Tales of Zipangu

Chapter 1: Mushroom Shrine Tales

The traveler was called to the Mushroom Shrine by Kino Konoko, who explained that her younger sister was sick. Though her health had always been poor, which had caused her to keep to the inside of the Mushroom Shrine, her health had lately worsened, making leading her daily life difficult. When the traveler asked if she could be brought to a doctor, Kino explained that there was no medicine that could help her, as she had a blood disease. However, she told them that the great Daidarabotchi had recently answered her prayers by revealing that her sister could be healed by gathering the Five Elements: Fire, Metal, Water, Earth, and Wood.

(A/N: In Japanese mythology, a Daidarabotchi was a gigantic Yokai, sometimes said to pose as a mountain range while sleeping. Yokai are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore, such as the Kappa and the Tengu. We encounter many types of Yokai in this storyline.)

Kino explained that the Five Elements were pieces of the spirit of Zipangu, each watched over by a Guardian. She told the traveler that Daidarabotchi had ordered her to start by gathering the Fire Element, which was in the care of the Raccoon Yokai. The traveler agreed to help gather the Five Elements and set off for Racoon Hill in the Spiritwilds.

Upon entering the Spiritwilds, the traveler was disturbed to see that a battle had taken place there, with weapons stuck to the trees in the forest. As they proceeded deeper, they discovered several Raccoon Yokai collapsed on the ground. The traveler soon encountered a Raccoon Yokai named Bunbuku Tanuki surveying his fallen comrades. Bunbuku immediately hid upon seeing the traveler, who attempted to calm him down. Bunbuku revealed that humans had attacked the Raccoon Yokai, beaten them, and carried them away, as they claimed that the Raccoon Yokai had ruined their fields.

However, Bunbuku told the traveler that the humans were liars, as the Raccoon Yokai had always lived there, with the humans being the ones who had invaded their home and farmed their land. The traveler apologized for what had happened and explained that they had only come for the Fire Element, not to attack the Raccoon Yokai. Bunbuku immediately grew angry, claiming that the traveler was the same as the selfish humans who only wanted to take.

(A/N: At this point, you get the choice to either fight Bunbuku for the Fire Element or treat his wounds and ask for the Fire Element. The choices you make in this storyline don’t really change the plot at all, as you’ll see here. Even if we fight Bunbuku, he’ll tell us that we’re different from the other evil humans, which doesn’t make any sense.)

The traveler then convinced Bunbuku to give up his Fire Element. Bunbuku noted that the traveler was different from the other humans, though he vowed to punish the other humans who had tormented them and driven them from their home. (A/N: Here, you can either encourage Bunbuku to seek revenge or convince him that revenge is not the answer.) He declared that it was tradition to get a tooth for a tooth and vowed to make the humans shed tears of blood, just as they done to the Raccoon Yokai.

After Bunbuku ran off, the traveler began to head back when they ran into Kino’s little sister, Takeno Konoko, who began lamenting over the endless cycle of violence between the Yokai and the humans. She thanked the traveler for trying to heal her, though she added that breaking the cycle of violence was much more important. She then asked them to help her perform a ceremony to put the spirits of those who had fallen in battle to rest. (A/N: You can either say that you need to get back to Kino Konoko or agree to help her. If you tell her that you need to get back to Kino, she says that you can be a little late and makes you help anyways.)

After the traveler agreed to help, Takeno gave them incense and asked them to burn it in the four stone lanterns around the area. After the traveler lit the incense, they returned to Takeno, who began the sending ritual. The traveler was amazed by Takeno, who performed a beautiful spiral dance to send off the souls of the departed. Takeno was honored by the traveler’s kind words and explained that she had merely used her Yokai powers to calm the vengeful spirits down. (A/N: You hear the voices of the vengeful spirits as you light the four lanterns, although their words are just different lines that Bunbuku said to you.)

At the traveler’s confusion, Takeno explained that she was a half-Yokai, and that she and Kino were half-sisters, which explained their lack of resemblance. However, the mix of her human and Yokai blood was what had caused her sickness, which was severe enough to prevent her from going outside on some days, though it also allowed her to communicate with the Yokai and even perform a few small tricks. She told the traveler that she hoped for humans and Yokai to reconcile, as they could achieve amazing things together, such as the ceremony which the traveler had helped her perform.

Takeno then asked the traveler if they could help her with another favor. (A/N: You can either be enthusiastic about it or say that you need to get going and reluctantly ask what the favor is.) Takeno gave them the red Threads of Fate as a gift and explained that her father had given it to her, though she hoped that it would be of more use to them.

(A/N: The red thread of fate is an East Asian belief that stems from Chinese mythology. Also known as the red thread of marriage, it’s thought to be an invisible red cord around one’s finger tied to their true love. Two people connected by the red thread were destined to be lovers, regardless of time, place, or circumstance, and their string could strain but never break. It’s definitely one of my favorite concepts ever because of how simple, beautiful, and timeless it is. The Threads of Fate themselves actually have no purpose in the storyline.)

According to her father, the thread had the power to control the ties between different people, which she hoped could bring the humans and Yokai together. She explained that the Threads of Fate held power over the ties that bound the people of Zipangu to one another. The traveler thanked her and stored the thread to keep it safe.

They then returned to Kino and gave her the Fire Element. After a pause, they told her about the Raccoon Yokai and explained that the Yokai were leaving their home in the Spiritwilds. Though Kino sympathized, she told them that the only Yokai that she had time to worry about was her sister, adding that she didn’t care if a thousand Yokai disappeared as long as Takeno got better. (A/N: Harsh lol.) The traveler was taken aback by Kino’s bluntness and told her about how Takeno had performed a ceremony for the dead Raccoon Yokai.

Kino suddenly exclaimed that her sister was a fool to still be cleaning up after the Yokai. The traveler told her that Takeno truly believed that humans and Yokai could live together, to which an irritated Kino explained that she and her sister had been kicked out of their village because of the Yokai harassing the villagers, causing the townspeople to assume that Takeno’s half-Yokai ancestry had caused the Yokai to attack.

The two sisters had then been forced to move to the remote Mushroom Shrine. She claimed that the Yokai from the Spiritwilds had always been happy to take advantage of Takeno’s gifts and constantly asked for help, though they had done absolutely nothing when Takeno had gotten sick. Suddenly, Takeno appeared and called out to her sister before collapsing.

The traveler immediately moved to help her, just as she raised into the air, a strange aura bubbling around her. As the traveler attempted to calm her down, Takeno fell from the air and collapsed once again. Kino explained that Takeno’s mixed blood had cursed her, with her Yokai blood wreaking havoc on her body at the slightest exertion, adding that she didn’t understand what had caused her mother to fall in love with a Yokai.

She then realized that the ceremony for the dead that Takeno had performed, which had both exerted her and forced her to call on her Yokai blood, had worsened her condition. She then blamed the traveler for not having stopped her, but just as the traveler began to apologize, she cut them off and told them that she didn’t need their apology, only for them to save Takeno. (A/N: Kino is so chill in Hayato and Kanna’s storyline, I was pretty shocked to see this side of her.) She then broke down in tears, sobbing that Takeno was all that she had left.

(A/N: Here, we cut to an interlude that tells the origins of Zipangu. It explained that the land had been discovered long ago, and that it was filled with a dense forest of cherry blossom trees and a high mountain. For many years, the humans and Yokai had lived together and thrived until a time of social upheaval when humans had lost their respect for the natural world and the Yokai that inhabited it. Many years later, Kino and Takeno moved to the Mushroom Shrine. It then cuts to someone, presumably Daidarabotchi, saying that Kino’s wish will be granted by uniting the Five Elements.)

