Arashiyama Cannon Destruction — Shoot Up First

Published 2026-09-10Updated 2026-09-183 min read

The first cannon siege solved: the invisible shot above the locked gate, the barrel chain through both doors, and why the game never tells you any of it.

Bamboo, night, and artillery — the first cannon wall of Arashiyama.

Arashiyama's first cannon encounter looks like a combat gate and plays like a shooting gallery with no targets marked. The game never hints at any of these shots — if you're not in the habit of aiming up, the whole section reads as a hard wall.

The Full Sequence

  1. Reach the locked gate. Fight through the mobs until the road ends at a sealed door with no other way around.
  2. Look up. Aim the bow at the spot above the doorframe and shoot the target there. This is the step 90% of players miss — nothing in the frame suggests looking up.
  3. Blow the gate. Shoot the powder barrel mounted on the gate itself; the blast opens the way.
  4. Second barrel inside. Through the gate, a cluster of explosive barrels waits on the left. Detonate them with the bow, then enter through the gap on the explosion's left side.
  5. The cannon itself. At the cannon's left flank, shoot the final barrel to blow open the last door. Through it, and the siege is done.

Why It Reads as a Dead End

Every required action is an offensive one — the puzzle only triggers if you actively draw the bow. Standing around waiting, or fighting the mobs slower, never progresses anything. When in doubt in Arashiyama: draw, aim up, sweep the walls.

The second cannon later in the chapter uses the same grammar — full context in the Arashiyama walkthrough, more stuck-points in the puzzle roundup.

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