Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun takes a dark turn, and now the team is on the run from the Shogun himself. To prove their innocence, the ninja team of Hayato and Aiko set off to Matsuyama City to kidnap the rebel leader’s son and present his confession to the Shogun himself. It’s a daring plan, and a difficult mission.
Here, we’ll show you the most efficient path to grab Masaru without raising a single alarm. Capturing the well-protected son of a general won’t be easy when samurai and soldiers guard every entrance to the public bathhouse, but there is a very specific way you can make escaping with the unconscious Masaru pretty darn easy. All it takes is a whole lot of preparation.
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 10: Betrayal at Mount Tsuru
- Mission 12: A Fateful Meeting
- Mission 13: The Death of Noboru
Walkthrough | Kidnapping Masaru
Masaru, the son of the Shogun’s traitorous brother, is your target in this mission. Instead of killing him, you’ll need to bring him in alive after questioning and deliver the criminal to justice.
This is a night mission, and you’ll only have Aiko and Hayato to work with in your kidnapping plot. The city streets are well-lit, but the city rooftops are connecting. Once again, Aiko will need to acquire her disguise.
NOTE: Remember, night missions lower the view cone of enemies in the darkness, but stepping into the light makes you visible, even when crouched. You can blow out torches, but guards that notice un-lit fires.
Step #1: Find Masaru
To find Masaru, you’ll need to eavesdrop on the men at the estate and near the harbor. Before eavesdropping, we’re going to get a disguise for Aiko. One is being worn by a woman, and the other is hanging just north of the starting position.
Stealing Aiko’s Disguise: Let’s aim to get the hanging disguise in the middle-class inner courtyard just north of the starting spot. Kill the guard patrolling down the first dark alley, then position yourself on the building roofs around the disguise. Sneak around to the balcony overlooking the laundry area and double-kill the balcony guard and the rooftop guard. When they’re done, enter the second floor balcony through the door near the laundry area and push the vase onto the guard’s head – this is an accidental kill, and killing this guard will make getting the kimono much, much easier.
NOTE: If a hostile civilian sees you, they won’t raise an alarm. They’ll find a guard – if the guard doesn’t find you, an alarm won’t be raised. If a civilian sees you, don’t give up! Just hide and wait for everyone to calm down.
Reaching the Estate: The Estate is north of the small interior courtyard where we just got Aiko’s kimono, so let’s target that area first. The back alley leading north from the laundry is watched by a samurai, with a small garden off the alley – jump down into the small guarded garden to reach the opposite ladder to get around the samurai.
To get through the garden without incident, just use Hayato’s stone to distract the guard. Run through, then shuriken the guard on the scaffolding in the alley outside Masaru’s estate, right behind that alley samurai. Use this scaffolding ladder to reach the rooftops around the estate.
Eavesdropping (Estate): On the estate rooftops, simultaneously Shadow Mode kill the two Straw Hats on the balconies. Hide the bodies. The soldiers that you need to eavesdrop on are samurai – meaning not even Aiko’s disguise can help her here. You’ll also need to distract the one guard standing on the west wall of the inner estate courtyard, watching everything going on in the garden – use a stone to distract him or just distract everyone else, then kill him.
Under the south balcony, use the vase to earn an “accidental” kill on a guard – kill the patrolling guard when he wanders to the north balcony, then follow the samurai and stick to the bushes to fill the eavesdropping meter.
Step #2: Regroup
Regroup at the rooftop near the bridge after filling the eavesdropping meter. It’s easy to reach – the Straw Hat near the estate can’t even see clearly to the ladder.
Step #3: Kidnap Masaru
The rest of the map will reveal after regrouping – Masaru is in the public bathhouse, a large island connected to the main city by a large bridge. The bridge is heavily guarded, and Masaru is protected by several heavily-armored samurai. Masaru gets a massage in the east wing of the bathhouse, then goes to the west pavilion to take a hot bath.
Infilitrating the Bathhouse: Our goal is the west pavilion. Instead of swimming to the front door, swim all the way around from the Estate steps to the northwest corner of the bathhouse. There’s a small jetty with two docks – there are guards, but both ninja can climb onto the dock and take cover in the dark area of the enemy view cones.
Distract the guard looking directly at the two docks, then switch Aiko into her disguise. Now you can distract and stab to clear a path to the hot tub Masaru likes to use.
Creating An Escape Path: Before we handle Masaru, you’re going to need an escape path. The skiff you need to use to escape is already guarded, and a samurai watches the dock – use the northeast dock to kill the patrolling guard near the skiff. Use disguised Aiko to kill the guard at the gate connecting the bathhouse back path and the hot springs. In the backyard, kill the patrolling (and the standing guard) before killing the samurai facing the skiff – a bullet from Hayato and a stab from Aiko should do the trick.
Clearing the Hot Bath: There are two guards patrolling the front of the hot bath area. Kill them both with Aiko and hide the bodies so Masaru doesn’t get suspicious. It should be simple, but it’s also completely optional if you have Aiko’s disguise.
Kidnapping Masaru: Enter the hot bath pavilion. In the back area, sneak in with Aiko interact with the stove over the fire pit to overheat the water. Quickly leave the back area with Aiko before the samurai arrive and block her in – heat the water, they rush down to the dock we first used to infiltrate the bathhouse island. Masaru runs down here – if you cleared it, he’s an easy target.
NOTE: Aiko / Hayato must be set to non-lethal takedowns – you can not kill Masaru. If you kill him, it’s an instant mission failure.
Step #4: Leave
Escaping With Masaru: The path to the exit should now be clear. Drag Masaru up the steps to the ridge of bushes on the cliff leading to the backyard / dock entrance gate. You -must- use Aiko here. She can drag and stay in the bushes at the same time, avoiding any prying eyes at a distance. Drag Masaru into the skiff and drop him to complete the mission.
