Shigekichi of the Red Guard

**Shigekichi of the Red Guard** (赤備えの重吉, Red Armored Shigekichi) is mighty warrior of the Red Guard, elite troops of the Interior Ministry that is invading Ashina Castle. He is found guarding the access to Ashina Outskirts, drinking near the Underbridge Valley.

## Behaviour and Tactics

* **Perilous Grab**: rears back for a brief moment before lunging forwards. If connected, he throws Sekiro on the ground before stomping him.
* **Perilous Sweep**: sweeps the ground from left to right.
* **Burning Liquor Spit**: stays his ground and spits a long stream of burning liquor twice.
* **Burning Sword**: spits fire on his sword, and every deflects will cause a small Burn build up.

* **Chasing Slice**: dashes forward with a slash.
* **Drink from Gourd**: stops for a moment and drinks from his gourd.
* **Harite**: after a brief pause, he pushes with his left hand up to two times. May follow up with an *Overhead Swing* or *Wide Sweep*.
* **Kick**: kicks his foot above his head then slams it on the ground.
* **Overhead Swing**: holds the blade with two hands and unleashes a vertical swing up to two times.
* **Relentless Swings**: swings his sword up to three times.
* **Wide Sweep**: swings the blade while doing a half-turn.

Due to the numerous Central Forces Soldiers before this miniboss, it's best to go through the cave with the Headless to reach the building guarded by Shigekichi from the other side. The door that can be opened only from one side will now be guarded by a couple of Rats. From the fissure in the wall, it's possible to snipe the nearby Watcher with a Shuriken. At this point, there's only one Agent left that patrols the entrance to the building. Some of the remaining enemies can be easily turned into allies via Puppeeter Ninjutsu. Shigekichi can also be lured to the red supply box behind him, which can then be detonated with Firecrackers or Flame Vent.

Otherwise, one can start from the Outskirt - Wall Sculptor's Idol and backstab all the Agents on the way to the miniboss.

The fight is identical to that of Juzou and Tokujiro, except this miniboss employs Fire, instead of Poison.

Since this miniboss can inflict high amount of Burn build-up, it's recommended to come equipped with Dousing Powder or Ministry Dousing Powder.

First, one should focus on removing Shigekichi's armor with the Loaded Spear. Firecrackers can stun this miniboss for a short while and Flame Vent, especially when Shigekichi is covered in Oil, can also damage his Vitality greatly and prevent his Posture from regenerating with Burn. The Mist Raven can also be used against his slow attacks to get behind him.

Due to his slow swinging speed, Shigekichi can be easily taken down by constantly running around him and attacking only when he's recovering from one of his combo.

Since there's no way to tell when his most common combo, the *Relentless Swings*, will be made up of two or three attacks, it's best to never attack after any deflection.

On the contrary, it's possible to land a swing after deflecting his first *Overhead Swing* and two more hits after the second.

Both the *Burning* *Liquor Spit* and *Drink from Gourd* offer the longest opening for attacks, although he may end-up staggered out of the animation if he has already received many hits shortly before starting the move.

The *Perilous Grab* and *Overhead Swings* can be avoided entirely by simply walking to the left. Since he takes a while to recover from these moves, there's enough time to land even slow combat Arts like the Ichimonji.

If the player is far away from him, he'll often stop giving chase and perform a *Drink from Gourd* move that may be followed by *Burning Sword*.

## Trivia

* The Red Guard (赤備え) Shigekichi belongs to is the Akazonae, a troop of elite soldiers notorious for their red tinted armors.
* In the game files, he is referred to as "Shura Samurai".
* He shares his model and moveses with Juzou the Drunkard and Tokujiro the Glutton.

Gallery
Concept Art