Takeo has been the one crew member without his own secret side Easter egg in Black Ops 7 Zombies, while Dempsey, Nikolai, and Richtofen each got theirs on previous maps. Kowakujō finally changes that. His side quest centers around the cursed Path of Sorrows katana he wields, and to start it you need Takeo as your Operator along with a Psyche Grenade.
The whole thing involves tracking down a set of katanas, getting pulled into a separate area, and fighting through it with the cursed blade itself. It is worth attempting early since you will be fighting zombies with a katana, and a lower round keeps their health more manageable. In this guide, I will walk you through every step so you can get through Takeo’s side Easter egg as quickly as possible.
How to Get The Takeo Secret Easter Egg
Start the map with Takeo selected as your Operator. Before heading in, make sure you have a Psyche Grenade in your loadout, since you will need it for this Easter egg specifically.
Progress through the map normally until you reach the room just before Pack-a-Punch. Inside this room, you will find two katanas lying on the ground.

What you need to do here is use your Psyche Grenade on those katanas while also catching yourself in the blast. If done correctly, this will spawn another version of Takeo in the room.
Approach him with your melee weapon out and he will drop a katana on the ground. Walk over to it and you will trigger a cutscene of yourself picking it up, which then teleports you into a separate area.

Important Note: I highly recommend attempting this on lower rounds. The difficulty of what comes next scales up significantly the higher your round count is when you trigger it.
After the short cutscene plays out, you will be teleported into a separate world. You are given a katana here and the first thing you need to do is fight through a wave of enemies in the opening area. Once they are cleared, the path ahead will open up.
From there, keep progressing forward. You will reach another area where you need to fight off another group of enemies. It is a fairly linear and straightforward process from start to finish, so you should not run into much confusion along the way.
Once you clear the final group, you will be teleported back into the real world and rewarded for completing the side Easter egg.

That’s It
That covers Takeo’s secret side Easter egg in Kowakujō. It is a fairly straightforward sequence once you know the steps. Just remember to attempt it early, before the round count makes the katana fights a lot harder than they need to be.

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