Soon after, the traveler visited Kino, who explained that Daidarabotchi had sent her another vision after they had acquired the Fire Element, foretelling that the Oni deep in the Spiritwilds had the Metal Element. When the traveler asked about the Oni, Kino explained that the Oni were a brutal and savage race of Yokai, and that Daidarabotchi had told her that the Oni had gone berserk and began scattering the life force of the sacred tree Kamuna. She then told them to find the Sacred Idols destroyed by the Oni, which could be used to restore the life force stolen from Kamuna.

After a pause, Kino also thanked them for their help. (A/N: You can either tell her that you don’t need her thanks, as you’re only doing it to help Takeno, which is basically just using Kino’s words against her from earlier, or you can tell her not to worry, and that Takeno is gonna be alright.) The traveler then headed back into the Spiritwilds, where they encountered a group of Oni attacking a man in a demon mask wielding two guns. The man told them not to make him fight back, but when the Oni didn’t listen, he shot them with his guns. The traveler moved in to help him fight off the Oni, who were then chased off.

The man thanked the traveler and introduced himself as an Oni named Ibaraki, pointing out the large single horn on his head. When the traveler noted that he seemed to be human, Ibaraki explained that it was because he lived with humans, as he needed to work in order to survive without eating humans, though he added that he was mostly joking after seeing the traveler’s expression. The traveler was amazed to find a Yokai who coexisted with humans, to which Ibaraki told them that his best friend, Gyuki, helped him blend in. He explained that he had been away from the Spiritwilds for a long time, and so he had come back to visit, only to find that his fellow Oni had gone berserk, causing him to realize that he would need to put them down.

(A/N: You can either say that you wanna help him or ask him about why he would so readily kill his own people. If you agree to help him, he thanks you and says that it’ll be quicker with a partner. If you question him, he says that Oni aren’t evil, only liking some chaos in their lives at best, but he claims that if he had gone as berserk as them, he would want someone to put him out of his misery.)

The traveler and Ibaraki then proceeded to fight past the Oni, using the Oni masks to restore the Sacred Idols. As they continued on, they found Ibaraki’s friend, a Weasel Yokai named Kamaitachi, fighting off the Oni with a scythe. After they helped fight off the Oni, Kamaitachi explained that the wild Oni had been unable to recognize him, apologizing to Ibaraki for attacking his brethren. He then began catching up Ibaraki and asked who the traveler was. The traveler explained that they had come at the request of Kino Konoko.

Ibaraki then asked Kamaitachi what he was doing, to which he explained that Gyuki wasn’t acting like himself. He told Ibaraki that the humans had invaded the Oni village during the night of the last full moon, having already been worked up from attacking the Raccoon Yokai. Though the Oni had fought back, there were too many humans, and so Gyuki had merged with the Metal Element that he was guarding in order to grow stronger.

Ibaraki then asked what the Elements were and why Gyuki had one in the first place. Though he told Ibaraki he didn’t know everything, Kamaitachi explained that the Five Elements were the constituent parts that made up all things, and that Daidarabotchi had split up the Five Elements and sealed them long ago in order to prevent the greedy humans from seizing their power. The Five Elements had then been given to the Yokai of Zipangu, who had been ordered to protect them through the generations.

The traveler recalled that Daidarabotchi was the spirit who had been sending visions to Kino. Kamaitachi then added that even if the Yokai had been tasked with protecting the Elements, it went beyond simply being taboo to absorb their power, with Kamaitachi likening it to heresy, which was likely why Gyuki had lost himself to the power.

Though Ibaraki cursed himself for not having arrived faster, Kamaitachi told him that there was a chance that Gyuki would return to his normal self if they could extract the Metal Element from him. The three then proceeded deeper into the forest and soon encountered Gyuki, who had gone mad with the power of the Metal Element. Ibaraki called out to his friend, though Kamaitachi reminded him that Gyuki wouldn’t be able to recognize them, adding that they would first need to subdue him.

Suddenly, Takeno Konoko appeared and explained that she had snuck past her sister. Kamaitachi greeted her and told Ibaraki that Takeno was a half-Yokai like them, and that he had called her because she was the only one who could extract and contain the Five Elements. Takeno told the group that she would extract the Element, though she would need them to distract Gyuki. After the traveler fought and weakened Gyuki, Takeno stepped forward to extract the element.

(A/N: Here, you can either let Takeno separate the Element from Gyuki, or you can fight Gyuki to separate the Element yourself. If you try to do it yourself, you tell her that you’re worried about her health, though she tells you that you don’t have the power to separate the Element and moves to do it anyways.)

As Takeno attempted to extract the Element, she was overwhelmed by its power, and so the traveler rushed forward to help her. Just as Kamaitachi exclaimed that Takeno might not survive, the combined efforts of Takeno and the traveler successfully extracted the Metal Element from Gyuki. Ibaraki immediately rushed to check on Gyuki, who was able to recognize him again. Ibaraki apologized profusely for having left, explaining that he merely wanted to be a human. Gyuki told him not to cry, as he had gotten his wish. Just as he began saying that he was happy for Ibaraki, Gyuki unexpectedly burst apart into energy.

As Ibaraki broke down, Takeno regained consciousness and apologized for having been unable to help more. However, both Ibaraki and Kamaitachi told her not to apologize, as they were grateful to her for helping Gyuki reclaim his mind, thanking the traveler for their actions as well. Takeno then gave the Metal Element to the traveler to deliver to Kino, adding that she wished that people tried to compromise and understand each other in order to lessen the suffering in the world.

Takeno and the traveler returned to the Mushroom Shrine, where Kino rushed out and admonished her sister for running off, to which she lied and said that she had only gone out for a walk. The traveler then placated her by giving her the Metal Element. Kino thanked the traveler, just as Ibaraki appeared. (A/N: You can either tell her that Ibaraki is your partner or you can be honest and say that he’s an Oni. Either way, Takeno will tell the truth to Kino.)

Though Kino was furious to see an Oni having come to the shrine, the traveler and Takeno told her that Ibaraki was a good man who had helped them acquire the Metal Element. Realizing that Takeno had lied about going out for a walk, Kino forbade her from going outside and ordered the traveler to help her ensure that Takeno remained indoors, adding that she was worried about Takeno’s declining health. She then grudgingly allowed Ibaraki to stay, but only on the condition that he helped keep an eye on Takeno.

Some time later, Kino summoned the traveler back to the Mushroom Shrine and explained that Daidarabotchi had given her another vision for the next Element. The traveler was surprised that Daidarabotchi had spoken to Kino so soon after finding the Metal Element and noted that she must be paying special attention to Kino. Kino proudly told the traveler that Daidarabotchi was a being beyond human comprehension, and that collecting the Five Elements and restoring the life force of Kamuna must be part of her plan for saving Takeno.

She explained that the Water Element had fallen into the possession of a newly-born god to the west in the Land of the Dead. She told the unnerved traveler that the Land of the Dead was a place in Zipangu where the strife of war never faded. Many had perished there, but without receiving a proper burial, they were unable to find their way to the afterlife and had become specters trapped between worlds, producing negative energy that attracted dangerous things. She warned the traveler to be careful, as the specters’ strong desire for life caused them to attack the living. Kino then escorted the traveler to the Land of the Dead by heading towards the area where the dark energy was thickest. (A/N: These specters are just ghosts, not the Specters that we see in Grandis.)

