Midnight Anomaly Guide
Village in the Shade Nozuchi Guide
Do not waste time chasing every small grass creature. Use the Sickle to cut grass until you expose Nozuchi's red-glowing main body, hit it 3 times, then search again after it burrows. Repeat this cycle 3 times to clear the encounter.
English anomaly and item names currently follow the site's Japanese-release terminology and may be updated after the official English localization can be verified on October 27, 2026.
Nozuchi — Short Answer
When
Midnight · Summer onward
Main tool
Sickle
Search method
Cut grass
Real target
Red-glowing body with eyes
Hits per round
3
Rounds
3
Small creatures
Hazards, not target
Preparation
Stamina + HP recovery
Do Not Chase Every Grass Creature
The small mouth-and-legged grass creatures are distractions. They pressure you while you search for the red-glowing Nozuchi body hidden among the grass. They are not the primary completion target.
Encounter flow
How to clear Nozuchi
01
Cut grass with the Sickle
Keep clearing grass until the red-glowing body appears. No fixed grass count is published.
02
Find the main body
Look for the red-glowing root/body with eyes. Keep moving so the small creatures do not surround you.
03
Hit it three times
Attack the exposed main body three times with the Sickle. This completes one surface cycle only.
04
Search again
Nozuchi burrows underground. Resume grass cutting and repeat the search-and-hit cycle for three rounds total.
Round 1
Find → 3 Sickle hits → burrow
Round 2
Find → 3 Sickle hits → burrow
Round 3
Find → 3 Sickle hits → clear
Use the three-hit-per-surface wording instead of treating Nozuchi as a numeric 9-HP boss. Current research describes cycles, not a conventional HP bar.
What are the small grass creatures?
They emerge during the encounter and chase the player while Nozuchi is hidden. Current Japanese guide data says they eventually disappear after pursuing you for a while.
Bring Stamina recovery
Repeated grass cutting consumes Stamina. Bring recovery items, but do not rely on an invented minimum bar or specific mandatory recipe.
Bring HP recovery
The pursuing creatures can make the search dangerous. HP recovery is practical preparation; no exact damage amount or threshold is published.
Verified Nozuchi Rewards
Night Furniture · Catalog No.2314
ツチノコ人形 / Tsuchinoko Doll
A documented Nozuchi-related Night Furniture reward example. Treat it as possible/random; both items are not guaranteed simultaneously.
Night Furniture · Catalog No.2315
泥の器 / Mud Vessel
A documented Nozuchi-related Night Furniture reward example. Treat it as possible/random; both items are not guaranteed simultaneously.
The current data does not publish exact reward probabilities, duplicate handling, a complete loot table or a guaranteed-new rule. These items may matter for Night Furniture and Catalog cleanup.
Nozuchi Wooden Plaque
野槌の木札 is the Ghost Shelf plaque associated with Nozuchi. Nozuchi also has a natural Midnight anomaly record from Summer onward, so the plaque is not presented as mandatory for every appearance or as a proven season override.
See the Ghost Shelf and plaque system →Nozuchi Lost Books / Lore
The canonical Lost Books data includes 地に潜むヘビ at No.27 and 大地をうねる大蛇 at No.41. Their Nozuchi relationship remains lore research rather than a gameplay requirement.
Open the Lost Books guide →Why can't I clear Nozuchi?
Midnight exploration has a hard forced-return boundary at 06:00. Use the Midnight Exploration guide for that broader system; this page does not inherit a generic 05:00 disappearance rule for Nozuchi.
Nozuchi questions
When does Nozuchi appear?
Nozuchi is a Midnight anomaly listed from Summer onward. It is not ordinary daytime content and is not guaranteed to appear every Midnight.
What tool do I need?
Use the Sickle to cut grass and attack the exposed main Nozuchi body. No Sickle skill or upgrade is asserted as mandatory.
What am I looking for in the grass?
Look for the red-glowing main body or root with eyes hidden among the grass. The small mouth-and-legged grass creatures are hazards, not the primary target.
How many times do I hit Nozuchi?
Hit the main body three times each time it surfaces. After three hits it burrows, so the encounter does not end after the first cycle.
How many rounds are there?
Repeat the search-and-hit cycle for three rounds: find it, land three Sickle hits, then search again after it burrows.
Do I need to kill the small grass creatures?
No. They chase and pressure you while you search, then eventually disappear after pursuing you for a while. Keep looking for the main red-glowing body.
What should I bring?
Bring both Stamina recovery and HP recovery. Repeated grass cutting consumes Stamina, and the pursuing grass creatures can make the search dangerous.
What rewards can Nozuchi give?
The current Night Furniture relationship lists ツチノコ人形 / Tsuchinoko Doll and 泥の器 / Mud Vessel as possible Nozuchi rewards, not a guaranteed pair.
Is the Nozuchi Wooden Plaque required?
No requirement is asserted for every natural appearance. 野槌の木札 is the Ghost Shelf plaque associated with Nozuchi; exact guarantee, consumption and seasonal override behavior are not published.
I hit Nozuchi three times but it did not end. Why?
That is expected. Three hits finish only the current surface cycle. Nozuchi burrows again, and you must repeat the process for three rounds total.
Written by: Village in the Shade Guide Editorial Team
Last updated: August 27, 2026
Sources: Official publisher and storefront pages, released-game research and linked source notes.