Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 122

Arriving with one of the strongest fighting styles in Chinese history, the fighters of Gandhara have sent forth a strange meditation man to face Otokojuku's humble Eikei! Is this bizarre fighter the true nature of this great enemy?

Chp. 122: Outrageous! Tenshou Houshi

147.
Tenshou Houshi: Hohhohho: your poison fists really is, really is oddly unmatched…………!! Thus, I will carefully look at your skill and take it.
Toramaru: Wh…what: suddenly clouds are covering the sun making it completely dark like it’s night.
Togashi: This is an eerie weather, just like that priest…………!!

148.
(Title Page…wait, Momo with the Gandhara fighters…well, I guess it’s just symbolic)

149.
Eikei: What’s going on: why isn’t he setting up by standing? Does he plan to face my poison fist with Zen meditation?
(TN: “Zazen” is translated as “Zen Meditation”, I was thinking of maybe translating it “with Zen”, but it works better like that somehow)
Tenshou Houshi: Hohhohho: the terror of the poison fist I intend to understand well: an earthenware pot with a mixture of all sorts of poisonous plants, poisons and poisonous insects is struck with a fist; slowly over many long years, it is perfected with the increase of poison. And thus, this fist can come to bring death to an opponent by just presenting one scratch.
Tenshou Houshi: But it’s needless to worry for me. So then, come at me from anywhere.
Toramaru: Wh…what’s with th…that f**king priest, is he saying that to put him down---!!
Togashi: Don’t worry about that, Eikei, show him right to the eye---!!

150.
Eikei: Ha!!
Eikei: !!

151.
Eikei: Huh!!
Eikei: …………………!!
Tenshou Houshi: Hohhohho: even your poison fist with its certain-kill power means doesn’t mean anything if it can’t make a hit.
Togashi: Wh…what---!! Wh…what was that now!
Toramaru: Th…that priest, he moved while in that Zen position, avoiding Eikei’s poison fist---!!
Eikei: Muu!!

152.
Eikei: KU!!

153.
Tenshou Houshi: Hohhohho: you can’t even lay a finger on me!! You too can never catch the moon reflected on the surface of a lake!!
(TN: The commentary by Tenshou Houshi is a belief as believed in Chinese Buddhism that a person can see a moon reflected on a lake but cannot grab it; likewise this is a metaphor: one can examine the mind and body of the self, but can’t fully grasp one self even if one’s self is actually there as part of self)
Eikei: …………………!!
Tenshou Houshi: Here we go: Gandhara Choujinken Hiougi: Musou Hanshoutai!!
(TN: “Musou Hanshoutai” = “Vision-Thinking Scale-Picking Reality”)
Toramaru: Mu…Musou Hanshoutai----!!
Togashi: I…don’t get this: how can he move that fast in that shape--!!
Raiden: Are…these guys tru…truly supermen………!!
Momotarou: …………………!!

154.
Tenshou Houshi: Hoo, have you given up chasing after me? Here’s a wise thought……useless movements only just consume your physical strength.
Eikei: I don’t have a reason to give up. Let me show you: a secret art of my Kiritsu-ryuu.
Toramaru: Wh…what: Eikei is dismantling the bandages wrapped around his poison hands----!!

155.
Tenshou Houshi: !!
Eikei: KIRITSU-RYUU: GENSEIREI!!
(TN: “Genseirei” = “Dizzy Dragonfly”)
Toramaru: Ooh!! That bandage that Eikei is waving is drawing a spiraling circle as if it was alive----!!

156.
Tenshou Houshi: Muu, th…this is………!! The rotation of the cloth is gradually getting faster…………!!
Tenshou Houshi: Ku!!
Tenshou Houshi: !!
Tenshou Houshi: He…vanished…………!! Hi…his appearance has…………!

