Kinnikuman 257

With danger now both above and below the ring, Suguru has his work cut out for him in his tag tournament finals against the Hell Missionaries! But with Neptuneman actually captured, could he use this to turn the tide early?

Chapter 257: Dream Choujin Tag Arc (49): Mask-Hunt Announcement!!

47.
Announcer: Kinnikuman is holding Neptuneman in both his legs while on the verge of falling on the sword-planks beneath the ring, protecting himself--!!

48.
Suguru: Gehehehe, how’s that? Is the taste of my Choujin Strangulation, one of my 48 Killer Techniques, truly painful?
Terry: Nice, Kinnikuman!!
Neptune: S**t—get off me!!
Suguru: Well, knocking me out of the ring will also have you tied in when my body fall victim to the sword-planks.
Neptune: S**t—
Mayumi: Suguru—strangle him down with that and win that first round—

49.
Budo: Guoo
Terry: Geee—Budo!!
Budo: Neptuneman-sama, I will come to save you now!!
Announcer: Budo is rescuing Neptuneman while raining down punches onto Kinnikuman’s body---!!
Announcer: However, it doesn’t work on Kinnikuman at all and is rather expressing a smiling composure!!

50.
Terry: Budo, that’s foul play!!
Suguru: It’s fine, Great, if he does that.
Terry: ………!!
Suguru: He—y, Budo, haven’t you realized it yet? If you increase your attack on me, the reaction will be you’ll rip off Neptuneman’s mask.
Budo: ………Wha?
Neptune: St…stop, Budo!!
Budo: Huh!

51.
Suguru: Dahahaha, so then, Kinnikuman-sama’s brains have surpassed the brains of the Perfect Choujin!
Suguru: How did it feel for my many allies whose masks have been taken off until now………
Suguru: Now it’s your turn to savor that feeling!!
Announcer: Neptuneman, the expert of the Mask-Hunt, has been set-up in a Mask-Hunt in reverse---!!
Mayumi: Great—
Robin: Though we know that Neptuneman’s true identity is Kenkaman…he must leave the ring as the loswer if his mask is taken off!

52.
Budo: Neptuneman-sama!!
Neptune: Don’t you have faith in my true power, Budo!
Neptune: As you should know.
Neptune: No matter what power you use on the Neptune Mask
Neptune: It can never be taken off!!
Budo: ………Right! That’s how it is, Neptuneman-sama. That Neptune Mask is different from a mask worn to show off by Choujin who don’t have that sort of power!! It’s a special mask.
Terry: A special mask?
Suguru: Is…there something wrong?

53.
Suguru: This mask of Neptuneman won’t come off at all no matter how much power I inflict on it--!
Mayumi: What are you doing, Suguru—won’t you take off Neptuneman’s mask quickly—
Suguru: Bu…but then, dad—I can’t get this mask off Neptuneman’s face, no matter how much power I inflict. It’s as if the mask is a part of Neptuneman’s body…!!
Suguru: This mask is a part of Neptuneman’s body…!? If…that is!
Neptune: Fufufu, I’m pleased, Budo! It came to me in a flash now: an escape method from this Choujin Strangulation!!
Budo: ……That’s good news!

54.
Neptune: Magnet Power!!
Terry: Wa…watch out, Kinnikuman!!
Suguru: Owa—

55.
Neptune: Demon Schuss Special!!
Announcer: Kinnikuman has fainted in agony in front of Neptuneman’s mental play---!!
Terry: Ki…Kinnikuman!!
Suguru: Gr…Great, Neptuneman’s mask isn’t a mask we can take off by ourselves.
Terry: Wh…what do you mean?

56.
Suguru: The mask has completely become a part of his body……!!
Terry: Huh?
Robin: Kenkaman, the true identity of Neptuneman, perhaps is in a trance fighting as Neptuneman, thus he himself has forgotten he’s Kenkaman! From that moment that Neptune Mask was placed on Kenkaman’s face, he can never take it off ever again.
Neptune: Do you understand? My mask is different from your showy masks…my mask is part of my body…that is the essence of being a Maskman!
Suguru: N…no, you’re wrong!
Suguru: Uuh…
Terry: Are you alright, Kinnikuman!?

57.
Terry: Your wounds are terrible!
Suguru: Neptuneman, you could have stabbed my mask into the sword-planks if you wanted to. Why did you throw me into the concrete!?
Neptune: Like all the other Justice Choujin, I too am fascinated by your mysterious true power!
Neptune: Thus, I want to have fun later in hunting your mask.
Neptune: Budo, the target for our first round mask-hunt has changed from Kinnikuman to Great!
Budo: Right!
Neptune: Kukukuku, I want you to see! What face will you see, Kinnikuman, when I’ve hunted the mask of your friend?
Suguru: You…can’t come in for the first round, Great!!

