Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 96

An army of 16 Otokojuku students lead by Momotarou are heading out to the front with one mission: achieve victory in the Tenchou Gorin Daibukai and expose the mysterious Toudou Hyoue! But little do any realize the true challenge ahead...

Chp. 96: Island of Floating Death

27.
Momotarou: They’re not here yet……!!
Tazawa: It’s the genial and warm April 1st at midnight. He’s finally coming tonight: the envoy to the Tenchou Gorin Daibukai.
Matsuo: Bu…but it’s great. All of them who we thought were dead are alive……………

28.
Tazawa: What’s that sound……….!?
Matsuo: It’s…coming closer!!
Edajima: They’ve come!
First-Year 1: L…look above--!!
First-Year 2: A helicopter is descending on the campus---!!

29.
Tazawa: Wh…what………!? Th…that eerie crest is…!?

30.
“Turban”: I’VE COME TO PICK YOU UP. Sixteen fighters of Otokojuku, you should board!!
First-Year 1: Th…that helicopter is going to the grounds of the Tenchou Gorin Daibukai…………!!
First-Year 2: Yet even so, wh…what’s with his appearance…………!!
Togashi: Heh, isn’t this really a joke that we’re being picked up from the air. This guy who organized the Daibukai seems very rich.
Toramaru: We’re really going in that. Hehhe, I’ve never ridden in a helicopter before.

31.
Jaki: Let’s go!
Third-Years: OSU, JAKI-SAMA.
Edajima: Momo!!
Momotarou: !?

32.
Matsuo: HURRAY--!! HURRAY~~! HURRAY~~!! OTOKOJUKU 16-WARRIORS----!!
First-Year 1: Otokojuku 16-Warriors Banzai---!!
First-Year 2: You can certainly win this----!!
First-Year 3: All of us will certainly go to cheer you on later---!!
Onihige: Pr…principal, it was erased by the roar of the helicopter earlier, but what did you say to Momo…………!?
Edajima: No one can match my power in this war. I have one thing I have to tell them…

33.
Edajima: I BELIEVE IN THEIR VICTORY!
Momotarou: Why did the principal say that?
Momotarou: Since we don’t know the true nature of Toudou, he won’t be coming to the finals, even if there’s a chance he will.
Togashi: It’s already going to be five hours soon since takeoff. Dawn will break soon.
Toramaru: Where exactly are we being taken!!

34.
Toramaru: But when we met up with Hien, Gekkou and Raiden and all the Third-Years, who we thought were all dead, in the principal’s office a week ago, I was surprised then---! I was watching my step thinking that they were ghosts or something!
Hien: Really, the acting of that Wan Taaren was magnificent. He pretended to affirm us as dead and immediately carried us from the battleground, where he performed complete treatment of us at a treatment center that was temporarily set up nearby where a corp. of doctors were on alert. Perhaps it was a strict order to guarantee our lives from the principal for the sake of the Daibukai…!!
Toramaru: Right: all of you have to hear this too. About that man called Toudou, the sponsor of the Daibukai!! We have to win this without fail and lower the iron hammer of justice on him---!!
Manjimaru: Shut up! This isn’t a kindergarten picnic. Shouldn’t you be quiet?
Toramaru: Aw~~w.

35.
Manjimaru: You don’t understand anything. They’re not going to play around in the Daibukai. It’s next to impossible to become champion there. It would be better for you to go home.
Toramaru: Wh…what---!! You Hanamogera guy!!
(TN: “Hanamogera” is a play on language created by jazz musician Yousuke Yamashita tied to his version of free-form jazz)
Manjimaru: Hanamogera…………!!
Toramaru: Fine, I’ll back off.
Manjimaru: Well, you do that--!!
Toramaru: We’re heading towards a fight, so all of us must be as one.
Momotarou: Fu, that’s relieving. All of them just don’t know what to do with their free time or physical strength.
Jaki: ?
Jaki: The window opened on its own. Somehow it seems like we should look out it!!

36.
Everyone: HUH!! WHAT~~! THERE’S AN OCEAN BELOW US----!!

37.
Momotarou: Where is this sea? Is this Japan…………!?
Togashi: It seems like there’s a strange-shaped island.
Jaki: Somehow we seem to be landing over there.
Momotarou: !!
Momotarou: Look, they’re fighting!! There are men jumbled together and fighting on the island----!!

38.
“Turban”: Descend.
Momotarou: …………………!?
“Turban”: Here is the Tenchou Gorin Daibukai Preliminary League, 1st Battleground. This same thing is occurring not just on this battleground, but on each of the adjacent waters.

39.
Toramaru: A…amazing: it’s on this island and that island…………
Togashi: But what exactly does this mean?
“Turban”: It’s a battle royal, as it’s called in pro wrestling!! In short, here we have a survivor match where we fight 16-vs.-16 at the same time!! The number of all the participants in this great meet now is around 1,600…if we didn’t sift through them like this, the great meet wouldn’t progress forward.
“Turban”: Your sixteen opponents are already tired of waiting for you.

40.
Togashi: Over there are our competition opponents………!?
Toramaru: They’re terribly rough guys.
Opponent 1: Fufu, I think we’ll win without fighting them. Aren’t they going to run with their terror…………
Opponent 2: They’re students…those boys seem to not understand the terror of this great meet.

41.
Toramaru: Wh…what’s that you guys---!! Shut up there: since I’m going now, it would be proper to wash your necks---!!
Toramaru: !?
J: There’s reasonably no real problem, even if I take on all sixteen alone.
Toramaru: Wh…what---!! Je…J---! What are you thinking---!!

42.
Toramaru: Wh…what are you doing, J!? What’s with gathering pebbles………
J: I have sixteen.

43.
J: F – P – M – P---!! (Flash Piston Mach Punch)
Opponent 1: Fu, he smashed all those dropping pebbles in an instant.
Opponent 2: At any rate, this could be a bit fun.

TN: Yeah, when J gets fired up, you know bodies are going to start falling! Whether or not he'll take out that entire team...well, we'll leave that for next time. As for the chapter itself, this chapter combined with a bit of info a bit later (like a couple chapters from now) sort of confuse me about the nature of these preliminaries in the tournament. In this chapter, we hear about a battle royale between various martial artists striving to get in, while a couple chapters from now (let alone what we see in the next chapter or two), the teams that are taking part in the tournament are already set up and just waiting for their enemy. (heck, we even hear the turban man speak about Otokojuku's first opponent waiting forever for them to arrive in the preliminary arena) I sort of wished we got a bit more straightened out in the difference between the battle royal and the organized teams...maybe it will come later, but I have a hard time saying or thinking of it now. Other than that technicality, we get a lot of great moments, from the official "explanation" on all the deaths in the Paaren Seiha being faked (yeah, you could imagine this sort of series pulling that and getting away with it) to the confrontation between Toramaru and Manjimaru (though I really don't get the "Hanamogera" comment and mostly infer regarding it from what I've seen from a couple places...and really don't get how Manjimaru could be called that aside from his mask mumbling him...heck, there was even a "Hana Mogera" Youtube clip I found by a group called Superthunders...in cat suits) to Momo's doubts after Edajima puts all his trust in him. When Edajima puts his trust in you, you know that you will doubt it considering he has high standards...