Juzou the Drunkard

## Description

> "*An unrivaled sumo wrestler once served a great feudal lord. Dismissed after giving to drink, he fell to a life of brigandry. And so he was dubbed Juzou the Drunkard.*"
>
>

> - Seven Prayer Necklace
>
>

**Juzou the Drunkard** (うわばみの重蔵) is an optional Mini-Boss with two Deathblow Counters in each appearance.

He's a large corpulent bandit found sitting at the entrance to the Main Hall in Hirata Estate. He wields a nodachi and comes with a cohort of his own. Wolf may employ the help of a nearby samurai, Nogami Gensai, against him.

He's also fought in the altered Hirata Estate memory, where the encounter is mostly the same, but this time he is accompanied by Lone Shadow Masanari the Fellblade and two Archer Bandits who shoot Poison arrows.

## Location

* Hirata Estate - Main Hall (Hirata Estate): found blocking the entrance of the Hirata Audience Chamber, protected by numerous Bandits.
* Hirata Estate - Main Hall (Hirata Estate Revelation): found on the courtyard before the Hirata Audience Chamber, talking about Owl with Lone Shadow Masanari.

## Moveset

* **Vertical Slam**: two-hands his sword above his head and slams down. Performed twice, if Wolf isn't too far away.
* **Double Horizontal Slash**: performs a pair of one-handed horizontal slashes at waist level, right to left and then back left to right.
* **Diagonal Slash Combo**: throws a one-handed diagonal slash from shoulder height, follows it up with a second reverse slash after a delay and conclude with another slash.
	+ A **Counter Diagonal Slash** from both side can be performed as a reaction to deflecting one of Wolf's attacks.
* **Sake Sip**: stops and drinks from his sake gourd.
* **Palm Strike**: strikes foward with his left palm. Followed up by a singular *Vertical Slam* or a *Sake Spit*, if he has drunk from his gourd previously.
	+ If the move isn't used as a follow-up to another combo, Juzou will initiate it by stomping with his right foot.
* **Palm Strike to Uppercut Slash**: delivers a sideways palm strike, followed up by a large uppercut slash on his right side. Mostly used after Juzou has been staggered.
* **Sumo Stomp**: kicks up with his left leg and then stomps down with his full weight.
* **Headbutt to Vertical Slam**: runs up to Wolf launching himself into a headbutt, then follows it up with a long-range one-handed vertical slam. Only used if Juzou is chasing Wolf from far away.
* **Charged Palm Strike**: squats down with his left palm held outwards, then lunges fowards into a long-range palm strike. Mostly used after Wolf counters his *Sword Sweep* with a jump-kick.
* **Sake Spit**: exhales a stream of poisonous sake, which also lingers as a cloud for a while. Stuns Wolf briefly and breaks lock-on. May follow it up with a *Sword Sweep,* if Wolf is in front of him.
	+ Performed twice as a stand alone attack or only once as part of a combo.
* **Poisonous Sword**: spits sake on his sword giving it a poison-inflicting buff, that is built-up even through deflections.
* **Sumo Grab**: squats down and lunges foward. If connected, he throws Wolf on the ground before stomping him.
* **Sword Sweep**: bends foward and puts his sword flat on the ground, then sweeps in an arc in front of him.

## Strategy (Hirata Estate)

### Preparation

It's advisable to fully complete Ashina Outskirts, collecting the first four Prayer Beads to upgrade Wolf's Vitality and Gyoubu's Memory to increase his Attack Power, before facing Juzou and his army.

Fulfilling the task given by the Tengu of Ashina will also make two importal Skills available for purchase: the Ichimonji, a Combat Art that delivers a slow but hard hitting overhead strike, and Ascending Carp, a Latent Skill that increases the amount of Posture Damage inflicted to enemies upon a successful deflection.

Besides Robert's Firecrackers sold by either the Crow's Bed Memorial Mob or the Battlefield Memorial Mob (these two also sell Antidote Powder, which can be convenient to carry while fighting Juzou), it's also recommended to retrieve both the Flame Barrel and Mist Raven's Feathers from Hirata Estate.

Visiting Senpou Temple early will allow to stack up on all kinds of Buddhist Sugars, all of which can help against this Mini-Boss, based on the player's fighting style. While Gachiin's Sugar in particular won't have any effect during battle, it's vital to take out Juzou's minions safely.

Some easy-to-find Consumable Items to have in inventory before tackling this battle are Pellet, Oil, Fistful of Ash and Ceramic Shard.

