Dog steadied the supplies, Pheasant flew ahead to find the safest route, and Momotaro kept the sail turned towards the island. By sunset, black cliffs rose from the sea. Behind them stood a high iron gate.
Pheasant flew over the wall and reported what he saw. Monkey climbed the cliff and lowered a rope. Dog found a narrow path leading towards the gate. Each companion had a task, and no one argued about whose task mattered most.
Inside, the oni were feasting beside heaps of things taken from the villages. Pheasant swept down and startled the guards. Monkey opened the gate from within. Dog blocked the path so none could carry away the treasure. Momotaro entered and called to the oni leader.
“Return what you stole and promise to leave the villages in peace.”
The oni leader laughed. He was enormous, with a heavy iron club. Momotaro was strong, but even he could not face every oni alone. When the leader swung his club, Dog warned Momotaro from behind. Monkey pulled away the leader’s helmet. Pheasant flapped before his eyes, and Momotaro knocked the club safely aside.
Around them, the other oni saw that the four companions protected one another. Their size and noise no longer seemed enough. At last the leader dropped his club.
“We surrender,” he said. “We will return everything and trouble the villages no more.”
Momotaro did not seek revenge. He accepted the promise, but required the oni to load the stolen rice, cloth, tools and treasure onto the boat. The journey home was slower because the boat was full—and because Monkey repeatedly checked whether a golden box might contain snacks.
At the coast, villagers recognised their belongings. Momotaro returned every object he could identify and shared the remaining treasure among families who had suffered.
When he reached home, his parents ran to meet him. They listened as Dog, Monkey and Pheasant each described the adventure in a way that made his own part sound slightly more impressive.
Momotaro laughed. “The truth is simple. None of us could have succeeded alone.”
The companions remained friends. Even Dog and Monkey learned to quarrel less—although neither ever agreed about which of them had been the bravest. Pheasant claimed the argument was impossible to settle because neither had seen the adventure properly from the air.