Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 150

With a massive strike, J has brought an end to the threat of Pooron Kokurenju and secured Otokojuku's birth to the next round! But their next opponent may be an even tougher, more unbelievable...and strangely ancient threat!

Chp. 150: The Man Inside the Coffin!

167.
Toramaru: Wh…what---!!
Togashi: The…battleground has been destroyed by J’s blow, without leaving a trace of it---!!

168.-169.
Top Caption:
THIS IS THE DAIBUKAI’S FINAL MEETING GROUND: MEIOU ISLAND!!
Bottom Caption:
AND THESE ARE OTOKOJUKU’S SOLDIERS ON THE FRONT!!
Participant Boxes (from left side, top to bottom):
GENERAL – TSURUGI MOMOTARO
SECOND-IN-COMMAND – DAIGOUIN JAKI
EIKEI (DEAD)
SENKUU
RASETSU
MANJIMARU
HENSHOUKI (DEAD)
BARON DINO
DOKUGANTETSU (DEAD)
DATE OMITO
(from top, left to right)
RAIDEN
GEKKOU
HIEN
TORAMARU RYUUJI
TOGASHI GENJI
J
RESERVIST (1) – AKASHI GOUJI
RESERVIST (2)
RESERVIST (3)

170.
Momotarou: F. C. M. P…it knocked down the chief-head of Kokurenju to the depths of hell with the battleground………………
Date: J knew when watching Akashi-senpai struck and sliced off that battleground at the start. That happened to be Shikou Rock, which possesses a nature of the strength of the entire area becoming brittle which is produced by a crack to an area.
(TN: “Shikou Rock” or “Shikougan” = “Hilly Rock”; strangely both the kanji for “Shi” and “Kou” in this case are kanji for “hill”, so I ended up having to make it “hilly”…though of particular note: the last two kanji are commonly used as well in the word “Kakougan”, or “granite”, with the first part usually using the kanji for “flower” and thus having a literal translation of “flower-hill rock”)
Momotarou: Yet even so, that was a new blow that possesses terrifying power.
Toramaru: Well, J, hurry and come on up---!! A guy like you really is an amazing guy~~~~!!

171.
Toramaru: HE—Y, WHAT’S WRONG---!?
Toramaru: Wh…what---!! L…look, that’s---!
Togashi: Th…chief-head didn’t die!! He’s hanging on with his snake rope---!

172.
Tou Fuuketsu: Fu: they joined with the rope on the verge of destruction and somehow saved me but…I can’t do anything in this state: my life is in your hands.
Tou Fuuketsu: Now, strike my snake under your foot…!! It would be better that I’m pushed down to hell………
Tou Fuuketsu: Ho…hold on……!! Y…you…………! Are…you intending to go without striking an end----!!

173.
J: Glory No-Side Gong…………………my favorite words. No matter how violent we fought in the ring, when we’ve been given the 10-count, we don’t have the anger and hatred that we had in there.
(TN: The proper way to say J’s expression is probably “glorious no-side gong”…and just to make sure, “no-side” isn’t a boxing term but a rugby one signifying the end of a match)
J: It’s best that you get up on your own. I’m not softhearted to the point of holding out my hand.
Tou Fuuketsu: …………………!!
Momotarou: J……
J: Hmm.

174.
Toramaru: We’ve…done it---!! A complete victory against Pooron Kokurenju---! Well, that was as expected J!! You rounded up real snakes!! As expected of a heavy-weight champion.
Togashi: Hey, Toramaru, he’s getting dressed so we shouldn’t do anything---!!
Tou Fuuketsu: ………!!
Tou Fuuketsu: Fu…we’ve…lost…………a complete defeat. Otokojuku……I wish for your victories for here on ahead.
Momotarou: Let’s go: to the second battleground!!
Togashi: Right---!!
Toramaru: Ho…hold on!! Are…you planning to leave me behind---!

175.
Caption: OTOKOJUKU SCHOOL
Onihige: Pr…principal, we have a report---!!
Onihige: Our Otokojuku has splendidly broken through the first match of the Tenchou Gorin Daibukai Finals Tournament and right now are moving their piece to the second battleground!!
Edajima: Well…they’ve done it……………So, what’s the name of the next competition opponent……!?

176.
Onihige: There…was nothing we could do about that. There was a bad pitch in the radio…all…all we got was something about a “valley of the kings” and “guardians”……………!!
Onihige: Hi!!
Edajima: Nu!! It…can’t be…………! They’re in this Tenchou Gorin Daibukai………………!?

177.
Toramaru: What is this: the weather’s become terrible.
Toramaru: Fu—are we at the second battleground yet?
Togashi: Really, I’m astonished that this entire island has become a tournament bracket.
Toramaru: Oh, it seems we’ll be at the battleground if we turn that corner.
Momotarou: ………What’s that smell………!?
Date: ………
Toramaru: Well then, let’s go---!!

178.-179.
Toramaru: WH…WHAT---!! HERE IS THE SECOND BATTLEGROUND OF THE FINALS TOURNAMENT---!
Toramaru: Th…that’s sulfur………it’s gushing out from the whole surface surrounding the battleground in the center.
Togashi: Ri…right: it was created using the crater of an active volcano.
Toramaru: It…seems the enemy hasn’t come yet. Heh, didn’t they run away seeing this scene that’s like a drawing of hell.
Date: You’re wrong: concentrate your eyes better and look. They’ve already come.
Toramaru: Wh…what………….!?

