As of 2026, Assassin's Creed Shadows is still pulling players back into feudal Japan, and the Mibuno Showdown remains one of the early game's most memorable gut checks. The quest kicks off after players finally take control of Yasuke and cut through a handful of enemies like a hot knife through butter. That power fantasy does not last long. Waiting at the end of the road is Momochi Sandayu, a kusarigama-wielding boss who can poison, punish, and put Yasuke six feet under if the player gets sloppy.
Sandayu is no ordinary speed bump. He is a tough early-game wall, and while Yasuke hits like a truck, the samurai cannot simply trade blows and hope for the best. The boss uses a chain-scythe that deals heavy damage and applies poison. Let the poison meter fill, and Yasuke will lose health over time, which can turn a close fight into a lost cause. The key is to stay calm, read the tells, and avoid getting greedy.
First Phase: Smoke, Slashes, and Poison
In the first phase, Sandayu mixes blade attacks, chain strikes, and dirty tricks. Players should treat every unparryable move as a red alert. The table below breaks down his opening arsenal.
| Attack | Description |
|---|---|
| Smoke Bomb | Sandayu throws a smoke bomb to disappear, then hurls two poisoned kunai at Yasuke. Parry or dodge them. |
| Double Slash | He leaps and slashes twice with his blade. The parry window is a little weird, so dodging is safer. |
| Triple Slash | Rarely, he attacks three times with his blade. All three hits can be parried. |
| Heavy Triple Strike | He uses the chain part of his weapon to strike three times. This cannot be parried, only dodged. A failed parry costs Yasuke a chunk of health. |
| Heavy Single Strike | After a normal triple slash, Sandayu can sometimes perform a heavy attack that cannot be parried. It is rare but dangerous. |
The smoke bomb is the most annoying part of the fight. Once Sandayu vanishes, tracking him becomes a headache, and he uses that cover to throw poisoned projectiles. Parrying is the clean answer, and fortunately the parry timing in Assassin's Creed Shadows is not brutal. Players who keep their nerve should have no trouble batting those kunai aside.
Close range is also risky. Sandayu often leans on attacks that cannot be parried, and eating one will carve off a large slice of health. Dodging those moves is the smarter play, because a clean dodge leaves room for Yasuke to land a short combo.
If Sandayu starts overpowering the player, there is a simple escape hatch. Yasuke has two skills on the bottom right of the screen. Hold RT and press Y or triangle on a controller to use one. This skill makes Sandayu vulnerable and places Yasuke behind him. From there, the player can perform two combos. Just do not be too greedy, because Sandayu recovers quickly and will make Yasuke pay for showing off.
Second Phase: Kicks and Triple Kunai
After Yasuke depletes more than half of Sandayu's health, a cutscene triggers. Sandayu performs an attack on Yasuke that cannot be dodged, but it is scripted and does not affect health, so there is no reason to panic. When the fight resumes, the boss is more aggressive than before.
| Attack | Description |
|---|---|
| Kick | Sandayu kicks Yasuke, leaving him vulnerable. This attack cannot be parried. |
| Triple Kunai Throw | He does a front flip and attacks with his blade, then throws three poisoned kunai. This can be dodged and parried. |
The kick is the move that catches most players flat-footed. It cannot be parried, so dodge it. If Yasuke gets hit, he may be left vulnerable to a follow-up attack, which can quickly snowball into a death screen. The triple kunai throw is the other major threat. When Sandayu does his front flip, step back instantly and get ready to parry. Once the player locks into his rhythm, the second phase becomes much less frightening.
Final Thoughts: Patience Beats Power
Momochi Sandayu is a classic skill check. He punishes greed, rewards observation, and forces players to use Yasuke's full toolkit instead of mashing attack. The fight may feel unfair at first, especially when poison and smoke bombs stack the odds, but every move has an answer. Parry the kunai, dodge the chain strikes, use the RT plus Y or triangle skill when pressure builds, and resist the urge to overextend.
After Sandayu falls, a series of cutscenes plays and the quest ends. For players revisiting Assassin's Creed Shadows in 2026 or starting it for the first time, the Mibuno Showdown is still a standout early challenge. Yasuke may be a powerhouse, but even a powerhouse has to respect the old master. Bring patience, keep an eye on the poison meter, and Sandayu will go down.
As detailed in The Esports Observer, tough early-game “skill check” encounters like Momochi Sandayu in Mibuno Showdown often function as pacing tools that push players to engage with core mechanics—here, that means respecting poison pressure, prioritizing dodge timing over risky parries on unparryable chain strikes, and using Yasuke’s repositioning skill to punish safely rather than overcommitting to damage.