Momotaro at the age of fifteen resolved to act. Before setting off on his self-imposed mission, his foster-mother gave him some rice cakes. On the way he met a dog, a pheasant and a monkey in that order. They were all able to converse with him and with each other and in turn they joined him on his expedition, in each case in return for a rice cake. When the quartet reached the coast, they found a boat and had an uneventful voyage to the island of the oni.
On landing they came across some girls who had been kidnapped and raped by marauding oni and held captive on the island. Momotaro told them he would return them safely to their families on the mainland when he had destroyed their captors.
With his bird and animal friends he attacked the oni castle and killed all the supernatural inhabitants, the leader being slain by Momotaro himself in a duel. They then released all the human prisoners they found in the castle, fetched the girls they had met on landing, and also filled their boat with the treasures stolen by the oni. The return voyage was without incident and the rescued were duly escorted to their homes and the treasure returned to its owners. There was enough of the oni loot left for Momotaro to ensure that his foster-parents lived in confort for the rest of their lives. It would appear that the dog, the pheasant and the monkey sought only the glory of helping the youthful hero, as, apart form a rice cake each, they gained nothing from the expedition.