Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 87

With no other options against Momotarou and with pride and respect with Jaki on the line, Eikei has resorted to his deadliest technique, which could kill his opponent...and himself! Who will succumb to this poisonous fist first!?

Chp. 87: The Bewitching Fist

27.
Voice 1: The…the stream has finally become slowed!!
Voice 2: Yeah, we…have to hold on! If we do, we can grab the bank in a short while.
Voice 1: So…somehow, this feels like the Sanzu River in hell.
(TN: The “Sanzu River” is notable in Buddhist myth, particularly in Japan, as the borderline between the real world and the underworld)
Voice 2: So…waiting over there is the Oni of hell and great king Enma.
(TN: I sort of kept this line too due to the mythological aspect: hell in Japanese lore is filled with the demons known as Oni as well as the judging “Great King Enma”, also known as “Yama”)

28.
Matsuo: I…I’m scared~~~!
Tazawa: Heh, if we had died now, then there will be scary beings and such! We’ll show those hell oni the soul of Otokojuku.
Matsuo: Of course: we ended up dying in that Banjin Bridge……we’re the payment for whatever Momo and the others are doing now……
(TN: Matsuo is making a reference of “kainou”, which is “the full payment of a tax”, so I made the dialogue work as it should)
Tazawa: N~~~!?
Matsuo: Wh…wherever this is, there’s a crowd coming from beyond that fog.
Matsuo & Tazawa: They’re here—the Oni of hell----!!

29.
Tazawa: Hi…Hie---!!
Matsuo: Pl…please fo…forgive u…us, we had good conduct in our lives. The honest Tazawa-kun and Matsuo-kun are passing through----!!
“Voice”: How are you honest people with good conduct? The Oni of hell would be shocked hearing that.
Matsuo: Huh……
Tazawa: It…can’t be, th…that voice is----!!

30.-31.
Edajima: I AM THE PRINCIPAL OF OTOKOJUKU, EDAJIMA HEIHACHI!!
Matsuo & Tazawa: Pr…principal---!!

32.
Matsuo: Wh…what exactly is………!?
Tazawa: T…teacher…!?
Onihige: Fuffufu
Tazawa: And you’ve all gathered with Akashi-senpai and the Second-Years………………
Onihige: You two have real bad luck. You did fall from the Banjin Bridge, but luckily there was a river underneath and that’s why you’ve flowed to here.
Tazawa & Matsuo: …………….!!

33.
Edajima: Let’s hurry: Otokojuku’s Daiishin Paaren Seiha is finally reaching towards its moment of demise. Currently we’re in the midst of the fight between Tsurugi Momotarou, the boss of the First-Years and Eikei, the second-in-command of the Third-Years.
Edajima: The history of Otokojuku may change.
Akashi: Fu………is the history of Otokojuku really changing; even if Momo defeats Eikei, that Jaki will…………!!
Edajima: Fufu, that I don’t know. However, it will only have merit by ascertaining it with these eyes.

34.
First-Year 1: You’re great Momo!! You sealed Eikei’s poison hand fist with your headband---!!
First-Year 2: It’s a terrible poison hand fist that is said to kill an opponent if they take one scratch----!!
First-Year 3: A…as expected of our boss----!!

35.
Eikei: Nuuu………!!
Momotarou: Haa---!!

36.
Eikei: I don’t have time: the fist’s poison is quickly starting to circulate through my body.
Eikei: So watch…the ultimate secret of Senkyou Dokushuken!!
(TN: Yeah, he turned “Senkyou Dokushu” into an actual fist, so I won’t translate it again)

37.
Eikei: KIRITSU-RYUU SENKYOU DOKUSHUKEN: GENGEIKAI!!
(TN: “Gengeikai” = “World of Glaring Illusion”)
Eikei: Watch the movements of the fist!! But then whether you can, you can’t take your eyes off from my poison hand.
Momotarou: ……………………
First-Year 1: Wh…what is Eikei’s stance…………!?
First-Year 2: His arms are starting to spin in an unusual way!!

38.
Momotarou: !!
Momotarou: What! What is this………!? This is stupid. His fist is spinning in a whirlpool and further I can see a countless number of them!!

39.
Eikei: Fufufu, you’re realization was too late. You’re already within my art.
Momotarou: ………It’s an illusion………!! Right: he’s making me gaze at the movement of his poisoned hand, pulling me from it into a bewitched hypnosis…………!!
First-Year 1: Wh…what’s wrong? Momo appears strange somehow.
First-Year 2: Though Eikei is merely spinning his arm, he’s as if he’s petrified like a frog glaring at a snake.

40.
Momotarou: I can’t look! I’m just increasingly being pulled into his art……!! It’s all an illusion!! There’s just one entity!!
Momotarou: Right! There’s only one poison hand fist. But can I see that one entity?
Momotarou: I can do this! With this………!!

41.
Eikei: HERE I GO---!!
First-Year 1: Uwaaa—Wh…what!? As Eikei is headed towards him brandishing his poisoned hand, Momo is standing upright to him----!!
First-Year 2: MO…MOMO----!!

42.-43.
Eikei: Die----!!
Eikei: !!

44.
Momotarou: Uh!!

45.
Eikei: Ugugu………!!
First-Years: Huh……!!

46.
Eikei: Ho…how………!! How did you find just the real one within those innumerable illusion fists………!?
Momotarou: You see many in an illusion, but it’s ultimately an illusion. When the lightning fell, only the real one created a shadow on the ground……!!
Eikei: Fu…
Eikei: Yo…you’re what they say……I…I’ve lost, Head of the First-Years, Tsurugi Momotarou…………!!

47.
First-Year: A…amazing; he saw through to the real one with the shadow…………
Hidemaro: Mo…Momo won………!!
First-Year 1: L…look, th…that’s!!
First-Year 2: Wh…what---!!
First-Years: THAT’S MATSUO AND TAZAWA---!! TH…THEY’RE ALIVE----!!
Edajima: I am the principal of Otokojuku, Edajima Heihachi.

TN: Well...let me say first that it's great that Matsuo and Tazawa survived. I know most will say "oh but death in shonen is never stable", the fact that those two lived fits their characters and made their encounter this time with Edajima and the rest of the school much funnier...that and I sort of get sick of seeing merely "generic First-Years" making all the commentary instead of someone we know and followed from the beginning. (sort of one of those things that drags down Kinnikuman, if you've followed it) Heck, I'm happy we also finally get Edajima, the teachers and Akashi back in the story here too considering it feels like forever since any of them even appeared! (it's sort of sad regarding Akashi since he's in another grade that isn't even connected with this Paaren Seiha and really has no reason to fight, but Edajima is Edajima...and always knows what to say when he has to...even if it's "I am principal of Otokojuku") With that said, the chapter actually did something really smart once again in a matter that seems to always screw up a lot of shonen as of late: someone facing a potential illusionary fist...and defeating it with pure logic! You have to look closely to see how Momo did it, but the way he defeated Eikei's main attack in this chapter was exactly how he said: wait for the lightning, it will show the location of the real fist, and then grab it and attack your opponent with it! With so many shonen using illusions like this "be-all" and "end-all" ability as of late, at least one series knows that you don't just face them, you can beat them too!