Shadow Land/Stage 4

The fourth stage of the game is subtitled Sabaki no Tani (lit. "Valley of Judgment"), and begins with three Green Zako walking towards Tarosuke just before the fourth instance of Zakka's shop. If Tarosuke has been turned into an old man by the box given to him by the lead mermaid on the previous stage, his walking speed will be severely hindered and he will take more damage when he gets hit - so if you have enough money left to buy any of the remaining items, you will once again want to consider the Yokai Jiru and Jigoku Don if you are running low on energy, along with the Tennyo no Unko in order to restore Tarosuke to his original form.

Once you have left the shop, continue to the right and jump onto the cloud platform moving up and down. There are two Gaki and four Hitotsume to contend with once you have made it to the other side, along with a range of spike-tipped mountains. You will have to jump onto a series of cloud platforms in turn in order to bypass them, and there is another Kao floating around in mid-air on the other side. Shortly after, you will come across several Iwa arranged in a triangular pile on a campfire - and when the flame beneath them ignites, they will throw themselves around the screen and return to their original position once the flame has gone out. The flame takes quite a few hits to defeat, and will leave a crystal ball with a stone in it behind when extinguished. Once Tarosuke has collected this crystal ball, he will proceed to the second part of the stage.

The second part of the stage begins with several Brown Babito flapping around in mid-air (which will each leave a 100 money bag behind when killed) and a Jigokuwa blocking your path. He spits fire at Tarosuke and takes several hits to defeat, but will leave another crystal ball behind when killed. This one has a flame in it, and once Tarosuke has collected it, he will proceed to the third part of the stage.

The third part of the stage begins with two Kumo floating around in mid-air and a Jumoku blocking your path. He spews Green Babito at Tarosuke and takes quite a lot of hits to defeat, but will leave a third crystal ball behind when finally killed. This one has a tree in it, and once Tarosuke has collected it, he will be taken back to the second part of the stage - but this time, you will have to jump onto the cloud platform moving up and down and walk off the next platform once you have made it to the other side in order to proceed to the fourth part of the stage.

The fourth part of the stage begins with two Kao floating around in mid-air, and several cloud platforms moving up and down. You will have to jump onto each of them in turn in order to cross the pits beneath them, and you will be taken back to the first part of the stage once you have made it over the last one. This time, you must walk off the edge of the platform just after Zakka's (closed) shop in order to proceed to the fifth and final part of the stage - which begins with two more Kao floating around in mid-air, and two Gaikotsu patrolling a stone floor. A Bird will also fly over from the left and drop several bombs before Tarosuke meets up with the Mountain Hag, who will not let him bypass her if he does not have all three crystal balls. Just before the end of the stage, there is a short pool of water; the Fake Tennyo will rise up from its depths and start chasing Tarosuke once he is halfway over. Don't let her catch up with you, because the Fire Demon on the other side will let you proceed to the fifth and final stage of the game, Rinnekai (lit. "Land of Transmigration").