Inner Father

## Description

**Inner Father** (心中の義父, Foster Father of the Inmost Thoughts) is an optional boss with two Deathblow Counters.

He can only be fought in the Gauntlet of Strength and Reflection of Strength.

To unlock him, it's necessary to have defeated both the Demon of Hatred and Isshin Ashina on the same savefile.

## Location

* Final boss of the Gauntlet of Strength: Shura.

## Moveset

### Phase 1

* **Sweeping Talon**: dashes rapidly twice before delivering a Perilous Sweep attack. Usually, this is quickly followed by *Nimble Strike*.
* **Shadowfall**: slides and delivers a long-ranged thrust attack, which, if it hits or is simply deflected, will be followed with two powerful spinning sword attacks as he descends.
* **Dashing Talon**: rushes head on then slashes up to three time before following up with a quick *Sweeping Talon*.
* **Dominate**: when near a posture-broken Wolf, he attempts to step on him. If connected, he steps on top of him and plunges the sword in his neck.
* **Empowered Firecrackers**: he jumps back and throw a cloud of delayed exploding firecracker powder and tends to follow up with *Exploding Cut*.
* **Exploding Cut**: quickly jabs with his elbow and slashes, before tossing a cloud of black gunpowder in front then slashes once again, resulting in a powerful exploding cut which able to deals chip damage even with successful deflect.
* **Great Talon**: throws two shuriken then jumps forward in a somersault with a strong, dropping smash upon landing. Another variation starts with him side stepping thrice and throws one shuriken. He forgoes the shuriken completely when Sekiro is healing nearby. Usually followed-up with *Whirlwind Slash*.
* **Mikiri Counter**: when being attacked with a thrust attack, Shadowrush/Shadowfall or Loaded Spear, he steps on the weapon, leaps behind Wolf and cuts his back, then plunges the sword deep in his chest.
* **Mist Raven Sommersault**: if far away from Sekiro or is attacked at a distance, uses the Mist Raven to jump toward him while performing a leaping overhead slam.
* **Mist Raven Slash**: when attacked, uses the Mist Raven to dodge behind Wolf and executes a double spinning attack. If attacked afterward, he can repeat the move up to six times.
* **Nimble Strike**: rolls forward and delivers a delayed overhead strike. If Sekiro step-dodges to his side, he quickly rotates and does a spinning attack, which he connects with another two slashes if it was deflected. When Wolf has moved beyond reach, he will jump forth and does a spinning attack in mid-air.
* **Overwhelming Slice**: throws a shuriken then immediately follows up with a powerful guard-breaking slice.
* **Owl's Flight**: jump-kicks off Sekiro as a stepping stone, leaping back a short distance and only deals Posture damage if connected.

* **Talons**: strikes a maximum of two cuts, and tends to follow up with *Exploding Cut*.

* **Whirlwind Slash**: spins his entire body around twice while attacking.

### Phase 2

He calls forth an ethereal Owl Spirit, aiding him in battle with additional spectacular moves while hovering around.

* **Raging Fires**: calls the Owl back, engulfing it in flame and let it pierce everything in its path, including every Wolf's blocking attempts with Loaded Umbrella. Even if Owl is interrupted, the Spirit will chase down Sekiro regardless once the move has started.
* **Mist Raven Assault Slam**: disappears via the Mist Raven and performs a running slash, then disappears again and throws shurikens while mid-air and disappears one last time before plunging down with an overhead slam, which if deflected will either be followed-up by a *Perilous Sweep* or a *Nimble Strike*.
* **Mist Raven Assault Slash**: disappears via the Mist Raven and performs a double spinning attack, then disappears again and uses his *Whirlwind Slash* move and disappears one last time before plunging down with a leaping slash, which if deflected will either be followed-up by a *Perilous Sweep* or a *Nimble Strike*.
* **Owl's Flight**: same as before, but when Owl leaps high backwards into the air, he now throws five shuriken in an arc concurrently.
* **Phasing Strike:** he disappears, only to reappears where the Owl's at and comes crashing down with a slash. If deflected, he does a *Perilous Sweep* or a *Nimble Strike***.**
* **Raging Fires**: identical to the *perilous* version, save for the fact that this time the illusion owl can't be jumped on, but can be dodge through or deflected, without need for the Suzaku's Lotus Umbrella as it only deals regular damage.

## Strategy

### Phase 1

Due to the unpredictable nature of his new *Mist Raven* combo, it's best to never attack more than twice to be always ready to deflect an eventual double spinning attack.

Since this will make reducing Owl's Vitality considerably slower, early on dodging behind some of his attacks like the *Exploding Cut* and *Great Talon* to punish them with a couple of hits is better than deflecting them.

Jumping backward against his *Sweeping Talon* will allow to land two hits as he's charging his overhead slam and two more if one dodges behind that with the correct timing.

Since the opening to damage him are so few, it's also recommended to use the Loaded Umbrella to deflect his heavier attacks like the *Nimble Strike* and *Overwhelming Slice* and to counter them with Projected Force.

To keep him from regenerating his Posture, one can throw a Shuriken or use Dragon Flash everytime Owl jumps backward to trigger him to use his *Mist Raven Sommersault*.

His new *Whirlwind Slash* can be easily interrupted early or by attacking after dodging or deflecting the first attack.

## Phase 2

Since there isn't much time to discern with version of his *Raging Fires* he's about to throw, it's best to always jump and execute a Mid-air Deflection, to prevent getting hit by either Spirit Owl.

He's more likely to use his *Mist Raven Assault* combos, after *Shadowfall* is interrupted by a Mikiri Counter.

His *Mist Raven Assault* combos can be easily countered with the Loaded Umbrella