Mission Eight: Limestone Caverns

Rescue Counsel Sekiya!



Start off heading to your immediate left and jumping up onto the tracks. Take out the guard walking in and out of the tunnel entrance on the left. Take him out and start your way up the tunnel on the left side. If you decide to hang a left at the next corner, you will enter a room with a ninja dog which just isn't fun to deal with. Also it will lead to the same cavern that taking the right passage way does. The right passageway leads to easier stealth kills, so it is probably your best bet.



Around the first corner of the right tunnel is a Kunoichi. Use the rice a roni trick and take her out. Head up the ramp and stop about halfway while crouching. You will see a Red Jonin standing on the other side of a bottom less pit right in front of you. Wait until he turns then double jump over the pit and stealth kill him from above. Directly around the corner is another Kunoichi on guard. Throw down your rice and judo chop her stealth style.



Keep going and you will come to a ledge that over looks a large cavern. Use the blowgun to kill the guard directly under you. Jump down and duck behind the rock sticking out of the ground. Toss out a rice bowl for the Kunoichi on guard there. Run over behind the wall on the left so the Kunoichi up top doesn't spot you. Use the blow gun to take her out.



Grapple up to the ledge where she was walking and follow it over to a drop that has blue lights in it. Run up the ramp and over the pit to take out a Kunoichi guard there. Follow the path around until you reach the platform outside of the tunnel. Take out the Kunoichi patrolling to the left of the entrance. Go over to the far right of the platform and drop off the edge. It is one really long drop so hold R1 when you hit the ground. Run inside the doorway and you will get a cut scene about the counsel.



Head up the hallway towards where the Shikigami is. Hide behind the barrels on the left side of the passage. Make two left turns and you will get to the room where the dynamite is. Run back out to where you came from and head up the stairs. Drop down the far drop and climb up the boxes to grab some small heath items.



Continue to the doorway on the right to take out the ghost there. Keep going until you reach the plank walkways above the water. Crouch along and take out the Shikigami and dog along the path. Head to the far left corner and hide behind the column there until the guard turns around. Stealth him and grapple up to the wooden walkway above. Head down the tunnel until you come to a wide open cavern and a Kunoichi guard on the far side. Jump in the water holding R1 and sneak up on her. After a cut scene the boss fight starts.



Kagura

Ah Kagura and her wonderful pet. The best tactic I found was to start wailing on her pet wolf as soon as you can. He has pretty high amount of health with 200 compared to Kagura's measly little 60 points but Kagura really doesn't deal out much damage when you are ignoring her. Take out her Pooch quickly while dodging Kagura's missile attacks. After the wolf has been taken care of turn your attention to Kagura and let her have it. She can be a pain in the ass as she teleports from one side of the pond to the other, but be persistent and you will eventually hit her enough times to make her flop over.

Mission Nine: Tenrai Fortress

Assassinate the Evil Tenrai!



To start off, go for a long jog straight ahead past the broken wood until you come to a log lying across a chasm. Cross the log halfway and jump off to your left on top of the roof below you. Grab the heath item up here. Next, take out the Blue Jonin in front of the house and quickly jumping back to the roof. A Red Jonin will come running over when he sees the body. Jump down and kill him when his Ki meter returns to green.



Head down the passage way to your left and jump on top of the rock ledge before you hit the corner. Take out the red Jonin down below. Keep going until you come to a large room with a wooden walkway extending from the entrance. Head right until you come to a set of rocks that can be used as stairs. About halfway up well be a Red Jonin, take him out and continue up and around the cavern.



At the far end will be a martial Arts Expert walking back and forth in front of some stairs. Wait until he walks around the corner to start running towards him. Run until you get to a stone block you can duck behind. Throw a rice bowl from here and crouch. When the Martial Arts man comes over take him out. Make your way up the stairs. There are three Martial Arts guys up here, so lure them out and kill them.



Keep going up another flight of stairs to take out one more martial arts guy hanging around. Grapple yourself up to the walkway above and stay hanging on the ledge. Wait until the Red Jonin starts his way up the stairs to rush out and stealth kill him.



Head up the stairs and go left, across the wooden bridge to the first corner. Toss out a bowl of rice for the Blue Jonin here. Follow the hallway, jumping up onto the ledge and dropping down into the large room. At the far end a dancing demon will walk out. Wait until he goes back around the corner to use your swords and take him out. Follow the passage taking out the Red Jonin until you come to a large open room with a dancing demon in the center.



