To unlock the “Follow the Soldier’s Shadow” quest in Nioh 3, you must first complete the main quest “Sacred Mountain Defiled” and defeat the Great Tengu boss. I’ve already talked a lot about the various quests in the game, such as the Horie’s Fleeting Petals quest, but just a reminder: each quest features a different boss and a new reward.

Follow The Soldier’s Shadow side quest

When you arrive at Kano Village, you will meet Minamoto no Yoshitsune at the location I showed you earlier. After a brief conversation, you need to go to the location I marked on the map. Minamoto no Yoshitsune will become your companion for this quest. Once there, you’ll need to defeat all the enemies to clear the enemy base. There will be six enemies in total. They aren’t grouped together, so you’ll defeat each one individually.

Once the enemy base is captured, you’ll automatically receive the Grubby Iron Key. Before we move on to the final part of this quest, I recommend finding Kodama and opening the chest to obtain the secret skill text “Repel Expert.”

Yasha boss fight

Now let’s head to the main building. You can unlock it using the key you obtained earlier. Inside, you’ll see a black mass. As you get closer, it will dissipate and the boss Yasha will appear. Since the room is too small to fight the boss, I recommend leaving the building. Also, along with the boss, a small but annoying yokai will appear in the room; it will get in your way, so you need to take it out first while Minamoto no Yoshitsune tries to fight the boss. I say “tries” because he isn’t much help. His attacks are too weak, so don’t count on him to do the work for you. Eventually, Yasha does come out onto the street, and it’s much easier to fight him there. Meanwhile, Minamoto no Yoshitsune wearily drops to one knee inside the building. And I told you not to fight the boss indoors.

Yasha won’t pose a problem for you in open combat. You can easily defeat him using any of your combat tactics. You can hit him with Ninja Tools or take him down in close combat. Yasha’s weak attacks are easy to predict. You can dodge or block them. This battle will be very short and will end in your victory either way. At this stage of the game, I’m sure you’re already quite skilled at controlling your character.

After the victory, Yasha will transform into Tomoe Gozen, the woman Minamoto no Yoshitsune knew whom we came to rescue. Talk to her to complete the “Follow the Soldier’s Shadow” quest.