For those taking on the brutally unforgiving Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, there are four possible endings that players can choose. There’s the Shura, Severance, Purification, and the Return ending. The Return ending is a little bit tricky, so to help those completitionists get the one they want, here’s what you need to know to go this particular route in-game.
When on the Ashina Castle rooftop, choose Kuro. From there, head to the Temple Grounds idol and dive deep underwater into the pond in order to retrieve the Holy Tome: Infested Scroll with the Prayer Bead. If that seems like too much work, there is a workaround for the Scrolls, instead players can opt to visit the Senpou Temple’s Main Hall prior to killing Genichiro where a monk will be available to talk to. Through conversation, he will offer up the tome in offering to the Divine Child.
Tome in hand, head into the Inner Sanctum in order to converse with the Divine Child where the player will then hand in the Scroll in question. She will then offer up rice to eat. Once fed, head to the idol to rest.
Fully rested up, the player then needs to head back to the Divine Child to talk once more while chowing down on some more rise. Repeat this sequence until she asks for a Persimmon. Hand over a Persimmon whilst still munching on that delicious rice until she offers up more to give to Kuro. It’s important that once she offers you Kuro’s rice to gift that you do not eat the rice. Do as she asks and gift it to Kuro.
Once cleared, head back into the Inner Sanctum to talk to the Divine Child one more time before leaving. From there, head to the Hall of Illusion to talk meet back up with her at the Great Tree. She will ask for another scroll, one that can be find in a nearbye cave to the left of the bell. Once obtained, give her the scroll and then offer her two Serpent Fruits. These “fruits” are actually serpent viscera, which is obtained from the Giant Serpents.
- Fresh Serpent Fruit: Head to Senpou Temple to the first idol, drop to the right of it. Use the Puppeteer Ninjutso on the kite enemy to trigger its use. Traverse the path, using the kite as a grapple, until you reach the Giant Serpent that you need to slay.
- Dried Serpent Fruit: Follow the river at Bodhisattva Valley to go in the opposite direction of where the Guardian Ape boss fight occurred. Close to where the Toxic Memorial Mob merchent is, you’ll find a cave that houses the second Giant Serpent. Uses the Ninjutsu Puppeteer as a distraction while you run through the guarded door to collect the viscera.
Once both “fruits” have been gathered, head back to the Divine Child in the Inner Sanctum. Once done, rest at the idol, then speak with her again to receive the Frozen Tears. Once equipped, play the game normally until an option appears to give Kuro the Frozen Tears for the Return ending.
