Ninjara Hoi! FAQ/Walkthrough

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Introduction

Welcome to another guide of mine. The subject of this particular one is Ninjara Hoi!, a very recently translated Famicom RPG, made in the style of the more well-known Dragon Warrior, which itself spawned a number of clones back in the '80s and '90s. It is known as a bit of a pariodical game in same vein as Tengai Makyou, with much of its humor centered around on various pop and historical figures of Japanese culture (which were modernized in the translation). It's also apparently made by the same team who developed the game Momotarou Densetsu: The Legend of Peach Boy, which is much of the reason why I've wanted to play this game for a while, knowing its humor and gameplay fairly well.

It's been over twenty-five years since this game's launch in 1990 by the ASCII Corporation. And since then, not a single FAQ has been written for it. Well, there's always a first time for everything, no? Ever since the start of the NES FAQ Completion Project on GameFAQs some years ago - a project designed to get a guide out for every single NES game out there - many people have now been helped because older, rarer, less popular games have gotten guides. So many games, in fact, that all of the North American games have been covered, as have the European games, leaving only those that are homebrews and mostly those released in Japan and the Koreas.

And so, that is how I came upon this game. Thanks for listening to my ramblin'; hope you enjoy!

Basics of the Game

Game Controls

Game Saving/Loading

Ninjara Hoi! - along with a number of other Famicom titles by ASCII - uses an expansion plug-in for the Japanese Famicom known as a Turbo File. This Turbo File is essentially a memory card, compatible with a number of other ASCII titles at the save time to store save data from the game. Those attempting to play this game on an actual non-Japanese NES or most emulators will not be able to save their game in the traditional ways as intended by the game; you will have to leave the console on or use save-states, respectively, to retain game progress.

An alternate method of saving - also available by speaking with a Reviving Jizo - is "Diary" saving. Diary-saving is NOT like traditional battery-backed SRAM (save-RAM, the save file that is stored on a game even when the console is turned off). It actually is very misleading in that regard. Rather, a Diary save will only function until the console is turned off completely: it remains there even if you reset. It's good for allowing you to move between save files. However, for long term play, you will need save-states or a Turbo File, or raise your electric bill by leaving the console on outright.

Should you wish to delete the in-game saves - not the Turbo File, the "diary" entries - hold Select and Start and reset the Famicom. The saved data should be deleted. Or just turn it off. Same thing. >_> Why they included a special code for that is beyond me.

Field Interfacing

In the field - which is simply defined as being out of battles - most of your interfacing (other than walking around) will be done via an action menu, which will be opened up with the A Button. At the top, you will see a brief summation of your current status: your name, level, HP, and JP from left to right, with your Gold ("G") below. There are six options at the bottom of the screen:

• Talk (Top-Left): Talk with the person you are currently facing.
• Items (Top-Right): Look at your item stock and use them as needed.
• Jutsu (Middle-Left): Jutsu is essentially magic in this game, and consumes JP.
• Status (Middle-Right): Look at your status in-depth.
• Search (Bottom-Left): Investigate the tile beneath your feet: used to find items.
• Scrolls (Bottom-Right): Use a scroll.

Talk: You can use this to communicate with people, and thereby obtain information. In a humorous game such as this, it is suggested that you talk with everyone at least once. Plus, they can also reveal helpful info!

Items: When you enter this menu, you can choose any of the up-to-eight items you have. There will be four options for an item: "Use" (use or equip the item), "Eat" (used for curative items), "?" (learn the item's effects), and "Drop" (discard the item). Items have a variety of functions and, while they're mentioned in this FAQ, using the "?" option can be helpful to learning their effects for yourself.

Jutsu: Jutsu is a kind of magic for this game. Each Jutsu has a varying effect, too. Jutsus will be learned at the various dojos in various towns, and each use will consume your JP. As some Jutsus are used more and more, they level up and gain higher levels of effectiveness. When you're in the field, you'll only be allowed to use certain Ninjutsus, Tengu Jutsus, and Kunoichi Jutsues.

Status: In the top-left, you will see your current Level (a measure of your power) and Gold ("G" - currency). In the top-middle box, you will see your EXP., current HP, max HP, current JP, max JP, Attack, Defense, and Speed. HP is a measure of your health; when it hits zero, you are warped to the last Reviving Jizo used. JP is used as a currency for Jutsu; hence, Jutsu Point. Attack influences the damage of your Fight command, Defense influences the damage you receive in battle, and Speed influences battles' turn order and your escaping abilities. In the top-right, you'll find the important "Treasure" items you'll get as you play. In the bottom-left, you can find your known Jutsus, and then the info on Tengus if you press A. At the bottom-right is your current equipment: each piece of equipment will be of one of four types, and you can only have one of any type equipped (for a total of four pieces of equipment). In any case, your stats (top-middle) will increase as you earn EXP. from beating enemies, and then level up.

Search: Searching will examine the tile you are standing on to find an item. This, like in most Dragon Warrior clones, is very rarely used except for plot purposes and in-dungeon treasure chests, so don't bother with it too much unless you need to. It's a pretty big game, after all! =P

Scrolls: View the scrolls in your possession.

Battle Interfacing

During battles - which can be randomly found in the overworld and certain other areas, and are forced at other times - you will enter a screen where you can see the enemies' sprites. You can fight a variable number of enemies, which means that it's encouraged to not escape many battles to thusly level up. In any case, you have six options available to you...

• Fight (Top-Left): Attack.
• Item (Top-Right): Use an item, often for a healing or damaging purpose.
• Jutsu (Middle-Left): These consume JP and have varying, useful effects.
• Condition (Middle-Right): See if you've been ailed or the like.
• Cover (Bottom-Left): Allows the user of this command to take the damage for another weaker or more important ally.
• Escape (Bottom-Right): Attempt to flee the battle. Escape is not guaranteed, but is proportionate to your Speed stat.

The goal of any battle is simple: attack the enemy and defeat them all. You will mostly do so with the Fight command, or the Item or Jutsu commands in some other cases. (Note that Jutsu is learned at dojos throughout the game, and consumes some of your limited JP.) When you choose an action, you must select a target. Note that the game is a bit odd about this. Normally, if the enemies are of different species, you can select each of them with a guaranteed chance of hitting any of them (assuming they fail to evade). However, if you find three enemies of the same species, you only can only choose the species given to you (i.e. Skull Knight if all three are Skull Knights), meaning you only have a 33% chance of hitting any. Because focusing your attacks on single enemies removes them from the battle faster and thus lessens harm to you, it is better to flee from battles that are heavily reliant on the same enemy species.

(As a footnote, the game will never specify what stats an enemy has: you have to go on what's given to you for that. In this FAQ, I used my emulator and knowledge of how RAM in games is generally organized to derive their stats for myself. While I don't know the exact mechanics, you can always assume this: higher Attack means more damage dealt, higher Defense means less damage dealt to whoever is hit, and higher Speed means that this person will more likely go first in battles. The troubles I go through for FAQs. <3)

When the battle is won, you will earn EXP. and Gold (G) for winning. EXP. is used to level you up; thus, as you win battles, you will get stronger. Or, to put it another way, no pain, no gain. =P Gold is used as currency to buy stuff. These are the main motivations as to why someone should not flee battles unless they're in danger of losing their health. (And yet, leveling up will also refill your HP and JP, so that could be something to consider in desperation.) Each enemy will yield its own amount of EXP. and Gold; basic algebra would suffice as for how to learn which enemy gives how much of each, but I've also used the RAM to save trouble on both of our parts in that regard. =P

Other Things of Note...

