Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 98

With J annihilating their first opponent team, getting through to the Champion League of the Tenchou Gorin may be easier than Otokojuku expects! But unfortunately, Otokojuku may not be the only one making play of their enemies...

Chp. 98: Heartless! The Man of Rouroukan

65.
Toramaru: Really, what is he? He knocked down those sixteen stalwarts of Genseki-ryuu by himself.
“Turban”: OTOKOJUKU ADVANCES TO THE 2ND ROUND---!!

66.
(Title Page…yeah, looks like Hien’s fighting next)

67.
Toramaru: Yo, many thanks for that.
“Turban”: You have a bit of time until your next match. You should rest your bodies in the waiting room that’s under the center battlefield.
Togashi: While we’re at this, Gekkou Kamen oldie. I heard this here is the 1st Meeting Grounds of the Preliminary League, but how many more fights do we have to do to move our piece to the Champion League?
(TN: First of all, Togashi does state “move our piece”, but in Japanese he says it as “koma wo susumarareru”, with “susumareru” as “to move or advance” and “koma” in this case as a shogi piece. I didn’t make it “shogi piece” but by saying “piece”, you probably can make it out as any sort of game piece. Second, “Gekkou Kamen”, also known as “Moonlight Mask”, is stated by some to be the very first Japanese TV hero, initially debuting in 1958 and always portrayed as a “mysterious hero” who always wore a turban and a pair of sunglasses as part of his outfit)
Toramaru: Hahhaha, he called him Gekkou Kamen.
Hassam: You can call me Hassam. By the orders of My Excellency, I’ve been entrusted with the advancement operations of the Tenchou Gorin Daibukai’s Preliminary League.

68.
Hassam: There are twenty teams, with 16 people per team, gathered on this preliminary ground. These twenty teams will fight by tournament method and only just one team can advance to the Champion League. In short, in order to you to win the right to move to the Champion League, you must gain three more wins.
Otokojuku 1: Three more wins…
Otokojuku 2: This will really get tiresome.
Toramaru: Well, looking out at the rows, there doesn’t seem to be any significant teams. Hehhehe, these will be easy wins---!!
Hassam: Fuffufu, if I could hit your big mouth, I’d do so now. You’re an idiot who doesn’t know of the deepness and terror that’s at the center of this Tenchou Gorin Daibukai, which will decide the strongest of Japan…, no, the world.
Toramaru: I’m…an idiot……!?

69.
Hassam: You should look closely at what’s starting on that circular battleground!!
Toramaru: Hu~~h?
Hassam: Right now we will hold this 2nd round: the Bandou-ryuu 16-Horsemen vs. Rouroukan!!
(TN: I made the translation “this 2nd round” as opposed to “the 2nd round” because this isn’t the 2nd round of the tournament: if you go by the chart on the last page showing the movement of the 20 teams in the Preliminary League, then you can essentially see that Otokojuku’s seeding was in that “far bracket” where they only had to win four matches to get to the finals as opposed to five like most of the others. Therefore, the opponents in this match are fighting in their 2nd round and the entire Otokojuku/Genseki-ryuu winner only needed to win 4 times to get to the Champion League. Furthermore, it could also be referred to as “the 2nd match”, as in the second match that is occurring here to determine Otokojuku’s opponent in the next match…but considering that Otokojuku has to fight only 4 times meaning that they missed out on the first set of matches and were bracketed in essentially the “round of 16”, it just makes everything all hectic and I don’t know if anything is learned from how to translate this correctly

As for the two teams facing this time: the “Bandou-ryuu 16-Horsemen” or “Bandou-ryuu 16-Ki” = “Luxurious Gong 16-Horsemen”: I used “horsemen” since the kanji “ki” here is for “equestrians” or “horse-riders”; while “Rouroukan” = “Wolf Skull Mansion”)
Hassam: Begin the match---!!

70.
Toramaru: Wh…what--! That team called Rouroukan is having fifteen step back, leaving behind one---!! Is…that guy going to face all sixteen of the enemy by himself just like J---!!

71.
Bandou Leader: Fu, it’s just one, without even a weapon…………well then, even if you regret this later, shouldn’t we get started?

