Onimusha: Way of the Sword Walkthrough — The Oni's Apprentice

The Oni’s Apprentice is the fourth story chapter of Onimusha: Way of the Sword — a short, fight-light chapter that functions as the game’s second tutorial: this time for its progression systems. Musashi finishes his conversation with Shizuka, unlocks enhancement and the skill trees, learns Deflect, trains in the Practice Ground, and pockets the Wind-Whipper. Previous chapter: Kyoto, Corrupted.

Speak with Shizuka at the temple

The chapter opens in the temple. Leave the room to find Shizuka waiting on the porch left of the Spirit Mirror. Her enhancement briefing unlocks the mirror’s new Enhance Equipment / Abilities submenu, and the guided first step enhances your sword — +2% attack damage for x1 Whetstone and x1 Iron (both from earlier chapter rewards).

The submenu is the game’s whole progression stack:

• Equipment enhancement — Clothing, Sword, and Gauntlet each level with resources.
• Skill trees — two separate trees: Basic Skills and Special Skills, spending Power Stones and Oni Stones. The 109-stone inventory behind those trees is mapped in the stones locations guide.

The tutorial’s free unlock is the Basic Skill Deflect — hold Block until the enemy nearly strikes, then press confirm at the last moment: no health damage taken, and an immense chunk of the attacker’s Stamina bar gone. It does not touch enemy health; it is the stamina-breaking complement to the Parry, and the deeper breakdown of that trade-off is in the Issen and Break Issen guide.

The Practice Ground

Takamura proposes training: ring the bell at the small shrine in the temple grounds — the rope-pull teleports Musashi to the Practice Ground, the game’s training arena.

• Drills — scripted skill lessons. The guided one trains Deflect three times against Genma soldiers, making the stamina payoff explicit.
• Boss re-fights — previously cleared boss encounters can be re-fought here. The reward for completing every re-fight is teased as a new outfit (the trophy guide tracks the related completion grinds).

Before you leave, Takamura hands over an Oni Chest containing the third Oni Armament: the Wind-Whipper — an ideal crowd-control weapon that swirls damaging wind in a circle around Musashi, and pulls nearby fire into a burning whirlwind. Its slot in the full armament roster is in the Oni Armaments guide.

Return to the temple: three missions unlock

Ring the bell again to return. The map now shows three simultaneous story missions:

1. Careful What You Wish For
2. The Curse of Kiyomizu-zaka Slope
3. Windswept Kennin-ji (chapter page not yet written — see the walkthrough hub)

Per IGN’s walkthrough the order is enforced at the top: Careful What You Wish For must be completed before The Curse of Kiyomizu-zaka Slope. The chapter’s own rewards are modest — Mild Restorative x3 and one spoiler-gated extra.

What comes next

• Continue to Careful What You Wish For — the wish-granting shrine and the Rasho-gan fight.
• The walkthrough hub and the chapter list frame the remaining campaign.
• Charm and equipment materials you gathered along the way all cash in at Enma’s Hall and the Spirit Mirror menus — see the charms guide.