Foolish Survivor -Laughing It Up-

The fight inside the Lake Gosho Colony becomes a show as Fumihiko Takaba and Kenjaku perform together as a sharp comedy duo. Yet every act must eventually close its curtain.

Within the imagined stage of Takaba's Comedian, the pair greet the crowd and Kenjaku names their duo Pinchan. Takaba opens with the tale of the peach boy, prompting Kenjaku to claim ignorance, then tearfully invent a busy single mother before admitting she did read him the story, all a bid for attention. Their banter rolls through Kenjaku's tongue-clicking, talk of dogs, monkeys, and pheasants, and a crude theory that the peach boy was born from a rejuvenated couple rather than the peach itself.

They act out the folk tale with Kenjaku as the hero and Takaba as his grandmother, sparring over millet dumplings, backhanded thanks about living on a pension, and a strange final blessing that instantly defuses Takaba's anger. The skit spirals further as Kenjaku notes the story dog is a golden retriever, eats the dumplings, phones the dog's owner, reveals it is actually a Labrador from a nearby ward, and debates whether to return the pet named John or spare a monkey and pheasant from attacking the demons' island, complete with cancellation fees and review scores.

Kenjaku suddenly senses Takaba's distress. Knowing his dream performance is ending, the comic begins to weep, and Kenjaku tells him not to ruin the mood. Takaba pats his partner and lets the imagined scene dissolve. Back in the colony's forest, Takaba lies dressed as a corpse and thanks Kenjaku, who praises his act and calls him hilarious. At that moment Yuta Okkotsu appears behind Kenjaku. Sensing the threat, the curse user tries to reverse Antigravity System, but a strange noise swaps their positions to keep Yuta at his back, and a single katana stroke takes Kenjaku's head. Still alive and headless, Kenjaku asks if this was the plan all along. Yuta confirms it, explaining he had to finish what Takaba never would, and Kenjaku ominously vows that his will shall be inherited.

This Shinjuku Showdown Arc chapter concludes the bout of Fumihiko Takaba against Kenjaku at the Lake Gosho Colony in Iwate Prefecture, featuring Comedian and Kenjaku's Antigravity System. The title sustains the recurring song reference, and the comedy routine leans on Japanese folklore and food-culture jokes throughout.