Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 159

A bright star of Otokojuku has seemingly fallen due to the selfish desires of Toudou...but was it really the end of Hien!? And how many more ropes does Otokojuku have to cross to reach the end of their battle with Pharaoh Sphinx!?

Chp. 159: Tightrope of Death

169.
Toramaru: I…I ca…can’t believe it………………!! Th…that Hien died………
Toramaru: HI…HIEN---!! G…give us an answer---!! Qu…quickly come on up an…and show us yo…your smiling face once again----!

170.
(Title page…I think with the death of his former subordinate, Date is going to ruin anyone else in his way)

171.
Businessman: Were you satisfied with that? The man called Hien came to have the result as Your Excellency’s pleasure.
Toudou: Was it really as it seemed…………!?
Toudou: I’m not satisfied.
Businessman: Huh……!?
Toudou: Replay the moment he fell into the lava once more.
Businessman: Yes, right away!!
Businessman: Do it!!

172.
Toudou: Here, stop the film!!
Toudou: What’s going on here……!? The smoke of the lava is blowing and the picture is unclear at this moment, but there’s a thing that is like another shadow of a separate person behind Hien………!!
Businessman: ………!?
Toudou: And after that, his body disappeared.
Businessman: There…can’t be another man’s shadow………….It…it’s there, though it was seen by seeming chance in the smoke. There isn’t anything that is a means to save him in that situation.

173.
Toudou: Fu………it seems so; I may be thinking too much. I worry about strange thing at my age.
Businessman: I…I didn’t think that Your Excellency would have words about his age.
Toudou: But it is a disappointment. I couldn’t watch his beautiful face melt into ugliness in the lava.
Toudou: Oh well. Replace the battlefield.
Businessman: Right---!!
Anubis: Djoser, Pinedjem……………and Neskhons…you too……………!!

174.
Anubis: It seems I must go after all.
Voice: HOLD ON, ANUBIS!!
Anubis: !!
Anubis: PHA…PHARAOH---!!

175.
Pharaoh: Fuffuffu: we seem to be forced into a considerably hard fight, Anubis.
Pharaoh: But this isn’t to the degree of you going.
Anubis: Yo…you have awakened wi….within your shining gold sarcophagus!! Our holy Pharaoh!!
Pharaoh: If you need extra heads, then the Twin Sphinxes, the bodyguards held back on both sides, will be your extra arms……!! The strongest warriors of P – S will suffice: send them.

176.
Pharaoh: GO!! LEFT ARM OF THE TWIN SPHINXES: SETI!
(TN: Egyptology time: Seti is most likely in reference to Seti I, a pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty, notable for being the son of Ramses I and the father of Ramses II. (and likewise in some accounts the stepfather of Moses, the hero of Judaism) He is notable for setting up a well preserved tomb in the Valley of the Kings complete with his mummy…which is also sort of notable in pop culture in making him the “mummy” in the Brendan Frasier films of the 2000s)
Anubis: Ooh!!
Seti: Great Pharaoh, I, Seti, will certainly present ease to your heart.

177.
Togashi: L…look---!!
Toramaru: The…battlefield which sunk into the lava is rising to the surface again---!!
Toramaru: D…damn, that f**king oldie Toudou is rotten in doing whatever he pleases---!!
Togashi: He…he shouldn’t have changed the battleground so Hien would have ended up not dying…!!
Date: We don’t have the time to speak grumbles; it seems our next enemy has already appeared.
Toramaru: W…what!?

178.
Toramaru: Wh…what---!! Wh…what is th…that---!
Togashi: He’s…pulling a stupidly-huge bow and aiming it to our direction---!!

179.
Togashi: Uoo: the…released arrow is flying this way---!!
Toramaru: Gee!!

180.-181.
Togashi: Wh…what is th…this……………!? The….There’s a rope attached to…the butt of the arrow……………!!
Togashi: The…rope is crossing over between this cliff and the cliff on Pharaoh Sphinx’s side---!!
Seti: This is fine…………!!
Anubis: Fu, Seti, you’re that sort of man as usual.
Seti: It’s best I show me exquisite skills here, Anubis.
Toramaru: Wh…what, that guy is…starting to cross the rope---!!
Togashi: So….then, it…can’t be…………!!

182.
Toramaru: Th…this guy really pl…plans on fighting on that rope---!!
Togashi: He’s…walking out to the center of the rope and…inviting us with a beckon---!!

183.
Toramaru: You…can’t be joking: ho…how are we going to fight on…top of this thin rope? Ev…even with the return of the battleground, it’s certain we’ll instantly die if we fall easily with 50 meters to the bottom!!
Togashi: Th…that idiot, who would handle that pretence---!!
Toramaru: You alone will do this, even if this is a tightrope acrobatics of a circus---!!
Voice: That’s not it: it will be uncouth to reject his greatly pained invitation.
(TN: The comment here is “sekkaku no osasoi”, while “osasoi” is “invitation”, “sekkaku” here has the meaning of “with great pains”, more talking about Seti’s great pains to set up the tightrope for them to face him)
Toramaru: HUH……!! DA…DATE---!

184.
Toramaru: That’s…stupid: stop that behavior, Date!! He is too big a danger!
Togashi: Ri…right: this came to be set up selfishly by him!! We should do nothing to take this invitation---!
Date: No matter what the situation or enemy we have, Otokojuku doesn’t show their back to it. Hien possessed this and should have taught you that.
(TN: Date didn’t say “behind our backs”, he actually says “behind our butts”; somehow it really didn’t feel appropriate to say that so I used the more appropriate English term)
Toramaru: Date……!!
Momotarou: …………

185.
Seti: You’ve properly come.
Seti: For rewarding your guts, I will tell you this. This match will be of a traditional dueling method of our P – S! Originally we stretched ropes between pyramids…
Date: I’m not interested in your story. Or did you call me to this place so you can face me in a conversation?
Seti: Fu, don’t be impatient: the preparations aren’t done yet.

186.
Date: !?
Toramaru: HUH!?
Toramaru: Wh…what---!! The…arrow fired by Anubis has set fire to the rope---!
Anubis: Fu, calm down: the conditions are mutually the same.

187.
Toramaru: Uoo---!! Th…this is having the rope catch fire on both ends---! Wi…with this, they can’t backtrack anymore---!!
Seti: It’s around ten minutes for the flames from both sides that’s running on this rope knitted of asbestos to reach the center……This match will be until then. Whether it’s burning to death or falling into the abyss to death, the choice is made to you as you please.
Date: Understood. I’ll enjoy this for a while.
(End of Vol. 17)

TN: I know it really should feel a bit like a cliche at this point, but somehow the whole aspect of Pharaoh sending his best guardians of the Sphinxes (starting with Seti) really feels a bit like a cliche now. Yeah I get it's "amping up" the battle, but considering how we've already seen it with Olympus, Gandhara and Kokurenju, it merely means that the opponent is done playing around and is starting to send out the big guns. I guess it's part of how the series rolls but sometimes you do sort of wonder why every group has been playing by the same rules aside for the ease of Miyashita to keep following said pattern. I did like Date's little speech before heading out on the latest battle (tightropes...only in Otokojuku would tightropes be a menace) sort of showing Togashi and Toramaru that as stupid as things get, you have to be a man to put up with one insanity after another. And as for Hien being saved...well that's sort of an important plot point (just like what happened a while back after Togashi nearly got killed in the first round of the Finals) but of course it's also a sign that Miyashita isn't willing to kill off one of his most popular characters. (yeah it's annoying but what can you say when he just follows in line with a bunch of other shonen authors)