Wait until he turns his back to make the mad dash at him. Quickly run off the platform when you kill him. There is a Red Jonin up to the left that is watching you. Go up where he is, taking him out and jumping down on to the wooden structure. Drop off the structure and wait behind the corner for the dancing demon in the next room to turn around. Kill him and start off towards the left side of the room past another wooden structure and up a set of stones to a wooden walkway. Crouch down and roll through the walkway until you get to the right of the Red Jonin. Jump up and kill him when he is turned away. Proceed down the hallway on the left. Take out the Martial Arts Expert in here and jump your way up to the ledge to the big doors.



Tatsumaru

One easy way to defeat Tatsumaru is to use 3 simple little words. "Wrath of Heaven". Of course if you feel like doing it the difficult way, stay away from him until he charges you. He has a very quick charge attack so be ready to sidestep it and start wailing on him. Do not let him grab you. He has one mean attack when he grabs you. Knock him around after avoiding his attacks and he'll fold faster than Superman on laundry day.

Mission Ten: Tenrai Fortress

Assassinate the evil Tenrai!



First thing to do in this level is to grapple upwards and to the right. Hang on the ledge and wait for the Martial Arts expert to turn around. Leap down the other side after you pull yourself up and kill him. There will be another Martial Arts expert at the far end of this hall, so run over to the wall on the left side and toss out a rice bowl.



Run around the left corner and dive behind the column on the right side of the room. Wait until the martial Arts man turns to run up to him. Run up the ramp and jump over the pit. Here you can head right to grab a ninja rebirth. Continue down this hall watching for the Red Jonin walking circles around the 4 pillars. After he is snuffed out, grapple up to the opening on the right hand side wall. Run down the hallway peeking around each corner until you come to a dancing demon.



Hug the wall and equip your Yoto swords. Take him out when he turns around and be prepared for the two martial arts Expert around the corner at the end of the hall. When they are dealt with you will need to grapple from pillar to pillar in this room to get to the door way at the very top. The next room has a minor jumping puzzle where you need to cross two blocks floating over a bottomless pit. Of course if you just zip over it with your grapple it isn't too much of a jumping anything.



Head straight along the walkway until you reach a notch in the wall. Duck in here and use you blow Dart to take out the archer far over to your left. Keep running along the path and across the diagonal section. There are two way you can go here, I find the left way the best way. Jump up the 3 ledges and take out the Blue Jonin while the Martial Arts guy, farther down the hall, is out of site. Next take him out and head towards the broken staircase at the far end of the room. From here you can see an opening to a red room on the right side wall. Grapple up to it and take a look around. Looks pretty cool eh?



Grapple up to the ledge above and head through the doorway. When you walk out the door, look directly down and there will be a Red Jonin. Kill him and look up. On one side you will see a gate across from you and a ledge high up to the right of it. Grapple up to that ledge and jump to the next ledge above it. Take out the Red Jonin walking around in here and run through taking a quick right until you see a room below you will a lot of lamps lining the walls. Keep on heading around the corners and down the dark hallway till you come to a doorway. Walking back and forth will be a Martial Art guy. Jump up and take him out when he isn't watching. Stand in front to the big gate for the final showdown with Tenrai.



Tenrai

After the cut scene the showdown with Tenrai begins.

Run away and let him do his thing. He has a few attacks he likes to use but the main one is to have thorn like spikes come jutting out of the ground in your path. Handle Tenrai the same as you have handled all the bosses so far. Stay away from him until he attacks and then run in and nail him with a combo or two and run away again.



After you deal him a hand full of hurt another cut scene starts and a meaner greener Tenrai appears. This time around you want to stay away from him when he shoots out a poisonous gas cloud and when he dives and swipes at you. Keep running in circles around him. Stop for a second until he starts to attack, then run a half circle back towards him and attack. Keep this up but be very careful not to run into his poison cloud.



After you kill him that's it! Watch the cut scene and the ending of the game. Depending on whether or not you fought Onikage in the Amagai Castle will determine which ending you get. There are two different endings for Ayame.

Rikimaru Walkthrough



If you have already played through the game with Ayame then most of this walkthrough will be familiar. Many parts of Ayame's walkthrough can be used for Rikimaru's walkthrough.

Mission One: Echigoya

Punish the evil Merchant!



One thing you will notice is that this mission is just like Ayame's. The goal is the same and the ways of getting to the next area are the same. One thing that through me off after having played through the game with Ayame is that Rikimaru is really lacking in the jumping department. He needs to grapple to too many places that Ayame could easily jump to.



Start off this mission by grappling up to the roof top in front of you. Make your way straight and jump over to the left to take out the guard below you. Head into the main doors here if you want to take the crawlspace, the faster easier way, to the next area. But we aren't going to do that now are we? Not this time. Take out the patrolling Samurai within the area.



