Samurai Ghost/Stage 3

Stage 3: Hurting zone (The four provinces of Sands (沙界四州) in Japanese version)

Kagekiyo has entered the main island of ancient Japan. More enemies ahead.

Stage 3-1
You are on the seashore. Demon fishes keep jumping out, but killing them yields coins. You will see bubbles coming from a green goldfish which stands on the land, and will attack you with eye-attached tentacles, and you need to hit this twice to claim his coin. Later you will see archers shooting fire arrows, and will try to disengage by jumping behind. Kill them for precious Life. There are two more rice bags, and two blue spirits, the first of which may carry a power sword. Two gates lie at the end of stage, the former of which leads to a swamp area, and the latter to a cave.

Stage 3-2a
Grab the magatama from the first blue spirit. Green frogs will jump to you, and try to stick on your body. Take them out fast and dodge the poison mushrooms they drop. The green swamp is also poisonous. Stop whenever you hear frogs growling, and beware of the crow soldier. A second blue spirit with magatama appears before the second swamp, but demon hands will appear first. More frogs and another crow soldier await, and two more demon hands appear at the end of stage.

Stage 3-2b
You are greeted with an inchworm crawling on the ceiling, and a blue spirit with power sword. Being a cave, it's home to cave bats moving in a zigzag pattern, and they drop coins. Proceed with more inchworms, bats, and a claw demon. For the inchworms on the ground, only attack them safely when they are moving the back part. A bat will attack from behind when you see the second inchworm on the ceiling. A blue spirit with magatama appears at the end of stage.

Stage 3-3

 * Middle boss: Fuujin
 * Life: 10

Depend on the route, you will fight him in different area, but the tactics are the same. He will first move to far side of screen and shoot two Wind (風) characters, and then rise to the top, drop a fox, and move forward. The winds can push you away, and will drop mushrooms when destroyed. The fox will simply jump to you. The easiest method is to cut the winds first, then when he moves to you, use upper slash to damage him and kill the fox at the same time. Remember to move forward until you see a candle, then stop and finish him, and enter the golden gate after collecting the candle.

Stage 3-4
Another swamp area, but with spirits. Beware that some of them will chase you. You will need to stand on lower platforms to kill the frogs safely. At the end of the long swamp, a blue spirit will appear with possibly a power sword.

Stage 3-5

 * Boss: Yoshitsune
 * Life: 12

How can Kagekiyo miss one of the henchmen of Yoritomo? Yoshitsune will fall down in an outfit of a traveler with flute, and will reveal himself when landing. He will walk to you, attack with his sword, quickly step back, and either throw two daggers, or perform a spinning attack when he has 4 or less life left. If you try to jump-attack him, he will backstep. So, just walk to him, and when he stops, crouch and slash him, then quickly step back to dodge his sword. You can choose to jump over his daggers or knock them down, but for his spinning attack, you shall crouch to dodge his coming hit, then turn around and jump to dodge his returning hit. Repeat until he is blown away by your sword.