### Stealth Route (Hirata Estate)

The safest path to take out all the Bandits before facing Juzou himself requires a singular Gachiin's Sugar and 3x Ceramic Shard (Suppress Presence isn't necessary): Guide by Spiral\_out

1. From the Hirata Estate - Main Hall Sculptor's Idol, follow the path to the pond by only killing the lonely Archer Bandit and either jump through the first fire before the patrolling Bandits or run past them and take the left, past the Ceramic Shard, to hide until they lose aggro. Note that while it isn't necessary to kill the two Bandits inside the left wing of the building, it's recommended as they could intervene if the fight with Juzou drags near their point.
2. Reach Nogami Gensai's spot and use the Gachiin's Sugar: as long as the effect is active, there's no need to crouch to avoid detection.
3. Run to the left and throw the first Ceramic Shard to the Bandit (Sword), then run back to the right to throw the second Ceramic Shard to the Bandit (Torch).
4. Run to the right near the wall, to get behind the unsuspecting Bandit (Bow) and backstab him, moving then on the two previously aggroed Bandits.
5. Now, remaining on the left side of the area, throw the last Ceramic Shard at Juzou and run straight to the right, to the other side of the area.
6. With Juzou and the Bandit (Torch) near him lured away from the two Bandits (Shield), backstab these two and hide, crouching, inside the building.
7. As the two enemies left lose aggro, intercept the Bandit (Torch) as he's walking back to his original spot (note that Juzou won't reset his position once aggroed, but he'll instead stop in the middle of the courtyard) and then land a Stealth Deathblow on Juzou.

The major advantages of this strategy is having a full clear of the arena, allowing to manage the battle more easily, and having Nogami Gensai alive to help taking away Juzou's last healthbar.

### Fight

Since Juzou attacks relentlessly, building up Wolf's Posture quickly, and can heavily capitalize on any guard break, it's highly recommended to use either Gokan's Sugars or Ungo's Sugars to mitigate his damage.

The ***Vertical Slam**, **Double Horizontal Slash** and **Diagonal Slash Combo*** are among Juzou's most common moves and they can all be dodged by sidestepping the first attack of the combo to the left, interrupting the follow-ups.

Due to his long wind-up, the ***Vertical Slam*** can initially be punished by two attack, by a counter-attack after deflecting the first hit and then two more counter-attacks after deflecting the second strike.

While it's better to not counter-attack during his ***Double Horizontal Slash*** combo, it's possible to counter-attack either the first or last hit of his ***Diagonal Slash Combo***, which will bring Juzou to deflect the counter-attack to launch a ***Counter*** ***Diagonal Slash*** of his own: as soon as the sparks of Wolf's counter-attack being deflected appear, perform another attack and then immediately a deflection to repel the ***Counter*** ***Diagonal Slash***, at this point it's possible to land three more attacks before Juzou launches his **Palm Strike**.

Even if Juzou won't be stunned by regular attacks due to his *Super Armor*, he can still be easily staggered by counter-attacks, after one of his ***Vertical Slams***, to which he'll often react with the ***Palm Strike to Uppercut Slash***. If the attack is recognized early, there's room for a couple of attack as he launched his ***Palm Strike***, a counter-attack after deflecting the ***Palm Strike*** itself and a charged attack after deflecting the ***Uppercut Slash***.

Not being a proper attack, the ***Sake Sip*** can easily be triggered by running away from Juzou and the long animation creates a comfortable opening for a heal or any other consumable or to run back at him and land three or four attacks, but beware that if he's staggered mid-way through the animation, he may launch an immediate ***Sake Spit***. It can also be exploited to throw Oil and rush down to Juzou to burn him with the Flame Vent, which will create a further opening as he's stunned by the Burn build-up (that also stops his Posture Regeneration). To note is that after either a ***Sake Spit*** or ***Poisonous Sword***, Juzou has to perform another ***Sake Sip*** to use any of those two attacks again.

While the starting hits of the ***Palm Strike*** can track Wolf more accurately, the subsequent ***Vertical Slam*** can be avoided entirely by simply strafing to the left. Remember that if Juzou has performed a ***Sake Sip*** before hand, he'll use the ***Sake Spit*** attack instead of the ***Vertical Slam***.

***Sake Spit*** will always stun Wolf and break the lock-on, if it connects. The poisonous mist it leaves behind expands further out, so sidestepping or running lateraly is the correct way to avoid it, instead of dodging backward.

Being another non-offensive move, the ***Poisonous Sword*** offers another lengthy opening much like the ***Sake Sip***. While now the Poison will build-up even if the attacks are deflected and not simply guarded, the buff doesn't last long and Wolf can enhance his basic Poison Resistance with an Antidote Powder.

The ***Sumo Stomp*** has a lot of tracking, but little range, so dodging backward is enough to escape its hitbox. Otherwise, it's possible to land a counter-attack between deflecting his rising kick and his stomp.