There is one on top of the ramp, one just in front of it by the door and of course the samurai having their party guarding the key. When you have the key head through the door and take out all the samurai in the passageway. At the last corner you will come to a geisha. When she is turned around, grapple up to the platform above you. From you can grapple out the hole in the ceiling and into the next area.



Climb out of the hole and head straight for the building in front of you. Hide behind the wall until the guard on the left turns. Grapple up onto top of the high white buildings taking out which ever samurai you feel like. From on top of the white buildings, jump over to the smaller roofs and then jump again onto the large building. Heading straight over the roof and drop down into the hole in the alley way. Now that you are inside the house, quietly crouch up to the ledge, dropping down and killing the sleeping samurai there. Grapple up to the opening on the right where you will square off with Tajima. Just follow the same tactic that was used with Ayame and you will have no troubles. From here you can continue through the house the same as you did with Ayame until you reach Echigoya and Nasu.



Nasu

The fight with Nasu is the same as it was when using Ayame except this time he has two samurai with him to help out. Take them out first and then focus your attention on Nasu. Hammer him with sword combos until he starts whining and begging for his life. Stay away from him and toss shurikens at him until he falls over dead.



A cut scene starts and you are off to mission 2

Mission Two: Gohda Castle

Execute Hamada and return to Lord Gohda



Keep in mind that at the start of this mission you cannot kill anyone. So being spotted is really bad since they can take pokes at you. Head around the corner in this room and drop down through the hole there. Land quietly and hug the wall while waiting for the guard at the far end to walk past.



Jump down and back up quickly around the other side of the wall. Run forward and watch for the guards to start talking. When they are done one will walk towards you. Run back in to the room you came from and hide beside a lamp there. It really is tricky to get past this guard with out being spotted. When the guard walks into the room, jump out over the lamp and behind him, making a dash for the hallway at the far end and turn left.



Run a few steps until you get to the door that has the secret passage, from Ayame's mission, in it. This is where Hamada is. A cut scene will play and now the castle is over run by ninjas which you can take out. If you choose to take the long way around you will need to pick up Hamada's key after you defeat him. It is much easier to take the secret passage way which you don't need the key for. Run to the far end of the room to take the secret passage. From here on the rest of this mission is the same as Ayame's except the Kunoichi have been replaced by ninjas.

Mission Three: Limestone Cavern

Find the Shichishito Sword



You start this level inside a tunnel looking over looking a pond. If you turn around, you can pick up a ninja rebirth right behind you. Take out the ninja in the tower with either a blow dart or by double jumping and stealth killing him. There are two more ninjas patrolling across from the tower on the other side of the water.



When they are dealt with, head down the tunnel to the left. There are no enemies along here until you get to the exit where there are two ninjas patrolling around. Take out the closest one to you while the other one is far away on the other side of the cave. Either continue down the tunnel or go and take out the other one. Down this tunnel and to the right is a ninja walking around. Take the left tunnel and clear out the ninja in this room. Grab the health potion before heading over to the opening at the other end of the room.



Grapple over the bottomless pit and make your way around till you reach a very large cavern. There is only one ninja in here to deal with instead of the 4 enemies Ayame had to deal with. Grapple up to the high ledge and deal with the ninja there. Run along and drop down into the pit with the blue lights flying around. Go right and grapple over the pit and take out the Blue Jonin. Run down the tunnel until you reach the outside platform where you will need to sneak up on a red Jonin.



Drop off the edge to the right and have fun fall a loooong way down. Run inside the doorway and take out the red Jonin there. Head up the stairs and make a right to another rather long drop off. Run along the wooden planks stealth killing the ninjas along here. Keep going till you reach the rickety wooden walkways above water. While moving quickly to the far left corner of the cave here, you are going to want to crouch and somersault the entire way. There is way to much water here to get through and not make a sound. When you reach the far left corner grapple up to the wooden walkway there and take out the lonely ninja. Head left down the tunnel until you reach the circular room filled with water.



Onikage

Onikage just doesn't seem to be trying in this battle. Dodge his flying feet of fury kicks and slice him up when he misses. Keep doing this repeatedly until he is no more.



After a mildly confusing cut scene, the battle with Onikage starts again.



Repeat what you did the first time although he seem much more grabby feely this time around. Do not let him grab you at all costs and do not let him drink any health potions.

Mission Four: Ronin Village

Cross the Ronin Village!



Again this mission is almost the same as Ayame's except that you start a little bit farther back then she did and the enemies are all Samurais, not ninjas.



