Kowakujo has a Takeo-exclusive side Easter egg that pulls you into his cursed memories and ends with the Reunion Dark Ops calling card. To start it you play as Takeo, buy a Psych Grenade, and use it next to two katanas near Pack-a-Punch to summon a clone of yourself. The whole thing takes under 15 minutes on a low round, and it tells the darkest part of Takeo’s story yet.
- Play as Takeo and buy a Psych Grenade for 800 Salvage
- Go to the two katanas on the floor near Pack-a-Punch
- Throw the Psych Grenade at your feet to spawn a Takeo clone holding a katana
- Approach the clone with melee out, then interact with the dropped Path of Sorrows katana
- Survive the cutscene, the Oni ritual, and the twin-brother boss to earn the Reunion calling card
Kowakujo dropped on 25 June 2026 as part of Season 4 Reloaded. It is Takeo Masaki’s cursed family castle inside the Dark Aether, and it introduces the Oni enemy type and the Nekomancer Wonder Weapon. If you have done the Nikolai side Easter egg on Astra Malorum or the Richtofen quest on Totenreich, you know the format. Every Dedicated Crew Operator gets a personal story quest. Here is the full walkthrough with screenshots from our own playthrough.
Credit to ZoneX and his community, who put out one of the first clips of the trigger method. We tested the rest ourselves and filled in the parts the early videos left out.
Requirements
You only need two things to start this quest. There is no power requirement and no main-quest progress needed.
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Takeo Operator | Select Takeo from the Operators tab before the match. He is listed as a “Dedicated Crew Operator” with enhanced story content. |
| Psych Grenade | Buy one at any Crafting Table for 800 Salvage. This is the item that spawns the clone, so the quest cannot start without it. |
Takeo joins Dempsey, Nikolai, and Richtofen as the fourth character with a dedicated side Easter egg in Black Ops 7 Zombies. Treyarch is building out each character’s backstory one map at a time, and this one is tied to Takeo’s twin brother.
Step 1: Find the Two Katanas
Head toward Pack-a-Punch, which sits in the War Room area of the castle. At the bottom of the stairs leading up to it, you will find two katanas resting on the wooden floor. This is the exact spot where the quest begins.
Make sure you have your Psych Grenade and enough room to fight before you throw it. The clone spawns right where you are standing, so you do not want zombies crowding you.
Step 2: Throw the Psych Grenade
Stand near the two katanas, on the stairs going up toward Pack-a-Punch, and throw a Psych Grenade at your own feet. The screen warps into a hallucination, and a clone of Takeo appears holding a katana. In our testing the clone spawned behind us, so check your back if you do not see it straight away.
The clone can hurt you. Do not let it hit you while you close the distance. The hallucination is also buggy and clones can appear on both the upper and lower floors, so the correct version is the clone standing near the katanas downstairs.
Step 3: Take the Path of Sorrows
Switch to your melee weapon and walk up to the clone. When you get close enough, the clone drops its katana, the Path of Sorrows, and it sits on the ground glowing red. Hold the interact button on the blade to trigger the inspect animation and enter the side quest.
Once you interact with the katana, the screen fades and a cutscene begins. From this point you are committed, so make sure you are ready for a fight.
The Quest and Boss Fight
The quest opens with a cutscene that lays out Takeo’s backstory and his exile. After it plays, you are dropped into a memory version of the grounds and the fighting starts.
The sequence runs in three parts:
- Hellhounds. You first fight a pack of hellhounds, framed as his twin brother’s hunting dogs.
- The Oni ritual. Next comes a ritual where waves of Oni spawn in around you. This is where the round scaling really shows, because the Oni get tankier and hit harder the later you started.
- The twin-brother boss. Finally an elite Oni spawns. He is revealed to be Tesshin, Takeo’s twin brother and the shogun who banished him. He throws red orbs and uses electric attacks.
Aim for the boss’s head. That is his weak point, and on a low round you can drop him quickly. The danger is his damage output. On higher rounds his electric attacks and the fire zombies around him can one-shot you, so keep moving and do not stand still.
When you land the finishing blow, dark strings wrap around the screen like a world seed closing in, and you spawn back on Kowakujo with Takeo’s hands marked by the curse. Your loot drops on the ground around you.
Rewards
Completing the Takeo side Easter egg gives you a reward screen plus loot on the floor.
| Reward | Type | Details |
|---|---|---|
| The Reunion | Dark Ops Calling Card | Permanent unlock and the main reason to run the quest. |
| AN-94 Badge II | Cosmetic | Weapon badge shown on the reward screen. |
| ”This Story Ends With a Twist” | Audio Log | Lore audio log unlocked on completion. |
| Loot drop | Weapons and tool | In our run we got two weapons and a blue rarity tool dropped on the ground. |
Honestly, the loot itself is nothing special. You are here for the Reunion Dark Ops calling card, which is the kind of flex most players want from a character quest like this. The Path of Sorrows katana you pick up is a fine melee weapon, but it has no special ability since katana melee was already added back in Season 3.
