Substory 21

Follow this guide to complete Substory 21: Sonno Joui in Like a Dragon: Ishin!. Learn where to find the foreigner and how to defeat the Ruffians and Kakumei Joui.

Alright, let's dive into Substory 21, also known as "Sonno Joui," in Like a Dragon: Ishin!. This one kicks off in Chapter 3 once you get access to the Rakugai district. You're looking for a specific conversation to get things rolling.

How to Start the Substory: Head to the Rakugai district. Go up a street that's north of the Shady Bar. You'll find a "Serious Young Man" and a "Kind Foreigner" chatting. Just listen in on their conversation, and boom – Substory 21 begins!

To keep this Substory moving, you'll need to follow that Kind Foreigner. He heads east towards Sannocho, just past a jizo statue that's in front of the Scarecrow Chateau training grounds. Keep an eye out for him!

First Encounter in Rakugai:

Once you're in Sannocho, Rakugai, you'll spot some Ruffians giving the foreigner a hard time. Head over there. When these guys refuse to listen to reason, Ryoma steps in. You'll have to fight and defeat four Ruffians. Honestly, they're pretty standard enemies, not much different from the ones you'll bump into wandering around. After the scuffle, Ryoma tries to reason with his fellow Japanese countrymen, but they're not having it and they'll flee. Then, Ryoma has a chat with the foreigner, whose name is Creek. Creek doesn't exactly take Ryoma's advice to heart, either.

Second Encounter in Mukurogai:

You'd think after that close call, Creek would be a bit more cautious, right? But nope, he's sticking to his guns about his ideals. Unfortunately, he's picked a really rough spot for his little demonstration – Mukurogai. Depending on how far you are in the game, you might not be able to get there directly from Rakugai. If that's the case, you'll need to backtrack to Fushimi. Find the Boatman east of Teradaya and pay him 500 mon to ferry you over to Mukurogai.

Once you're in Mukurogai, make your way to the eastern side of the island. Go up the stairs near the Cannon Coaching minigame. You'll find Creek chilling near the eastern wall. As soon as you approach him, he's going to attract unwanted attention – the Kakumei Joui Leader and a bunch of his buddies show up. This leader is a bit more vocal about his complaints than the Ruffians in Rakugai were, but the outcome is the same: Ryoma has to defend the defenseless foreigner.

The Fight:

You're facing a good number of enemies here, so don't hold back on using your Heat abilities. The sooner you can thin out the crowd, the better. Beyond that, try to keep your distance. Usually, one of the enemies is more aggressive and will charge at you. If they do, they'll often isolate themselves, which is your chance to punish them before their buddies can catch up. Keep chipping away at all five enemies until they're all down. After the fight, some farmers Creek has been helping will show up with some good news, which convinces the Kakumei Joui Leader to back off – for now.

For successfully completing Substory 21, you'll earn 525 Virtue.