Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 299

After an confrontation with Toudou Hyoue, the mastermind of the Seven Tusks battle, the Otokojuku forces has been split into three! What strange battles await Momo's squadron in their return to Japan...and is that really Togashi waiting!?

Chp. 299: Labyrinth: Bugen Castle!!

47.
Momotarou: To…Togashi…………
Toramaru: A…are you really that Togashi……………!?
Togashi: Heh, are there any other good guys with the name of Togashi!? I’m the genuine Otokojuku Second-Year, Togashi Genji!!

48.
Toramaru: To…Togashi-----!!
Togashi: To…Toramaru!!
Togashi: Guwa!!
Toramaru: Ah!!
Togashi: Th…that hurts!! Why would you suddenly do that, you idiot---!!
Toramaru: I…I’m sorry…………I’m glad…I’m truly glad…………!!
Togashi: ………..
Momotarou: That’s good…!! It’s…good that you’re truly alive……!!

49.
(Title page…Momo already…I guess they want to start big at this latest Tusk)

50.
Toramaru: Right……Wan Taaren, you did save Togashi………!!
Wan Taaren: Yes. All of you had something important you were left with by Edajima-dono. Immediately after you all left Otokojuku, I too departed from behind and watched over all of you from the shadows.
(TN: Wait…then why was he at Otokojuku after the First Tusk?)
Wan Taaren: I devoted myself to the secrets of medicine that possesses three-thousand years of history in China and stopped his life from being taken. But then it’s like this with the physical and emotional strength that’s like a monster for him.
Togashi: A…monster………!?
Wan Taaren: But that’s as far as I go. I must go for a certain purpose……!!
Momotarou: A certain purpose………!?

51.
Wan Taaren: Before I leave, I will explain about this castle!! The name of this castle is Bugen Castle; it’s alias the Tokugawa Uraaoi Military Castle.
(TN: I don’t know if there is going to be any real explanation of it, but “Uraaoi” has a literal translation of “Reverse Hollyhock”, with the Hollyhock being a flower that was commonly associated with the Tokuwaga Shogunate. Incidentally, “Bugen Castle” or “Bugenshou” = “Military-Illusion Castle”)
Wan Taaren: It was the hidden castle said to be built by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the famous admiral going back four hundred years from today.
Toramaru: To…Tokugawa Ieyasu…………!? Hi…hidden castle………..!?

52.
Wan Taaren: The man called Ieyasu was a wise man who possessed foresight…!! At the time he opened the Tokugawa Bakufu, he predicted their rule would continue for many hundreds of years.
(TN: A slight comment: while many know Tokugawa Ieyasu, it is notable t state that while he took control of Japan in 1600 with the victory in the Battle of Sekigahara, he only ruled the nation as shogun for three years from 1603 to 1605, though his influence would be over the nation up to his death in 1616. As for his prediction, remember also that the Tokugawa Shogunate would rule Japan from the victory of his clan through the Meiji Restoration of 1868)
Wan Taaren: But one of his needless anxieties was there would continue to be a peaceful world like such and that warriors would forget how to be warriors; and when there was an emergency, they would come to be in a state where they couldn’t fight and the Tokugawa rule would be overthrown……!!
Wan Taaren: It was there that Ieyasu sent down a secret order to the daimyo of various feudal clans, had them present only experts who had mastered secrets from all styles of grappling, swordsmanship and ninjutsu, and gathered them at this Bugen Castle. And thus these masters piled upon further training at this castle, improving their skills up through the generations of their descendants; they always moved in secret as the Tokugawa Bakufu’s battle corp. of the strongest shadows.

53.
Wan Taaren: So you say, this Bugen Castle is the headquarters of Japan’s martial arts. And now, their descendants are awaiting us within.
Momotarou: The…headquarters of Japan’s martial arts………!!
Togashi: Their descendants……!!
Date: But why, Wan Taaren. Why do they continue to do it to living there in the present after the collapse of the Bakufu!?
Wan Taaren: Somewhere in the world, there are those who wish for power to make their own limbs!! Even in the present, their power is needed!!
(TN: “to make their own limbs” is Japanese “Teashi to naru”, as in “those who wish for power to be an extension of themselves, sort of the whole “right-hand”/”left-hand” concept we’ve seen even in this series)

54.
Wan Taaren: Finally, I will say just one thing: as Toudou said, the Tusks up to now have only passed up to mere side-show level!! All of you from here will come to know the true meaning that is possessed by the words “the ultimate terror”!!
Wan Taaren: Farewell!!
Otokojuku Students: ………!!
Toramaru: Chi, that Wan Taaren guy, letting out that thing that’s insignificant.
Togashi: Hey, it would have been better if he hadn’t said that thing at some farewell occasion.
Momotarou: Fu, don’t say that. That was a thought for us.

55.
Momotarou: We should go too!!
Toramaru: Haha, this here is a sunlit Edo town.
Togashi: You dummy!! Don’t bring out that trifling jest!!

56.
Momotarou: Here is the entrance to the castle tower.
Toramaru: That’s not a castle tower: that should be a control tower of the castle with a feudal lord. Besides doing that, this building is awfully huge. Comparatively, this entrance hall is awfully small.
Hien: It’s common sense for a door to a castle tower to be small. It’s for making a hard time for entering even a bit within when an enemy invades with the effort of many.

