Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan!: story walkthrough, Chapters 9–11

Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan!: story walkthrough, Chapters 9–11 STORY SPOILERS: This covers the original PS3 game's Yoshioka duel, Kyoto tour, Kiyomizudera assault and Yagyu Village. Escape Strike has one specific story opportunity in this section. CHAPTER 9: PREPARING FOR THE DUEL Leave Hozoin and return to the House of the Dragon. The tournament arena is now available as optional content. You do not have to finish every tournament before continuing the story. The more urgent completion stop is En no Ozuma on River Road. Learn Single Stream through Foundational Zeal and Firm Judgment through Applied Zeal. Applied Zeal requires the preceding training, including Wild Boar. These actions can be used against several later bosses, but recording them now leaves the unique later opportunities free for their own moves. A useful plan is Single Stream against Seijuro, Firm Judgment against Toji, Two Heavens against Marume, Escape Strike against the Chapter 10 Baiken, and Swallow Drop against Kojiro. The first three have multiple eligible targets. The last two do not. Dry Leaf Smash should already be recorded from Inshun. Return home, then step outside to trigger the conversations with Toji, Yoshino and Haruka. Visit Toji at Yoshioka Dojo. After the meeting, speak to the employee at Tsuruya's front entrance to see Haruka. This is one of the occasions when the front entrance, rather than the rear courtyard, is correct. Return home and rest when ready. Resting advances the time to day. If you still have a night-only job available, decline the rest option until you have dealt with it. The following day's trip also leads into a sustained stretch where ordinary travel and side activities are restricted, so stock up first. To reach Rendai Field, travel west past Yoshioka Dojo, pass through the farms and leave by the northern route. Save before committing to the duel. SEIJURO: READ THE STANCE Seijuro combines evasion with counterattacks. Repeatedly charging straight toward him gives him opportunities to turn and hit you. Wait for a committed attack, then punish its recovery. His one-handed defensive stance returns from Chapter 6. A greatsword can get past the parry that stops ordinary sword attacks. Use that when you want a straightforward answer to the stance, but remember your completion plan: Single Stream requires the single-sword style. The normal boss Heat Action trigger is around 30–50% remaining health while using its required style. Change to the single sword in time to record Single Stream rather than accidentally taking him through that health range with a different weapon. If you chose Firm Judgment for this encounter instead, equip a greatsword or club and plan to use Single Stream against another eligible boss. At low health, Seijuro has a running sequence during which your attacks do not damage him. Guard and wait it out. You gain nothing by chasing him and losing health before he becomes vulnerable again. After the duel, escape through Rendai Field. The encounter at its final exit must be cleared; many of the other groups can be bypassed. Watch the swordmasters, whose sheathed drawing attacks can catch you as you run past. Do not treat every room as a mandatory arena if your supplies are running low. Continue toward Sanjusangendo through the available road network and Riverside Tea House. Palanquins and normal substory access are unavailable during this pursuit. The Yoshioka students patrolling the route give EXP but no normal money or item rewards, so fighting all of them is optional preparation rather than a required objective. TOJI: REINFORCEMENTS AND THE LAST QTE Toji mixes sword attacks with blinding effects and shuriken. Use your sword guard against the thrown projectiles, and avoid leaving him off-screen while occupied with another enemy. At lower health he summons two waves of students. Clear these promptly so a stun does not leave you surrounded. His group-attack QTE is another reason to stay attentive instead of assuming the weaker students make this an easy fight. If following the suggested completion route, use a greatsword or club for Firm Judgment. The same broad weapon attacks are useful against the reinforcements, but leave enough room to recover between swings. There is one more trap after his health reaches zero: Playing Possum. Hit Triangle for the final prompt. Missing it lets him restore 1,000 health and continue the battle. Keep your hands on the controller until the encounter has actually ended. CHAPTER 10: THE OLD MAN'S KYOTO TOUR The tour has five activities, interrupted by two assassination attempts. Its reward depends on the choices and results. For the highest possible reward, aim for these outcomes: • Dango: buy dango at Riverside Tea House for three points. Dango at Nonaka Tea House gives two. • Cee-Lo: both Kiryu and the old man winning gives three points; only one winning gives one. • Theatre: the Snake-Eating Woman show gives two points; another show gives one. • Whitesnake Udon: Tempura Udon gives two points; another udon gives one. • Shogi at Narikin: say you are good at shogi and win for three points. Saying you are bad limits this activity to one point regardless of the result. The Snake-Eating Woman show requires its theatre bill, obtained through purchases at Ikkenya liquor store. Arrange that before the tour if you want to target the maximum reward. Ordinarily each point corresponds to 1 Ryo. The full 13-point result pays 15 