In Sekiro’s Senpou Temple, you’ll find a kite. You can fly it as soon as you find it, but the kite won’t do much of anything beyond retracting when you let go of the mechanism. In this guide, we’ll show you how to fly the kite.

The short answer: You’ve got to meet an NPC, beat a “boss” (which is more like a puzzle), receive an item and a skill, talk to an old NPC, kill a dude, and make him a zombie.

All of that is true. None of it is helpful in that form. So let’s break it down.

Blackhat Badger

In Ashina Castle, you can meet Blackhat Badger. He’s a merchant, hanging out in an area where there are, by our rough count, 487,000 enemies with rifles. The easiest way to find Blackhat Badger is to start at the Ashina Castle > Old Grave Sculptor’s Idol.

As soon as you spawn, walk to your left and look down. Below you, there’s a building with a hole in the roof. Jump down and through the hole. You’ll find him inside.

Grid View

• Blackhat Badger’s building in Ashina Castle FromSoftware/Activision via Polygon
• Blackhat Badger in Ashina Castle FromSoftware/Activision via Polygon
• Blackhat Badger in Senpou Temple FromSoftware/Activision via Polygon

After you buy some expensive stuff off of him — the Iron Fortress Shinobi Prosthetic (1,600 sen) and the Anti-Air Deathblow text (1,200 sen) seemed to be the trigger for us — he’ll tell you that he’s moving to Senpou Temple.

You can meet him there. Warp to the Senpou Temple, Mt. Kongo Sculptor’s Idol, exit through the door, and head down the path that leads to all of the monks. Blackhat Badger is standing on a ledge, looking at the kite in the distance (long before you meet the first monk).

He’ll tell you that he’s trying to fly a kite. There’s a little dude down by the kite mechanism who flies the kite, but he’s an enemy. It doesn’t make sense. And there’s nothing you can do about it for now.

Folding Screen Monkeys and the old woman

The next step in this quest requires you to make your way up to the top of the temple, [SPOILER ALERT] interact with the bell, and fight the monkeys. Defeat them, and you’ll receive the Mortal Blade, some rice, and the Puppeteer Ninjitsu skill. We’re interested in the last two.

From Sekiro’s Senpou Temple, Mt. Kongo Sculptor’s Idol, follow the path up the hill, past all of the monks, up into the attic with all of the bugs, down the stairs, and out of the building. Talk to the old woman on the cliff, and give her your rice. She’ll give you a hint:

“If it’s fresh fruit you want, fly a kite … Wind the puppet … fly a kite!”

Return to the displaced merchant Blackhat Badger, and combine what he’s talking about with what the old woman said and the Puppeteer Ninjitsu skill, and you’ve got your solution.

Make your way down toward the kite. Sneak up on the enemy closest to the kite, and give him a backstab Deathblow. Immediately after that, hit the button to perform the Puppeteer Ninjitsu skill. When he’s all zombified, he’ll walk over to the kite automatically, as you can see in this guide’s lead image.

Grid View

• Grapple to this tree, and then turn to your right. FromSoftware/Activision via Polygon
• Now grapple to this … grapple point. FromSoftware/Activision via Polygon
• Use the kite as a grapple point to catapult over the abyss. FromSoftware/Activision via Polygon

Head back up the hill once again, through the building, and past the old woman. Grapple over to the first branch you see. Turn right, and look for a large tree. Jump and grapple to that. Climb to the top, and you’ll see the kite waiting for you. (See the gallery above for the most important locations in this paragraph.)

Jump toward the kite, and use your grappling hook for a boost to the other side, Jump down, grapple across, and you’ll find yourself in a new area.

Collect the Snap Seeds (a super rare item), and jump down and to your right, until you meet up with Blackhat Badger again. Just beyond him is the Sunken Valley Cavern Sculptor’s Idol.