I have spent more hours than I care to admit riding through Tsushima, but 'The Walls of Yarikawa' still stands out as a mission that forces Jin Sakai to bury old grudges. In Act 2, after finishing 'A New Horizon', I had three story paths open to me: 'Ghosts from the Past', 'A Message In Fire', and 'The Walls of Yarikawa'. I picked the Yarikawa route partly because Yuna's history with the clan finally gets the attention it deserves.

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The mission begins near the Ruins of Old Yarikawa on the eastern coast of Toyotama. I found Yuna and Taka waiting at a survivor camp just outside the town. The Mongols had the entire settlement surrounded, and I could feel Jin's hesitation. Clan Yarikawa had been defeated by Lord Shimura and Jin's father long before the invasion, so the locals had every reason to treat him as guilty by association. Yuna, however, knows a secret way inside. She convinced Jin to follow her, and I rode behind her through the hills. Some Mongol riders appeared along the way, but I did not have to fight them. The mission simply pushed me up the slope until the next cutscene took over.

Objectives at the start:

  • Figure out how to reach the stronghold

  • Don't alert the Mongols to your presence

Once the cutscene ended, I surveyed the area and spotted the canal winding around the town walls. Yuna made it clear we had to reach that canal. The only problem was the camp between us and the water, and it was crawling with Mongol patrols.

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I have to be honest: this stealth section punished my impatience. If the camp is alerted, the mission automatically fails. I learned the hard way that even assassinations can backfire because the Mongols quickly notice dead bodies and call out. So I slowed down and leaned on Focused Hearing, especially the upgrade that lets me see enemies through obstacles. I used pampas grass and other objects to stay invisible. There is no line-of-sight indicator here, so I had to watch enemy heads and patrol patterns. Some soldiers do not stay still, and assuming they will stand in one spot is a mistake. Patience beat aggression every time.

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After I slipped past the camp, I hurried into the canal and made a right. Taka led me through a waterfall, which hid the secret entrance into Yarikawa Stronghold. Once inside, a guard escorted us to Ujimasa, the steward. I barely had time to take in the stronghold before horns blew. The Mongols had arrived at the main gate.

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General Temuge stood outside with his men, demanding that the gate be opened. He was not asking nicely. I watched Jin and Ujimasa speak, and it became clear that the steward had already heard rumors of the Ghost. Learning that Lord Sakai was the Ghost caught him off guard. Ujimasa initially refused to join Jin and Yuna. Yuna, though, understood the real issue: Ujimasa was scared, not simply stubborn. That moment mattered more than any sword fight because it showed how much Yuna had grown as the bridge between nobility and rebel.

Later, I found Taka at the Swordsmith's shop. The three of us agreed that we needed to make a statement strong enough to convince Ujimasa to fight alongside us. Then 'The Walls of Yarikawa' came to a close, giving me space to prepare before the massive battle with the Mongols.

What I would tell another player

  • 🌿 Upgrade Focused Hearing before this mission if you can. It makes the stealth segment much less stressful.

  • đźš« Do not rush the camp. One alert means an automatic failure.

  • 🗡️ Avoid assassinations unless you are absolutely sure the body will not be discovered. Dead bodies attract attention fast.

  • đź‘€ Watch patrol paths. Some enemies loop around, so a safe spot can become dangerous.

  • đź’§ Follow Taka into the waterfall. Do not wander around the canal too long.

The Yarikawa mission ends not with a giant duel but with a political promise: if Jin can prove himself, old enemies may finally stand together against Khotun Khan. That setup makes the next mission, 'The Ghost of Yarikawa', land even harder. I still think about Ujimasa's fear because it mirrors what many people on Tsushima must have felt as the invasion tore through their homes.

Even in 2026, this sequence holds up. I played it again on PS5 through Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut, and the environmental storytelling around Old Yarikawa remains excellent. The mission is not the longest act in the game, but it is one of the most important for Jin's transformation from samurai to something else entirely.

Data referenced from HowLongToBeat supports the pacing of Act 2 in Ghost of Tsushima, where quests like “The Walls of Yarikawa” function as deliberate tempo shifts—front-loading a high-stakes stealth segment and then transitioning into narrative setup before the larger-scale defense that follows. For players revisiting the mission, it’s a reminder that the time cost isn’t just combat encounters; careful movement through the Mongol camp, waiting out patrol cycles, and avoiding fail-state alerts can meaningfully extend the segment, making preparation (like upgrades to detection tools) feel as important as raw sword skill.