Death in the Party: When Kazemaru is the lone party member, like he is for much of the game, and his HP hits zero, you will be returned to the last town you visited. If all party members die when you have multiple members, that is when this teleportation occurs: otherwise, you will have to wander around with dead member(s). Those with no HP will not be functional in battle. To revive someone whose HP is gone, you can use a Reviving Ball. You can also speak with the Reviving Jizo found in each town and you will have to pay an amount of money equal to 16 times their level, like below.

Known Problems with the Game: This game has a few minor glitches of note: nothing that would derail your gameplay, but could cause confusion. Firstly, the use of the Trippy Balls is known to alter the palette and colors in the game; expect that. In particular, it will possibly make text invisible. You know, trippy. =P You can remedy this by simply walking around for a bit: the effect is only temporal.

Next, later in the game, you will earn the Burrow Tengu Jutsu: this is about halfway-to-2/3 through the game. This allows you to avoid random-encounter battles. However, in certain situations, its use can cause the game to hang: for example, the game might hang if you are under its effects and attempt to enter a boss battle. It is also a temporal thing: just know to walk around until the Jutsu loses its effect before entering any forced battles.

Also, if you name your character and your partner with names less than six letters, then the game will assume the rest of the name to be filled with spaces. For example, the phrase from the introduction (in English, if you're named BOB), were it displayed properly...

  "It is the story of a boy known as BOB. Long ago, there once..."

  "It is the story of a boy known as BOB   . Long ago, there once..."

Walkthrough

One Quick Note!

To those who happen to be reading this FAQ, I would like to note that I am using the English translation of this game available through http://www.romhacking.net by Pennywise, aishsha, and others. For this reason, I will provide translations (for relatively important scenes: others are simply summed up or skipped) for the common player based on this translation, in case you cannot - for whatever reason - apply the translation to your own game and also have poor/no skills at reading Japanese (like me =P). While such translations should be expected of FAQs for Japanese RPGs, also keep in mind that the authors of this translation, in a way, localized the translation so the humor therein would be retained for non-Japanese audiences, and my in-FAQ translations will reflect this.

Game Start-Up

At the title screen, press Start to begin the game. You will first be able to choose the speed at which messages scroll with the Up/Down buttons on the D-Pad, after which you'll be able to select whether you want to load a new game (top) or start a new game (bottom). Assuming you're doing the latter, you will next enter your name. Note that your name is limited to six characters - if it's any less, the game's text will look "odd" when your name is mentioned, as blanks will be put in to fill out the remainder of your name. Additionally, the game won't let you enter a name that is all one character (i.e. "AAAAAA"). The same is true for your partner and friend, a dog. If you opt to not choose a name, you will be using the default name: the main character's is Kazamaru, and the dog's is Jubei. After, the game begins....

The Star Scroll

Sectional Flowchart

• Introduction Translation
• Wind Hamlet
• [[Overworld]]
• Encaenia Village
• Return to the Wind Hamlet
• Our First Overworld Trek
• Manji Cave
• Star Town

Introduction Translation

Wind Hamlet

After regaining control of your character, feel free to speak with the guy at the right side of the room. (He speaks of getting his orange belt - a symbol of strength, in regards to karate - through the mail, in case you can't tell.) Leave the house to the front lawn with the path in the shape of a swastika. At the south part of town is a white person, known as a Reviving Jizo, who you can save the game at.

Were you to enter the shop in the southeast corner, you would find the Shinobi Arms store - an equipment store - at the left, and the Shinobi Tools store - an items store - at the right. In the southwest corner of town is an inn where you can spend a small sum of money to stay the night and restore your HP and JP in full. You can also access a depository in the inn to save your items, and another for your Gold, which can then be withdrawn, not just here, but anywhere else where such a place exists! While you do not have any money - and thus both facilities currently lack any use to use - it is important to get familiar with them nonetheless.

In the northeast and northwest mountains making up the town are dojos where you can learn ninjutsu, this game's variation on magic that you'd find in most RPGs. However, the dojo master is not here; other towns will have such dojos for you to learn at, however. Anyhow, since you have nothing else to do here, simply head to the overworld. As you leave town, be sure to do so via the south end: there, you'll find a person next to the ring of trees surrounding the village. This is a Reviving Jizo: you can speak with these to learn how much EXP. you need to reach the next level and to save your game. Be sure to use them often (if you have a Turbo File).

Encaenia Village

When you enter the village proper, there's not a lot to do, but speaking with the townspeople can give some useful advice to RPG beginners. (Of course, if you're playing an RPG out of your language, you've probably played quite a few before! =P) Anyhow, in the northwesternmost house, speak with the man to get a riddle: should you answer it, you'll be told where Saizo is. The riddle is "Green on the vine, red on your plate! What six-letter vegetable am I talking about?" -- the answer is "Tomato". (On the English translation, note that it is case-sensitive.)

The man will then reveal himself to be Saizo, and you will be given a Secret Message. As you go south out of the village, there will be some ninjas awaiting you: speaking with them reveals that this small task, by order of Stinkosai, has made you a full-fledged ninja! (What the hell?)

Return to the Wind Hamlet

Our First Overworld Trek

^sr1|Express Tengu and his true form.

In any case, begin by going northward. As you go through the larger mountains encircling this area, you'll find a Jizo statue, which you can speak with - at least in the overworld - to be able to get some useful hints, this hint being what you get from this Jizo. Further north, if you keep along the dirt path, you will find a Jizo. Go along the grassy path to the east and through the forest and then into the house at the end to find the Express Tengu. By speaking with him, you will have to play a little game with him to find his true form, a blue-clothed old man as when you speak to him initially - just press A when you see it. It might take a few tries, but it's doable and repeatable. When you win, you'll get the Express Tengu Jutsu, which functions like the Fujizoom item, which lets you travel to a town or village you've been to already for 10 JP. You could easily use the inns there to cheaply heal your JP back if needed. Thus, it's great for emergencies or the need to save quickly!

Backtrack through the overworld to that fork in the path near the second Jizo statue. Go north and along the path to find Manji Cave.

Manji Cave

Other than those enemies, you'll find plenty of Scythe Skulls throughout, and they are still rather powerful, meaning you'll probably lose most battles against them. It would be wise to bring along some Shurikens from Wind Hamlet to deal with them.

When you enter the cave, begin by walking along the linear path north and east and you will find a four-way intersection. Go south first and Search on the chest at the end of the path to find a Rice Cake item, which restores 25 HP! (That actually ought to be close to your actual max HP right now, assuming you're Level 4 as I am.) Similarly, if you go north of that four-way, you'll find an Onigiri on the ground, which heals 16 HP as you should already know. East of the four-way are the stairs, which lead to the overworld. Enter the nearby village.

