The Shadow Tactics: Blade of the Shogun team is betrayed in Mission 10, leaving each character separated in the Mount Tsuru prison. This is a wholly unique section of the old temple, and you’ll have to break out each character separately. Deciding which character to save first can be tricky, but there’s more than one way to escape a prison.
Hayato the ninja can use his stone-throwing ability to anger a nearby guard, drawing him into his small cell. Or, Takuma can call back his trusty pet Tanuki — he brings a box full of rifle ammo, perfect for Takuma’s hidden peg-leg gun. The real trouble is the patrolling Overseer. If he sees an escaped prisoner, he’ll raise the alarm. Learn how to get rid of the Overseer and get back all of your ninja equipment with the full guide for this lengthy level below.
Table of Contents – Shadow Tactics Walkthrough
- Tutorial
- Mission 1: The Siege of Osaka
- Mission 2: Trouble on the Nakasendo
- Mission 3: The Thieves of Imai
- Mission 4: Escape from Mount Tsuru
- Mission 5: Killing Lord Yabu
- Mission 6: Spies In Hida Village
- Mission 7: Suganuma Rescue
- Mission 8: Attack on Kanazawa
- Mission 9: The Death of Kage-sama
- Mission 11: Matsuyama City
- Mission 12: A Fateful Meeting
- Mission 13: The Death of Noboru
Walkthrough | Betrayal at Mount Tsuru
The team returns to Mount Tsuru – this time, they’re prisoners of the true Kage-sama. The temple has been transformed into a prison, and winter has come to the peak. Mugen is lost in the northwest courtyard, Aiko is missing, and Takuma / Yuki are locked in cages. We’ll have to start this jailbreak with Hayato.
NOTE: All of the characters have lost their equipment. To get their gear back, find the guards with colored icons — each individual piece of equipment needs to be recovered to use.
Step #1: Escape the Prison
Free Hayato: Starting with Hayato, throw a stone directly on the guard when the samurai isn’t gloating to draw him in. Knock him out while you hide in the bushes then toss the body over the ledge – that’s all it takes to escape with Hayato. Freeing the rest is going to be trickier.
Killing the Overseer: To kill the Overseer, select Takuma, then select Kuma. Call him back, and he’ll bring a bag of ammunition for Takuma’s rifle. Now, simply wait in the bushes inside Hayato’s cell, target the samurai with Takuma’s rifle in Shadow Mode, and kill him while he’s stunned from the shot.
NOTE: The Overseer, the patrolling samurai, is carrying Yuki’s knife. Collect it from the spot where the samurai falls. You can go back and grab Yuki’s knife from Hayato’s cell after freeing her.
Rescuing Yuki / Takuma: You now have a few options. Takuma can use two sniper shots and target the switches holding their cells. Or, Hayato can rescue them fairly easily himself! Climb the vines west of his cell and knock out / throw the guards on the upper cliff ledges. The path is very easy to navigate – don’t forget that Hayato can jump across small gaps. Clear the area, toss the bodies, and save both heroes.
Leaving the Prison: Sneak up to the exit path with Yuki. Time it right, and you can exit the tunnel / climb the vines and avoid his vision cone, getting into the bush right next to the standing guard blocking the way out of the starting prison area. The path out is blocked by a Straw Hat – to reach the upper area and get behind the Straw Hat on the bridge, use Takuma to shoot the icey roots. You can now use the roots with your hook.
Step #2: Free Aiko
Aiko is held at the top of the cliffs, above the regular cells. She’s tied up near a stockpile of flintlock pistols. Zip up to Aiko’s area with the hook-root, and sneak down the path opposite the gazebo with the sentry inside. Knock out the Straw Hat at the bridge below and toss his body – now Takuma can join you.
NOTE: There’s a crane statue right next to the Straw Hat on the bridge – use it with Takuma to reveal a secret passage. Perfect for quick escapes if a patrolling guard sees your footprints in the snow.
Clearing the Village: To save Aiko, you’ll need to enter the peak village. It’s well-guarded, but there is a way through – on the ramp from the bridge (with the eagle statue) there’s a ledge Yuki / Hayato can jump down to, allowing them to get behind the first Straw Hat watching guard at the village entrance path.
