Kitsune and Yokai Island

The DragonKoi Tournament and Kitsune

Emperor Daisho has opened Yokai Island to outsiders for the DragonKoi Tournament, but your journey cannot begin until Cap'n Herlock's ferry is ready to sail. Driving the Kappa ninjas from the ship and recovering its stolen permit clears the way to Akiba.

At the tournament entrance, Daisuke refuses to recognize your invitation until Princess Ai No Miko intervenes. You have missed the hidden appeal in her letter, and since she does not know whom to trust, you must enter the tournament before she can explain it in private.

You reach Ryoku, whose ultimate attack takes so long to charge that you leave him preparing while you speak with Miko. She explains that the winner will guard the Hanzamune Blade for a year, its name recalling the koi that climbs an impossible waterfall and becomes a dragon.

Kitsune interrupts and steals the blade before you can stop him, brushing aside Miko's insistence that her father will oppose the theft: he doubts Emperor Daisho will care. With the tournament suspended and Ryoku still charging, Miko asks you to meet her at Hachiko Tower.

At Hachiko Tower, the apparent imperial soldiers turn out to be Nopperabo impostors, with the real garrison imprisoned on the roof. You assemble the tower's puzzle key and defeat Dai Tengu to free the captives, opening the route deeper into the island.

The spirits you meet farther inland need help restoring what has been taken or discarded. In the bamboo forest, you recover the Jinmenju Tree's stolen fruit from Wanyudo so it can flourish again. Among the Tsukumo-Gami, spirits of discarded household objects, you gather neglected things for cleaning and reuse and defeat Onibaba, protecting their refuge before continuing toward the river.

After offerings and the defeat of Nure Onna open the river crossing, Hashi Hime helps you onward with an account of the island's former guardian. She remembers Kitsune protecting Yokai Island even from Chaos, until Daisho's welcome to outsiders left him resentful and open to Drakath's offer of power. Now he intends to use the blade to release O-Dokuro, whose destruction she fears would exceed his control.

In the graveyard, Neko Mata pretends to need your help against undead and Nopperabo, keeping you busy while Kitsune prepares the summoning. By the time you defeat her, O-Dokuro has risen as a gigantic skeleton above the rooftops.

Defeating O-Dokuro's body leaves its head still fighting among the remains, and even when you finally overcome it, Yokai continue pouring through Kitsune's open rift.

You recover the discarded Hanzamune Blade and, following Miko's direction to close the rift it opened, climb against the stream of Yokai spirits to seal the breach. Watching from below, she and Obaasan recall the koi's impossible ascent and call you the Legendary Dragon.

Determined to reopen the passage, Kitsune turns on you and refuses to abandon his demand that Yokai rule over humans even after you defeat him. You challenge his claim to speak for an island whose people still honor its spirits, only for him to vanish and attack unseen.

Using Hanzamune, you open another rift that draws Kitsune into the Yokai World and closes behind him, freeing Daisho from his control. Miko welcomes her father back before Ryoku appears with his attack still charging; you knock him down before he can finish, and she finally declares you champion.