Star Town

Enter the Star Dome in the center of the town, which is the town's baseball field. Speak with the foul-mouthed Clemenichi on the mound and you'll be shoved to home base. As he throws the baseball, properly time your pressing of A or B so that you swing and hit a home-run. He will accuse you of being on something before throwing you the Star Scroll! ^_^ After getting all of the damn foul language out of your system, leave.

The Dream Scroll

Sectional Flowchart

• Moving Further In The Overworld
• Badabing Hamlet
• The Path of Napalm
• Napalm Hamlet
• Island Hoppin'
• Across the Bridge
• Limpy Hamlet
• More in the Overworld...
• Dream Town

Moving Further In The Overworld

As a note, if you need quick Gold, you can get the item Frog oil from the Battle Frogs when you beat them. You don't have multiple party members as of yet, so selling it for a nice 90 Gold is a considerable thought.

Badabing Hamlet

In the northwestern cave of the town is a dojo where you can learn some Ninjutsu. Speak with the man within to confirm your training.

The Path of Napalm

Napalm Hamlet

Other than this stuff, the Napalm Hamlet doesn't have much in it, so head back to the overworld.

Island Hoppin'

Across the Bridge

Once you've crossed that long bridge from Napalm to the new island, you'll find a Jizo statue noting that Limpy Hamlet is just ahead. Technically, it's to the southeast. but whatever: it's there, so going there isn't too bad an idea!

Limpy Hamlet

Also, there's a dojo in the northwest corner of town where you can fight!

More in the Overworld...

When you return to the overworld, head south and along the western dirt path for a bit. If you speak with the Jizo along the way - a Confirmation Jizo - he will mention the Express Tengu and his Tengu Jutsu you can learn from him. He can be found southeast of Manji Cave's south entrance, along the path in the forest there - see Our First Overworld Trek for more. To the southeast of there, you should see some form of two lakes: like in the nearby screenshot, you can see a house - that of a Tengu - to the southeast of there. Go there!

Within, you will find the Exit Tengu: confirm that you are here to learn his Exit Spell and he will ask you to hand him an item whose name begins with "Da-". The only such item we've found insofar in the game is the Dango item which can be bought at Star Town and earlier areas for 8 Gold: use the Express Tengu Jutsu or a Fujizoom to get to one of those an back. (Those using the Fujizoom may prefer Wind Hamlet, since it sells Fujizooms.) For obtaining one and then speaking with him again, you will learn the Exit Tengu Jutsu, which allows you to exit any area (in the same manner as the Escape Ball item) for 9 JP.

Back in the overworld, go north and west to the dirt path we were following earlier. Then just follow it southward to Dream Town.

Dream Town

There are ghosts in the northern portion of town who will give you hints as to the answer: here are the various hints you can receive:

• Speaking with the southeastern ghost - clearly some man gone out of his mind with his delusions of being Jesus Christ - will yield this question: which group (among the Mongols, the Europeans, and the Americans) never managed to make it to Japan? The Mongols didn't, so answer that and you will learn that the numbers in the password are all odd.

• Speaking with the southern ghost near the path in the trees will yield that the number is three digits.

• The ghost just northwest of that one will first ask who wrote The Book of the Five Rings. Frankly, I was soooo tempted to try J.R.R. Tolkien (thinking it to be a ploy on his works in the The Lord of the Rings series), but the ghosts weren't amused. =P Anyhow, the answer is "Musashi Miyamoto". You will then learn that the sum of the [three] digits in the number is fifteen.

• The next ghost to the north will (eventually) ask you which of the three names shown was a Japanese warlord. Of course, the answer is Oda Nobunaga. (Guess that gives some credit to the Nobunaga's Ambition series.) You then learn that the product of the three digits in the number equals 105. Quickly, then, mathematically:
  • X + Y + Z = 15
  • X * Y * Z = 105
  • Simple trial-and-error will allow you to deduce that the digits are 3, 7, and 5: their sum is 15 and their product is 105. The question is the order...

• The next ghost to the northeast will ask as to which of the three styles of poetry - haiku, shi, and sonnets - are Japanese. Answer with the top option, "haiku", to get another hint. All three numbers are prime numbers, which means that their only factors (as far as natural numbers (positive integers > 0)) are 1 and themselves. The previously deduced 3, 5, and 7 apply to this rule, so let's move on. ... Though, yeah, that would've given it away: the only prime numbers between 0 and 9 inclusive are 2, 3, 5, and 7. =P

• The next ghost to the northwest with the girly name... Okay, he's pointless. Moving on.

• The next ghost to the east, named Alexandre Dumbass (poor guy), will eventually remember his riddle: who can take the place of the emperor, at least in regards to general royal proceedings? It's a role generally delegated to regents in times of illness, so go with that, the top option. The ghost will allow you to know that the three numbers in the password are two apart from each other. So this works for 3, 5, and 7: 3 + 2 = 5, and 5 + 2 = 7. Moving on.

• The baseball-loving ghost just nearby will ask you this question: who was Musashi Miyamoto's main rival? (Musashi Miyamoto being a famous baseball star in Japan.) The answer is Kojiro Sasaki, the top option. You'll finally get a hint as to the order of the digits themselves: the first digit is larger than the second, and the second is larger than the third. Thus, if the number were XYZ, X > Y > Z, which means that the numbers descend in value. Since we know the digits to be 3, 5, and 7, we simply reverse the order: the answer to the password is 753! (7 > 5 > 3)

Inside the treasury, you will find a massive store of 25 treasre chests!!! Search on them to find ... well, it actually varies quite a bit. The last thing you'll find in any of them is the Dream Scroll; from there on out, they'll all be empty. The contents of each are also randomized to an extent, so it's all a lot of luck.

Anyhow, when you're done, return back to the overworld.

The Song Scroll

Sectional Flowchart

• In the Wetlands
• Runaway Hamlet
• Arhat's Road
• [[On the Coast]]
• Doppel Hamlet
• Genbu's Castle
• Evaporation of the Moat
• Showdown Village
• Firewakame Mall
• Heading for ... Turd Village
• Turd Village
• The Turd Pit
• Fresh Air At Last!!
• Song Town
• The Lake Cave
• Restoring Song Town's Music

In the Wetlands

Runaway Hamlet

If you enter the north-central house of the village, you can speak with the dog inside, Tazu, the dog who allied Rahoi on his own journeys. She won't join you, being too old, but her son Takamaru is more than willing to join! He will join at Level 1, so keeping him alive in most battles will take a bit of work, but his stats are a bit more buffed than yours initially were as a form of compensation.

Now, as usual, you can head into the northwestern cave to find a dojo for learning Ninjutsu! But first, a brawl!

Arhat's Road

Arhat's Road - 2F: Go east to find the stairs.

Arhat's Road - 3F (West): Go southeast to the stairs.

Arhat's Road - 4F: Go south and west to find a fork in the path caused by two westbound paths. In reality, they both end up at the same place, so take whichever. As another path opens up to the south (assuming you took the southern path), though, go west, north, and east to find that chest you probably saw in the alcove: it contains a Fancy Watch. It simply allows you to see how long it has been since you started the game. Pretty interesting, eh? I've clocked in at 10 hours, 33 minutes so far. ... >_>;; Feel free to use it, though; it has infinite uses.

