Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 39

On a crater at the top of Mt. Fuji covered in a rope-like spider web that's quickly burning up, Momo and Date have begun the final trial of the Kyoura Daiyon Kyousatsu...but who will take the initial advantage in this ultimate trial of men?

Chp. 39: This is Manliness!

47.
Momotarou: Nuu!!
Date: Fuffufu, you can’t win. I am the appropriate man to be champion of the “Kyoura Daiyon Kyousatsu”.
Momotarou: If you insist, say it in hell. Otokojuku’s textbooks may have the characters for “death”, but they don’t have the characters for “defeat”.
(TN: Yes, Momotarou says “characters”, as in the kanji that are used for “death” and “defeat” as he states here)

48.
Momotarou: Ha--!!

49.
Date: Fuffufu, I’ve been thinking. A spear’s weakness is its length. Though it can plunge into an opponent’s chest, you have to plan for it’s length at point-blank range.
Date: But this spear isn’t what an opponent thinks.
Momotarou: His spear length…………!!

50.
Date: Fufufu, you did well dodging the attack now. You have a bit of martial arts knowledge……………
Date: But this is the length-expanding NYOI KONSOU! I can change its length to whatever I want.
(TN: “Nyoi Konsou” is a peculiar translation. For one thing, “nyoi” has two meaning which both work for the staff: “Priest Staff” or “As You Please”…but considering its collapsible and expandable nature, I rather go with the latter. Thus the best translation would be “As-You-Please Cane-Spear”)

51.
Date: HAKYOKU-RYUU: CHIHOUJIN!!
(TN: “Hakyoku-ryuu”, which is Date’s style, is another hard style to translate. “Ha” is “leader” or “chairman” or “supremacy”, but “Kyoku” can either be “ultimate”, which could end up being connected to Date being the “great leader of Kanto Gougakuren”, or “pole”, which could refer to his spear-using style. Therefore I can either translate this as “Ultimate Leader”…or “Supreme Pole”. As for the attack, “Chihoujin” = “Thousand-Peak Dust”)
Date: Abandon yourself to my blade---!!
Momotarou: Uh!!

52.
Date: Uwahhaha, is this the head of the Otokojuku first-years? Is this 4th Evil of the “Kyoura Daiyon Kyousatsu”, Choukyokudaisoukafun-kan, already over---!!
Momotarou: That’s my line.
Date: What--!!

53.
Momotarou: …………………!!
Date: Fufufu, that long sword seems to be quite good……………However, it won’t work on my armor, which is fortified with Black Copper-Steel.
(TN: Date’s commendation calls Momo’s sword a “wazamono”, which is in reference potentially to a good-grade sword as listed in the 1805 book “Kaihkenshaku” by Yamada Asaemon, usually as a means to determine a good sword from a bad one in the late Tokugawa era. “Black Copper-Steel”, meanwhile, is “Kokudoukou” originally. Usually, though, copper and steel are usually not combined unless it’s in certain wiring and this is a made-up)
Date: There’s still plenty of time for the fire to burn its way around. We’ll carefully have fun on this grand stage of whether we’ll live or not.

54.
Hidemaro: Uguo~~~!!
Hidemaro: Nuaa---!! Oooh---!!
Hidemaro: Nuu nuu!!
Hidemaro: Oryaa~~~!!

55.
Edajima: Fufufu, what’s wrong? Do you suddenly only have your screams? Not being able to raise the great school flag means we won’t ever complete our Great Chime Yell.
Hidemaro: Guaa---!!
Tazawa: It’s impossible. No matter how much he does, its 300kg of weight put on Hidemaro’s body…how can he lift the unliftable great school flag?
Edajima: It’s not a question of a body’s size or strength. The only way that you can lift the Katsukon Flag is……………
Edajima: MANLINESS. SHOW ME YOUR ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME MANLINESS---!!
Hidemaro: Uryaa---!!

56.
Date: Tei!!

57.
Momotarou: Ooh---!!
Date: !!
Date: Fufufu, where are you looking? You can’t cut me with that skill.
Momotarou: Gu!!

58.
Date: I’ll show you a gift from the other world.
Date: HAKYOKU-RYUU: JATETSUSOU!!
(TN: “Jatetsusou” = “Snake-Track Spear”)
Momotarou: !!
Fuukai: That’s Jatetsusou, said to be a secret of spearmanship…
Rinkai: How could he have it………!!
Commentary:
Jatetsusou……devised by way of Henmi Tetsuzan, called a rare spear master in the latter part of the Muromachi period, it is an ever-changing trick spear which includes improvements by ten mixed parts of China. After Tetsuzan’s death, many martial artists have seemed to master it, but due to its operation of it being difficult, there hasn’t been anyone who has acquired that.
-From “The Road of Sengoku Martial Artists”, Minmei Publishing
(TN: I was really confused by the part that is “Chuugoku no Juusetsukon”, which I translated here as “ten mixed parts of China”…but I really doubt that’s right)

59.
Momotarou: Chi!!
Date: As if it’s alive, Jatetsusou strikes it’s pray with poisonous fangs like a snake! It’s a matter of time before the tip goes through your chest.
Date: Ho—you couldn’t help but jump into the air?

60.
Date: An attack from overhead to an opponent with a spear is naturally leaping to your own death. Well, as you wish.
Date: !!

61.
Date: Fuffufu, do you think you can use that trick on me?

62.
Date: Fuffufu, the difference in our true power won’t win you the match…………
Date: !!
Momotarou: How could you say such nonsense? It seems your prided armor isn’t helping you either.
Date: Fuffufu, well, this is great. This had made it an appropriate match to ornate the end of the “Kyoura Daiyon Kyousatsu”.

63.
Hidemaro: J, TOGASHI, TORAMARU, LEND ME YOUR STRENGTH……………!!
Tazawa: L…look, the pole is………
Matsuo: It’s a little bit, but it’s starting to rise……………
Hidemaro: It’s starting to rise…the unraisable school flag---!!

TN: You have to give it to Hidemaro: I said it last time but the little guy has come a long way from being a brat to starting to lift the unliftable Katsukon flag of Otokojuku...even if he nearly is getting himself killed doing so! (nothing this school...or Edajima...instructs is sane, remember that) But of course, the star of this chapter is Date and the revelation of his fighting style. We sort of knew from a couple earlier points (his murder of Morita, the end of the last chapter) that he was a spear manipulator, but the way that he uses it in his Hakyoku-style, from expanding and contracting it to literally manipulating it like a living snake towards Momo was some insane workmanship and definitely made his style more interesting than merely thrusting and keeping distance! Of course, Momo wasn't just taking the attacks, considering that he mostly showed brains over brawn this chapter (well with his sword mostly not going anywhere so far) with maneuvers like throwing his coat on top of Date's eyes and the final ending shot where he finally removes the face-mask of his armor. But of course, with Momo's skills starting to heat and Date slowly being revealed, this is going to get more intense!