Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 160

Even with the battleground re-established, Seti of Pharaoh Sphinx has challenged Date to a duel high above it where both must fight on a tightrope while the rope burns behind them! Can Date handle this high-flying challenge!?

Vol. 18: Arrival of Pharaoh!!
Chp. 160: Bubbles of Karnak!!

7.
Toramaru: Wh…what---!! It’s…10 minutes for the flames to burn on both ends of the rope to the center; the…match is until then---!

8.
(Title Page…yeah, Date on a tightrope, not much more you can say)

9.
Seti: LET’S GO!!

10.
Date: Nuu!!

11.
Seti: Ha!!
Toramaru: Th…those two are a…amazing……
Togashi: Th…they’re moving like they aren’t worried in their minds while fighting on a single rope that’s 50m up.
Momotarou: He can do this, that man Seti……!!
Raiden: Yes…

12.
Seti: Can this be avoided by you?
Date: !!
Toramaru: Uoo, wh…what is that---!! He…he’s thrusting with tremendous force while rotating with a fulcrum of the rope----!

13.
Togashi & Toramaru: Da…Date---!! Da…Date’s been hurt---¡
Momotarou: No, you’re wrong: he isn’t the only one hurt.

14.
Seti: Fu, you’ve did this………!!
Toramaru: Si…multaneous hit…………!!
Togashi: As…expected, Date handles the spear without being caught by the eye.
Seti: You say you’re Date? You’re a great man. You have a tough emotional power that doesn’t feel even an atom of terror in fighting on a rope while having that spearmanship.
Date: Is this the situation to speak trifling flattery? The flames are slowly starting to consume behind us.

15.
Seti: Fu, don’t get confused; we still have plenty of time.
Seti: But it seems we’re equal in this contest…it seems a waste to squander my strength any further. Thus I’ll take this match at once!!
Date: ………!?

16.
Seti: P – S OUGI: BUBBLES OF KARNAK!!
(TN: Three entries here:
“Karnak no Houmatsu” = “Bubbles of Karnak”; with the “bubbles” fully translating as “bubble on surface of liquid”
“Karnak” is in reference to the “Karnak Temple Complex”, a conglomerations of ruined temples, chapels and other buildings located in Thebes, most notable for the location of the “Great Temple of Amen” set up by Amenhotep III
Karnak has a kanji reading which translates into “God-Beast”)
Date: Mu!!

17.
Date: …………………!!
Toramaru: Wh…what!! Th…those are soap bubbles---!
Togashi: Co…countless soap bubbles are surrounding Date--!!
Seti: Fufu, that’s right.
Seti: But I’ll show you by throwing these stones that they’re different from ordinary soap bubbles.

18.
Date: !!
Date: Guku!!
Togashi: Wh…what---!! Wh…what’s happening; th…that’s---!
Toramaru: The…liquid of the broken bubble me…melted Da…Date’s steel protector---!!

19.
Seti: Do you see: this is the terror of the Bubbles of Karnak………these soap bubbles surrounding you are concentrated sulfuric acid liquid that can melt even rocks.
Toramaru: Wh…what, sulfuric-acid soap bubbles---!!
Seti: It’s impossible to escape from here, even with the spear-handling you possess……………!! If you touch those drifting, floating bubbles even a bit, they’ll instantly pop and a sulfuric acid rain will come to downpour on you.
Seti: Already you can’t move even a step from there.

20.
Seti: As I said: even if you’ve opened the density of bubbles, it’s useless.

21.
Togashi: Aah!! Da…Date’s spear has…fallen---!
Toramaru: On…top of that, he’s in his ultimate desperate crisis not being able to move----!!

22.
Seti: The next blow will be the end. Will you be able to stay on the rope when I throw all of these stones and the all of the sulfuric acid rain pours down!?
Seti: Besides, the heat is already coming to reach our backs.
Seti: It’s unbearable with it hot like this.
Seti: If you have something left to say, then ask it.
Date: Fu
Seti: What’s so funny at this time?

23.
Date: It’s fine how it is, but can’t you do something about your hairstyle? Astro Boy oldie……………
(TN: Yeah, “Astro Boy” is actually “Tetsuwan Atomu”, the well-known Osamu Tezuka creation)
Toramaru: …………A…Astro………!?
Seti: Whatever it is, you should babble it. Let out the mumblings of a loser.
Seti: D…die---!!
Seti: !!
Seti: Wh…what---!! The other side of the rope---!

24.-25.
Seti: Uh!!
Date: Did you think I would drop this spear, which should be my life, so simply?
Seti: GUWA!!

TN: This really needs to be said now as opposed to next chapter: somehow this chapter is probably the start of Date's best fight in a long time...probably since Baron Dino. (I could say the Rouroukan fighter but that was continuing a match so it's hard to really include it) His introductory battle with Seti on the tightrope was intense...and of course, that's before the weird gimmick of the fight with the acidic bubbles! Yeah...I know we've gotten acid quite a few times but considering how essential acid is for many of these martial artists (and that they can put it into weird forms like bubbles such as Seti), let's just let it pass and say they're deadly bubbles you don't want to mess around with. The whole cliffhanger where Date drops the spear only...not...just confused me: at one point it looked like it was completely falling off and the next it's under the rope...either Date used strings or that was just a very strange angle to make us think it was gone.