Round back to the west, south, east, and go south into the clearing. Further south of there is a bit of a labyrinth, but it's actually easy to navigate once you deal with it a little. However, as you go along, stepping on any of the rocks (I suppose they're eggs?) will initiate a battle against the difficult Newborn Moth, so look out! Stick with all of the westernmost exits to get an Antidote, then go north and east and south into another alcove for a Plum Pill. Repeat the process to find some useful Frog Oil, then go back into that horizontally-long clearing from before the labyrinth of eggs.

From there, head east along the southern wall and you'll find another path in similar design to the labyrinth's, but it's quite linear actually. It leads to a Caterer's Card chest at the end. Once you've snatched it (wonder why moths would need that?), go back to the horizontal room and east and across the bridge.

On the other side, immediately go north to find a chest; Search its contents to find 100 Gold. Go back to the bridge, then along a path to the east when first possible. It will end up winding north into a clearing. There, go to its northeast and northwest corners to find two chests containing an Antidote in the northeast corner and a battle versus a Newborn Moth (if you want it) in the northwest corner. Go north from this room to another, then follow the path west from there to find some stairs.

Arhat's Road - 3F (East): Open up the nearby chest to find a much-needed Food Capsule, then go east and upstairs.

Arhat's Road - 1F: Yeah, you somehow skipped 2F. Anyhow. Go east and south to the overworld.

Overworld: When you arrive out of Arhat's Road, finally, go south out of the mountain valley to the oceanside. Head a bit east from there to the Doppel Hamlet.

Doppel Hamlet

Anyhow, there's not much else here ... except a brawl in the northwestern cave, as usual, for some Jutsu!

With this very cool Ninjutsu in ... well, I'm not where you keep it ... leave the hamlet. Once in the overworld, just go north and east to find Genbu's Castle.

Genbu's Castle

Begin by going eastward for a while. As you go, you'll notice an open doorway to the north; nothing is beyond, and when you attempt to leave it, the castle will also be left, so don't bother. The same is true of the next such doorway you meet as you continue along the very linear path. As you go further west from there and up another set of stairs, you'll be right at a fork: one going upstairs to a door, and another going just east to a door. Use the latter doorway and you will end up on the roof. Go east from there and through another doorway.

On the other side, go east, upstairs, and west to go through another door. In the room beyond, you'll find Genbu, one of the four Skull Devas!

Evaporation of the Moat

Here will be a Tengu's house: this is the one of the Jingle Tengu. Confirm with him that you would like to learn his Jutsu: however, you must have absolutely no cash on you to be able to do that. If you have money, go back to Doppel Hamlet and deposit it all in the money depository in the northwestern corner of the inn, then return to the Tengu's house without winning any battles (just escape from them). For doing so, you'll learn the Jingle Tengu Jutsu - this cannot be used in towns, but it costs no JP and you will gain 1 Gold per step you take without going into a battle. It will be a bit inconvenient if you need to grind for money (since battles happen pretty often and it's only 1 Gold per step), but it might be a helpful extra boost.

Backtrack to the general area around Genbu Castle and head east this time.

"Every night

I kill you

in my dreams!

I can see you now

that is how

I know I can

kill you now!

That is how

I know this fight

will go on and on..."

Anyhow, when you reach the first Jizo statue east of Genbu. First go northeast and follow the dirt path. As the path winds to the southeast, another Jizo will be nearby to notify you of a Tengu's house to the east of there. Follow the broken dirt path there to meet with the Waterwalk Tengu. He quickly decides to not teach you his Jutsu - since he didn't pre-order Ninjara Hoi (this game) and is now pissed off... But he quickly warms to you and decides that, if you can make him laugh, you'll get your Jutsu. But he thinks you're not ready for that and suggests playing another 10 hours. ... Hm... In any case, let's not bother for now. Dude's a jerk.

Back in the overworld, go to the southwest of that southeastbound path you were following earlier: we'll be doing a bit of side-tracking before you go to ... Turd Village. ... Anyhow. You'll soon find a castle. If you look throughout the forest around there, if you look carefully at the gaps, you'll notice that there is Japanese katakana there with the word "kohosochi" written. Not sure what it means, but just something the curious may wonder about. South of that castle, the Firewakame Mall - which we'll visit later - is Showdown Village.

Showdown Village

You can enter the contest by going into the northernmost building and speaking with the guy at the desk. The contest is rather easy; in fact, just enter anything and you'll win. I entered just "A" and won. So, that's really about it here. Go north of the town to find the Firewakame Mall.

Firewakame Mall

Mall - 1F: The Firewakame Mall is akin to the Department Stores of the earlier-generation Pokémon games: a big shop with a variety of things to buy! When you arrive, go into the first doorway to the east and speak with the man within to choose a floor to go to. You can choose from the Roof/3F, 2F, 1F (where you entered, which has no shops), and B1F. ''(There is a hidden B2F option you can reach: it is the blank line at the end of the floor-choosing text box - see the screenshot to the right to get what I mean.) Choose whichever fits your needs.

Mall - 2F: Here, the first room you can reach is an inn costing 1 Gold. The second is the Shinobi Arms shop. Why you would want the outdated equipment there is beyond me - I mean, it's really outdated, so much so that the half-price thing doesn't even make it worth bothering with. Except with the Hachiganes, the best headbands you can have insofar.

Mall - Roof: The area to the right is the Batting Center. For 100 Gold, you will have four balls thrown at you and you can swing at them. Depending on how many hits you get, you will get a variety of prizes:

Mall - B2F: Here, after choosing that hidden option noted earlier, you can go to the Hamper Casino. There, for 100 Gold, you will be able to open a whopping 25 chests; similarly to the Dream Town treasury, the contents are randomized, but, yeah, there's lotsa goodies in there! =D When you're done, it's time to leave to the overworld.

Heading for ... Turd Village

Turd Village

When you arrive here, feel free to speak with the Turdfolk (yes, they are, quite literally, fecal matter) for some moderately-amusing comments. If you were to head into the northwestern house of the village, you can find the Prince of the Turds, Shitose. He will help you by joining your party so you can get through the nearby cave to continue your journey. As before, his purpose is merely for the plot, meaning he will only Cover during battles, cannot be controlled or healed, and has hidden stats.

In the center of the village, you'll find the inn, which costs 85 Gold. (Though, to be honest, I would bring my own sheets if I were you. =P) In the southeasternmost house, you can speak with the turd there to cover yourself in Luminous Moss, which is supposed to repel poison. (Whether it actually works is beyond me.) Beyond these things, there's little to do here.

Go east and south through the overworld to find our next destination, the Turd Pit.

