The Mysterious Murasame Castle/Enemies

Black Ninjas
Black Ninjas are the most common and simplest of all the ninjas you will face throughout the game. They aren't particularly fast, make little effort to hide themselves, and always use throwing stars which can be deflected by your own weaponry. They occasionally drop ammunition scrolls.

White Ninjas
White ninjas are a lot more crafty than their black garbed cousins. They use more subversive techniques to sneak up on you like hopping out of the water, or attacking four at a time from every direction in castles. They are also a little faster than Black Ninjas, but they too use throwing stars. White Ninjas always leave ammunition scrolls behind.

Fire Ninjas
These red Ninjas know the secrets of the fire throwing techniques. While they are like Black Ninjas in every other respect, they distinguish themselves by throwing balls of flame at you. Fireballs cannot be deflected like throwing stars, so they must be dodged at all costs.

Star Ninjas
The Ninjas dressed in blue rarely attack directly. They prefer to attack from the edge of the screen or from the rooftops instead, tossing throwing stars at you before disappearing. They are more of a nuisance then a threat, and attacking one of them rarely does any good. Focus more on deflecting the stars that they throw.

Flashing Ninjas
Flashing Ninjas are incredibly dangerous. They come equipped with land mines that they attempt to place down throughout various parts of the screen. Because they possess explosives, Takamaru must be especially careful when killing them because they quite literally explode. Killing a Flashing Ninja will also detonate any land mines that were present on the screen when you arrived.

Invisible Ninjas
Only found in the castles, the Ninja's have mastered the art of stealth and concealment. Unfortunately for them, they haven't mastered the art of lighting—their shadows are entirely visible at all times, giving their position away. Still, it can be difficult to anticipate the movements of a shadow when you can't see what direction they are facing, so attack carefully.

Flying Ninjas
Initially, you will only encounter these elite Ninjas on special mountain side screens, but they later become quite common as you get closer to Murasame Castle. They leap in various directions and travel to one edge of the screen before disappearing or choosing another direction fly in. Track their motion carefully and strike when the time is right.

Land Mines
Land Mines are inanimate objects that act as proximity bombs. When you get close enough to them, they will detonate. They flash for only about a second before they explode, and can hurt you if you are one square's distance around them. They are more easily detonated by approaching from the right or left, than from the top or bottom, so don't attempt to bypass them unless you walk above or beneath them with the Red Sandles speed power-up. It's safer to get close enough to make them flash and back away until they explode.

Bomb Shinobu
As you approach certain exits from a screen, a Shinobu may appear to prevent you from passing. The first Shinobu that you will encounter are the Bomb throwing Shinobu. These Shinobu have the ability to toss a bomb all the way to your location. And the bomb will detonate when it reaches the place where you were standing, or if you get hit by the bomb. Lure the bomb tosses to one section of the screen, and turn around and attack from another. It's best to get inside and slice the Shinobu between bomb throws.

Fire Shinobu
Starting on the second stage, a different kind of Shinobu will be introduced. These Shinobus belch balls of fire at you. Unlike the bombs thrown by the Shinobu above, they don't detonate, but they do travel at a good pace. Once again, mislead the Shinobu to spit fire at a location where you do not intend to stay, and dodge the attack while you close the distance between you so that you can strike and remove them quickly. Projectile weapons do work against they Shinobu, but they have the power to block your shots.

Tengu
The Tengu is a special air demon who travels by summoning a whirlwind to whisk him from location to location. While travelling in the whirlwind, he is invulnerable to attack. Fortunately, when the whirlwind drops him off, he tends to hold still for a long time, making him easy to attack. But you must watch out for the smaller whirlwinds that he attacks with. Time your attack between the small whirlwinds.

Earth Demon
The earth demon quite literally digs his way out of the ground to attack you. When he appears, he will throw three throwing stars at you before returning to the earth. Attack him while he still stands to prevent him from returning for another strike.

Hill Bandit
Hill Bandits are probably the rarest regular enemy in the game. The can only appear on the mountainside screens where you first encounter the Flying Ninjas. They slowly walk forward brandishing an ax to all those that dare to intrude on their hillside homes. They don't pose much of a threat, but you shouldn't underestimate them and focus on a Flying Ninja when a Hill Bandit is closer to you.