When you start out this mission, head directly for the water on your right. Jump down into it holding the R1 button so you make no noise. Continue until you are across from the house on your left. Jump out and grapple up to the rooftop. From here head to the far right corner of the map. Feel free to jump down and stealth kill anyone you choose along the way. When you get close to the far side of the map, you will see an archer walking back and forth in front of the crawlspace. Take him out and get crawling through the hole.



In the next area, Crouch and roll through this water all the way to the wall. Peek around it and look for the dog over there. Try to take out he dog before he notices you. Blow Dart is probably your best bet. After he is chow, grapple up top of the wall you were just hiding behind. Take out the Ronin here and climb back down. Continue on through the water moving silently.



When you get close to the ramp at the end, jump up to the right wall and wait for the Ronin there to turn around. When you kill him, quickly jump onto the roof top so the geisha doesn't spot you. Next you will want to head for the water ahead and to your left. Jump down into it and somersault until you nearly get to the end. Jump up to the ledge and wait for the Samurai here to turn. Climb up and kill him. Take out the Samurai behind the house on the right and you are home free. Run up to the gates and start the next area.



In this area, run down the stairs and jump on top of the first giant barrel to your left. There are three Samurai walking around in this area so choose your targets carefully. Take them out one at a time when none of them will be able to see each other. Head towards the giant gate for the next area.



In this area, stick to the rooftops on your left. Jump from rooftop to rooftop stealth killing any Samurais you see below you. When you see the large gate, head to the rooftop directly right of it and wait for the guard to turn around. Jump off the roof and knock the stuffing out of him. Enter the gate to finish the mission.

Mission Five: Amagai Castle

Rescue the Kidnapped Princess!



This time through the castle you are going through the reverse of when you went through it Ayame.



Start off by hiding behind the wall to your direct left. Wait until the wooden Samurai walks closer to you and turns. Kill him, grapple up to the opening on the right and zip across the lava. Grapple over to your left and then back up to your right onto the orange and black boxes. Look down below and to the left for the wooden guard walking around. Jump over towards him and not straight down. If you drop straight down, spear will fly out of the wall at you.



Head around the corner and grab onto the wooden scaffold to your right. Shimmy across till you reach the guard walking on it. Take him out and keep going around the corner. Roll under the spikes and kill the little guard here. Peek through the fire room and see where the guard is there. When he is facing away from you, whack the guard on the other side.



Jump over the pit here with the spikes on the left side and head up the stairs. Sneak up on Chibot here and grapple up to the opening on the left. Walk to the first revolving door on your left and go through it. Wait here until the guard at the far end turns to make the long run down the hall to get him. Head around the left corner, but watch out for the floor boards near the door that fall way when you walk over them. Take care of the archer in the next room on your way through. Drop down here and go through the revolving door.



Grapple up to the opening on your left and take care of the Chibot. Jump over to the other side of the pit and run through the door way as the door slams shut behind you. Grapple up to the bridge above you before the smoke bombs and grenades start going off in the room. Head right and drop down, jump over the pit and climb up the right wall ledge. Stealth kill the archer here and head up the stairs. Grapple up to the ledge in front of you and take out the guard here. Grapple up another ledge, over the spike pit and keep on going around the left corner.



Take out the Chibot and grapple up to your left. Hop up the two ledges and down the other side. Continue on down the hallway taking a right. Follow this path, taking out the two guards along the way. When you reach the room at the end of the walkway, grapple up and over the first set of gears. From here you will need to grapple over the second, larger set of gears.



When you arrive on the other side be careful of the archer on the other side of the blades doesn't spot you. Jump past the blades and knock off the archer. Head over the pit and up the stairs for the show down the Dr. Kimaira and Maihime.

Defeat him/her using the same techniques as Ayame did and the cut scene will start for the next mission.

Mission Six: Cemetery

Retrieve the steel for Ressai



Since you have to use the Muramasa sword through this mission, you are going to want to get through it as fast as you can. The sword drains your life slowly as you carry it although killing enemies with it will restore some of your health. Also for this mission, you are going to want to bring along as many health potions as you can carry.



From the start here will be a dancing demon directly in front of you. Immediately take him out and head over the fence to the left. Jump on top of the little house in the corner, taking out the undead Samurai on it and enter the door way behind it. Head down the passage and drop kill the undead guard at the bottom of the first drop off.



Head left and kill the archer jittering his way up and down the hallway. Keep on running until you see another drop off. Kill the guard that is standing at the top of it and jump down. Now the fun starts.