Ryo. This is a reward optimisation, not a requirement to follow the main plot. If you do not know shogi, choosing the less confident answer is the straightforward way to avoid turning the tour into a long detour. The first ambush follows Cee-Lo. Watch the swordmaster, particularly when getting up after a knockdown. Guard as you rise so another drawing attack does not send you straight back down. The second ambush follows shogi and combines a swordmaster with two ninja. Two swords are useful against the ninja's attempts to circle behind you. Escort the old man to Gion's gate. Enter through your secret passage, come out into Gion and approach the gate from inside. After meeting Baiken, speak to the employee at Tsuruya's main entrance and continue the story scenes. BEFORE KIYOMIZUDERA: LEARN ESCAPE STRIKE The next objective is rescuing Haruka at Kiyomizudera, but do your preparation before starting the assault. Once it begins, you cannot save during the route to Baiken. Visit En no Ozuma and complete Snake special training to learn Mysteries of the Sword: Escape Strike. This becomes available at the nighttime departure for Kiyomizudera. You must learn it before this boss, and you must use two swords to execute it. Developed Zeal, available during Chapter 10's later free-roam section after Applied Zeal, teaches Two Heavens. It is sensible to learn that now too, but save its planned use for Marume in Chapter 11. Baiken has the more restrictive action to prioritise. Refill your recovery supplies and retain a separate save outside the assault. A missed Escape Strike attempt otherwise means replaying the whole approach. THE ASSAULT: GATES, EXPLOSIVES AND FIRE At Kiyomizudera's entrance, clear the first group. After 16 enemies, an archer-ambush QTE introduces four archers. Block their shots with a sword and close the gap between volleys. The next obstruction is a stone wall. Speak to the nearby man for explosives, carry one to the wall and deploy it with up on the directional pad. Move clear before it detonates. Flaming arrows can ignite a carried explosive, so avoid walking slowly through enemy fire with one equipped. There are six destructible walls in this section, but only the first and last are required to advance. Explore the others if you want their contents; do not mistake every optional wall for a story gate. In the next open area, enemies can be bypassed, but physical obstacles still need breaking. The greatsword clears those quickly. Deal with attackers who can interrupt the demolition rather than repeatedly taking hits while swinging at a barrier. Another gated fight introduces a brute supported by archers. Remove the archers, then handle the brute's slower attacks. Stay aware of the wall-smashing QTE near the rock faces. Once the gate opens, fetch another explosive for the next wall if necessary. On the final approach, react to the surprise-attack prompts. The fireball in the narrow passage cannot be sidestepped, but it can be blocked. This differs from the rolling traps in the Chapter 5 cave, where you had to avoid their lanes. BAIKEN: DODGE THE LOW CHAIN Baiken is faster than in the cave and has more attacks. His low chain strike targets your legs and gets through two-sword guarding. Dodge or roll away from it. A greatsword can block that particular attack, but staying in greatsword style throughout would cost you the unique Heat Action opportunity. When he jumps onto a high platform, you cannot hit him there. Watch for his leap back down, avoid the landing attack and punish his recovery. This gives you a clear opening without chasing him around the entire battlefield. For Escape Strike, use two swords as his health falls below 30%. Complete the two-sword version of his sickle-and-chain QTE, then activate the offered Heat Action. The source guide records up to two sickle-and-chain triggers in this encounter, but do not count on a second chance instead of preparing for the first. Check that Escape Strike actually registered before moving on. The Chapter 5 fight and ordinary arena opponents cannot replace this specific Kiyomizudera opportunity. CHAPTER 11: THE LAST DAYTIME VISIT TO GION After the revelations at the beginning of the chapter, return home and rest when ready. The next day's departure takes you to Yagyu Village by a side path at Kiyomizudera. You receive Ageha's Rice Ball, a full-health recovery item, during this preparation. Before taking that path, finish anything requiring daytime in Gion. This is the last daytime access to the district during the story. Chapter 12 gives you evening and night access, followed by a permanent departure. A later time-changing option outside Gion does not restore entry to the district. At Yagyu Village, clear the ordinary students before heavily damaging the swordmaster. Reinforcements arrive when his health reaches half, including an armoured retainer. The greatsword breaks armour efficiently, while Heat Actions can damage through it. Marume is the chapter's boss. His strong defence makes careless attacks bounce, and his own strikes can break your guard. Wait for his attack sequence to end and answer with a controlled combination. When he enters Heat mode, your hits still damage him but do not reliably interrupt him, so do not assume a successful hit makes you safe. This is the recommended place to record Two Heavens. Have Developed Zeal completed, use two swords and take the boss-specific prompt as Marume reaches the appropriate health range. With that recorded, Chapter 12 can focus on the final unique boss action and the island gauntlet.