Tube Foxes
Note: This page describes a strategy for a particular fight or set of fights. To learn more about fight strategies in Okami Speedrunning click here.
Summary
The Tube Foxes are fought Inside the Dragon after releasing the Dragon Orb. There are 8 functionally identical enemies, fought in 3 rounds. The rounds have 3, then 2, then 3 tube foxes, respectively.
They have a moveset based on the Canine Warriors, with the ability to jump across the arena and to charge up a multi-hit attack. They can fire a rapid sequence of 3 projectiles similar to Ammy's aerial sub-rosary attack. They also have the ability to perform an attack which rapidly drain's Ammy's ink to 0, which is their most dangerous attack by far.
Their Floral Finisher is Power Slash, which results in them dropping 3 Demon Fangs. It also greatly shortens their death animation, causing it to end almost immediately. This can be used to rapidly progress to the next round or the end of the fight.
Strategy
In almost all circumstances, it is recommended to defeat the Tube Foxes by using a Large Exorcism Slip on each round. This will instantly kill all the Tube Foxes on the field. After each Slip, you can quickly brush, align the camera, and draw a single Power Slash through all the Tube Foxes to force the next round to start immediately. This can be done in multiple PS's if the spread is poor. This is worth it even in categories which don't require Demon Fangs. In NG categories, you may wish to avoid using Power Slash as the Floral Finisher on the final round, in order to ensure there is enough time to collect all the Yen they drop before the bonus value is calculated. In a typical NG fight, you can expect to earn 40K yen from this fight, which is very useful in the route.
NG Demonstration: https://youtu.be/qUqa_O6k_Ok?t=3673 NG+ Demonstration: https://youtu.be/iKBYh8Za7uY?t=2330
Attempting to fight the Tube Foxes without slips is ill advised, mainly due to their ink stealing attack, which will greatly slow down your Divine Instrument and Brush Technique damage output.