When you exit the tunnel and run outside, A cut scene will play and somewhat of a boss battle starts. There will be a swarm of undead and demons that you need to kill to move on through the mission. It really is difficult to deal with all of them at once and the fact that your sword is constantly draining your life doesn't help. Use the little building to your advantage. Climb on top of it and keep the enemies separated is probably your best tactic to use. After they are all dead, continue through the way you were going and drop down into the well-like opening in the ground.



Head down the hallway taking out the undead swordsman and archer at the end. Jump down off the ledge and back up on the other side of the wall to your right. Keep running until you come to an outdoor area. To exit here you will want to head for the doorway at the left at the top of the hill. Go through the door and keep going down the passage until you come to a large drop and a floating head on the other side of it. Jump down and climb up stealth killing the head. Around the next corner you will come to another outdoor area.



Quickly jump to the platform to the right of the entrance way and stealth kill the undead guard walking below you there. Climb back up to the platform and head right. Jump down, run across the grassy area and climb up the ledge with the undead archer. Stealth kill him and grapple your way up and over the fencing at the top. Head inside the purple passageway and keep moving until you come to a passage way on the right. Run along here, up the ledge and take care of the floating head. Keep going until you reach the drop off into the room full of blood.



Jump down into the blood stealth killing the undead Samurai there. Grapple yourself up to the opening in the middle of the room, head down the passage and make a right turn where the floating head is. Head down this tunnel until you reach the outdoor area. Roll straight ahead and crouch beside the wall. Carefully make your way around the corner and up the ramp on the other side of the platform. This can be tricky at best with two undead Samurai on the platform above you. Make your way up the ramp and into the door way to end the mission.

Mission Seven: Bamboo Forest

Find Ayame's imposter!



Jump to the right and run behind the fence here. Watch red Jonin here and take him out when he is turned. Hide back around the wall where you just were and look far down the path at the Blue Jonin on top of a rock. When he isn't looking, run like crazy to get in front of the rock. Climb up it and send him to a happier place.



Drop off the other side of the rock, run a few steps and head up a ramp on your left. There is a Blue Jonin here behind the fence, so be careful not to let him spot you. Stealth kill him and climb down the other side of this platform. Wait behind the rocks here for the Shikigami to turn around. Sneak up on it and kill it, stopping it's really annoying sound. Crouch up to the edge of the slope here and watch for the Red Jonin patrolling below. Jump down and stealth kill him. Climb back up where you were and head for the doorway to the left of you. Feel free to shut up the Shikigami that is below you on the way in.



You can just run through the passageway without incident until you come to an outdoor area. Here is a healing spring which will heal you back to full strength if you crouch in it. Exit this area by crawling through the small tunnel beside where you entered from. Listen to the annoying wail of the Shikigami as you make your way through. When you come to the end you will see him floating around ahead of you. Hold R1 when you exit the tunnel so you don't splash around in the water. Being far away, he is pretty tricky to get a stealth kill on but it's still possible.



Sneak up the staircase to your right and jump down off the walkway and stealth kill him from above. After you make him poof away, head to the far end of the clearing to enter the cave. Beware of the dog that is walking back and forth around the entrance. Splashing in the water will alert him so roll through the water, hiding behind the poles to get the jump on him. Keep rolling through the water as you enter the cave.



There is a blue Jonin just inside that will be alerted if you are splashing. Take him out and continue down the tunnel, turning into the room on the left to get the jump on the Red Jonin down there. Make your way up the ramp and out the hole to exit the cave. Jump behind the bamboo fence to your left and climb over it to take out the Shikigami on the other side. Run over behind the other bamboo fence and wait for the werewolf there to turn around. (I am assuming it is a werewolf even though it looks like a dog) After you send it to doggy heaven, head around the corner on the right and wait for the Shikigami to float out of view.



Run after him when he does and Stealth kill him from behind. Head down the pathway towards the snowman. There is a Shikigami and a wolf roaming around here so be careful. Follow the path to the right of the snowman and grapple over the bottomless pit around the corner. Take out the Red and Blue Jonin on the far side of the pit.



Hop down the slope here and sneak along the fence. Be very careful of not getting spotted here. If you do, it is not a fun fight with 2 Shikigami and 2 Jonin. Take out the Shikigami around the corner on the right and then lure out the Jonin around the fence. Climb up the wall, jump out of the trench and enter the building.



Ayame (Hyakubake)

I'm not exactly sure why, but Ayame gave me the most trouble out of any boss in the game so far. She tends to throw wave after wave of super shurikens which actually do a fair bit of damage. Dodge and jump the super shurikens because blocking them does nothing. She is also quick as a bunny in her attacks which doesn't help much. Block her hits and counter them with your own. Having a health potion or two wouldn't hurt in this fight.