The traveler soon arrived at the Land of the Dead, though they were unimpressed by its atmosphere. They fought past the specters and soon discovered a cave from which powerful darkness emanated. Inside, they discovered a Skeleton Yokai named Kubinashi preaching the Gospel of Nue to the specters, praying to Nue to guide them to the afterlife and praising him as the seeker of truth and the master of the dark flame.

Suddenly, Nue himself manifested before them and, sensing the fear in one of the specters, used his Dark Flame to burn the terror out of it. He then proclaimed that he was the savior who would guide them to a new world without fear as their god. Realizing that Nue had created little more than a cult for himself, the traveler returned to the Mushroom Shrine and told Takeno what they had witnessed.

Fearing that the dark energy gathering at the Grieving Grotto, the cave which the traveler had entered, would drive the specters berserk, Takeno asked them to investigate the cult and its leader. In order to help them, Takeno presented Kamaitachi and Tengu, allowing the traveler to choose who they wanted to accompany them. (A/N: It doesn’t really make a difference who you pick. Tengu is kinda introduced here without any background and you don’t learn anything about him by picking him as your companion.)

The traveler and their companion then returned to the Grieving Grotto and soon encountered several specters gathered together. The traveler began their investigation by speaking with a Kind-Looking Specter and asking it about Nue. The Kind-Looking Specter explained that Nue was the god of the Grieving Grotto, said to have brought the Dark Lord of the afterlife to his knees before coming back to the Land of the Dead in order to save the specters.

When the traveler asked whether Nue had done anything to demonstrate his power, the Kind-Looking Specter explained that all the specters had borne witness to Nue’s miracles at the ascension ceremony, adding that the traveler would understand if they saw the power of Nue’s Unholy Water. Next, the traveler spoke with a Bored-Looking Specter, who explained that he was assisting Lady Kubinashi. (A/N: Kubinashi is the Skeleton Yokai that was leading them through their prayers.)

However, he refused to give free information to a living person, and so the traveler paid him a sum of mesos. He then explained that he had come from Honnou-ji, and that he had served Lady Kubinashi in both life and in death. (A/N: A lot of these specters and Skeleton Yokai, including Kubinashi, were soldiers in Oda Nobunaga’s army.)

Next, the traveler spoke with the Pale Specter, who told the traveler that they needed a Spectral Pass in order to enter the Grieving Grotto. As the Pale Specter realized that they were hoping to infiltrate the sermon, the traveler was forced to collect Unholy Water for the Pale Specter in order to obtain its Spectral Pass.

In order to obtain the Unholy Water, the traveler spoke with the Spooky Specter and began asking it about Nue’s miracles. The Spooky Specter told the traveler to fight the Lost Specters outside and obtain their Lost Specter’s Handkerchiefs for it to answer their questions. After bringing it the handkerchiefs, the traveler learned that the Spooky Specter wondered whether specters truly ascended after being consumed by Nue’s ascension ceremony, as no one had ever returned from it.

The traveler then obtained Unholy Water from the Spooky Specter by exchanging Dusk Viper Venom. The traveler gave the Unholy Water to the Pale Specter, who immediately turned giant and vicious after drinking it. After the traveler defeated it, they spoke with the Petulant Bachelor Specter, who told them that Nue had returned to the land of the living six days after he had died. In exchange for more information, the Petulant Bachelor Specter asked the traveler for a copy of the Gospel of Nue.

The traveler obtained a copy from the nearby monsters, after which the Petulant Bachelor Specter began reading it and soon discovered that Nue had lied to them, as the book, which was said to have been passed down since time immemorial, had the handwriting of a child. Just then, the traveler noticed that Ibaraki had arrived. Ibaraki explained that he had come out of boredom, though he had noticed that the cult of the undead seemed suspicious. He told the traveler that the specters had revealed that Nue had returned from the afterlife to save them, and that he could work miracles.

Suddenly, the Bored-Looking Specter appeared and decided to attack the traveler as punishment for interfering with the cult. After the traveler defeated the Bored-Looking Specter and its minions, they decided to go over what they had learned with their companion. (A/N: This is either Kamaitachi or Tengu, depending on which choice you made earlier.)

They noted that Nue’s sermon was mainly self-promotion and had little to do with the supposed ascension of spirits. They also noted that the Gospel of Nue was suspicious, and that the Unholy Water that Nue handed out caused specters to go berserk. However, they realized that none of it was decisive proof. In order to learn more, the traveler decided to sneak inside and search for proof, though they also kept in mind that Lady Kubinashi was an unknown variable.

The traveler then snuck past security and entered the Audience Chamber, from which they entered Nue’s room. They discovered that it was as messy as a pigsty and filled with portraits of a boy, as well as copies of the Gospel of Nue that were still being written in crayon. One of the portraits had the words “happy birthday”, and amidst the gospels was a journal. (A/N: You get the choice to take either the portrait or the journal.)

They then explored Kubinashi’s room, which seemed unusually cute for a Skeleton Yokai. (A/N: A lot of the assets in her room are lifted from Orchid’s room in the Verne Mine.) They discovered a ledger next to her bed, which contained expenditure records for food, general expenses, and an abnormally high amount spent on birthdays. In her library, they also discovered a recipe for Unholy Water. (A/N: You get to choose between taking the ledger or the recipe.)

The traveler then went over the evidence they collected.

(A/N: It doesn’t really matter what you took, as it all leads to the same result. The portrait has a note from Kubinashi wishing Nue, whom she calls “Little Master’, a happy 12th birthday. If you took the journal instead, you read the entries and realize that they’re unusually childlike and unlike what a god would write.

For the evidence in Kubinashi’s room, the ledger shows that there’s a lot of payments made to the Specter Captain, while the recipe for the Unholy Water says that it needs a 20-year-old crow feather, 2 whiskers from a Fox Yokai, and a liter of Dusk Viper venom, which makes the traveler realize that the venom is basically the entirety of what the Unholy Water is. You then realize that the Spooky Specter was having us collect ingredients for it.)

As the traveler left to go expose Nue’s lies, the Specter Captain was being admonished by Kubinashi for interrupting the sermon earlier. Suddenly, she discovered that someone had been searching through her room and ordered the Specter Captain to increase security around the sacred chamber, as intruders were attempting to infiltrate the area.

She also told him to lead the intruders deep into the Grieving Grotto and devour them. Outside the cave, the traveler ran into Kamaitachi, who explained that he had come to check on them because of how long they had taken. (A/N: Kamaitachi shows up regardless of which companion you picked.) After the traveler explained that they had collected enough evidence to expose Nue, they infiltrated the cave with Kamaitachi and made their way to the Audience Room. (A/N: Ironically, despite Kubinashi ordering for more security, there’s actually fewer enemies to bump into during the jump quest for this part.)

As they continued deeper into the Grotto, the Specter Captain discovered them and revealed that they had been led into a trap. He then transformed himself into his true, giant form and chased them through the Grotto to the Audience Room, where Nue was leading a sermon. Kubinashi immediately ordered for the heretics to be arrested, but the traveler declared that they had proof of Nue’s deception. To Kubinashi’s shock, Nue decided that he would deal with them himself, though she attempted to convince him to let her handle the matter.

As he got off his throne, Kamaitachi attempted to convince the other specters that Nue was a fraud. However, Nue laughed and claimed that he had returned from beyond the veil of death after centuries in the abyss, adding that he was a master of the Dark Blaze and a personal friend of Daidarabotchi, having come to guide the specters to the afterlife. An informal trial was then held as the traveler presented the evidence that they had collected to systematically disprove Nue’s claims.