72.
Bandou Leader: Kill him! We of Bandou-ryuu will make you realize the terror of our Shissatsu Kusarigama----!!
(TN: “Shissatsu Kusarigama” = “Rapid-Kill Kusarigama”; “kusarigama” is in reference to a sickle-and-chain weapon commonly used in Japan)

73.
Bandou Fighters: !!
Bandou Fighters: He…vanished……!!
Bandou Fighters: A…above---!!

74.-75.
Bandou Fighters: Nu!!
Bandou Fighter 1: Doa!
Bandou Fighter 2: Gua!!
Bandou Fighter 3: Behe!!
Bandou Fighter: 4: Gie
Rouroukan Fighter: ROUROUKAN: KAITOU SENKOTSUSATSU
(TN: “Kaitou Senkotsusatsu” = “Head-Spinning Brandish Bone Murder”)

76.
Rouroukan Fighter: Twelve left.
Bandou Leader: Nu nuuu…………He…did that.

77.
Toramaru: Wh…what was that n…now…!! He instantly defeated four men!!
Momotarou: Kaitou Senkotsusatsu…what a terrifying technique. With a tremendously fast attack from overhead, he’s instantly breaking his opponent’s neck bones.
Toramaru: Ne…neck bones…
Bandou Fighters: G…go!! Be careful of his overhead attack---!!

78.
Bandou Fighter: HA!
Bandou Fighter: Goge!!
Bandou Fighters: Uo!!
Bandou Fighter: Oe!!

79.
Rouroukan Fighter: What stretches before Kaitou Senkotsusatsu is a wasteland of death…!!
Bandou Fighter 1: Uoo, n…no---!!
Bandou Fighter 2: H…his movements aren’t a work of man!!
Bandou Fighter 1: Ga!!
Bandou Figther 2: Gi!!
Bandou Fighter 3: Gu!!
Bandou Fighter 4: Ge!!

80.
Bandou Leader: Uuh……!!
Momotarou: ……………………
Toramaru: A…mazing………!!

81.
Bandou Leader: Wh…what a te…terrifying man…I…recognize our defeat……the…match is already over.
Rouroukan Fighter: No, it’s not over yet. You alone are alive.
Bandou Leader: HI!! S…save me……!!
Bandou Leader: GYAOO---!!

82.
Toramaru: Ho…horrible…what…is this guy!! The match was over and that guy who begged for life was…!!
Hassam: This isn’t a situation for compassion with a person’s misfortune.
Toramaru: ……………!!
Hassam: The one you of Otokojuku will be facing next in your 2nd Round is that Rouroukan.
(TN: Hassam doesn’t say “your 2nd round” but “the 2nd round” here, but considering that we just saw Rouroukan’s 2nd match, this is only the 2nd round for Otokojuku, while the 3rd round for Rouroukan)
Toramaru: Huh……!!

83.
Toramaru: Heh, I don’t want to do this at all, but truly the strong one is just that man now, the rest aren’t that significant……!!
Toramaru: Huh!? That man now was suddenly hit---!!
Rouroukan Fighter 2: You novice…you’ve taken that much time on that kind of opponent!
Rouroukan Fighter: It was inexcusable.
Momotarou: …………………
Toramaru: Wh…what? He…he was a novice---!?

TN: The logistics regarding who is in what bracket and the setup regarding the Tenchou Gorin drives me nuts. Basically though here's how I see it once more: Otokojuku only needs 4 wins to get to the Champions League. If you saw the chart of the 20 teams on the Battleground, only four of the 20 teams have 4 matches, meaning they probably either were randomly seeded there or were seen as strong enough to not need a 5th match to weed them out. Therefore, all Otokojuku needed to get to the quarterfinals was to defeat Genseki-ryuu (which they did). Meanwhile, Bandou-ryuu and Rouroukan were both victors of their first matches and needed a second match between each other to determine who faced Otokojuku in the quarterfinals (yeah, that's essentially what it is considering that the winner of this one goes to the Battleground semis with only 4 teams left.) It gets even screwier...just like that Rouroukan's ability, but we'll do that next time. (as for the chapter...yeah, it mostly was to show that 1 vs. 16 isn't really that rare in martial arts and that Toramaru is a huge bigmouth who will essentially be making all the silly commentary with Togashi this entire arc while everyone stare in shock and awe...at least someone is doing it)