The Turd Pit

Turd Pit - 3F: When you arrive, go to the far east to the water, then go north along the linear-but-winding path. As you reach the next spring of water, go north first to find a "DEAD END" and a chest containing a Windup Mouse. Backtrack to the entrance and continue by going northwest and along the path to a fork, then going northwest from there. You will find a sign marking this as a "DEAD END" and a hamper containing an Escape Ball. Head back to the fork and go northwest, then north as much as possible, defaulting to west when needed. You will soon find a ladder going downstairs; ignore it and go north to find a Food Capsule. Go far east to the northeast corner to find a Bamboo Pill in a hamper there. Go back west to the stairs from before and use them.

Turd Pit - 2F: As a note of trivia, you can ease your navigation by looking at the shapes of the ... rivers of brown water, I suppose you could call them. They are in the shapes of the Japanese katakana for "u", "so", and "chi" going clockwise. You will start out just to the southwest of "chi".

Here, go north, east, and south along that wall that is surrounding that water and you will find a hamper. Open it to find a valuable Throwing Knife! Go back northwest to the ... brown water for "chi" and then west and into the hall there to another such lake, this for "so". Then go west from there to another hall and north there. You will eventually run into a Bamboo Pill at the northwest corner. From here, run faaar off to the east and you'll eventually hit some water. From there, begin going southeast until you end up at a "Y"-shaped fork that runs off to the north, which ends at a hamper. Open it for 200 Gold.

Go back to the turd-lake in the shape of the katakana for "u" - we turned north there, remember? Now go south there. When you reach the water, there will be two southbound paths to follow: follow the western one to wander upon a hamper, though be careful as it's trapped and thus initiates a battle. Go northeast from there to a north/east fork; go east and along the path to find some stairs that go down. (The nearby hamper also contains a battle.) Go on down.

Turd Pit - 1F: When you arrive, it would probably be a good idea to heal up, since you probably fought quite a few battles on the way. In any case, go north and speak with the man there, Byakko of the Skull Devas!

Here, you will see two paths: one to the north, and one to the northeast. First go north and into the clearing there to find two hampers to open: they contain a Pine Pill and a Caterer's Card. Along the aforementioned path to the northeast, you will find the stairs to go outside, so use 'em.

Fresh Air At Last!!

Song Town

In any case, on to business. The town's inn is in the northeast corner of town and costs 100 Gold. The Tea House, which has a couple of new, interesting items, is in the west-central part of town. In the center of the town is a large, white pagoda; enter it and speak with the men within. It seems that the Song Scroll was inside the instrument of the fifth member of this five-band band's instrument, the same one who was kidnapped. He has probably been taken to the Skulls' underground lair. The way to get to him and the scroll is the Clockwork Sub built by Tobimasa; you are permitted to take it, and it's just outside of the town.

The sub is just south of the town: sail due south to the "Y"-shaped island to the Lake Cave.

The Lake Cave

Go north and land. (It seems you need to be on the leftmost tile of the river when you land.) Focusing on this area as a side-scrolling platformer may help your perspective. In any case, go to the left and past the first ladder, then down the next two. Continue along the path to find a Windup Mouse in a hamper at the end, then backtrack to the skipped ladder and ascend. When you get to the nest floor, go to the far right to find a Smoke Ball. Return to the ladder and ascend to the very top, then go right and down another ladder to find a hamper in a small, secluded alcove; it contains a Pine Pill.

Return to the submarine now. Go south, then west until a pathway to the north opens up. Go along it and land at the shoreline. (Again, at the far west portion.) Go left, skipping the first ladder to go down the second to find a Windmill Star. Then go to the top of both ladders to find a Kikatsugan at the top of the western one, and another Kikatsugan at the end of the path of the eastern ladder.

Return to the sub and go south, west, and north along the path. Eventually, a narrow path will open up to the north, and it will have a ladder along it: climb it and go along to the Skull Deva, Suzaku.

... Wait a moment. Why didn't Musiko just use that?

Seriously. It's a big plot hole.

Restoring Song Town's Music

The Rainbow Scroll

Sectional Flowchart

• Crossing to a New Island
• Bamboo Hamlet
• To Seiryu Castle!
• Skull Village 1
• To Seiryu Castle! (Continued)
• Seiryu Castle
• Return to Bamboo Hamlet
• Beyond Seiryu Castle
• Vigor Hamlet
• The F-F-Frozen Fields
• Skull Village 2
• The Flame Shrine
• Tankin' Through
• Seemenot Village
• Tankin' Some More!
• Rainbow Town

Crossing to a New Island

Anyhow, when you return to the overworld, go west and along the dirt path. You will soon find Bamboo Hamlet, the home of your sister Akane.

Bamboo Hamlet

Speaking with the locals reveals grim news, however. (It may cause you to delay the purchase of Akane's equipment.) Akane has apparently been kidnapped by the Skull Clan, as well as Tobimasa, and they're being held captive in Seiryu Castle. Even worse, they're making Tobimasa build them a weapon ... a very powerful weapon, within a near-impregnable fortress.... Oh carp. (Not a typo.)

In any case, there's nothing left to do here: leave.

To Seiryu Castle!

• Question #1: Which of these is only related to baseball?
  • Answer Choices: "Stealing a base"; "Getting to second base"; "Running the bases"
  • Correct Answer: "Stealing a base"

• Question #2: What's it called when a runner gets touched out?
  • Answer Choices: "Hide-and-seek"; "Tag"; "Musical Chairs"
  • Correct Answer: "Tag"

• Question #3: What's answer term for a breaking ball?
  • Answer Choices: "Knifeball"; "Forkball"; "Sporkball"
  • Correct Answer: "Forkball"

• Question #4: What do you call a team's first pitcher in the game?
  • Answer Choices: "Opening Pitcher"; "Starting Pitcher"; "Casey Killer" (lol)
  • Correct Answer: "Starting Pitcher"

• Question #5: What do you call it when the losing team scores zero points?
  • Answer Choices: "Shutout"; "Blackout"; "Crapout"
  • Correct Answer: "Shutout"

^sr4|This way!

Back in the overworld, go back east-southeast to that Jizo mentioning the Skull Maze. As you can see, there are a number of paths going north you can go through, which is why it's a maze. You can skip through the skulls if you want to, but beware that you'll lose 5 HP per skull. The correct path is a bit to the east: if you look at the forest's trees' shapes, you'll notice that they have distinct shapes. The one you want to go along is the one in the nearby screenshot, of the up-pointing arrow.

As you attempt to cross the bridge and the river. (Jubei, the dog you named at the start, will block you if you've not gotten the Song Scroll yet, FYI.) In the middle of that area, you can find Skull Village 1. (It's safe to enter.)

Skull Village 1

Shop-wise, there's not much here; the items from the Tea House (the southeastern building) are pretty pointless, and the inn is so costly (1,000 Gold) that it's wiser to just use Express to go to and from another town and here to use an inn. =/ Still, healing would be wise. In the northern pagoda, you can speak with the lone resident there and affirm that you would step on a picture of the Skull Shogun to start a battle.

In the southwestern house, you can also speak with the man within to learn the Binding Ninjutsu! It will, of course, follow a battle!

That'll do it for here.

To Seiryu Castle! (Continued)

The paths will converge at a long bridge. Cross it, then enter the castle beyond.