(A/N: There’s a few different ways to go about this depending on the choices you made in gathering your evidence, but all you have to do is to disprove just one of the four things he said with the right piece of evidence.

You can disprove that he’s been alive for centuries by showing the birthday portrait that says that he’s twelve, his claim of being friends with Daidarabotchi with his journal that says that he’s never been outside the cave before, his claim that you’re a foolish mortal by showing that his Unholy Water recipe is a sham, and his claim that he’s come to deliver the spirits from the afterlife by showing the ledger that demonstrated how most of the cult’s expenses were to bribe the Specter Captain into convincing the others about Nue’s miracles.)

The traveler then declared that Nue was nothing more than power-hungry, pre-teen ghost. (A/N: Nue is a giant monster, but his real form is a young boy, which we’ll discover later.) Furious at Nue’s deception, the specter followers eschewed him and left the cult. As Nue reeled from the blow to his ego, the traveler took the Water Element from the Audience Room.

As they turned to leave, Kubinashi halted them and declared that Kamaitachi was her enemy, and the enemy of her soldiers, claiming that she had not forgotten what Kamaitachi had done during the Night of the Weasels. The two immediately began to duel as Kamaitachi realized that Kubinashi had been part of Oda Nobunaga’s advance guard. Kubinashi then transformed from a flaming skeleton into her true form, a beautiful blonde woman wearing a dress.

The traveler immediately separated the two from their fight, though Kubinashi declared that she would make Kamaitachi pay for what he had done. Kamaitachi apologized for what had happened and explained that he had had no choice, as he had thought that Kubinashi had been trespassing that day.

He clarified that Zipangu was a haven for the Yokai, and that the arrival of the Sengoku Warriors and the Oda army had led them to assume that the armed samurai were planning to attack Yokai territory. However, Kubinashi refused to accept Kamaitachi’s apology, claiming that her hatred was what had transformed herself and her soldiers into specters, forced to wander the world of the living.

Before she could continue fighting, the Specter Captain pointed out that Nue was in a bad state. Frustrated, Kubinashi declared that she would one day return for Kamaitachi’s head. Announcing herself as Kubinashi Black Dragon of the Oda clan, she told Kamaitachi to remember her name, as it would be his undoing. She then turned to the traveler and asked for their name, vowing that she would destroy them as well. The two groups then went their separate ways, with the traveler wondering what had happened at the Night of the Weasel. (A/N: They literally never explain this.)

Back at the Mushroom Shrine, the traveler found that there was no one there. As they waited, they suddenly recalled that Daidarabotchi had stated that the Water Element had created a god, wondering why she would have mistaken Nue as one. Just then, Kino Konoko greeted the traveler, who gave her the Water Element. Kino thanked the traveler for finding it, though she was surprised to know that Kamaitachi and Tengu had helped, despite them being Yokai.

Some time later, Takeno was performing the sending ritual in the Land of the Dead as Nue watched from a distance. Tengu, who had accompanied her, suggested that they leave, as it was getting late. As they turned to leave, Nue transformed himself from his demonic form to his human form, marveling at Takeno’s beauty. The next day, the traveler went to the Mushroom Shrine, where they were surprised to discover that a Fox Yokai had appeared.

The Fox Yokai, Izuna, asked the traveler if the Mushroom Shrine was where the person helping the Yokai could be found. The traveler wondered whether she was referring to Takeno when suddenly, Takeno herself appeared and greeted Izuna, who immediately transformed into a human-like form with fox ears and a tail. (A/N: She looks just like an Anima here, although she isn’t.) The two began catching up, with the traveler realizing that Izuna lived in the village which had driven out Takeno and Kino.

Takeno then asked why Izuna had sought her out, as she hadn’t heard any news about the Fox Yokai. Izuna explained that Kurama had shut himself in his cave and become a hermit on the day that Takeno and Kino had left the village. (A/N: She calls him Kura, both here and in some other cases, as it’s their nickname for him.)

Takeno was shocked, as Kurama was meant to be the Guardian of the Earth Element. As they spoke, the traveler was surprised to know just how many types of Yokai there were, between raccoons, foxes, ghosts, and even more. Izuna told Takeno that Kurama still had the Earth Element, but as he had secluded himself in his cave for five years, the Fox Yokai had taken to wandering the land like wild animals without his leadership.

Just then, Kino arrived and gave Takeno permission to save Kurama, whom she called a pathetic Fox Yokai, from whatever trouble he had gotten himself into, as she had received a vision that indicated that the Earth Element would be delivered to them on its own. She also told them that Kurama held the key to retrieving the Earth Element, and though she didn’t know how to help a hermit, she was confident that they would figure it out.

Takeno thanked Kino for allowing her to go, but Kino clarified that she was to remain at the Mushroom Shrine, as they were too close to gathering the Elements for her health to be put at risk right before they finished their quest. She then asked the traveler to go in Takeno’s place. Before the traveler headed out, they spoke with Takeno, who thanked them for their unwavering support.

In order to help them with their mission, Takeno told them that in her experience, it was important to listen to others and empathize with their feelings, such as when she would brush Tengu’s hair and talk about life. She then asked the traveler to listen to Kurama’s side of the story before judging him. She also asked Tengu what he thought, to which he told the traveler that if Kurama provided no opportunities to meet with him, then they would need to create one themselves.

In order to help them, he gave them a toy that human children played with, which could potentially lure Kurama out from his seclusion. When the traveler asked Tengu where he had gotten it, Takeno laughed and said that Tengu liked to collect things. The traveler then spoke with Ibaraki and Kamaitachi about their ideas on how to lure Kurama out.

Ibaraki claimed that Yokai were selfish and would do anything for money, while Kamaitachi told them that food was the best way to get someone to open up, suggesting that they buy dango from the nearby Takoyaki restaurant near the Mushroom Shrine. (A/N: Dango is a Japanese dumpling made from rice flour. Typically, three or four dango balls are skewered together and served with green tea.)

Having prepared as much as they could, the traveler told Izuna that they were ready. Izuna then teleported herself, the traveler, and Ibaraki to Fox Mountain, a place in the Spiritwilds where the Fox Yokai hailed from. As they proceeded on, the traveler noticed that Nue was following them and asked if he wanted to join them. (A/N: We recognize Nue in his child form, meaning that we likely ran into him sometime between the mission to get the Water Element and now, probably when he was spying on Takeno and simping for her.)

Though Nue claimed that he was already heading in the same direction, he continued to follow the group. Eventually, the group arrived at Fox Mountain, where Izuna warned them that the berserk Fox Yokai could attack them at any moment. The traveler was surprised that they would attack when Izuna was there, but Izuna explained that without Kurama’s leadership, many Fox Yokai had turned to robbing people who passed through their territory.

As they proceeded onward, they encountered Fox Bandits, whom Izuna immediately asked the traveler to eliminate. The traveler noted that the bandits seemed uninterested in them and asked whether they could just pass by. However, Izuna told them that relationships between humans and the Fox Yokai had gone sour because of the bandits, and that it was an opportunity to teach them a lesson. The group then fought past the bandits and soon ran into Lady Kubinashi, who began traveling with them, despite her threat that she would destroy the traveler. (A/N: They don’t really explain her relationship with Nue in the storyline, but the Threads of Fate UI reveals that she’s Nue’s steward.)

