How to Get Into Makino Kurumazuka Kofun in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

If you stumble upon the Makino Kurumazuka Kofun north of Yawata Plains early on in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you’ll realize Naoe is incapable of getting past the pile of rocks blocking the way. Thankfully, there is one simple solution to access the kofun and venture through to find the various gear rewards inside. The only real caveat is that it will require a bit of patience depending on how far you are through the campaign.

How to get into Makino Kurumazuka Kofun in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

You can only access the inside of the Makino Kurumazuka Kofun after you unlock Yasuke as a playable character.

That’s because the rocks blocking the entrance to the kofun can only be bypassed by carrying and blowing up one of the red explosive barrels atop the entrance’s stairs. Because these barrels are so heavy, Naoe can’t lift them. As such, you won’t get a “Carry” prompt next to them while playing as her.

Luckily, you won’t have to wait too long to unlock Yasuke as your second playable protagonist. The samurai is unlocked immediately after the events starting from the campaign mission, ‘Temple of the Horseman’, starting between eight and ten hours into the story.

After another couple of locked-in missions, ending with ‘Mibuno Showdown,’ Yasuke will be playable and you’ll now be able to enter the kofun.

Go back to the Makino Kurumazuka Kofun, carry one of the explosive barrels to the entrance, and drop it in front of the rock pile blocking the way. Get to a safe distance and shoot it with either your bow or teppo.

The explosion will clear the rocks away. Now, you can explore the kofun and pillage it of the various loot inside, including the extra Knowledge Point needed to unlock more skills for both Yasuke and Naoe.

Now you know how to get inside the Makino Kurumazuka Kofun, check out all the Kuji-Kiri locations in AC Shadows to gain more Knowledge Points and learn about Naoe’s backstory.

---