Take this sneaky cliff path to the tall vine wall that leads to the rooftop near the tower with the sentry Straw Hat. You can access the second floor from the first floor door – kill the tower guard first. There’s a crate of extra ammo in the tower for Takuma, too! Rush inside before the ground floor guards can catch you – they’ll see Yuki / Hayato’s footprints every time. [NOTE: Wait for the old lady to leave the well before moving on the tower!]
Whoever you send into the tower will be stuck there for now. Next, we need to kill the patrolling guard, the Straw Hat at the village entrance, and the single guard watching the path to the village square. Lure the patrolling guard / village square guard using foot prints, then take out the Straw Hat.
Freeing Aiko: Now that the main threats are clear, Yuki and Hayato can Shadow Mode simultaneously knock out the pair of guards watching Aiko. You can now free her and collect four Flintlock pistols – one for each party member.
NOTE: Just above Aiko’s prison, there’s a samurai watching the road. Snipe / stab combo him to access the gazebo with another crate of ammo for Takuma. On the hill watched by the samurai, there’s also another secret eagle statue tunnel that leads directly to Aiko’s position.
Step #3: Gather Near Mugen
Saving the Civilians / Yuki’s Trap: A group of civilians are surrounded by guards in a small courtyard below Aiko’s prison. Start by pushing the large loose boulder onto one guard’s head for an accident kill. One of the guards here is carrying Yuki’s Little Trap device. You can kill everyone in the courtyard – if you distract the guard in the center of the village, looking into the area from outside, with a stone or footprints.
Getting Aiko’s Disguise: Aiko’s disguise is hanging on a rack north of the gate guarded by the samurai. To reach it, use Kuma to distract the single guard standing still that’s watching it and rush over from the rooftops with Aiko to take it. The disguise will make clearing the civilian courtyard much easier. Just put it on after grabbing it.
Killing the Gate Samurai: The last three guards are susceptible to lures and distractions. Use a combination of Aiko’s disguise, stone, and Kuma’s howl to wipe out the rest of the regular guards, then use a bullet / stealth kill combo to finish off the samurai when the coast is clear.
When you’re ready, take everyone through the gate to meet Mugen in the temple courtyard.
Step #4: Leave
Leaving Mugen behind, it’s time to escape the mountain prison with Takuma, Hayato, Yuki and Aiko. Simultaneously kill the pair of Straw Hats at the bottom of the stairs when the patrolling guard wanders toward the structure – have a third character rush him while your other two heroes kill the Straw Hats.
NOTE: The patrolling guard at the base of the stairs is holding Yuki’s whistle. Knock him out or kill him to force him to drop it and Yuki can recollect her equipment.
Getting Hayato’s Sword & Shuriken: The last two pieces of equipment you can recover in the mission are found on the hill northeast after crossing the stone bridge from the temple courtyard where Mugen killed himself. The only samurai in the remainder of the mission are right near the exit to the village, and near the exit to the map – that means Aiko’s disguise will be very, very useful for distracting and killing guards. Travel down to the courtyard across the bridge with Aiko (in disguise) and sneezing powder the guard at the top of the vines south of the gate, then climb up.
While the guard is sneezing, climb up and hide behind the rocks. Put on Aiko’s disguise, and you can begin cutting down all the guards on the hill overlooking the town square. Travel to the back and kill the guard carrying the shuriken, then stab your way back down the hill.
NOTE: Through the gate across the stone bridge, there’s another smaller gate at the bottom of the stone stairs to the right. Use the eagle statue here to make navigation easier in this area – especially for Takuma.
Start clearing the village – especially the guards watching the stone bridge gate, then use the secret eagle tunnel exit down in the lower tier area.
Saving the Civilians: There are two groups of civilians being threatened below the first village area in this section of the map. The first is at the base of the second stone bridge (that leads off the map) and the other group is lined up near the rock wall. Ambush the guard near the bottom of the stone bridge from above with Aiko, then slowly circle the lower tier, wiping out guards and re-disguising. Avoid the samurai and the duo of patrolling soldiers – save them for last.
NOTE: If the two-man patrol spots you while killing guards around the first samurai of this section, retreat into the cliff alcove where the women civilians were being held and climb the tall vines to escape.
Killing the Last Samurai: The final samurai is near the exit to the map. To get him, drop down behind the regular guard watching the final samurai and lure him behind the large stone with Yuki’s whistle lure. Get him into a trap, and the last samurai is totally open. Shoot / stab combo to completely open up the exit.