Lore: Takeo’s Backstory
The cutscene reveals that Takeo Masaki was a samurai who became a ronin after a fall from grace. His katana, the Path of Sorrows, carries a demonic spirit that has been whispering to him for a long time.
His twin brother Tesshin became shogun after their father. Takeo’s actions led to a crime serious enough that his brother could have taken his head, but instead Tesshin spared him and cast him out, stripping him of his rank, his home, and his honor. Wandering as a ronin, Takeo crossed back into what used to be his father’s lands, which set off the events of the quest.
The spirit in the blade refers to someone named Takashi, with Takeo saying his hands are forever crimson with Takashi’s blood. The wider thread is the Oni curse, described as the warden’s hunger. Takeo knew about the curse and accepted it anyway to protect the innocent, acting in self-defense rather than malice. The spirit tells him it has tasted ten million minds and that his is true.
One detail worth knowing: Kowakujo is a tribute to Tom Kane, the original voice of Takeo, who passed away before the map released. The community has been sharing the full Takeo cutscene on the CODZombies subreddit, and the wider Kowakujo Easter egg hunt megathread is being filled in live as people crack the map.
Tips for Completing the Takeo Side Easter Egg
- Do it on round 1 to 3. The difficulty scales hard with the round, and waiting only makes the boss and the fire zombies more dangerous.
- You get one try per game. If you go down you respawn at the katana with no reward and cannot start it again that match, so do not rush in undergeared.
- Solo is probably the smoother run because enemy health scales per player. A round 1 solo attempt took us under 15 minutes.
- Keep moving during the boss. His electric attacks and the surrounding fire zombies can one-shot you on higher rounds.
- Bring enough Salvage for the Psych Grenade plus a spare, in case the first throw lands in a bad spot.
- This is the hardest of the character side quests if you wait too long, so treat it like an opening-round objective, not a late-game one. For a setup that can carry you through it, check our best BO7 Zombies loadout guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What grenade do you need for the Takeo side Easter egg?
You need a Psych Grenade, which you buy at any Crafting Table for 800 Salvage. The Psych Grenade triggers the hallucination that spawns the Takeo clone holding the Path of Sorrows katana. You only need one, but bring extra Salvage in case you miss the throw.
What round should you do the Takeo side Easter egg on?
Do it as early as possible, ideally round 1 to 3. The quest difficulty scales hard with the round number, so the enemies inside hit much harder the longer you wait. We tried it on round 14 and got one-shot by a fire zombie.
Can you retry the Takeo side Easter egg if you fail?
No. You get one attempt per game. If you go down during the quest you respawn back where you interacted with the katana, you get no reward, and the clone will not appear again that match. Start a fresh game to try again.
What reward do you get from the Takeo side Easter egg?
The main prize is the Reunion Dark Ops calling card. You also get loot on the ground after the quest, including an AN-94 Badge, weapons, and a blue rarity tool, plus the "This Story Ends With a Twist" audio log. The rewards are decent, but the calling card is the reason most players run it.
Is the Takeo side Easter egg easier solo or in co-op?
It is likely easier solo because enemy health scales with the number of players. We ran it in co-op and found it brutal at higher rounds. Solo on round 1 took under 15 minutes from start to finish.
What is the Path of Sorrows katana in BO7 Zombies?
Path of Sorrows is Takeo's katana, a blade that holds a demonic spirit tied to his curse. In the side Easter egg you pick it up off a Takeo clone to start the quest. It works as a melee weapon and has no special abilities beyond that.
Who is the boss in the Takeo side Easter egg?
The final boss is an elite Oni that is revealed to be Tesshin, Takeo's twin brother and the shogun who banished him. He uses red orbs and electric attacks. Aim for the head, which is his weak point, and avoid his hits because they can one-shot you on higher rounds.
Does the Takeo side Easter egg affect the main Kowakujo Easter egg?
No. Like the Nikolai, Dempsey, and Richtofen character quests, the Takeo side Easter egg is a standalone story quest. Completing it does not lock you out of the main Kowakujo Easter egg, and you do not need the main quest active to start it.
Stuck on the boss or want to compare reward drops with other players? Join 50,000+ players in the COD Central Discord. We have dedicated Zombies channels where our team breaks down every new map and side quest on day one.
