Shinobi Art of Vengeance: How to defeat Shadow Master

Shinobi Art of Vengeance features a clone of one of the most sinister bosses in the franchise as an optional boss: The Shadow Master! Known for being the primary antagonist of Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master, they are truly a foe worthy of being the final encounter of this game. You cannot fight them until you’ve gained 6 Lab Keys, and to do that, you have to at the very least, beat the final boss, Lord Ruse, since he rewards you with one of the keys.

The others are scattered throughout Shinobi Art of Vengeance’s stages, with one also being one of the last rewards in the shop; getting them all means you can fight the Shadow Master. This foe almost requires the Dark Katana as well, because he doesn’t take very much damage as is. If you’re stumped, here’s what you need to know.

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Tips to beat Shadow Master in Shinobi Art of Vengeance

The Shadow Master can be found in Shinobi Art of Vengeance, after collecting all six Lab Keys. You then take them to the ENE Corp Laboratory stage, and fast travel to the Containment Room, on the east side of the map. Just interact with the computer below the fast travel location, and the boss fight will begin. If you don’t know where the other keys are, they’re found in the below locations:

(Fight begins at 12:10)

• The Mountain
• ENE Corp Laboratory
• Fish Market
• The Kaiju
• Limbo (Lord Ruse)
• Available in the shop after unlocking the final set of purchases

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1) Phase 1

I recommend bringing the same loadout you did for Lord Ruse: Vampire, Rage Regenerator, and whichever Ninpo you feel comfortable with. Having access to Water Ninpo can be a real savior if you’re low on HP, so that’s what I used in this fight. Shadow Master has access to the following attacks in phase 1:

These laser kunai might be the most annoying attack to dodge in the game (Image via SEGA)

• Laser Kunai Bombardment: Floats into the sky and rains down waves of Laser Kunai. Stay mobile through this.
• Counter: Gets into a defensive stance. If struck (even with Kunai) will dash across the screen.
• Shadow Dash: Briefly glows purple and dashes across the screen to strike.
• Energy Blast: Briefly glows purple and fires a large shadow orb across the screen.
• Dive Kick: Jumps into the air and dive kicks in a similar fashion to Shinobi.
• Laser Kunai Toss: Throws three Kunai that arc out in a large wave.

What makes Shadow Master especially dangerous in Shinobi Art of Vengeance is not just that he takes almost no damage, and cannot really be juggled/stunned. He is very quick to chain together attacks, particularly his Laser Kunai Toss. More often than not, after an Energy Blast, the Laser Kunai Toss immediately comes, so get ready.

Getting behind him before the Kunai Toss means you can get some free shots in (Image via SEGA)

The Laser Kunai Bombardment is pretty easy to avoid if you stay mobile, too. They tend to track where you are, so stay moving and be quick to jump or dodge roll if necessary. Everything he does hurts a lot. Like the final form of Lord Ruse, you need to just get a few hits in and dodge roll away.

Dive Kick in, do a few strikes, and get out. However, do not attack him during Counter. The dash strike is incredibly fast. You can trigger it with a Kunai from a distance, but just be ready to get out of the way. He keeps using these attacks until he reaches about 50% health, when he’ll begin to glow and power up.

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2) Phase 2

As you can see, the dive kick has a MUCH bigger AOE splash (Image via SEGA)

If you need to heal, doing it while Shadow Master is powering up during this Shinobi Art of Vengeance boss fight is not a bad idea. There are some changes in his attacks during Phase 2, as well. Notably, Laser Kunai Bombardment lasts a lot longer. In addition, his Dive Kick, which was mediocre, now has a huge splash of damage around it, like Lord Ruse’s Dive Bomb.

His Energy Blast is now two back-to-back shots, and in general, his attacks just hurt more. Shadow Master thankfully doesn’t introduce anything new to this Shinobi boss fight until the very end. At around 10% or so health, Shadow Master punches the ground and starts powering up. Hit him with as many heavy attacks as you possibly can.

This is your visual cue to go in as hard as you possibly can (Image via SEGA)

When you hear the sound of a shield breaking, you will finally start hurting him again. You must defeat the boss before the cast time is up. Otherwise he uses an incredibly powerful Green Dragon Jutsu and kills you. In my experience, it was always a one-shot. When he’s down to about 1-2% health, he’ll get an execute marker; use it to wrap this fight up. Enjoy knowing you beat the hardest boss in the game, and your Golden Shinobi skin!

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Shinobi Art of Vengeance is the latest action platformer from SEGA, and will release on August 29, 2025, on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One. You can learn more about the game from our in-depth review.