Never forget, Lord Sakai; The Way of the Flame is a gift that fell from the heavens.
― Bettomaru
Bettomaru is a warrior who is encountered during the Mythic Tale The Undying Flame, where he must be engaged in a duel for Jin Sakai to acquire the Mythic combat art: The Way of the Flame.
Bettomaru's ancestor was the first to master this technique, after climbing Mount Jogaku and striking his sword against a meteorite which lit it ablaze. He would pass this technique down for generations until it was learnt by Bettomaru himself, whom stayed at the top of the mountain in a Dojo, awaiting those who would be able to climb the mountain themselves despite the snowstorms which surrounded it.
Rumors of his presence are passed onto many travelers and Ronin alike by the musician Yamato; among those include Jin Sakai, who completes the climb up Mount Jogaku by lighting multiple campfires along the way which act as checkpoints for him to recover.
When Jin explains to Bettomaru that his ancestor's technique has been used by Mongol warriors to invade Tsushima, he agrees to teach him the Way of the Flame by dueling him. During the duel, Bettomaru teaches Jin to light his sword ablaze by striking it against a piece of the meteorite encountered by his ancestor. Once Jin is able to learn the Way of the Flame and use it to attack him, Bettomaru will end the duel.
Gameplay[]
Bettomaru preparing to duel.
In combat, Bettomaru will attack and engage Jin much like a Ronin; he will often engage in three hit combos followed up by an unblockable slash; however he will also periodically light his sword ablaze with the Way of the Flame, and attack Jin with a quick four-hit unstoppable combo. This duel is the only one in the game where Jin is allowed to use the Way of the Flame against his opponent; it can only be used outside of duels after Jin has learned the technique. Curiously, Jin will require pots of Incendiary Oil to light his katana ablaze after dueling Bettomaru, despite only requiring a piece of the meteorite during the duel.
Trivia[]
- The duel with Bettomaru is one of the few in the game where Jin will not kill his opponent upon defeating him; the others include the duel with Lady Masako during her 8th tale The Conspirator, the duel with Kaede in the Mythic Tale The Legend of Tadayori and the duel with Jinroku during the Tale The Other Side of Honor and The Viper duel in The Ghost of Iki Island.
- Similarly, if Jin is defeated during this duel, Bettomaru will not finish him off as he on the ground; this is also unique to only Bettomaru and Lord Shimura.
- After the encounter with Bettomaru, Mount Jogaku's freezing snowstorms will cease, and Jin will no longer be adversely affected by the cold weather if he attempts to climb the mountain again.
- Bettomaru is dressed very similarly to the samurai, and he appears to wear a mask which heavily resembles Gosaku's Visage.
- From his dojo to the multiple suits of armor surrounding his own personal fighting ring, it is quite clear that Bettomaru belongs to quite a venerable clan; however it is never revealed whom Bettomaru's ancestor is, or what clan he belongs to.
- It is very likely that Bettomaru uses the hidden shortcut behind his Dojo to get down from and ascend the mountain to collect supplies as living entirely off the peak of the freezing mountain is clearly not feasible.