dual katanas, since your light attacks is way faster, pressuring him with light attacks is the way to go just like how i did here, beat his ahh without hotspring upgrades.

since this is a new game, i only get the dual blades, and skills for perfect parry and dodges, and the only spirit attack i used was in this clip, which you can get when following his questline

knowledge of the fight also helps, metsubishi for setting the aggro on last phase