Written by cygnus2012 & Selenia

Hints

• The Shikagami spirits are difficult to stealth kill. Observe their movement patterns carefully. The black writing on their bodies marks their front sides.
• Use stealth when walking through water.
• There are several different ways to your goal. Watch out for shortcuts!

Boss
Hyakubake(disguised as Ayame) – Health: 100

Walkthrough
Layout A, Difficulty: Normal
Enemies: 27 (+ 4 wolves)
Max Score: 1075

The stage begins with a cut-scene of Kagura observing your arrival to the Bamboo Forest. Soon after, the mission begins. Crouch to observe two Jonin (Red & Blue). Both have powerful attacks the red Jonin can stealth kill you while the blue Jonin won’t hesitate two blow himself up with 2 grenades taking you with him to the afterlife. I have noticed that these Jonin don’t use the move on normal unless they are about to die, so make sure they are a priority. The closest Jonin to you patrols just in front of the next Jonin. When it gets as close as it’s going to get, when it turns around, you only have a 1 second interval before it turns around. You need to hit him in that timeframe. Otherwise you will be too close to the other Jonin and it will spot you. After killing the first Jonin, crouch and roll right in front of the next Jonin standing on the high ground. Don’t worry, he won’t see you. Hang on the rock until he turns, then kill him.

From the position where you killed the second Jonin, look to the west to what appears to be a dead end. Go to that wall and look up to find a very large, climbable wall. Use the grappling hook to get up there. In the ravine you’ll find a single wolf. If you have Shurikens, use them. Once it is taken care of, you will notice another climbable rock to your left and a hidden tunnel directly in front of you. Ignore the rock and head down tunnel. The path is very short, and once emerged, you will notice very large pitfall. At the edge, use ninja vision to find a ledge just below you. Drop down, and when you look to your left, you will find some wooden coping where you can grab onto (Note that when you grab on, the wood reacts as if there was snow on it). From there, just shimmy over to the other side. When you have finished you will jump up to find another small tunnel. This will lead to a small stream.

Alright, by this time you have heard what seems to be ‘breathing’ coming from somewhere. That is the sound of a Shikigami. These things cannot be stealth killed with animation, so don’t get too close to them. Just get to the point where you can slash at it. Currently, you are in the water so, to avoid detection, hold R2 as you walk and stay close to the right-hand side wall and get under the stairs. Directly in front of you will be the Shikigami. It’s going to stand there for a while, but when it finally turns and leaves, you’ll have enough time to kill it. Once done, check to your right to reveal another wolf. The easiest way to sneak up on it is to grapple onto the bridge above it and shimmy until you’re right over it. When the time is right, drop down and kill. I love the animation for some of these wolves. It’s like they’re people! Proceed down the stream, making sure to hold R2 to make minimal sound, to find 2 more Jonin. There’s a Blue Jonin closest to you which remains stationary and a Red Jonin which patrols around the area. The Red Jonin, if you do not see him at first, is patrolling in a circle, so be patient. Once the Red Jonin passes, kill the Blue, then the Red. Proceed up the stairs to the east to find an exit. Use ninja visiion until you find the closest bamboo wall to your left. Once you see it, jump out and run for it. That will be your cover.

Jump and hoist yourself up onto the wall & crouch. The enemy has a tough time seeing you while low to the ground, even though you’re on top of a wall. Directly in front of you is another Shikigami and to your right is a wolf. Best kill the wolf with a Shuriken from the distant or otherwise it might detect you and alert the Shikagami before you can kill it. When the time is right, STRIKE! Continue down the pathway until you have a stone wall to your right and a bamboo wall in front of you. Back into the stone wall to find another Shikigami. This one is tricky. If you have a blow dart, by all means use it here. If not. Here’s what you need to watch for. IMMEDIATELY when the shikigami turn back to look left, GO NOW! Don’t wait to see if it is actually going to go that way, just GO! If you were quick, you will kill it just as it begins to turn around. The biggest thing here is to not hesitate. From here you will head down some stairs and enter a shrine area. There’s another Shikigami waiting for you there, but the stone wall to your left has a corner for you to hide in. It doesn’t look like much, but it is enough. There is a wolf in the same area hidden to the right. If you go after the Shikigami without taking care of the wolf, you will be in ‘!’ status. You can still kill the Shikigami, but I would suggest getting rid of the wolf, first. After those two are taken care of, look to your left to find a Red Jonin. You can hang onto the bamboo wall like you had earlier to drop on this guy. Proceeding from here, you will confront a Blue Jonin. He basically goes back and forth down the pathway, semi-up the stairs, and back down. Hide just near the stairs to catch him as he’s going back down.

At the end of the path there is an elevated walkway. Crouch and get close to the left stone wall to spy on a Blue Jonin to your left. Kill with finesse, people! To the right of the man you just killed is another Red Jonin. Straight forward kill, here. I found it easiest to double-jump onto him for the SK. Follow the right-hand stone wall to find a Red Jonin. As you well may have heard, a Shikigami is there too. The Red Jonin will NOT look at you from your current position, so don’t worry about him. Hug the Left-hand side wall to spy on the Shikigami. When it leaves, Kill the Red Jonin and run back. Secondly, go for the Shikigami. To the path below is a Blue Jonin and another Shikigami. You do not have to pursue them, but they’re there for those looking for a fight. Go to the gate up ahead to continue. A cut-scene ensues where you meet with ‘Ayame’. Soon after you are thrown into a battle begins.

Alright, so you already figure that this isn’t Ayame. However this enemy has all of her strengths; her main key attribute being her speed, which is not a good thing. She tends to fall back and throw a super shuriken/super crimson blades quite often, so whenever you see her go into her back-flip animation, double-jump and slash. At close range, she has superiority with her speed. When she connects with her combinations, do not panic. More often than not, when she finishes her attack, she will not expect you to retaliate. When the chance arises where she’s on the ground, take advantage of it. Plant bear-traps, smoke-bombs, etc. to keep her at bay. Also, the Tetsubishi works quite well if she tends to block everything simply throw it at her. When the fight is over you will enter a cut-scene and the real enemy reveals himself.

Grand Master Item
Ninja Armor

Special Move
Wall Kick