Midnight Anomaly Guide
Village in the Shade Nodzuchi Guide
Do not waste time chasing every small grass creature. Use the Sickle to cut grass until you expose Nodzuchi's red-glowing main body, hit it 3 times, then search again after it burrows. Repeat this cycle 3 times to clear the encounter. Nozuchi is retained as a search alias for 野槌.
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.
Canonical terminology
Nodzuchi / 野槌, with Nozuchi retained as a search alias
The repository uses the technical anomaly ID nodzuchi and the current display spelling Nodzuchi. Nozuchi is an older/site-search spelling, not a second encounter or route.
Japanese
野槌
Current Japanese-release identity.
Final display
Nodzuchi
Used by the anomaly and Night Furniture authority.
Technical ID
nodzuchi
Shared by anomaly, plaque and reward relations.
Search alias
Nozuchi
Keep for existing links and search intent.
Trigger boundary
Random Midnight from Summer onward
Natural appearance and Plaque control are separate states.
Natural trigger
Random Midnight anomaly from Summer, Autumn or Winter. Spring is not in the current season record.
Weather
No Rain, Thunderstorm or Snow gate is documented for Nodzuchi.
Wooden Plaque
野槌の木札 targets Nodzuchi when a Midnight session applies; it is not proven to force Midnight or guarantee the same night.
Midnight control rules →Unknown controls
Plaque consumption, persistence, reuse, season bypass and exact retry behavior remain Unknown.
Encounter start cue
Cut the encounter grass, not every ordinary grass tile
AppMedia describes village grass appearing during the event; the repository does not define a fixed tile count or exact spawn algorithm.
What the current evidence supports
AppMedia's specialist guide describes cutting the grass until the eye-bearing body appears. Gamecap's secondary wording mentions a red object at event start, but does not independently establish a separate statue, marker or guaranteed opening animation.
Public wording
Treat the red object and red-glowing body as a cautious cue for the same encounter target only when the eye-bearing root is visible. Do not permanently attribute normal field vegetation, a fixed village patch or a universal red statue to Nodzuchi.
Phase reconciliation
Three Sickle hits per exposed phase
The source supports the phase loop; it does not require a normalized total-hit counter.
Grass search
Cut the encounter grass until the eye-bearing root is revealed.
Small hazards
Mouth-and-legged grass creatures chase you; current guidance says they eventually disappear if you keep moving.
Exposed body
Use the Sickle on the red-glowing, eye-bearing root body.
Burrow and repeat
After three hits it burrows. Search again through the documented third phase until the final root emerges and falls.
Reward reconciliation
Two possible Night Furniture outcomes
Both reward relations are random/possible. Neither is a guaranteed pair, and Autumn Scarecrow is not promoted from one conflicting secondary report.
| Reward | Japanese | Catalog | Sell | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tsuchinoko Doll | ツチノコ人形 | No.2314 | ¥500 | Random / possible; not guaranteed |
| Mud Vessel | 泥の器 | No.2315 | ¥500 | Random / possible; not guaranteed |
Autumn Scarecrow: Gamecap's conflicting claim is unresolved/rejected for the public canonical pool because AppMedia, Gamerch and the repository all corroborate Tsuchinoko Doll and Mud Vessel instead. Reward odds, one-or-both behavior, duplicates and repeatability remain Unknown.
Associated lore
Two Lost Books, not automatic encounter drops
No.27 and No.41 are associated Nodzuchi lore records. Their locations remain owned by Lost Books.
No.27 · 地に潜むヘビ — Village Chief Estate stairs. Access and exact encounter-gated timing remain unresolved.
No.41 · 大地をうねる大蛇 — passage beside Hasumi and Sumire's home. The relation does not prove that Nodzuchi must be cleared first.
Tool boundary
The documented tool is the Sickle
Tools and Tool Controls own acquisition, upgrades and general controls; this page owns the anomaly-specific use.
Use the Sickle for both encounter-grass cutting and attacks on the exposed body. No specific upgrade tier, Sickle Technique, wider-range interaction, Bow, Pickaxe, Hoe or special damage value is established as required.
Lost Book conditions
No.27 is thematic; No.41 is appearance-gated
The Lost Books guide owns the full checklist and locations. This page only explains the Nodzuchi relation.
No.27 · 地に潜むヘビ
Found at the Village Chief Estate stairs. It is Nodzuchi-themed, but no encounter-only condition is currently verified.
No.41 · 大地をうねる大蛇
Found in the passage beside Hasumi and Sumire's home while Nodzuchi appears (`野槌出現時限定`). This is an appearance gate, not proof that the encounter must be cleared first or that the book becomes permanently missable.
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.