Storm Chaser drops you into the one thing most action games save for a late-game gimmick: two full bosses, awake at the same time, with no lull between them. Ifuu, the Prominent Gale, and Burai, the Lightning Keeper, are a Genma pair who have claimed the ancient Kennin-Ji Temple, and the encounter escalates until you are facing both of them at once in their second forms. There is no version of this fight where you get to deal with them politely, one after the other.
Quick answer: Bring both bosses to their second forms, then commit to a single target instead of splitting damage — kill Burai first if you can reliably land Oni bow shots, and Ifuu first if you cannot — while deflecting whatever the other one throws at you.
The Storm Chaser fight structure: two bosses, second forms, one arena
The encounter does not stay a duel. It opens with a one-on-one exchange and then pulls Musashi into the other world, where both Genma are active and both are in their second forms. Two health bars sit at the top of the screen for the rest of the fight, and neither of them pauses while you are busy with the other.
That structure decides your whole approach. You are not managing a boss and a set of adds — you are managing two threats with independent attack timings, so every animation you commit to has to be short enough that the second one cannot punish you for it.
| Boss | Title | Kill first if… |
|---|---|---|
| Burai | Lightning Keeper | You are comfortable swapping to the Oni bow mid-fight and hitting your shots |
| Ifuu | Prominent Gale | You are fighting primarily with the katana and want the melee threat gone |
Choose between juggling both bosses and focusing one down
There are two workable approaches, and picking one before the second form triggers matters more than executing either perfectly.
Juggle both. Bring Ifuu and Burai to their second forms together, then stay in the middle of the arena and dodge or deflect whatever comes, spreading damage as openings appear. It is the flashier option and it keeps both health bars falling at a similar rate, but it also means you never get a quiet moment, and a single misread can put you between two attacks with nowhere to go.
Focus one down. Pick a target, dump everything into it, and treat the other boss purely as something to defend against. This is the more reliable route. Halving the number of active threats halfway through the fight is worth far more than a tidy pair of health bars, because the back half becomes a normal single-boss encounter you already know how to solve.
Target Burai first with the Oni bow, or Ifuu with the katana
If you have practiced quick weapon swaps and can land Oni bow shots under pressure, put Burai down first. Ranged damage lets you keep chipping the Lightning Keeper from a distance that the other boss’s melee pressure does not fully cover, and removing his lightning output early makes the arena much easier to read.
If the bow is not part of your muscle memory, take Ifuu out first instead. The Prominent Gale is the one you will be trading blades with anyway, so a melee-first player naturally builds more openings against him — and once he is gone, you can take your time closing on Burai without a second sword swinging at your back.
Note: whichever you choose, choose it early. Switching targets halfway leaves you with two bosses at roughly half health, which is the worst possible state to be in.
Deflect to drain stamina, then convert with Issen
The core loop that beats every boss in the game is the one that beats this pair too. Deflecting drains a boss’s stamina far faster than raw sword damage does, and once that stamina bar empties, the boss is open. Counter with Issen when you trust the timing window, and fall back on plain deflects and dodges when you do not.
When a stamina bar breaks, you get a choice of souls. Red sparkles convert into direct damage on the boss; purple ones release health, Oni Power, and Oni Awakening souls. In a two-boss fight, purple is usually the better call, because sustained resources matter more here than a single damage spike — and a topped-up Awakening gauge gives you a window where Issen timing becomes dramatically more forgiving.
Why the fight gets harder: taking hits accelerates their enhanced state
Bosses in Way of the Sword escalate dynamically. The more damage you take, and the type of damage you take, the sooner they slip into their enhanced state — so a sloppy opening does not just cost health, it moves the whole fight’s difficulty curve forward. With two bosses on the field, that penalty lands twice.
The practical takeaway is that a slow, clean run through the early phases beats a fast, messy one. Prioritize not getting hit over squeezing in an extra swing, especially before both bosses have reached their second forms.
Common reasons the Storm Chaser fight fails
- Splitting damage evenly across both health bars, so you spend the entire encounter facing two active bosses.
- Committing to long attack strings while the second boss is winding up, with no room left to deflect or dodge.
- Eating avoidable hits early, which pushes both bosses into their enhanced state ahead of schedule.
- Sitting on a full Oni Power or Awakening gauge instead of spending it during a two-on-one stretch.
- Choosing Burai as the first target without the bow accuracy to actually close him out.
You will know it landed the moment the second health bar empties and the Victory banner takes over the screen — there is no third phase waiting behind Ifuu and Burai. Get the target order settled before the arena shifts, keep your deflects honest, and the duo fight resolves into two ordinary boss fights stacked on top of each other rather than one impossible one.
