In a world where you can’t even take a walk down the street without somebody threatening you with a sword, it is quite important to remember the simple things in life, like sitting down for a nice warm cup of tea with some new friends to share ideas and life experience. Of course, you’ll have to neckshank one of these traitorous motherfuckers by the end of it. But self-care is all the more important for that reason.
And that brings us to Naoe’s second target, which takes a little break from all that bloody subterfuge and requires a more delicate touch, or not, depending on your choices. Regardless, we’ll give you the lowdown on all the ways this special ceremony can happen. We’re gonna have a green tea party tonight. All right.
Preparation
The preceding two tasks are all the prep you need for this one. The Golden Teppo quests will get you the fake name you’ll be using all night, the kosode you need, and teach you how to handle yourself like a proper lady of means when you get in there. The dress doesn’t matter too much, though you’ll get some slightly more positive reactions by wearing the black one instead of red. The tea ceremony steps you learn from Sen No Rikyu are slightly more important so you don’t get ugly looks all night, but all you need to know there is to bow halfway to come off as an equal and turn the tea bowl to the right. Really, that’s it. Once that’s done, head to Imai Sokun down the main street in the middle of Sakai, and get ready to schmooze.
The Mission (The Tea Ceremony)
Once you get control back after the initial cutscene, you’ll need to talk to the other three fancy ladies wandering the party to suss out which one is the Golden Teppo. First up is Otama, who’s just kind of a passive aggressive asshole in general. She’ll shit talk your outfit and call you a country bumpkin, but you can get one tiny clapback in if you choose the “I’m friends with the son” dialogue option when you get the choice. Next is Satoko. She’s a sort of vigilante on her off-hours and she’d rather be out hunting for bandits than be doing this rich people shit. Who can blame her. Lastly, is Wakasa, who’s giving Japanese Cersei Lannister. She’s bougie and more than a little slippery about how she got ahead in life, but at least she’s got some constructive advice.
Once you’re done talking, the actual ceremony will start, and as long as you remember the half bow and turning the bowl to the right, you’re in the clear. The gift you chose will go over well regardless. From there, you’ll be able to take a guess which one of the other ladies is the Golden Teppo. Satoko’s good people, so she’s out of the equation, leaving Wakasa and Otama, and there’s an easy way and a hard way this can go down.
The easy way (Drive The Point Home)
Now, as far as the dialogue choices go, ultimately, you can futz around any way you want with Otama and Satoko, but there’s only one person for whom the answers truly matter, and that’s Wakasa. She’ll remark at the outset about your kosode if you wore the red one, but that doesn’t seem to affect things. Lie to her in any way aside from telling her your fake name, though, and she’ll see through your ass like Sue Storm. So when the time comes to talk to her, give your fake name, tell her “I’m new to Sakai”, and “I didn’t say where I was from.”
After the tea ceremony, she’ll invite you back to her place, and not for some Rockstar-branded Hot Coffee to go with your tea, I’m sorry to say. The mission will change to “Drive The Point Home,” and while strolling around Wakasa’s house, you’ll pick up the Golden Teppo she shot you with the night your father got killed. The dialogue choice here doesn’t matter, the cutscene ends the same way: with Wakasa drinking her tea through a new hole in her head.
The hard way (Defensive Position)
If you somehow fail to keep your identity secret, or you just straight up choose to accuse Otama after the tea ceremony, the second you step out of the front door, you’ll have to chase Otama down through the streets of Sakai. Once you’ve taken her down, you’ll pick up a letter between her and Wakasa confirming that, sorry Naoe, but your Golden Teppo is in another castle. Specifically, Osaka Castle, a few minutes north of Sakai.
If you’ve done your share of farting around the countryside before now, you’ve already, at bare minimum, unlocked the Eagle Point at the top of the castle, in which case your job is actually still pretty easy: You can just fast travel to the castle, skip across a few rooftops to the unfinished building in the center of the area, and kill Wakasa clean as a whistle.
If you didn’t unlock that point though, welp, you’re stuck doing some actual leg work. We recommend making your approach from the north side of the castle. There’s fewer high points to keep you out of sight from the copious guards running around, but if you stay mobile, you might be able to dodge guard awareness fast enough to avoid any alarms. Regardless, you’re gonna wanna stay off the ground here as much as possible, especially since Wakasa herself is surrounded by snipers from the front and sides. Same endgoal applies, though; head to the building still under construction, get to an elevated point above her, and that’s all she wrote.
And when it’s all over you say, “oh what a lovely tea party”, and then collect a couple thousand XP, a pirate flag decoration, and the Shinobi’s Fury tanto.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is available now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows PC.
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