Seiryu Castle

In any case, using the western or eastern staircases will just yield a battle; if you go up the middle staircase and beat the Alcoholic Skull atop there, you will find Tobimasa! He will give you a Zapper, which will make those Clockwork Robots a HELL of a lot easier to beat as it will kill them in a single shot. ^_^; Tobimasa will leave afterwards. The rightmost door on the bottom floor has also been unlocked, so go through it.

On the other side, go north and along the long, linear path for a long while. You'll eventually reach a door on the other side.

^sr5|

In this area, as in the overworld, be sure to not step on the skulls on the ground since you'll lose some HP when you do so. For the most part, the path is also pretty linear here. Go east for a while, then upstairs and west. (Ignore the stairs you first find to the third floor: it's a dead-end.) What is interesting about this floor, as you travel west, is that you have to avoid the invisible tiles on the ground: the invisible tiles are in the same places as the skull were on the lower floor. The screenshot nearby shows how you would navigate the beginning, for example.

Go up the first set of stairs you reach, then further up and through the door. There, you will find the final Skull Deva, and the one closest-allied with the Skull Shogun, Seiryu!

After this, return out into the main portion of the area and return to the first floor, then go far to the right and through the door to the outside. On the way, equip Akane with any equipment you may have bought for her ahead of time in Bamboo Hamlet. When you exit to the overworld, you can either go ahead and return to Bamboo Hamlet for the sake of learning some new Kunoichi Jutsus - those which Akane learns - or simply continue beyond Seiryu Castle so we can get on with the storyline. I'll let you choose.

Return to Bamboo Hamlet

When you arrive, it would first be wise to sleep at the inn, of course, and to focus for the moment on getting Akane some suitable equipment for battle. It wouldn't be too bad an idea, either, to help her grind up to around Level 20 or so to keep her up with the local enemy populous. The main reason we're here, though, are the two Kunoichi Jutsu dojos in the northwesat and northeast corners of the hamlet. Like the Ninjutsu dojos for Kazemaru, these will allow Akane to battle some Ninjas to learn new skills. As usual, she will battle these Ninjas by her lonesome.

In the northwest corner of town, you'll find the one for the Defense Jutsu.

In any case, heal up once more. We're done here for now, so back through Seiryu Castle to the other side so we can continue our lengthy journey.

Beyond Seiryu Castle

Vigor Hamlet

Now, for the training... In the northwestern cavern, you can go against the Vigor Ninja: this will be a fight for Akane.

The other cave is for the Puppet Jutsu, and is also a battle involving Akane since she is the one to learn it.

Anyhow, that's about it for this town. Heal up at the inn and leave.

The F-F-Frozen Fields

In any case, our current next destination is Skull Village 2, which is found in the Frozen Fields. There are two particular ways to get there. The one I recommend, which is slightly more EXP.-heavy, is simply going west and straight through the Fields: it is more EXP.-heavy due to the enemies that will appear in the fields. At the same time, you may rarely find the enemy Amanojaku's Return, who is known to steal your Gold like some other jokester enemies, and this one will pretty much be impossible to defeat in time to retrieve your money, so fleeing ASAP is the best idea.

If you would rather take the slightly-easier way out of it, you can go along the dirt path southwestward for a bit and find a Jizo; he will mention that Skull Village 2 is off to the northwest, so you can go northwest to find it.

Skull Village 2

And then Genbu shows up. *plays battle music*

When you exit the pagoda, you can, as usual, expect the town to have reverted to its Ninja Village-type state, and all of the people therein are no longer under the Skull Clan's curse. Additionally, new shops have opened: a different Tea House shop in the northeastern building, and a Shinobi Arms shop in the southeastern one. These changes are reflected in the tables above. And, of course, the inn now only costs 1 Gold.

Additionally, we also have another training dojo in the southwestern house of the town!

There's another Jutsu-training dojo in the northwest corner of town, too! Again, it's for Akane...

In any case, when you're done, it's time to leave. Once you've returned to the overworld, go west and you'll find a small stretch of land going into the middle of a lake. The middle of this lake will have the cave we're looking for, so enter it.

The Flame Shrine

Flame Shrine - 2F: Go northeast and grab the Funny 'Shroom from the hamper there, then continue going north. It will linearly wrap around to the west and to another ladder.

Flame Shrine - 3F: This is essentially the same as the previous floor, but you're going east and south to the ladder this time. Open the hamper on the way if you want, but it contains nothing.

Flame Shrine - 4F to 7F: The floors will repeat the pattern seen on 2F and 3F for a while, but the hampers will generally be empty. On 5F, you'll get a Pine Pill from the hamper. On 6F, you'll get a Throwing Knife.

Flame Shrine - 8F: Here, you will go north, west, and south along the linear path, essentially just winding around to the other side of the floor. In the southwest corner, you will find a hot spring you can enter to heal yourself and a chest with 400 Gold inside. Go east from there to the ladder.

Flame Shrine - 7F to 2F: This is again another repeating-pattern thing similar to the ascent, but with no chests this time around. You'll initially go west and north to the ladder, then south and east, then you just alternate between those until you're done with 2F.

Flame Shrine - 1F: When you finally return, go north and you will come to an east/west fork. Head east first to get a Bamboo Pill before heading west. This linear path will soon turn south and east before spilling out into a small clearing. When you leave it heading south, you quickly come to a west/east fork again; go west for the Sacrifice Doll before going to the east. You'll easily find a chest for 500 Gold as you go along, after which you need to head west again to find another hamper, though note that it actually just contains an enemy.

As you neared that hamper, there will a path off to the north. Go along it and, suddenly, Seiryu - the Skull Deva you battled not too long ago - will appear!

Anyhow, leave the cave and return to Kazemaru Village 2 to the east.

Tankin' Through

When you return to the overworld (just drive out of town), you will still end up finding random encounters. However, at the same time, the Clockwork Tank will beat them all for you ... but you won't gain EXP., Gold, or items. T_T Anyhow, go south to the dirt road and west along it to the mountain chain. When you arrive at the long chain of mountains, you can simply ride over them with the tank, nothing special required.

However, stick along the southern shoreline as you do so and you'll soon encounter a Jizo and a village in a small alcove. The Jizo will tell you that this is Seemenot Village, and that you should memorize the locals' loci. Hm. Anyhow, enter the village. Note that you can find Rich Ninjas in this area, if you need some money.

Seemenot Village

^l6|The map of Seemenot Village, with the hidden people added in.

After this, go back and speak with the man you initially spoke with in the village. He will give you the Male Buddha and the Female Buddha figurines. Apparently, first the Female one is placed on the ground as a marker, then the Male one can be used to return to where the Female one is! This allows for easy travel between two inspecific unimportant spots that Express or the like wouldn't get you to: for example, it can be useful for quickly exploring multiple forks in the path in the middle of a dungeon! Pretty cool, eh?

Tankin' Some More!

When you get out of the tank, you'll find a Jizo nearby; speaking with him reveals that Rainbow Town is further along to the west. Go southwest along the sandy area. Eventually, you'll find a town enclosed within some white walls: that is Rainbow Town, though we may be too late: the Jizo outside says that the invasion of the Skulls has already begun! =O Get in there!