180.
(Yep, lightning striking as a guy with a falcon-staff and an Anubis-mask approaches with Egyptian sarcophaguses…that’s not a good sign, is it?)

181.
Togashi & Toramaru: Wh…what’s that---!! They’re…coffins: coffins are lined up on the enemy line---!

182.
Anubis: WE ARE PHAROAH SPHINX!! AND MY NAME IS ANUBIS, THE GUIDE TO THE REALM OF THE DEAD!!
(TN: Alright, now I can better explain it: obviously when Onihige got the transmission earlier, the “valley of the kings” was in reference to the “Valley of the Kings”, the burial place along the Nile River in Egypt where many of the later pharaohs were placed. In fact, the full Japanese name (not the Katakana reading, which is “Pharaoh Sphinx”) is “Guardians of the Valley of the Kings”. Meanwhile, since we’re going to be essentially with an Egypt-based team at this point, I’m pretty much obliged to do some further Egyptology work and explain things both to you…and myself, mostly since there really isn’t too much Egyptian mythos used in manga…well outside “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” or “Yu-Gi-Oh!” So to get started:
-Anubis: The Greek name for the Egyptian jackal-headed god tied to mummification and the afterlife, known in his native land as “Inpu”
-Realm of the Dead: the Japanese word used here is “Meikai”…and since concepts like “Hell” or “Hades” are usually tied to other respective cultures, I pretty much am forced to use a more neutral means to tie it to the Egyptian afterlife, thus the “Realm of the Dead” as seen here)
Toramaru : PH…PHARAOH SPHINX!?

183.
Onihige: Wh…what exactly is the matter, principal---!! You abruptly turned over the books in the library---!!
Sign: BOOK STOREHOUSE
Edajima: Nuu: here it is………!!
Commentary (as read by Edajima):
Pharaoh Sphinx…in 3,000 BC, the dynasty of ancient Egypt, prided as the oldest civilization in the world had successive pharaohs constructing massive pyramids as proof of their wealth and power and went into their sleep of death together with their vast treasures. And in what was called the “Valley of the Kings”, the strongest, elite warriors were chosen to protect the expansive pyramid zone: they were called “Pharaoh Sphinx”. They had developed special grappling techniques different from Chinese kenpou, but since there have been no one who has faced them and survived, the true identities of these techniques are a complete mystery. Furthermore, they possess eternally young and immortal bodies; there isn’t confirmation of this theory that they’ve propagated this technique, which is hidden in the corners of the sands even in present with the passage of five-thousand years.
-From “Tutankhamen Strikes Back”, Minmei Publishing
(TN: There is a bit of a strange fact that was screwed up in the explanation of Pharaoh Sphinx: the pyramids are not the same as the Valley of the Kings. The Valley of the Kings is in reference to the area around Thebes/Luxor along the western bank of the Nile, located and dominated by the peak of al-Qurn, which does have a pyramid shape but is a natural landscape. The actual location of the pyramids is in reference to the Giza Necropolis, which is on a plateau just outside of Cairo)
Onihige: Wh…what: eternally young and immortal…………!? They…can’t be, that’s stupid……………!!
Edajima: Now they’re become even more the strongest enemy. The dreadful Pharaoh Sphinx!!

184.
Toramaru: Th…that idiot: we shouldn’t care about that insignificant bluff of lining up with coffins!! And he’s wearing some dog mask!! Are you Norakuro~~~!
(TN: Norakuro is in reference to the star of a really long-running manga of the same name by Suihou Tagawa which began in 1931 starring a black-and-white dog who was a member of the Japanese imperial army during the militaristic portion of the Showa period when it started (the era up to and including WWII); to give perspective of how old it is: one of the assistants on Norakuro was Machiko Hasegawa, creator of “Sazae-san” who began her seminal series in the late 1940s)
Togashi: Ah, right, I’ve got it!! In other words: everyone was killed in the previous match~~! Wahhahaha: so…so then, you the dog-man will become the opponent for all of us alone---!!
Anubis: Fools……………!!

185.
Djoser: I am grateful, Anubis-sama: that you have given your choice to me from within the braved warriors lined up!! I, Djoser, show it to you with these eyes.
(TN: Djoser, or “Netjerkhet”, is in reference to a king of the 3rd Dynasty of Egypt, notable as one of the first recorded kings of Egyptian antiquity and possibly the founder of the “Old Kingdom” which began with the 3rd Dynasty. He also built the very first Egyptian pyramid in Giza as his mortuary)
(End of vol. 16)

TN: No, you're not seeing things, nor is this suddenly turning into JoJo (though something next chapter may actually make the comparison feel more valid...even if this is 1988 and Araki was still writing Joseph's tale at the time) Otokojuku's next opponent is going to be a taste of the really ancient past via Pharaoh Sphinx...though so far as creepy as we see them and Edajima sees them, Togashi and Toramaru just have to have things spelled out so just ignore them. As for the final explanation regarding the end of Tou Fuuketsu vs. J...I actually really didn't expect that it was Akashi's first fight with the tennis player that actually finally brought down his boss. Either it was just a genius move to have the Zanganken slice the ring in the first move and Miyashita really knew what he was doing...or he was just making it up and it just feels believable...because it's Otokojuku and these things happen and all make sense. But Kokurenju is in the past, Pharaoh Sphinx is in the far past...er, present, and their fight begins next time!