The group then arrived at the cave where Kurama had secluded himself. The traveler suggested that Izuna go in first, as they believed that it would be best for Kurama to see a familiar face. The traveler then gave the dango to Izuna, who attempted to bait Kurama out, but to no avail. As the dango didn’t work, Nue asked if he could have it. Ibaraki then decided to bribe Kurama and told the traveler to give him the money. (A/N: You get to decide how much money to give him, with the default value being 50k.)

Ibaraki placed the money at the entrance of the cave, but when Kurama still didn’t emerge, the traveler declared that Kurama had to be dead, as no one was unbribable. Just then, they noticed that Ibaraki had only used a small portion of the mesos that the traveler had given him and pocketed the rest. Ibaraki then threatened to kick down the front door, to which Kurama finally spoke and told everyone to leave, causing the traveler to admonish Ibaraki for ensuring that Kurama would never come out after being threatened. T

he traveler then remembered the toy that Tengu had given them, which Izuna used to try to bait Kurama out, though even that had no effect. Realizing that tricking him wasn’t the answer, the traveler asked Izuna why Kurama had become a hermit in the first place. Izuna explained that five years ago, Kurama had visited the human village with several other Fox Yokai. Though she didn’t know what had happened, Kurama had allegedly gotten lost and returned home late and alone.

Though Izuna had tried to ask him about the other Yokai and why he had looked like a mess, Kurama had refused to talk to her and soon secluded himself in his cave. Ibaraki wondered whether he had been bullied by the other Yokai, while Kubinashi theorized that he had been harassed by humans. The traveler decided to explore both possibilities and first started by addressing the bullying, asking Izuna what Kurama would need to do for the other Fox Yokai to respect him.

Izuna suddenly had an idea and led the traveler to Fox’s Bluff, a sacred place to the Fox Yokai. She explained that Fox Yokai loved cherries, with many risking their lives to taste the Legendary Cherry that grew at the peak of the mountain. Izuna proposed that the traveler disguise themselves as Kurama and obtain the Legendary Cherry, which would surely gain Kurama the respect of many Fox Yokai. She then used her magic to transform the traveler into Kurama, after which they scaled up the mountain to obtain the Legendary Cherry. (A/N: This was the worst jump quest I’ve ever done, next to the one in Pet Park in Henesys.)

Upon grabbing it, the traveler noticed that no one was paying attention, just as they fell off the mountain, which gathered a crowd that noticed that the traveler had obtained the Legendary Cherry. Because the traveler was still disguised as Kurama, the Fox Yokai began celebrating the return of the Guardian of the Earth Element.

Some time later, one of the Fox Yokai declared that if the Guardian could retrieve a Legendary Cherry, then they could as well. They all began clamoring around the traveler, asking for their secret technique in climbing the mountain. Caught off guard, the traveler told them that they would need to train on strong rocks for balance and promised to collect some.

After obtaining some from the nearby Golems, the traveler began training the Fox Yokai to scale the mountain. The impressed Fox Yokai vowed to become as great as the Guardian, and one of the Fox Yokai even asked the traveler to name a new move that he had invented. (A/N: You can choose between “The Super-duper Fox Stomp” and “The Fox’n Furious Stomp.)

Izuna then told the traveler that the training had resulted in many injured paws, and so she asked them to collect medicinal herbs to treat their wounds, though she warned that the herbs were being guarded by the Yakuza of Showa Town. The traveler defeated the Yakuza and obtained the Foxwhisker Herb, which Izuna used to create salve.

Impressed by the traveler’s leadership, the Fox Yokai declared that Karuma would be the Chief Fox. Izuna then told the traveler to listen to the concerns of the Fox Yokai, explaining that they were preparing for battle against the humans who hunted them for their fur. The traveler then spoke to the Fox Yokai, who led them to a building in Showa Town where the ones responsible for hunting the Fox Yokai were.

The traveler led the Fox Yokai into battle and defeated all the Yakuza in order to teach them a lesson. Suddenly, one Fox Yokai realized that they had attacked the wrong building, though the traveler reassured them that anyone could make mistakes, and that the important thing was to learn from them, and to not attack innocent strangers next time. (A/N: We’re so chill about this.)

After returning back to Fox’s Bluff, the traveler noticed a crying human girl named Sakura, who explained that she had lost the gift that her father had given her. (A/N: Sakura is an NPC from Showa Town.) Izuna promised Sakura that the traveler would help her find the missing gift, hinting to the traveler that Kurama would be happy to have gained the respect of humans. (A/N: She calls us the Fox God when she plays us up, not to be confused with the Fox God of Grandis.)

The traveler then entered the forest and fought past the Oni before defeating a large Oni who had Sakura’s gift, a doll. They brought the doll back to Sakura and warned her that the forest was dangerous. Sakura asked what she ought to do if she wanted to see them again, to which the traveler promised to visit her in Showa Town. However, Sakura declared that they were a liar, as her father had promised the same thing, leaving her to wait for over a hundred days. (A/N: Damn, her dad never came back from the cigarette store.)

The traveler then pinky swore to visit Sakura, which placated her. She then gave her doll to the traveler so that they would remember each other, after which she headed back home. Having earned Kurama the respect of both the Fox Yokai and the humans, the traveler decided to visit him at his cave. However, Kurama declared that he didn’t care about people’s respect, to which Nue wondered what kind of Yokai wouldn’t care about the respect of others.

Ibaraki then realized that he would care about the opinions of his crush, Izuna. The surprised group asked the flustered Izuna if it was true that they liked each other, but Izuna claimed that they were only close childhood friends. (A/N: Oof.) Ibaraki asked whether they had ever given special gifts to each other, to which Izuna told him that Kurama had once given her a cherry and said that it was only for her to eat, causing everyone to point out that Kurama definitely had a crush on her.

Kubinashi realized that he was likely hiding in his cave because he had realized that Izuna didn’t feel the same way about him. The traveler then realized that he had likely given her a Legendary Cherry, as they had seen an empty branch when they had climbed the mountain. After scaling up the mountain again, the traveler brought back the empty branch to prove that Kurama had picked a Legendary Cherry for Izuna. They realized that five years ago, Kurama had climbed the mountain to obtain it for her, which was his idea of a confession.

The traveler asked Izuna how she really felt about Kurama, causing her to realize that she had never thought that he would like her. Izuna then asked him to come out, as she wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, but Kurama told her that he wasn’t hiding because of the reason that they were thinking, asking if they really thought that he didn’t want to see his friends and talk to others.

He began explaining that five years ago, he had heard that a half-Yokai girl had been living in the village, and that he had gone to visit her with his friends Being slow, he had fallen behind the others and gotten lost in the bamboo grove, where he had eventually stumbled across a temple. Inside, he had discovered an evil Yokai disguised as a monk who lured humans into the temple and devoured them.

Upon witnessing the scene, he had been horrified to realize that it had excited him, and the thought that he could delight in such cruelty had scared him. He then began fearing that cruelty was the essence of the Fox Yokai, and that the brutal act of luring and devouring humans was the desire that came from the blood of the Nine-Tailed Fox within himself. (A/N: He’s named Kurama and he has the Nine-Tailed Fox inside him? Definitely a Naruto reference.)

In order to ensure that the power of the Nine-Tailed Fox would never be awakened, he explained that he had shut himself into his cave. Kubinashi noted that Kurama was afraid of his inner darkness, just as Nue had once been. The traveler then declared that they would help him remove his fear in exchange for the Earth Element.

They explained that fighting against his fear and winning would prevent him from growing berserk, which would hopefully put his mind at ease. To everyone’s surprise, Kurama finally emerged from the cave. Nue then decided to help the traveler enter Kurama’s mind by using the power of the Dark Flame, which he explained was his inner spirit. Kubinashi told the surprised traveler that they had defeated Nue in the Land of the Dead by attacking his character, and so they had never been able to realize that there truly was great power within him.

