of the story, asking for forgiveness from Naishi. She fell in love with this gentle man, she explains, whom her father brought home, not knowing that he was secretly a noble. Upset at Koremori's duplicity and at his leaving her, she weeps and is comforted by Naishi. Word comes of the arrival of shogunal officers, and Koremori, his wife and child exit. Gonta arrives, then, declaring to Osato that he intends to turn over the three to the authorities in exchange for a reward. His sister begs him not to, and he grabs the sushi tub with the silver coins and flees after the three. Soldiers then appear, along with Kajiwara, and surround Yazaemon. They accuse him of lying to them, and harboring Koremori; but thinking quickly, he tells them that he's already had a change of heart and killed Koremori himself. He brings the men inside, and reaches for the sushi tub with Kokingo's head in it, but is stopped by his wife, who is thinking of the money she stole from him to give to Gonta. A shout is heard from outside, as Gonta returns with a woman and child, tied up and being dragged behind him. He explains to the soldiers that he has captured Rokudai and Naishi, and shows them the tub containing Kokingo's head, claiming it to be Koremori's. Kajiwara offers to spare Yazaemon's life in exchange for this deed, but Gonta, hoping to gain from this himself, declares that he wants monetary compensation; Kajiwara therefore gives him his cloak, which previously belonged to Yoritomo, and which would be symbolic of the reward owed him by the government. As Kajiwara leads the prisoners away, Yazaemon finds the opportunity to viciously stab his son, bitter at Gonta's betrayal. Yazaemon curses his son as he aggravates the wound, but as he dies, Gonta explains to his father that his deceptions were for good intentions all along. He claims that he intended to give the silver to Koremori for traveling expenses. Knowing that his father intended to play off Kokingo's head as Koremori's, and knowing that the head was no longer in the house, he returned in order to rescue his father's plan, and his family therefore. He then reveals that the woman and child turned over were not Naishi and Rokudai but his own wife and child, Kosen and Zenta, who willingly and voluntarily sacrificed themselves to