Rare attack, used mostly after the ***Sword Sweep*** is countered with a jump-kick, the ***Charged Palm Strike*** is actually comprised of two separate hitboxes, which makes it hard to deflect the move correctly using only Wolf's katana: either deflect the extremity of the hand or use the Loaded Umbrella to deflect both hitboxes causing double the Posture Damage. This attack has both a lot of range and tracking, so if one doesn't intend to deflect it, it's better avoided entirely by running as far way as possible.

The first attack of the ***Headbutt to Vertical Slam*** combo has a deceptively large hitbox and, if not guarded or deflected, will crush Wolf to the ground, leaving him inevitably exposed to the follow-up ***Vertical Slam***.

The ***Sumo Grab*** has almost no sideways tracking at close range, so staying in Juzou's face and simply walking to the left is enough to avoid it completely and to punish it with three free hits to Juzou's back.

While Juzou can be stunned by the Shinobi Firecracker or Fistful of Ash and punished with a couple of hits, they both share the same cooldown timer, before they'll have any effect on him again. It's recommended to stagger Juzou with these and the Flame Vent, if one intends to fight him alongside Nogami Gensai, as the long range attacks of this Mini-Boss may accidentaly hit Wolf, even while Juzou is busy fighting the swordsman.

Due to the slow nature of his combo and the complete vulnerability of his back, the Mist Raven can also be put to use to land a hit or two between an attack and then teleport behind Juzou to punish him with some more hit.

In the same vein, the Ichimonji can be employed to deliver a single charged strike to deal a high amount of Posture Damage.

## Strategy (Hirata Estate Revelation)

### Preparation

Since the fight itself is the same, besides upgrading stats and tools, unlocking Descending Carp to deal more Posture Damage with counter-attacks and Flowing Water to take less Posture Damage and using the Mortal Draw (better if in conjunction with Mid-air Combat Arts) to deplete large chunks of Juzou's Vitality is all that's recommended.

### Stealth Route

To safely dispatch of the Lone Shadow that accompanies Juzou and land a Stealth Deathblow on the latter, it's necessary to come equipped with the Finger Whistle and Projected Force Shinobi Martial Art, the Loaded Shuriken, one Gachiin's Sugar (or Gachiin's Spiritfall) and the Bloodsmoke Ninjutsu:

1. From the Hirata Estate - Main Hall, crouch past the Sculptor's Idol and underneath the building to reach the pond without the Lone Shadows on the rooftop noticing Wolf.
2. Take the left and clear that side of the building from the Bandits, to prevent them from joining the fight and consume a Gachiin's Sugar afterward.
3. From there walk crouched towards Juzou, lock onto the Bandit (Bow) behind the Lone Shadow and kill him with some Shuriken.
4. Then launch a lure with the Finger Whistle near the spot where that Bandit was.
5. Run behind Juzou and land the Stealth Deathblow, causing the Lone Shadow to automatically aggro on you.
6. Now that the Lone Shadow is chasing Wolf, quickly dash behind the remaining Bandit (Bow) in front of the Fog Wall and backstab him to trigger the Bloodsmoke Ninjutsu: if done correcly the mist will make the Lone Shadow vulnerable to a Stealth Deathblow, which can be further turned into a Puppeteer Ninjutsu opportunity, if one switches it in after the Bloodsmoke is activated.

* Hirata Estate
* Hirata Estate (Revelation)

## Dialogue

**Juzou**: ... I don't like him. There's something shifty about him... the smell of a crook. (Gulp, gulp, gulp) Ahh... He's a villain... a down and out villain, Masanari...
**Masanari**: Well... he's useful right now, so endure him. For all his scheming, he's a nameless, rogue shinobi. His efforts won't amount to much.
**Juzou**: (Buuurp.) I'm not complaining so long as there's coin and booze in it.

## Notes

* While Juzou isn't a mandatory Mini-Boss, engaging him will trigger a Fog Wall that'll block the entrance to the Hirata Audience Chamber.
	+ Even if it's possible to fight Juzou before the Shinobi Hunter Enshin of Misen, he too needs to be defeated to retrieve the Hidden Temple Key from Owl, which will grant access to Lady Butterfly's bossfight.
* If the Young Lord's Bell Charm isn't retrieved in time, the Prayer Beads this Mini-Boss would have dropped won't become available in the Offering Box next to Hanbei and it won't be obtainable for the rest of the playthrough.
	+ If the Father's Bell Charm isn't retrieved prior to defeating the Divine Dragon, one of the Prayer Beads this Mini-Boss would have dropped won't become available in the Offering Box and it won't be obtainable for the rest of the playthrough.

## Trivia

* In the game files and FuturePress Official Guide, this kind of drunkard Mini-Boss is referred to as "Shura Samurai" (修羅侍).
* Probably due to a bug, Juzou won't drop an Unrefined Sake in New Game Plus cycles.

Gallery
Juzou battleConcept Art

Gallery
Sekiro™ Shadows Die Twice Juzou the DrunkardJuzou the Drunkard easy no hit way