Nue then transported the traveler into Kurama’s inner mind, where they successfully suppressed the Nine-Tailed Fox within him. After returning to the real world, they found that Nue had exhausted himself by removing the seal on his power, which had strained his body intensely. Nue then told Kurama to never be afraid of his fear, as it was merely an illusion created by his mind. He told Kurama that he always had a choice to confront his terror and grow stronger, or to let it control him and stop him from living.

Kubinashi noted that Nue had matured, grudgingly admitting that it was because of the traveler. The traveler then told Kurama that Nue had once been just as afraid, but he had learned to control his fears. Kurama noted that Nue must have had a good mentor and then gave the Earth Element to the traveler, bestowing the title of Guardian onto them.

Izuna then asked Kurama if he still liked her, though she was annoyed by his roundabout way of confessing without actually confessing. The traveler then returned to the Mushroom Shrine and gave the Earth Element to Kino Konoko, who gave them a heartfelt thanks for showing her more kindness than she had earned and promised to repay them someday.

Some time later, Takeno was searching for Tengu, as she wanted to give him a hair band as a gift. Suddenly, she ran into Nue and thanked him for his help in obtaining the Earth Element, causing him to grow flustered. Nue stammered that he would do anything to help her, which made them both blush. She then asked Nue what he was doing at the Mushroom Shrine, to which he explained that ever since meeting her, he had taken an interest in humans. However, he was interrupted by Ibaraki, who asked Takeno whether she had seen Kamaitachi, as he wanted to go to the human store for soda. (A/N: He has an obsession with soda in this game.)

Takeno told him that so much sugar was bad for him, to which Ibaraki smirked and said that he was touched at a human being worried about an Oni, much to Nue’s irritation. Suddenly, Takeno was possessed by a strange aura as her Yokai blood curse overtook her. Nue immediately grabbed Kino and the traveler and brought them to Takeno, who had crumpled on the floor. Kino realized that Takeno was burning up, which was different from what usually happened. She turned to the traveler and asked them to retrieve the Wood Element as soon as possible, as there wasn’t much time left for Takeno.

Soon enough, Kino told the traveler that she had received a troubling revelation from Daidarabotchi. She quietly whispered to them that the Crow Yokai, Tengu, had the final Element, and asked them to defeat him. She noted that Daidarabotchi had seemed different from usual, though those had been the spirit’s exact words. Though she acknowledged that Takeno considered Tengu as a friend, she wondered what to think if he had deliberately been withholding the Wood Element, despite knowing that she needed it to get better. T

he traveler noted that the situation didn’t make sense, as they knew Tengu’s character and believed that they owed him the chance to explain himself, which could potentially resolve the situation without violence. Realizing that Tengu wasn’t at the Mushroom Shrine, the traveler decided to seek him out at the Moonlight Bamboo Grove.

Deep inside the grove, the traveler discovered Tengu waiting for them. He told the traveler that they were late, to which the traveler demanded to know if he had the Wood Element. After a pause, Tengu revealed that he had indeed been entrusted with it. The traveler asked him to surrender it, so that they could save Takeno. Tengu agreed, on the condition that they proved themselves first, sprouting crow wings from his back. The traveler protested that they didn’t have time, as Takeno had collapsed, but Tengu merely told the traveler that if they were worthy of the Element, then they simply had to take it.

The traveler attempted to take the Element, though they quickly discovered that a seal was preventing them from grabbing it. Tengu told the traveler that their heart was filled with anguish and earthly obsessions, explaining that one weighed down by such burdens could not be trusted with the Five Elements. He then told the traveler to return once they had proven themselves worthy, disappearing soon after.

As the traveler wondered what to do next, a Kappa named Yorozu introduced herself and explained that she was Tengu’s assistant. She told the traveler that she lived nearby, though she had been traveling across Zipangu for a great number of years in order to learn about human technology, but that she had been assisting Tengu since her return from studying abroad. She explained that her latest area of study was traps and devices in Ninja Castle.

As she began jumping into her long ramble, the traveler interrupted her and asked what she wanted. Yorozu asked if it was true that they were collecting the Five Elements to help Takeno, explaining that the words, “Those weighed down by things like greed and anger are not worthy to use the power of the Five Elements,” had been passed down from Guardian to Guardian across the generations, pointing out that a generation for Yokai was significantly longer than a human generation.

She told the traveler that it was the duty of the Guardians to deliver the Five Elements to the hero of Zipangu in a time of need, adding that the title of hero was something that was earned, not granted. In order to test them, Yorozu pointed to a stone lantern and explained that she had designed it to capture and seal away primal energies.

As the power that formed the Five Elements was primal in essence, the Wood Element had been sealed away by the lantern. She explained that the Wood Element could only be removed by someone not driven by dangerous emotions and ordered them to prove themselves worthy in order to claim the power for themselves.

As the traveler pondered her words, Yorozu told them that Tengu had developed a test in the many years that he had spent researching on how to remove negative emotions, which he called the Trial of the Crow, created by combining her knowledge and Tengu’s magic. For the first part of the test, the Test of Obsession, Yorozu explained that they would need to make their way through the maze-like bamboo grove, giving them a hint to “cast aside your obsession”. (A/N: To pass the Trial of Obsession, you just have to do nothing for 40 seconds, thus casting aside your obsession to make it through.)

For the second test, the Test of Insight, Yorozu showed them facsimiles of familiar people and told them to find the one that stood out as unusual. (A/N: Here, you just pick the NPCs that look different from the others for the first portion of the test. The second one is the same thing, except you have five different characters that have their correct appearance and one that’s wrong.)

Warning that the next test may strain them, Yorozu allowed the traveler to rest before proceeding into the next trial. As the traveler waited, they began thinking about Kurama’s story about the monk that had devoured humans and wondered whether it could be Tengu. Soon enough, Yorozu returned and explained that the next test was the Test of Anguish.

As the traveler fought past the crows that attacked, they began wondering whether Tengu was truly on their side, whether Tengu could have been the evil Yokai who had eaten the monks, who Daidarabotchi was and why she didn’t show herself, and whether collecting the Five Elements would really save Takeno.

(A/N: You’ll notice that this next portion was definitely pretty rushed when you step into Tengu’s memories. I’ll explain what happens here at the end of the section once the storyline is over.)

After passing the test, the traveler discovered a hidden path and wandered into Tengu’s memory, where they witnessed Tengu crumpled on the floor, lamenting his failure to stop “them” as a result of being blinded by greed and jealousy, realizing that he truly was corrupt in the end. The traveler was then taken to a forest where the evil Yokai, Genkou, attacked a village, threatening to devour the people. (A/N: The monsters around him are Omens, which is interesting since those are meant to have been created by the Black Mage. You have to sneak past them without touching them to pass this memory.)

Next, they entered a memory of a Monk telling an Acolyte to collect fresh cucumbers from the village for a ceremony. The Acolyte was surprised that the Monk wanted to use cucumbers for the rite, to which the Monk snapped at him to not question his orders. (A/N: The acolyte has their own NPC, but it gets swapped out by the player when you’re doing the jump quest to get the cucumbers.) As the village cucumbers were unsuitable for the ceremony, the Acolyte decided to use wild cucumbers.