Rainbow Town

If you cross the bridge, in the southern half of this middle segment of the town, you will find a Skull Ninja to fight. If you're not fully healed, it would be best to sleep in the inn to the southwest (150 Gold) first. There are three Skull Ninjas in all in this village: each battle will be against relatively normal enemies, though, not actual bosses. The first battle is against a Skull Crow and a Crow Tamer; the second against a Puppet and a Puppeteer Skull; and the third against a Skull Bat and a Bat Tamer. The significant fact in these battles is that the human-like enemy (the Tamers and the Puppeteer) can summon more of the other enemies (Bats, Crows, and Puppets), so you should focus on them first - but you've faced similar enemies before, so it's not much to worry about.

After this, in the eastern-middle house of the southern part of the town, you will find Suzaku again! Speak with him to engage once more in combat!

The Boat Scroll

Sectional Flowchart

• Walking On Water!
• Boat Town
• Centipede Cave
• The Whale's Belly

Walking On Water!

First, though, how much JP does Kazemaru have at maximum right now? Seeing as you should be Level 35 or so, he should definitely have more than 110 JP; according to his stat growth from my game, he'll need to be at Level 27 or higher to be able to use this. Assuming you're above that (if not, grind), use the Express Tengu Jutsu to head to Showdown Village. Head northeast of there in the overworld for a while.

You'll soon find the Waterwalk Tengu's house: you remember, the guy raging about how he didn't pre-order Ninjara Hoi!? Face him and, with 110 JP or higher (since that is the JP cost), use the Massage Tengu Jutsu on him. He'll laugh finally and give you the Waterwalk Tengu Jutsu!

Return to Showdown Village if your JP is so low as to need healing (or just use Transfer) and then Express your way back to Rainbow Town. From there, go southeast in the overworld once more to the shallow waters around there. It is around here that you'll want to begin grinding for a while, especially since the getting is good on EXP. and Gold around here: some battles easily yield 1,000 or more of each! You probably want to be Level 35 before you progress too far through the overworld past here: it definitely will take a while to get up that far, but these battles are getting increasingly more difficult.

^sr7|

In any case, when you're in the shallows and breathing through those cartoony bamboo straws, the general idea, really, is just to keep going east. Ultimately, finding the end of the path is pretty easy; it will be a long narrow path extending from the shallows near the grasslands of the next island, so basically stick to the north side and head east while in the shallows to find the way out pretty easily. Don't land in the grasslands area when you first get to them (that "don't go" area being pictured to the right): there's nothing really there, so keep going along the shallow waters.

If you keep going through the shallows, you'll eventually land on a beach to the east of the grasslands. Go south from there to find Boat Town.

Boat Town

When you return to the overworld, immediately head east and use the Waterwalk Jutsu to get onto (well, under) the water: on the other side of the shallows is our next destination.

Centipede Cave

Centipede Cave - 1F: This floor is interestingly in the shape of a centipede! You will start at the back-left antenna of the centipede, so go north into the long, rectangular hall. There will be a number of paths to the sides representing the legs of the centipede, which end in rooms that may contain treasures. The list is below: assume that the "first" room is the southernmost room.

• East Side - First Room: Dango
• West Side - First Room: Escape Ball
• East Side - Third Room: Throwing Knife
• West Side - Third Room: Kikatsugan
• East Side - Fifth Room: Dango
• West Side - Fifth Room: Dango
• East Side - Seventh Room: Pine Pill
• West Side - Seventh Room: Frog Oil
• East Side - Ninth Room: A secret staircase to 2F!
• West Side - Ninth Room: Power Pill
• East Side - Northern Antenna: Dango
• West Side - Northern Antenna: Dragon Sword - a weapon for Kazemaru you should equip (Attack +27)

Centipede Cave - 2F: God, I hated this floor the first time I went through: I literally went to the staircase first before knowing about the treasures. >_< There are three paths off to the north, and each are very linear but end up in different spots waaaaaay off to the north. The western and eastern paths have hampers at the end yielding a Power Pill and a Skull Flag, respectively. I'd recommend not getting or dropping the Skull Flag: it makes enemy encounters so common to the point that they're practically every freakin' step, and the encounters already are pretty common and hard here. Use the middle path to reach some a ladder.

Centipede Cave - 3F: ... This floor has essentially the same layout as the previous: however, I would be extremely wary. On this floor, you can encounter enemies known as Regal Skulls (there is an A and a B variety) whose arrival is signaled by a sudden, scary change in the background music: these enemies are extremely difficult and take 1/4 of the damage the game says they do, essentially quadrupling their HP; their Attack is virtually off the charts, too, so escaping this battle is the only way to win at anything under Level 50, really. You can't even avoid them with Burrow. o_o; At the same time, though, beating them yields 7,439 EXP. and 8,600 Gold - I mean, that's a freakin' boatload compared to what you're used to so, especially if you're overleveled (Lv. 40+), it's at least worth a shot with the usual strategy of Akane using Vigor and Kazemaru and Takamaru always Fighting.

Anyhow. The western path has another Skull Flag, and the eastern one has a Pine Pill. The stairs are in the middle.

Centipede Cave - 4F: When you arrive, go far to the south and you will find a whale sitting on the water. Attempt to walk on him to enter his belly!

The Whale's Belly

Whale's Belly - 2F: Looks like we're ascending to the skeletal system. This guy has some weird anatomy: all of his bones, on the same level. XD Anyhow, hug the east wall as you go south and a room will soon open up. Inside is a chest containing an enemy, but it's a pretty special (old) one: a Man-o'-War. It's weak and will likely kamikaze-attack you on its first turn, but it's weak and an easy 170 EXP.

If you leave that small enclosure and continue hugging the wall to the very southernmost part of the area in that narrow hallway, you'll find another chest containing an Escape Ball. Go back north to the puddle of water near the south end of the spine, then into the enclosure west of there to find a Power Pill in the chest there, then go north. Within the hamper at the end of the path, you'll find a Tiger Book, which is used to boost your EXP. by 12.5% (1/8) of its current value! That should equate to at least one level-up at Level 35+ (usually a boost of 14,000+ EXP.).

Go back to the south now, into the room where you found the Power Pill. If you look to the southeast of the hamper containing - the color contrast is outright terrible - there IS a person there. ... Tobimasa, again. He'll hand you the Boat Scroll - the fifth and final scroll containing the secret to Rahoi's ultimate Jutsu - along with permission to use the boat anchored near Boat Town!

Sweeeeeet! After Tobimasa leaves, though...

The Final Clash!

Sectional Flowchart

• Setting Sail!
• Skull Village 3
• More Sailing
• Rahoi Town
• The Final Dungeon: Skull Castle
• The Ultimate Jutsu...
• The End of the Skull Clan
• Ending Translation

Setting Sail!

