Rise of the Ronin: How to defeat Naosuke Li and Akikatsu Manabe? Rise of the Ronin guide, tips

Naosuke Ii and Akikatsu Manabe (Blue Demon) are a pair of bosses to defeat at the end of Chapter 1 of the Rise of the Ronin game. Our guide details the battle from the main mission Incident at Sakurada Gate in the Edo region.

Last update: 04 April 2024

In the final mission of Act 1 of Rise of the Ronin, you'll need to defeat 2 bosses - Naosuke Li and Akikatsu Manabe (also known as the Blue Demon). On this page of our guide, we provide a breakdown of this demanding encounter from The Sakurada Gate Incident story mission.

• How to start the fight?
• Battle against Naosuke Li - first phase
• The appearance of Akikatsu Manabe and the second phase
• Important decision after defeating bosses

How to start the fight?

1. The Sakurada Gate Incident is the title of the final main mission from Act 1 of Rise of the Ronin. The task is initiated while in Edo region with the conclusion of Those Who Gather at Edo story quest.
2. Immediately after the start of the mission, you'll participate in a large battle facing standard opponents Let allies attract the attention of enemies, and try to avoid receiving damage. The point here is to carry over as much health and medicine items to the battle against two bosses. Attack only enemies that are focused on allied units - there is less chance that they will block your attacks or hurt you. Rely heavily on dodges, which are less risky than Countersparks.
3. After defeating all enemies, approach the Li palanquin - the first boss will appear, commencing the boss battle.

Battle against Naosuke Li - first phase

1. One of Naosuke's main attacks is sending white shockwaves (example in the screenshot) - you can mitigate and counter them with Countersparks (this will fill the boss's panic bar) or dodge to sides.
2. Another is a red attack that creates streaks around the boss. You can risk Countersparking or dodge away if you see the boss launching the attack.

1. Nearby, you can notice weapons that can be pulled with the grappling hook. Throw them at the boss when he is busy fighting your companions.
2. Try to charge the panic bar to be able to fire a critical hit.
3. For the current phase to end, you need to make Li lose around a half of his health. When that happens, a cut-scene will play signaling the appearance of the second boss - Akikatsu Manabe (the Blue Demon). This is the start of phase two of the battle, where you need to fight two bosses at the same time.

The appearance of Akikatsu Manabe and the second phase

1. We recommend focusing on Naosuke Li, while your companions can battle Blue Demon.
2. However, do not completely ignore the second boss, because Manabe may sometimes target the hero and launch an attack at him. When that happens, it is best to dodge, gain some distance, and return to targeting Li.
3. After Naosuke once again loses around half of his health, the boss will enter the state called Ki Blaze. The status will make boss's statistics significantly increase. He will remain in this state until the end of the battle or until his Ki is depleted again due to successful countersparking (orange bar under the white health bar).

1. Take extra care here to counter or dodge Li's attacks, as they are more powerful now. Shockwaves will now be of fiery type and will be launched in series of threes. You can either dodge 3 times or risk Countersparking them to charge the panic bar faster.
2. Li will also imbue his melee weapon with fire. If you fail to counter his melee attacks, you'll receive fire damage.

1. After you defeat Naosuke, join the heroes fighting the Blue Demon. You should remember most of the attacks, as they are the same as in the previous battles. Manabe's typical attacks are a series of melee weapon swings, but from time to time, he will use his grappling hook.
2. Be careful of the boss's red attacks, and when his "clones" appear, continue focusing on the main enemy on which the camera is locked-on. Try to employ Countersparks to activate the critical hit and this way deplete the boss's health bar much faster.

Important decision after defeating bosses

After dealing with Naosuke Li and Akikatsu Manabe, you will have to make a major decision. You can:

1. Spare Li's life - He will not die now, but from the next cut-scene, you'll learn that he had died sometime after the battle at the hands of an assassin.
2. Kill Li - Proceed to executing him right away.

Unfortunately, the further fate of the Blue Demon is out of your hands.