57.
Togashi: Hm~~ph, understood. Al—right, I’ll make a speech.
Togashi: ORYAA---!! THIS IS THE PRESCENCE OF THE OTOKOJUKU SEVEN---!! GET YOUR STOMACH TOGETHER AND COME ON OUT----!!
Togashi: Damn it, they’re mocking us!!
Togashi: Hey---no one is here---!! In that case, we’ll enter as we please----!!

58.
Togashi: What is this inside of the castle!?
Momotarou: It’s…as if we’re just continuing through the corridor wandering and twisting and turning no matter where we end up without any indications of people.
Gobarski: Further, this corridor makes a strange sound every time we walk.
Souketsu: That is called the nightingale-floor; it has come to be set up to make a sound on purpose whenever an intruding person is discovered.
(TN: The “nightingale floor” or “uguisubari” is an actual floor made to have a chirping floor whenever walked on. They are set up for flooring nails to rub against a jacket or a clamp when stepped on, making a chirping sound, using as a security measure. It is most famous in the Nijo Castle in Kyouko. Incidentally, what they consider a nightingale is in actually seen in English as the “Japanese bush warbler”)
Gobarski: Nightingale-floor…………!?

59.
Toramaru: What is this!! Is there really no one here---!!
Togashi: Even so, are you not appearing having been blown with a loss of nerve---!!
Toramaru: I…I’m already exhausted. We’ve been walking for over an hour here and there already.
Togashi: He….hey, somehow it’s like we’ve been going around and around the same place…………!!
Momotarou: No…now this is the Meikoku Corridor…!! It comes to be made up like a maze and absolutely impossible to escape if an enemy goes in………
(TN: “Meikoku Corridor” or “Meikoku Kairou” = “Skillfully-Perplexing Corridor”)
Momotarou: !!
Toramaru: L…look, wh…what is that---!!
Togashi: So…some very small strange thing is coming to here---!!

60.
Toramaru: Wha………!!
Toramaru: That reminds me, I’ve seen this.
Togashi: Ri…right: that’s a karakuri doll that was said to be in fashion in the Edo Period…!!
(TN: A “karakuri doll” or “karakuri ningyou” are popular puppets or automata from the 17th to 19th centur, which is generally a small doll used to serve tea in a tea ceremony)
Toramaru: It’s…possessing some written page. Huh---!?

61.
Toramaru: O… “On this here spring day – when the cherry blossoms bloom – in the vivid sky – the bodies of seven youths – shall now be scattered away”----!! Wh…what does that mean there!?
(TN: The page is the exact same as what Toramaru stated here; BTW: I assume this is supposed to be in a tanka form since the syllables are for the most part 5 -7 – 5- 7- 7, but it ended up being “5 – 7 – 5 – 7 – 6”)
Togashi: !
Momotarou: Fu, it seems that doll is the path guide for us.
Date: What exactly are the men here thinking!?
Souketsu: This is extremely stiff behavior.

62.-63.
Toramaru: N!?
Toramaru: Ooh, the…wall has opened---!!
Toramaru: !!

64.
“Tea Maker”: On this here spring day, when the cherry blossoms bloom, in the vivid sky, the bodies of seven youths shall now be scattered away.
“Tea Maker”: I will tell you the meaning of that song.
“Tea Maker”: On this glorious spring day prided for the blooming of cherry blossoms, at any rate seven young men shall hurry to their deaths. In other words, that is an item composed of your destinies from here.

65.
Yukinojou: Hold on……!! My name is Yukinojou, one of the Bugen Castle Four Battle-Hermits!! This snow-storm of cherry blossoms will be changed into deep crimson, the color of your blood………!!
(TN: “Battle Wizards” is literally in Japanese “Tousen”; the “tou” is the same used for “tatakau”, while “sen” is a kanji used either for “hermit” or “wizard”, the former made the most sense due to them being cut off from the world)
Momotarou: Bugen Castle Four Battle-Hermits…………!?
Toramaru: Wh…what; that snobbish guy is sipping on tea---!!
Togashi: Excellent---!! Shouldn’t we do this to the end---!!

TN: In some ways, this chapter feels like we're starting another what could be cool concept in conjunction to the Seven Tusks arc...but don't really have too much to expect from it. Considering the huge mess the arc has been up to now, nothing can really be taken for granted. Take Togashi's return for one thing: I'm still trying to figure out when the heck Wan Taaren would have the time to suddenly leave the school, heal Togashi (and not, you know, Akashi...or maybe prevent Gekkou from looking so alien), and then hide away until he decides to invade Shinken Temple? (we even saw a progress report with Taaren at one point like we saw with Edajima for so long during the previous arcs, so he couldn't have been following behind THAT closely) Regardless of my complaints, though, the only bit of good news is that Togashi is just too great a character to ever be affected by the sudden screw ups the plot has been going through as of late. (see all his lines in this chapter) Otherwise, the whole idea of a weird Japanese castle cut away protecting the nation in secret since the Tokugawa Shogunate is just too neat a concept to really...well, be thrown in after what was essentially the HQ of all Chinese Kenpou. (which makes me wonder: if this is the fifth Tusk, what are the other Otokojuku fighters doing about now?) Well...let's just hope we get at least one cool fight...maybe two...we'll see what happens.