Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 63

With an unexpected gap in progress along the Paalong Long Castle, the competitors find unexpected help in the form of Tazawa and the First-Years in the building of a human bridge...but can they succeed in their efforts?

Chp. 63: Crossing Over Friendship!

126.-127.
Tazawa: Uoo—whatever you do, don’t let go--!! The wind from below is blowing up! Everyone, pay attention to balance---!!
First-Year 1: Head Matsuo, are you alright---!!
Matsuo: Oou, what’s that---!!
Momotarou: Yo…you guys……………
Tazawa: Wh…what’s wrong? Wh…what are you doing? H…hurry and cross---!!
Tazawa: Do you think we can hold out to this form forever----!!

128.
First-Years: UOO---!!
Togashi: We…can’t do that…………how can you face this danger………by having us walk on top of you…………….
Tazawa: You idiot, don’t you understand our feelings---!! Whatever happens, we want you to win this Paaren Seiha---!!
Momotarou: Understood…………I accept your feelings.
Momotarou: We don’t have time: we’ll wait to cross alone and, when within the interval, we’ll hold on to the balance of weight while going in turn.
(TN: This part was really confusing but basically it sounds like they cross one by one while keeping the weight balance to not burden those in the human bridge)
Date: Right………

129.
Voice: Alright, let’s go.
First-Year: Well, come on---!!
Momotarou: I’ll go as the head…
Date: ……………………
Tazawa: Well!!

130.-131.
Tazawa: Hold your power in your stomach. Even if your arms get torn off, don’t let go---!! If even one of you lets go, that will be it for all of us---!!
Matsuo: Gugagaa……….!!
First-Years: Ununuu---!! Here’s the showcase of the guts of the Otokojuku First-Years---!!
First-Year: We…we don’t mind, Momo!
First-Year: Hehhehe, this here’s firmer than any bridge.
Momotarou: Thank you everyone………!!

132.
Momotarou: Matsuo, let me lend a hand.
Matsuo: O—shi, head Momo is crossing over---!!
Momotarou: Don’t worry about us. The foothold is bad, so it gets rather dangerous.
Matsuo: You still have to go up regarding that. Hurry and climb.
Momotarou: ………………………!!
Matsuo: Hurry up!!
Toramaru: Well, we’ll cross rapidly---!!

133.
Wan Taaren: They’ve done it: the Banjin Bridge was built splendidly. However, as in the origin with Sengoku commander Matsuyama Katsuyoshi, even if the soldiers cross the Banjin Bridge, those who made the human bridge all ran out of power and died.
Momotarou: Ri—ght, Togashi is last.
Toramaru: We did it: the six of us have crossed---!!
Toramaru: But how are they planning to escape from that stance………
Momotarou: They’re strength should be at their limit.
Tazawa: Ri—ght, let’s go Matsuo! Show me here the last of your guts---!!
Matsuo: RIGHT!!

134.
Tazawa: SORYAA, LET’S GO--!!
Togashi & Toramaru: Huh…!!

135.
(And…that’s how you escape)

136.
Tazawa: O—K, you’ve done great! We’ve caused too much a burden to Matsuo at the top. Support your legs even a bit so we can save Matsuo---!!
First-Years: Right!!
Matsuo: Nugugugu………!!
Tazawa: Quickly, the people below will climb to the top---!!
Togashi & Toramaru: ………………!!

137.
Tazawa: Well, one more, be patient!!
Tazawa: Hehhehe, how’s my intellectual operation?
First-Year: ………………
Matsuo: Wh…while you’re at it, climb up quickly--!!
Tazawa: Uwaa---!!
Togashi & Toramaru: Oh…no, they’re…falling--!!

138.
Tazawa: Haa!!
First-Years: Gua!!
Tazawa: It’s…alright—hurry and climb----!! If you do it a bit below, that will make it easier above!!
First-Years: We…we got it.
Togashi & Toramaru: Great, they’re climbing quickly---!!

139.
Toramaru: Uwahhahaha, I’ve got a better opinion of Tazawa and Matsuo!! Everyone’s climbed up. Just you two are left. So, come on up---!!
Matsuo: I…I can’t: my strength is gone for the moment.
Tazawa: We…can’t move. We’re going to take a bit of a break.
Toramaru: What, you don’t have the strength to even climb anymore---!!

140.
Momotarou: Wh…what---!!
Date: The weight of all these people is beyond its limit. The long castle is crumbling.
Date: At this rate, it will crumble down altogether---!!

141.
Momotarou: Get away everyone, it’s a matter of time before it crumbles---!! Leave this to me here. The grouping we’re all in is making it fall easier! Make it lighter even a bit!!
Momotarou: Hurry and climb up—Tazawa, Matsuo---!!
Matsuo: We…can’t…………
Tazawa: We won’t be in time; the protrusion’s completely falling down…………
Momotarou: Hold on, I’m going down now---!!
Matsuo: Do—don’t come, you can’t come----!!

142.
Matsuo: It’s already falling; you can’t get involved in this---!!
Tazawa: Don’t come, Momo--!!
Matsuo: Don’t come………I beg you……………
Momotarou: Don’t mess with me. Do you think you can get away as it is? Do you think you’re too good to live coming this far---!!
Togashi: We’re not running away---!!
Toramaru: We’re going to be together forever---!!
Matsuo & Tazwa: ……………………

143.
Matsuo: Well, Tazawa………Momo and the others are great people.
Caption: Otokojuku First-Year: MATSUO TAIO
Tazawa: Yes, our group is greater than us……we shouldn’t be involved with them.
Caption: Otokojuku First-Year: TAZAWA SHINICHIROU
Momotarou: HUH……!!
Matsuo & Tazawa: FAREWELL EVERYONE---!! WE BELIEVE IN YOUR VICTORY---!!

TN: Dang...it's really hard to say anything about this chapter or the next due to what Tazawa and Matsuo pull and what happens to them. Tazawa knew the risks from the start of performing the Banjin Bridge and nearly succeeded in not just getting Momo and the fighters across but saving all the other First-Years as well! But while some would say that it was bound to happen or maybe something a tad predictable...not only do I say that it's not really that true, the way that Miyashita depicts the desperation and how even Momo tries to save them and worries until that final page where they throw themselves down as the cliff falls apart around them just gives the entire sequence that much power, probably to the equivalent of two of the crucial "Togashi sacrifice sequences" (the one when Momo fought Akashi, then the one when he fell, came back and took out Hien in a dual suicide). It's hard to say whether or not they're gone...but the way the chapter ended showed it wasn't in vain.