Most of the Shinbakufu in Assassin's Creed Shadows are destined to meet their deaths at Naoe and Yasuke's hands, but one target with a slightly more complicated situation is Ukita Naoie. Referred to as The Noble among the Shinbakufu, Naoie is a prestigious daimyo among their ranks. He's also capable of great duplicity, however, and the real Naoie earned a reputation as one of Japan's Three Great Villains in history.

Getting to Naoie requires a good bit of work, but he ultimately ends up at the mercy of Naoe and Yasuke after they infiltrate his castle and Kuroda Kanbei holds his son hostage. While both Naoe and Yasuke disagree with Kanbei's methods, they nonetheless have good reason to eliminate Naoie as a dangerous member of the Shinbakufu. In any scenario, one of the two protagonists will have to defeat Naoie in a duel, but a couple of choices surrounding the duel make it possible to show some mercy to Naoie or keep an iron will.

What Happens If You Kill Ukita Naoie

No Mercy For The Wicked

Before the fight with Ukita Naoie, he asks to finish reading a poem from his son, a request that Naoe and Yasuke can either grant or deny. Either way, the duel ensues, with the appearance of additional combatants throughout the encounter making for a potentially tricky situation if Naoe's handling things. Yasuke, on the other hand, is capable of taking down Naoie fast enough to avoid the risk of getting overwhelmed.

After finishing the fight, the option to kill or spare Naoie is set before Naoe. Regardless of which character actually fought Naoie, Naoe will step in to make this decision, which Yasuke allows with a nod. Despite the resistance he put up in the fight, Naoie will now accept his fate without hesitation if Naoe makes the choice to kill him. His main request is that his final words be delivered to his son, so he's willing to go quietly in order to have these wishes respected.

What Happens If You Spare Ukita Naoie

Some Last Words To Share With His Son

Although sparing Ukita Naoie might seem like it would grant him the chance to reunite with his son, no such opportunity is actually available. Naoie is aware that Kanbei has backed him into a corner, and he thinks the only way to ensure his son's long-term safety is to remove himself from the playing field. Rather than taking it upon himself to commit seppuku, he simply requests that Naoe proceed to kill him, and the same death that occurs when initially choosing to kill him will play out after the conversation.

This does lead to an extra bit of dialogue before Naoie's death, with Naoe asking him to be a father to his son Hideie as she offers him the chance to live. If he was able to read his son's poem, he also gets the opportunity to recite a stanza for it. When Naoe and Yasuke see his son shortly after, Naoe can then relay these final words to him. Otherwise, her only options are to share that Naoie said he was giving his life to save his son's or deliver a warning to not be seduced by power, both of which feel less meaningful than the stanza.

You Should Spare Ukita Naoie In Assassin's Creed Shadows

The Story Is Better When Sparing Naoie

Although it has no major narrative effect, the scenes that play out when allowing Naoie to finish reading his son's poem and subsequently sparing him are the most compelling. In a game with a frequently loose approach to its central narrative, this is one of the most emotionally rich scenes, and either starting the fight before Naoie finishes reading or killing him without hesitation will miss out on that opportunity.

The confrontation with Naoie will always play out as a full duel, so there's no advantage in the form of an assassination opportunity gained by denying him the time to finish reading his son's poem.

In Assassin's Creed Shadows' Canon Mode, Naoie will read the poem in full, but Naoe kills him without hesitation, so he never recites the stanza at the end. Canon Mode likely sticks to this choice as part of its overall interest in characterizing a relatively vengeful version of Naoe, but as an ultimately less interesting sequence of events, that doesn't mean it should be the template for the average playthrough. If you're more interested in unyielding vengeance, however, being more forceful won't lose out on any rewards or ultimately change Naoie's basic fate in Assassin's Creed Shadows.