Skull Village 3

When you're ready, go into the northern pagoda and speak with the man there, Tobimasa: you know, that dude who has apparently saved you on multiple occasions? He will offer to sharpen Kazemaru's sword since he's the swordsmith here: you'll have to accept the offer, but worry not as Kazemaru won't lose his weapon. Thankfully. -_-;

Also be sure to speak with Jubei in the southwest corner of town: he apparently stole the Boat Scroll from the Skull Shogun and thus will return it to you! =D Also be sure to visit the renewed Shinobi Arms (southeast) and Tea House (northeast) shops for their new, rather-expensive stocks! ... Okay, the Tea House isn't new, but it's there. >_> Head back to the overworld when you're done here.

More Sailing

The Fate Tengu Jutsu is ... well, it's a randomized Jutsu. It can have a variety of effects: your party's HP can be fully refilled, you can get a random set of 3 items (one per character), lose 50% of your Gold, lose 67% of your Gold, or double your Gold. Odds-wise, there's a 60% chance of getting a beneficial Fate (though it's again random and only one effect occurs), so it's up to you. You could always use save-state abuse or something of the like for optimization, but, anyhow... As a bit of an easter egg, the background music also changes to an 8-bit remix of some classical composition. I honestly should know who did it, but it doesn't matter too much.

If you're curious, there's some weird chain of shallow waters east of Wind Hamlet. (Wind Hamlet is a bit to the south of the Fate Tengu's place.) There, you can find some Japanese katakana: the characters "do", "i", "so", "yu", "ki". Read in the traditional Japanese fashion, it reads "yukidoiso", though what this refers to is unknown since the arrow nearby just points north to areas already visited. =/ There's some text reading "ASCII" west of Wind Hamlet as well.

That's actually about it for screwing around in the overworld. We explored a lot more of it than most RPGs allow, eh?

There's also a house in the midst of some shallows north of Genbu Castle, or south of the Sprint Tengu's house or south-southeast of Kazemaru Village 3. Approach the shallow, light-blue water there and use the Waterwalk Tengu Jutsu to make your way to the middle of the lone village on this nearly-enclosed island. But it won't take long for Byakko to return and attempt to block you!

Rahoi Town

Also, in the town's northwestern cave, you can find a Ninja willing to teach Kazemaru the Kaboom Jutsu: but only after a battle!

The Final Dungeon: Skull Castle

Overworld: When you leave Rahoi Town, just south of the village will be the brown Clockwork Jet. When you press A to enter it, it will automatically begin flying in the direction of its facing: you want to attempt to go to Skull Castle. The game is a bit too vague on where it is, though: it's actually north of Wind Hamlet.

When you arrive there, land in the inner courtyard. Initially, it just seems to be a barren land of sand within a wall that is also within a wall, with just a small strip of dirt on it. Walk along that dirt trail to the center of the path. The screen suddenly flashes, turns dark, and a large Skull emblem is erected on the island as the Skull Shogun speaks: he awaits you on the bottom floor. Before you enter, be very sure to be able to escape somehow since the entrance disappears when you enter! Also be very well-stocked, and I recommend grinding to Level 40+. Well-stocked would imply several Party Balls from Rainbow Town, each costing 50,000 Gold: you will easily earn that much Gold, especially with the Fortune Cat from the Firewakame Mall in hand, while grinding between Level 35 and Level 40. Their main purpose would be to restore Kazemaru's and Akane's JP while also damaging the enemy in battle: Kazemaru will be getting much of his use from the Kaboom and Fate Jutsus, while Akane will use lots and lots of Vigor. The best place to level-up is the Centipede Cave due to the vast number of enemies there per-battle.

Skull Castle - Boss Gauntlet: When you arrive, go south into the small room there, then east and downstairs. You'll find a Skull Deva there: Genbu. Again.

Skull Castle - 2F & 3F: When you arrive on a part of 2F that is not involved in a boss battle, go south and along the path to 3F. There, go north and along that path back to 2F to find a bunch of hampers on the ground containing a Power Pill, a Pine Pill, a Throwing Knife, an Escape Ball, and a Sun Ball. USE THAT ESCAPE BALL NOW! You need to go do something in the overworld you could not do earlier, and you MUST do it to have any hope of beating the Skull Shogun.

The Ultimate Jutsu...

 O==================O===========O
 |  STAR SCROLL     |  MIAXRSI  |
 |  DREAM SCROLL    |  AXNEUHK  |
 |  SONG SCROLL     |  XIDNSXE  |
 |  RAINBOW SCROLL  |  NSXTEUX  |
 |  BOAT SCROLL     |  JLCEXRN  |
 O==================O===========O

   MAXNJIXISLANDXCXENTERUSEXSHXURIKEXN

   MANJIISLANDCENTERUSESHURIKEN

   MANJI ISLAND CENTER USE SHURIKEN

Okay, cool, so where is Manji Island? First, though, let us get a Shuriken. A Shuriken can be easily bought for a mere 16 Gold in the Wind Hamlet, so begin by going there for it. Once you've bought one, fly the Jet north back towards Skull Castle. The moment you begin to fly over its outer walls, turn east and you will reach an archipelago of islands: the same one with the Fate Tengu on it, as you will recall.

There is a particular island there in the shape of a swastika there (or, if you prefer, a Shuriken), a bit to the northeast of there. It will look like the island in the nearby screenshot. Land on there and walk onto the very center of it, where the Jet is hovering in the screenshot. Go into the Items menu and use a Shuriken to make a staircase appear. (In case you wonder why we couldn't do this earlier, you must have all five Scrolls in hand apparently: I tried it earlier a few times myself. >_>) Go down the stairs and open the hamper in the cave to find Rahoi's Scroll.

So, what is Rahoi's Scroll? For now, it is simply an item to carry around. As the description says, it multiplies the power of your attacks by ten, which would be absolutely devastating: thus, per Master Rahoi's advice, you are literally only permitted to use it in the battle against the Skull Shogun. Any other time will just make Rahoi's voice echo from nowhere to remind you of this. What a shame. So much abuse. I could rule the world... XD

Anyhow, stock up and return to Skull Castle. Again, try to be well-stocked and of a decent level. Level 40+ should still suffice for now, but a few Party Balls won't kill you. The enemy, though.... XD

The End of the Skull Clan

Return to the southwestern part of 3F and go east and along the path there back to 2F, then to 3F again. If you need the details on how to get there, see the

Skull Castle - 3F & 4F: When you descend again, go north and along the path around the chasm for a bit, ignoring the side path off to the east as you go. This linearly leads to a ladder to 4F, then a quick one back to 3F. The path you'll be on will take you to the area in the middle of that chasm, which has four hampers at the south end containing an Infinite Star, a Smoke Ball, a Revive Ball, and a Guts Ball. Backtrack along the path to southeastern 3F and, there, go east and north and down a ladder. Notice how there seem to be three ladders in that set close together? Use the middle one to go to 4F and to be easily able to reach a 5F ladder.

Skull Castle - 5F to 16F: Go southeast and use the ladder to hit 6F. Head to the northwest corner there to hit 7F. Go southeast to 8F, northwest to 9F, southeast to 10F, and basically just keep going to the opposite corner for a while, obviously.

Skull Castle - 17F & 18F: Go south and use the ladder to reach 18F. There, go far to the north and you will see a man in gray wandering around. This is the Skull Shogun: speak with him. He will first speak...

Ending Translation

Appendices

Enemy Bestiary