Murai

**Murai, Leader of the Shadow Clan** (影一門頭首ムライ) is a Boss in *Ninja Gaiden*.

## Overview

A Master Ninja possessing unsurpassed skill in all of the Ninja arts, Murai also has a deep connection to Ryu. Although he was a member of the Hayabusa Ninja Clan, events that occured in the past caused Murai to leave and form his own rogue Ninja organization, the Shadow Clan.

## Appearance

* Chapter 1: The Ninja Way

Inside the dojo past the Inner Sanctum.

## Moveset

* **Fire Pit**: swings his Nunchaku vertically twice and then ends in a horizonal slash in quick succession. Final hit causes knockback. May stop the combo, if the first hit doesn't connect.

* **Sweeping Kick**: Guard Breaks, or causes knockback if it lands.

* **Auspicious Crane**: ducks and throws a horizontal swing with heavy forward momentum. Guard Breaks, or causes knockback if it lands.

* **Auspicious Phoenix**: charges up and unleashes three horizontal swings with heavy forward momentum in quick succession.

* **Guillotine Throw**: grabs Ryu and slams him onto the ground, throwing him forwards.

* **Guillotine Counter**: blocks Ryu's move and slams him onto the ground, throwing him backwards. Used as a counter attack to a string.

* **Intercept**: swings his Nunchaku at any incoming projectile, sending them back to the target.

## Strategy

Since Murai boasts an incredibly solid defense and his Nunchaku swins are too fast to leave any opening, the key to this fight is punishing the long recovery frames of his roll.

After first engaging with the boss, block and roll-jump backwards to leave at least two dodge distance between you and Murai: he'll now proceed to close the gap by rolling towards you, creating a safe opening to strike back as he recovers from his nearest dodge.

At this point, you can retaliate with a simple **Helm Splitter** (While jumping straight (Y)) or **Scarlet Dragon** (→ Hold(Y)); another option is **Windmill Slash** (→ X) and (X Y) or a more basic **Tiger Roar** (X X Y), because while Murai will usually block the second and third hits, sometimes he fails to guard against the final strike.

It's vital to not extend your combo, as he can parry you out of any string into a throw, although there's to note that he can't counter kick attacks like the last move of **Fiend's Bane Kick** (X X → X X) and **Early Winter Rain** (X X → X Y).

If constant pressure is applied, you may end up clashing weapons with Murai, so quickly mash (X) and (Y) to repel him and punish with (X Y Y).

The most powerful combo to make short work of Murai is **Azure Dragon** (→ Y) into an on landing **Haze Straight Slash** (Hold (Y)): since at higher difficulties he'll receive the support of two Ninja from the start and they'll respawn at certain treshold of his healthbar, after dispatching the last one, pay attention to leave his essence around to turn the final hit of the combo into an **Extinct Straight Slash** (Hold (Y) Essence) for even more damage.

## Quotes

* *I see you have made it this far.*
* *The Dragon Sword... so your father is still in the sacred wilderness.*
* *Someday you will come to understand the pursuit of power. Perhaps beginning with your training here. And what of the sister blade, the Dark Dragon? Has he left you in charge of protecting it as well?*
* *It is a shame that such a sword must go untouched, such power unused... Alas, I am not of the Dragon Lineage. The sword is not of my concern.*