Sugawara is staying under the same roof pending the arrival of an escort at cockcrow to take him to Dazaifu. Angry at Kariya for her love affair which has been used to disgrace Sugawara, Kakuju, mother of Tatsuta and Kariya, beats Kariya with a stick. The cock crows when it is held over the corpse, in accord with superstition, and the false escort leaves with Sugawara in a litter. The real escort arrives, learns of the skullduggery and is about to set off in pursuit when the false escort returns having discovered that its passenger was, in fact, a wooden statue of Sugawara. Kariya tearfully sees off Sugawara.
Scene brings together the triplets for the first time.
Shihei, in ceremonial court attire, long wig, and blue makeup, which denotes his role as an evil noble, emerges and glowers with malevolence from the top of the carriage. Deprived of swords by their wives, they toss large straw bales and snap a branch from Sugawara's favorite cherry tree just before he appears. Sugawara decapitates Heima with a plum branch and then ascends to heaven. This scene is rarely performed. The mixture of exultation and sorrow lends the closing pose by all the parents especial poignancy.