Hanii in the Sky/Stage 4

This stage is, in many way, a reprisal of the first stage, featuring many of the same enemies. If you haven't bought it early on, this is the first time you have access to the 3-Way Sword. When comparing it to the Double Blades, you may only consider the difference in strength, but the 3-Way Sword has one other benefit over the Double Blades: a shield. The 3-Way Sword can absorb bullets if they connect with the shield before they strike Hanii. Although it will take more shots to destroy enemies with the 3-Way Sword, the shield will come in handy on this stage.


 * 1) You start by facing off against an enemy which appeared back on the first stage. These heads drop down from the top of the screen and stop along the top third, firing a bullet before turning around and flying back to the top.  This time around more of them will appear at once, and they will take more shots to defeat than before.
 * 2) After the heads stop, the background will contain flashing nodes which remain stationary, but fire bullets at Hanii.  Destroy as many as you can, and use the shield of the 3-Way Sword to absorb most of the slow moving bullets.
 * 3) As you reach the end of the flashing nodes, the enemies which circle around you and squeeze you in will start to appear.  They're no tougher than before, but they will appear much more frequently, forcing you to stay on your toes.  Firing the 3-Way Sword down and to the right with auto-fire should allow you to destroy most, if not all, of these enemies.
 * 4) Hanii in the Sky Stage 4b.jpg The next enemy will be a variation of the first enemies you encountered at the beginning of the game.  The enemies which start in one of the upper corners of the screen and zigzag their way diagonally down to the opposite corner start to appear.  They are a bit stronger and take more shots to destroy.
 * 5) Next come the groups of five enemies that appear from one of the four corners, and curve their way around to the opposite corner.  As with the other enemies of this stage, this variety of enemy is stronger and takes more shots to destroy than their first stage cousins.
 * 6) The stage ends with another set of flashing nodes.  These nodes are a bit more spread out than before, which will lead to you having to choose which ones to prioritize, while leaving the others alone to fill the screen with bullets that you have to avoid.  When this ends, you will reach the boss.

Boss: うずめ (Uzume)
Uzume is composed of a central circular face surrounded by three tentacles. The tentacles curve to the right until they bend around and touch the face, and then they unwind and curves back around to the left to touch the face again. As they do this, they slowly rotate around in a clockwise direction.

Your goal will be to fire as many shots as you can at the face while avoiding the tentacles. You'll need to stay out in the outside edge of the screen and fire into the middle of the screen to hit the face. Continue to prioritize moving into safe locations on the screen, and optimize your shots when the tentacles are most spread out.