On his way back, the Acolyte encountered a starving Kappa, who explained that it hadn’t eaten in nearly five days, as the humans had dug up all the food in the forest. Though the Acolyte knew that the rite was important, he had been taught that life was more important than anything, and so he gave the cucumbers to the Kappa.

The traveler then entered the final memory, in which the Monk was furious for the Acolyte’s arrogance in disobeying orders, claiming that the Acolyte wouldn’t get away with it, even if the Head Monk favored them. The Acolyte attempted to defend his actions by claiming that it had been to save a life, but the Monk grew angry that the Acolyte was still talking back.

Suddenly, Tengu appeared and told the Monk to stop bantering and mete out the appropriate punishment. After being punished, the Acolyte was consumed by his negative emotions. Realizing that he had been punished despite having followed the sacred teachings more faithfully than anyone, he cursed humanity and vowed to have his revenge, transforming into Genkou.

After returning to the present, the traveler discovered a path that hadn’t existed before and followed it to where Tengu awaited them. Tengu congratulated for passing the previous trials, though he warned that one test still remained. The traveler yelled for him to stop, as Takeno didn’t have long, to which Tengu simply stated that he was aware.

The traveler demanded that he surrender the Wood Element, as they had proven themselves worthy, but Tengu merely told them that the Five Elements were powerful, and that they could not fall into the wrong hands. As their power could overwhelm even the strongest Yokai, Tengu explained that he was unsettled by the idea of entrusting them to a human.

For the final test, he told the traveler to prove their strength to defend the Elements from the unworthy by transforming into an enormous crow monster. (A/N: I hate this boss fight so much, I barely passed with one life, but luckily it was my first try.) After a fierce battle, the traveler defeated Tengu, who collapsed on the floor. Impressed by the traveler’s abilities, Tengu determined them to be worthy of safeguarding the Five Elements and allowed them to take the Wood Element, explaining that the seal would not impede them anymore.

As he needed to rest to recover from his injuries, Tengu told the traveler to go and save Takeno. Yorozu asked them not the judge Tengu, as he had to be certain that they were worthy of possessing the immense power of the Five Elements. She then reassured them that she would take care of Tengu and urged them to save Takeno. The traveler returned to the stone lantern and extracted the Wood Element from within it before rushing to the Mushroom Shrine.

The traveler showed the Wood Element to Kino, who was overjoyed and immediately prayed to Daidarabotchi, asking for her to show them how to save Takeno with the Five Elements. To her shock, a strange voice rang out and laughed aloud at Kino having gathered the Elements. Suddenly, Genkou appeared and mockingly thanked Kino for her work.

A horrified Kino asked if he was Daidarabotchi, to which he explained that he was the Great Yokai Genkou, though he may yet become Daidarabotchi after absorbing the Five Elements. He then seized the Elements and absorbed them into his body, explaining that Gyuki, the Guardian of the Metal Element, had been driven mad by attempting to absorb an Element directly, vowing that he would not make the same mistake, as he would instead use the power of Takeno’s half-Yokai blood in order to safely consume the Elements, joking that Takeno wouldn’t be sick anymore after he was finished using her.

Though Kino attempted to defend her sister, Genkou nevertheless kidnapped Takeno and took her away. As the traveler rushed to the scene, Kino begged them to save Takeno, explaining that she had been tricked into thinking that Daidarabotchi had been sending her visions, when in reality, it had been Genkou all along.

The traveler chased after Genkou into the Forest of Oblivion and soon discovered Genkou placing Takeno, who had succumbed to her Yokai blood curse, inside a magical barrier. Genkou recognized the traveler as the one who had obtained the Five Elements and mockingly thanked them for collecting the Elements at Kino’s beck and call. The traveler demanded that he let Takeno go, but Genkou merely laughed that it was too late, as Takeno now belonged to him.

The traveler fought bravely against Genkou, but the Yokai was ultimately able to overpower them. Suddenly, Ibaraki and Kamaitachi appeared and saved the traveler by attacking Genkou, who was caught off-guard. However, they realized too late that it had merely been a feint as Genkou launched a devastating attack on the trio, though Izuna’s timely appearance allowed her to create a magical barrier around the traveler before Genkou turned on her.

As Izuna fell, Kurama arrived with the Fox Yokai and attacked with the power of the Nine-Tailed Fox. However, Genkou dismissed them as insects and defeated them all before claiming that he would make them bear witness to his dark power and despair. Suddenly, Nue appeared and unleashed his powers, furious that Genkou had attempted to manipulate the darkness, which he claimed belonged to him.

Kubinashi also appeared in her flaming skull form and led her specter soldiers to aid Nue, who then used his Dark Flame on Genkou. Genkou declared that it would take more than their feeble attacks to defeat him, just as Tengu dove in his monstrous form and snatched Genkou. Nue then used his powers to launch the traveler into the air for them to land the final blow on Genkou, who yelled that if he hadn’t been scorned and disrespected, he never would have fallen into darkness, cursing humanity as he was defeated. Back on the ground, Kino arrived and sobbed over Takeno’s lifeless body.

Kino then called out for Daidarabotchi to save her sister. When her cries went unheard, Kino called herself a fool for having allowed herself to be tricked by the lies of Yokai, crying that she would have told her sister how much she loved her every day. She then wondered aloud whether this was her punishment from Daidarabotchi for having squandered the time she had with Takeno by her search for the Five Elements, adding that she should have died in Takeno’s place.

Suddenly, the Five Elements began glowing and transported Kino, the traveler, and Takeno’s body to a strange place with a strange woman. The traveler asked the woman who she was, to which she explained that she had many names, with some knowing her as Asia, the protector of Zipangu who lived within the sacred tree Kamuna.

She then added that they would likely know her as Daidarabotchi. Looking at Takeno’s body, Asia told them that many things had happened while she had been away, explaining that she had been trapped outside their realm when the life force of Kamuna, the sacred tree, had been disrupted. She then told the traveler that the spirits of Kamuna had told her much about them and their friends.

As Kino sobbed that she had lost her sister due to her own greed, Asia told her that it was not her fault, but rather, it had been because of her own carelessness and apologized for failing them as the Guardian of Zipangu. The traveler then asked if there was any that she could do to help Takeno, as they had collected the Five Elements, though it had all been in vain. In her mind, Asia thought to herself that “that man” would have helped them without giving a second thought. (A/N: This is likely a reference to Dunas, another Guardian of Zipangu. Dunas was described as very passionate about helping others before he lost faith in humanity and chose to destroy them.)

Realizing that a power unused was no power at all, Asia declared that she would save Takeno by borrowing the power of the Five Elements and calling Takeno’s spirit back from the Sanzu River.

(A/N: The Sanzu River, also known as the Sanzu-no-Kawa, which means “River of Three Crossings”, is a mythological river in Japanese Buddhist tradition that souls of the departed must cross in their journey to the afterlife. The three crossings of the river are a bridge, a ford, or deep, snake-infested waters, with the weight of one’s sins while alive determining which path the traveler is allowed to take in order to cross. The Sanzu River is very similar to the Vaitarna River in Hindu mythology, as well as the River Styx in Greek mythology.)

With her divine power, Asia restored Takeno back to life by using the Five Elements to take the place of what had been lost. When the traveler asked if the Five Elements had been absorbed into Takeno, Asia told them that that was a simplistic way of looking at it. She explained that the Five Elements were a manifestation of the powers that had formed Zipangu, born into the world to help Kamuna, the tree of Zipangu, in maintaining balance in the world.

Fearing that it would fall into the wrong hands, the three Guardians of Zipangu had split the primal power into five pieces and entrusted to those who would use its power for the good of others. As Genkou could not claim the power of the Elements on his own, he had manipulated the Konoko sisters’ plight, as well as the traveler’s altruism, into collecting them for him.