157.
Eikei: I’VE GOT YOU, TENSHOU HOUSHI!!
Tenshou Houshi: Huh!!
Tenshou Houshi: He’s…above me before I knew it---!?

158.
Toramaru: He…did it---!! You’re…amazing, Eikei!
Togashi: Heh, that f**king priest, he wasn’t anything more than a fool who spit out just proud things. That poison fist that can kill an opponent with just a scratch is deeply driven into that priest’s chest---!!
Momotarou: N…no, hold on………!! There’s something wrong with Eikei’s status.
Toramaru: Wh…what---!!
Eikei: Th…this is……!!

159.
Tenshou Houshi: Hohhohho, I’ve caught you.
Eikei: NU!?
Tenshou Houshi: You’ll never be able to get out that arm that has gone through this body. This is the true meaning of Musou Hanshoutai…………!!
Toramaru: Huh!! He’s alive and laughing though he took the poison fist---! And further, Eikei’s arm can’t get out from that stance----!!
Tenshou Houshi: As is, you should lift your head and look in the sky.

160.
Eikei: Wh…what---!!
Eikei: ……………………
Toramaru: Th…that’s a kite~~~!!
Togashi: We hadn’t seen it well with this dark sky, but th…there’s a man riding on a large kite----!!

161.
Tenshou Houshi: Hohhohho-----!! Do you understand: what you had been fighting until now was my puppet!! Eikei, you were fighting franticly a wooden doll that was manipulated by me from a large kite above you without realizing it!!
Tenshou Houshi: Look closely!! At those piano string stretched from the puppet! It’s natural you didn’t notice in the midst of the battle!! That’s because those are Kurogousen, which are thinner than even the hair on your head.
(TN: “Kurogousen” = “Black Steel Wires”)

162.
Tenshou Houshi: Hohhohho, I can already see this match: even without taking out your poison fist, that’s how it is if you can’t move around.
Tenshou Houshi: I’ll end this by splitting your head with these Kousai Rosary. Well, you have a short time. You should be praying to Buddha.
Eikei: Fufu……
Tenshou Houshi: N--!? You were laughing now. Is there something funny about what’s happening to you at this time?
Eikei: As Eikei, the commander of the Otokojuku Shitennou, I’m the man most unconnected to God and Buddha…those prayers are better done for you yourself.

163.
Tenshou Houshi: Hohhohho---!! What is this cursed man?
Toramaru: E…Eikei---!!
Tenshou Houshi: Die and go to hell---!!

164.
Tenshou Houshi: GU!?

165.
Tenshou Houshi: Hohhohho, you’re still doing wicked mischief with that taijutsu……
Tenshou Houshi: Ho, this is, this is a scratch: is this blood from you……
Tenshou Houshi: Nanananana!!
Tenshou Houshi: I was convinced that the poison fist was just on your hands, but that was an error about you. Your kenpou is one that uses all of your limbs as your weapon……!!
Tenshou Houshi: I…was dumb………!! I myself was………!!
Eikei: It’s better you go to hell with your Buddist name.
(TN: Eikei is making mention of a “kaimyou”, a Buddhist name that is given to a person posthumously)

TN: This chapter sort of confused me a bit in regards to one particular matter: the style and usage of Eikei's "poison fist" abilities. When Eikei initially used them back in the Paaren Seiha, it seemed like a desperate effort final move that he used to try and eliminate Momo at the cost of himself. But in this fight with Tenshou Houshi, it seems more like Eikei has literally trained his hands for years to be poisonous and that he was never going to die of them regardless of them on his limbs. I sort of wonder if Eikei always had that skill or more made it his own in the time between the Paaren Seiha and the Daibukai...though there really wasn't that much time between the two so my guess is essentially that he had he essentials for the true poison fist skill, but never really needed it until the Paaren Seiha...then sort of enhanced and built on it for the Daibukai so his hands would be poisonous all the time. It's really the only thing I can come up with regarding Eikei's sudden ability...though the chapter itself was just pure Otokojuku goodness, particularly in how Tenshou Houshi manipulated his bizarre gimmick (though in a way it reminded me a bit of both Naruto with the puppets...and Bleach in the "moon on the water" bit being an explanation of Aizen's abilities) and how Eikei defeated him with a simple maneuver. I guess my worries were less about the chapter to me though and more about just trying to figure out Eikei's poisonous skills...