58.
Neptune: Ha—hahaha, how are you going to protect Great with that appearance!!
Terry: Kinnikuman, it’s impossible to fight with your body as is now. Leave the first round to me!!
Suguru: Bu…but.
Terry: I’m a member of the Muscle Brothers. I’ll hit them in the face with a Texas Condor Kick before they take off my mask!
Neptune: Come in, suspicious Maskman Kinnikuman Great! I’ve vaguely felt that your true identity isn’t Kamehame, but now I’ll reveal your true identity!!
Neptune: Mask-Hunt Announcement No. 1!!
Neptune: Kinnikuman Great’s mask will be ripped off exactly ten minutes after the start of the match!!

59.
Announcer: What audacity! Neptuneman has proclaimed his announced mask-hunt against Kinnikuman Great---!!
Mayumi: That Neptuneman has made many bluffs as much as he wanted to……………even if this was a joke, he can’t take off the mask in ten minutes facing Great, a powerful warrior who has advanced into this finals…
Robin: No, Kinniku Daioh. Five minutes have already passed since the match started.
Robin: According to Neptuneman’s proclamation, I interpret it as that they’ll come to take off Great’s mask in the remaining five minutes.
Mayumi: Gyahahaha, so then it’s increasingly impossible for Great’s mask to be taken off--!!
Robin: The Kenkaman that I knew isn’t a man who would open up a big bluff!! I have grasped at something: Great’s mask will somehow be ripped off within five minutes!

60.
Announcer: 6 minutes have passed!
Suguru: Ya—y, Neptuneman, even if you glare at him like that, you only have four minutes left until your announced Mask-Hunt--!!
Neptune: Hmph, even with four minutes left, it’s enough…no, I don’t care if it’s even a minute!
Neptune: Magnet Power!!
Terry: A Quarrel Bomber!?
Suguru: Uh.

61.
Announcer: The sword-plank used for this Sword Deathmatch which was stuck within Kinnikuman’s back until earlier, is this time clinging to Neptuneman’s left arm----!!
Terry: ……………!?
Neptune: The sword-plank can be used like this too—
Announcer: Great has avoided it barely, but Neptuneman’s sword-plank has skimmed a bit off the mask—

62.
Announcer: We…we—ll, front hair is being shown from Great’s mask which has taken Neptuneman’s Sword Bomber--!!
Audience: OOH
Neptune: Kukuku, well? Do you understand the meaning that I don’t even need four minutes at all?
Terry: …………
Terry: He…he’s serious that he’ll be doing his announced Mask-Hunt!
Terry: …………
Terry: Oh…no!!

63.
Suguru: Actually, in the middle of the fight with the Stray-Devil Combo before, I saw white skin from Great’s ripped shirt. And this time the front hair from Great’s mask……no, so then Great’s true identity isn’t Kamehame!
Neptune: What’s wrong? Should you know Great’s true identity? Are you surprised seeing this hair? And don’t you remember this head hair?
Terry: Ki…Kinnikuman!!
Suguru: What’s wrong, Suguru? Didn’t I vow that after the fight with the Stray-Devil Combo? Even if Great’s interiors had switched places, I strongly believe that Great now was Kamehame!
Suguru: Buffaloman’s bone is shining again!

64.-65.
Suguru: Have…I somehow forgotten what your hair color is? I have no doubt you are my tag partner, Kinnikuman Great!!
Terry: Th…thanks, Kinnikuman.
Announcer: 7 minutes have passed!!

66.
(DREAM CHOUJIN TAG ARC)
SPECIAL VTR XXIV
KINNIKUMAN VS. NEPTUNEMAN

TN: Yeah...Suguru is stupid. I know he's just going on and on about friendship and about he fights with Great regardless, but to not tell that it's Terry under that outfit after all this time instead of Kamehame really shows either he's just in a massive set of denial, he really doesn't care...or he's just stupid. It's probably option #2 but I rather say the "stupid" part because it's funnier. Though while his intuition on his partner is one thing, I actually like his attempted idea of using and holding on to Neptuneman as a means to at least try and get the mask off seeing that apparantly the three-round match suddenly means that the match ends when a mask is removed. (I don't really remember that in the rules last time but considering that they want Suguru and "Great's", this instantly makes Neptune and Budo's masks open season as well to even the odds a bit.) Oh, and one more important bit of notability for those reading "Kinnikuman Nisei" right now: this is the chapter where we get the "rip" that ultimately will lead to Chaos' version of the Great mask...yeah, just making sure you get that as well as telling those prepping to read that insanity in the future.