Ashina Outskirts Secret Door
- Location: Headless Cave
- Leads to: Senpou Temple – Bell Demon’s Temple
Though this door is clearly outlined, the location of the shortcut itself can be tricky to find. Once you have defeated the Chained Ogre in the Ashina Outskirts, head up into the next courtyard where a Samurai General and his men are located.
From here, take a right out the large doors to find a small shrine and a warning note about a Headless. If you look behind the shrine you can find a tree to grapple to, and then jump down to grab a cliff ledge to move to a large cave below.
At the bottom of this cave is a Headless Mini-Boss that cannot be damaged by normal means, and will sap your will to run. It’s best not to engage this enemy until later when you have better tools.
Run around behind it and look along the walls for a small tunnel opening that leads to a Shinobi Shortcut. This will take you all the way to the Senpou Temple, Mount Kongo region far earlier than you should normally be able to visit – but the spot is isolated from the rest of the area due to a nearby locked door.
Head up the stairs past a Centipede enemy to find a Sculptor’s Idol and a large bell with a note imploring you to not to ring the bell. If you do so anyway, you’ll be cursed by a Bell Demon in your inventory that will make foes more difficult, but increase rewards dropped.
If this sounds like too much trouble, you can always “use” the Bell Demon in your inventory to make it go away.