematch: he is #16 of the 18 opponents in the Practice Grounds rematch order, so he comes back later whether you want him to or not.

19. A Haunted Distraction

Back down off the mountain and straight into a short one. Lady Murasaki needs help at Yasaka Shrine, and the chapter is one objective: seal the Rifts in northeastern Kyoto. Two Rifts, four Malice-emitting plants and a fifth on a rooftop, two numbered Treasures and a handful of material chests. No boss. When the second Rift is sealed, chapter 20 starts on its own.

• 1

  Before you go: what to clear first

  Three Chance Encounters — "Ace Archer: Mount Oe", "A Fishy Story" and "Hidden Treasure No. 4" — and two Mysteries of Kyoto, "The Night Parade" and "Some Unfinished Monkey Business". Also on the list: the six Lion Dogs on Mount Oe, which is the map you have just finished and therefore the moment its dogs are all reachable; Mount Oe's Oni Glyph #3, which reveals the Genma Note for Shuten Doji, the boss you have just beaten; and another visit to Lady Murasaki for a new Sword Appearance. None of it is required to start the chapter.

• 2

  Three pickups before you touch the corruption

  Fast-travel to the Shijo Street Spirit Mirror and head east into the Malice-covered area, but collect before you commit. North into the building there is a chest with Leather and Cotton Cloth. South to another building, up the ladder, is Treasure #67 with an Oni Stone. Then circle around to the south so that you come at Yasaka Shrine from its southern side, and at the end of that turn west for Treasure #68, a Power Stone.

  • Treasure #67 — Oni Stone. Up the ladder in the building south of the Malice.
  • Treasure #68 — Power Stone. West at the end of the southern approach to Yasaka Shrine.
• 3

  Plants one and two, and the first Rift

  Back to Shijo Street and east toward the Malice. Turn north, climb the slope, and the first Malice-emitting plant is up there; destroy it and cross the rooftop eastward. What comes next matters: the moment you drop down, climb the northern ladder immediately for the second plant, rather than dealing with what is on the ground first. With both down, beat the Genma that come and seal the first Rift.

• 4

  The third plant, and the chest in the corner

  South into the next corrupted zone, which has two material chests in it. A ladder takes you up to the third Malice-emitting plant; destroying it is what lets you carry on east. Before you do, the northwestern corner has a chest with Leather and Iron in it.

• 5

  The fourth plant, the rooftop plant, and the second Rift

  Keep east until another cloud of Malice. Go south through the haze, wall-run across, and destroy the fourth plant. Then climb the rooftops and wall-run east toward where the second Rift sits — and here is the one step on this page that is crucial rather than merely useful: destroy the Malice-emitting plant on the rooftop to the south first, before you open the Rift, or you are fighting the Rift and the corruption at the same time. A Dohatsu-ten comes in during the second wave. Sealing this Rift ends the chapter, and after the cutscene "Storm Chaser" begins without a menu in between.

20. Storm Chaser

The shortest chapter in this stretch and almost entirely a boss. Two Rifts at Kennin-ji Temple, then the Oni Gate and an arena. There is exactly one collectible in it, and that one is only there if you do an optional glyph first. Because the chapter is so thin, what matters is the preparation in front of it — and because the two bosses at the end are ones you have already beaten separately, the fight matters far more than the route.

• 1

  Before Kennin-ji: one Oni Glyph and a full round of upgrades

  Activate the Oni Glyph at the southern entrance to Yasaka Shrine before you go anywhere near the temple. It reveals a new Treasure holding a Sun-Dried Hozuki, which is a consumable worth having in hand rather than in a menu — Sun-Dried Hozuki is among the things to bring to the hardest fight in the game, and it restores three health charges. Beyond that, the standard round: enhance equipment, abilities, Pouches and Charms, and see Okuni, who will have the Hozuki Pouch: Awakening ready for you.

  • Treasure — Sun-Dried Hozuki. Revealed by the Oni Glyph at the southern entrance to Yasaka Shrine. Optional, and easy to walk past.
• 2

  Both Rifts at Kennin-ji, and what the weather is telling you

  The first Rift opens as soon as you enter the temple grounds: regular enemies, but you are dodging tornadoes the whole time. The second is in the opposite courtyard, and there the hazard is lightning striking the ground around the fight. Both hazards are the game telling you the two bosses have picked up abilities they did not have when you fought them singly — the only forewarning of what the arena holds.

• 3

  Through the Oni Gate to the circular arena

  A cutscene follows the second Rift. Then the Oni Gate opens into a new part of the Oni Refuge, and walking toward the circular arena starts the fight. There is no collectible between the gate and the arena, and no save prompt, so do your preparing before you step through.

• 4

  Boss: Ifuu, Fearsome Gale and Burai, Lightning Keeper

  One of the best fights in the game, and a two-on-one. The single most important piece of advice: spread your damage evenly between the brothers, because letting one get far ahead of the other lets the laggard restore health between phases.

  The phase count is disputed. Vandal describes three phases; PowerPyx, on Carnage, two, its second holding what Vandal splits across phases two and three. Both accounts are below; use whichever matches what is in front of you.

  Vandal's account. Individually each brother uses the same moves he used in his own fight: Burai's teleporting lightning drop into a big downward slash, Ifuu's rushing assault and horizontal strikes. In phase one, watch for the synchronised horizontal slash, which both telegraph by backing off to prepare — and here a plain Parry rather than a Deflect makes them hit each other. Emptying either brother's stamina triggers a double Break Issen animation. Phase two has them fire special attacks simultaneously, but defending against one defends against both. Phase three adds two tandem ultimates: in the first, Burai fires lightning arcs while Ifuu hovers on his pack, and shooting the pack with the Oni Bow drops Ifuu onto Burai and damages both; in the second they hover on clouds while lightning falls, and parrying the final wind-signalled strike does heavy stamina damage to the pair of them.

  PowerPyx's account. Two phases. A shared lunge comes whenever either brother shouts, which it transcribes as a call to end it or to do it together. Ifuu inflates his blow organ into balloon attacks — shoot the balloon down. Burai brings lightning and a mace spin that throws off light-beam orbs. Phase two's signature is a combined storm attack of lightning, wind and a ramming strike, and it can kill you outright on Carnage if the parry or deflect timing is not exact. Its other two tips are positional rather than reactive: do not lock the camera onto either brother, keep both in frame instead; and when they are standing close together, a well-timed deflect damages both at once. When one of them enters his second phase, it says to switch your attention to the other.

  • Trophy: The Perfect Storm (bronze). "Defeat Ifuu and Burai."
  • Boss Rematch: the pair are #15 in the rematch order, and Ifuu and Burai also appear separately as #13 and #14 — those are the solo fights from earlier chapters, not this one.
  • Next: beating them takes you straight into chapter 21, "In the Light of an Icy Moon".

Chapters 17–20 Completion

✅ Before Moving On to Arashiyama...