However, she revealed that Genkou had been unable to obtain the full power of the Elements, as the presence of many vessels with pure, altruistic hearts that called out to the power of the Elements, thus splitting the power of the Elements between Genkou and the traveler and their friends. She then told the traveler that she would one day have need of someone as good-hearted as them and told them to cherish their time together, as she would call upon them to aid Zipangu when the time came.

Elsewhere, Genkou faced a One-Horned Man, Dunas, who claimed that he would take the power that remained in Genkou’s dark grudge.

(A/N: The ending of this storyline is pretty rushed, despite how engaging the first half of it was. Regarding the backstory of Genkou, he was the Acolyte who worked at the temple. After he gave the cucumbers to the starving Kappa, the Monk began admonishing him when Tengu appeared and told him to mete out judgement on Genkou.

We don’t really know what his punishment was, but in the aftermath, his hatred causes him to manifest his dark Yokai form and take revenge on humanity for what they had done to him. We then see the memory of him attacking the village. The first memory that we see in the trial is actually the final one chronologically, with a defeated Tengu berating himself for his role in creating Genkou. During the Trial of the Crow, we wonder whether Tengu was the one who had eaten the humans at the temple, but it’s actually Genkou who killed the monks and then began luring humans to devour them.

Asia was first introduced in the Neo Tokyo storyline, which originally came from JMS, just like Mushroom Shrine Tales. Neo Tokyo received a revamp and was officially integrated into GMS-verse. In Mushroom Shrine Tales, Dunas isn’t mentioned by name and he’s instead credited as merely the One-Horned Man, although this does confirm that it’s really him because Dunas has a single horn protruding from his forehead.

The rest of this section covers the quests needed to unlock Yorozu, Nue, Kubinashi, and Izuna for the Threads of Fate. They’re a sort of epilogue to the storyline, although they’re more like side stories. In order to start the questline for these four, you’ll need to have at least 50 Closeness with Tengu, Ibaraki, Kamaitachi, and Kurama, respectively.)

Seeking to make amends, the traveler approached Kubinashi, who told them that she would forgive them if they passed along a message to Kamaitachi, instructing him to meet her at the Moonlight Bamboo Grove during the next full moon, as she sought to resolve their feud once and for all. The traveler informed Kamaitachi of Kubinashi’s message, and Kamaitachi realized that the next full moon was that very night. The traveler decided to accompany Kamaitachi and traveled with him to the grove, where Kubinashi was waiting to face him.

Kamaitachi explained that he had come to talk, not to fight, but Kubinashi refused to listen and charged in. Suddenly, the three felt unnaturally sleepy and fell unconscious. The trio soon awoke and found themselves in the Fire Raccoon Finance building in Showa Town, which they recognized as the Yakuza headquarters. Kamaitachi realized that the Yakuza were capturing Yokai, and that they had fallen into the Yakuza’s trap.

Deciding it was time to go, the traveler asked Kubinashi if she would join them in escaping, and so Kubinashi grudgingly agreed to set aside her differences with Kamaitachi until they escaped. The three then began fighting past security and soon entered the parking lot, where they saw that there was writing on the wall, which said that the key was at the bottom of a gas can.

After grabbing the gas can and a hose, Kubinashi suggested sucking up the gasoline with the hose, allowing them to obtain the key, but Kamaitachi realized that it was a key for a car, not the door. Inside the glove box of the car, they found the key for the door, which they used to escape. After escaping, Kubinashi decided to forgive the traveler, though she still maintained that she would one day battle Kamaitachi.

Seeking to become Izuna’s friend, the traveler approached her, but Izuna refused to befriend them, as the traveler was friends with Kurama. Confused by her words, the traveler asked Kurama if something had happened between them. Equally confused, Kurama went to talk to Izuna, who cryptically told him that she didn’t want to come off as violent or fussy and scare him with her explanation.

Realizing that it had been because of something he had said, Kurama claimed that he had only been telling the truth, although his words made matters worse. In order to remedy the situation, Kurama decided to hold a contest to determine who was the prettiest in the Mushroom Shrine, as he believed that Izuna would surely win, which would lift her spirits.

To help Kurama, the traveler placed a voting board in the center of the Mushroom Shrine and let everyone except the candidates know about it. Upon learning from Ibaraki that Kino Konoko had no votes, the traveler had a bad feeling about the arrangement. To Kurama’s shock, however, Takeno had the most votes amongst herself, Izuna, Kino, and Yorozu.

In order to remedy the situation, Kurama decided to rig the results. Just then, Kino arrived and, upon seeing that she had no votes, tore up the board, claiming that trash had no place in the shrine. With no other recourse, Kurama approached Izuna and showed her a letter that they had buried together under a rock on Fox Mountain when they were little, which described how much he had liked her, as well as a request for her to marry him.

Izuna was touched by his words and asked if the letter was a proposal, which Kurama denied, telling her that he had hoped to show her that he loved her wonderful traits just as much as he had when they were younger. Flustered, Izuna took the letter and ran away, though she forgave Kurama upon returning and agreed to become the traveler’s friend.

Soon after, the traveler approached Nue and asked to make their friendship official. Nue agreed, if the traveler brought Ibaraki before him, who allegedly owed him a debt. The traveler then escorted Ibaraki to the forest, where Nue explained that he wanted to take revenge on Ibaraki for interfering with his confession to Takeno. Ibaraki began laughing, but when he realized that Nue was serious, he asked the traveler to help make it up to Nue by throwing together a gift and a letter for his confession, hoping to be entertained by how disastrous the attempt would be.

Nue immediately began working on the letter and gift, after which Ibaraki told the traveler that their biggest obstacle in getting Nue alone with Takeno would be Kino. Following Ibaraki’s advice, the traveler took a shortcut to sneak past Kino and reached Takeno. (A/N: This quest is really trippy and a bit terrifying, in the sense that you have to do a jump quest while avoiding a legion of Kino NPCs.)

Takeno told them that meeting Nue in the Spiritwilds would be too far, and so she suggested that Four Paths’ Crossing instead. They then returned to Nue and told him about the updated location, after which the traveler and Ibaraki headed to the meeting spot when Nue left early. When they arrived, they were surprised to find that Nue wasn’t there.

Suddenly, Tengu appeared and gave them and Takeno a message from Nue that something had come up, preventing him from meeting. The dumbfounded traveler and Ibaraki returned back to the Mushroom Shrine, where Nue demanded to know why they had lied about Takeno coming to the Spiritwilds. The traveler reminded him that the new meeting spot was meant to be the Four Paths’ Crossing, to which Nue cursed himself and told the traveler to help with his confession again, though he promised to be their friend.

Some time later, the traveler approached Yorozu in an attempt to befriend her. Though she was overjoyed, she refused to give in and chided them for having doubted Tengu during their trials for the Wood Element, refusing to befriend them without them apologizing to Tengu. After the traveler spoke with Tengu about what had happened, Tengu explained that Yorozu was overprotective of him and promised to speak with her.

The traveler then apologized to him and returned back to Yorozu, who refused to believe that Tengu had given his approval. She then tasked the traveler with defeating 100 monsters, though she then increased the number to 300 after the traveler finished the task, and soon escalated it to 500. Just as she was about to order them to defeat 999, Tengu arrived and told her that cruelty didn’t befit her. After being scolded by Tengu, Yorozu agreed to befriend the traveler, secretly pleased by their offer.