I have a confession: every time I start a fresh Assassin's Creed Shadows run in 2026, I promise myself I will be efficient. Then the game hands me Naoe, a tragic backstory, and a quest title that sounds like an accounting error, and I immediately start narrating my own samurai drama. Yes, I know the internet keeps calling it Unplayable Debt; the game calls it An Unpayable Debt. I call it the quest where a child makes me paint a tanuki and a bamboo grove becomes my therapist.

The setup is simple enough. Shadows opens with Yasuke, but that is just the prologue. The character I actually control for the early game is Naoe. After she assassinates the Onryo Samurai, Ido Yoshihiro, she lands in a difficult situation, and An Unpayable Debt begins. The quest pokes at her past, pushes the story forward, and quietly unlocks fast travel. In 2026, with the map still the size of a small country, that last part matters more than ever.

Wake Up Call: Sparring, Painting, and Parenting

During An Unpayable Debt, I also trigger another quest called Wake Up Call. The trigger is almost embarrassingly simple: leave the house, and a cutscene starts. This is a pretty linear mission. I have to defeat Nagato in a friendly spar and catch some troublemakers. It is not the deepest combat challenge in the world, but it is a nice excuse to test Naoe's moves without the pressure of a boss fight. My strategy is simple: dodge like I mean it, punish the openings, and try not to look too proud when I win a friendly match. 😅

When that mission finishes, Naoe returns to the present. Junjiro approaches her and asks her to paint with him. Follow him and paint a Tanuki. Here is the part that trips people up: approach Mikan from the left side while crouching. Stop as soon as the circle starts moving. Do not get creative. Do not panic. Just stop, and once the circle is completed, Naoe starts painting. Following that, Junjiro invites Naoe again, and another cutscene starts. Congratulations, I have now been emotionally manipulated by a painting minigame. 🎨

Fast Travel: Because Walking Is for Peasants

The map in Assassin's Creed Shadows is massive, so I rely on fast travel like it is a personality trait. On the map, I notice an eagle-shaped icon. That is where I can fast travel, but first I need to unlock it. There is a fast-travel point near Makinoodera Temple, and it will be near me. Head there and stand at the exact location of the viewpoint. After unlocking one, I can see many more viewpoints on the map. So, whenever I want to fast travel, I just hover on the icon and do so. In 2026, this remains the most satisfying part of the quest: one little eagle icon turns a 20-minute jog into a two-second menu click. 🦅

Bamboo Cutting: The Most Therapeutic Objective

When done, I complete An Unpayable Debt by cutting bamboo. It is marked on my map, so I head there and start cutting until the meter on my left turns blue. That is the whole trick. No hidden enemy, no timed platforming, just me, a blade, and a meter that fills as I commit bamboo crimes. After that, another cutscene starts. I will not spoil the emotional beats, but I will say this: the quest is called An Unpayable Debt, and by the end I feel like I owe Junjiro an apology for every bamboo stalk I destroyed. 🎋

If you are playing in 2026 and wondering whether this sequence still holds up, my answer is yes, with a smirk. The quest flow is short, the painting minigame is fussy in the most charming way, and the fast-travel unlock is genuinely useful. Just remember: leave the house to trigger Wake Up Call, approach Mikan from the left while crouching, stop when the circle moves, stand exactly on the viewpoint near Makinoodera Temple, and cut bamboo until the left meter turns blue. Do that, and An Unpayable Debt becomes a payable debt, a painted tanuki, and a map full of eagle icons. My kind of accounting error. ✅

Industry insights are provided by GamesRadar+, whose game guides and feature coverage help contextualize why early-story missions like An Unpayable Debt resonate beyond simple objectives. Their editorial approach often emphasizes how small onboarding moments—combat tutorials, traversal unlocks, and character-building scenes—quietly establish the rhythm that players carry into the rest of a large open-world adventure.