Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 169

Stuck on a battleground completely coated in the darkness of a eclipse, Momo is forced to face the mysterious Pharaoh who has the power to increase his glowing numbers with every slash! Does a way to stop this assault exist!?

Vol. 19: Advance to the Semi-Finals!!
Chp. 169: Dreadful Multiplication!!

7.
Toramaru: Mo…Momo~~~!!
Togashi: I…don’t understand!! Hi…his true identity really is a monster---!

8.
(Title page…yeah, there has to be something to explain all those Pharaoh clones)

9.
Pharaoh: FUFFUFFU: P – S OUGI: ENDLESS-REBIRTH AWAKENING OF HOREMHEB! NO ONE HAS EVER SURVIVED FROM THIS TECHNIQUE!! HOW ABOUT IF YOU DECIDE TO PREPARE YOURSELF RIGHTLY?

10.
Momotarou: Ku!!
Momotarou: Their attacks have suddenly become faster!!
Momotarou: Right: the solar eclipse will be over soon…!! His secret really is this light he’s emitting from those bodies……!!

11.
Pharaoh: FU, WE WELL UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU’RE THINKING!! YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN PATIENTLY ENDURE SOMEHOW UNTIL THE ECLIPSE ENDS AND THE SUN RETURNS!
Momotarou: !!
Pharaoh: BUT THAT WON’T BE SO.
Pharaoh: YOU WON’T LIVE AND BASK IN THE LIGHT OF THE SUNLIGHT EVER AGAIN!!
Momotarou: Gufu!!
Toramaru: Mo…Momo~~!! Mo…Momo’s been hurt again~~~!
Togashi: Da…damn it!! Momo can only go around defending for so long with it 3-on-1 and further not being able to use his blade!
Momotarou: Nuu!!

12.
Pharaoh: FUFFUFFU, YOUR ANXIETY TO CUT IS FOOLISH. YOU’VE FORGOTTEN THAT FROM CUT TO CUT, YOU’RE SPLITTING MY BODY, INCREASING MY NUMBERS!!
Momotarou: …………!!

13.
Pharaoh: THANK YOU: WITH THIS, I’VE BECOME FOUR!! YOU’RE INCREASINGLY SHORTENING YOUR LIFE!!
Momotarou: It is after all………………!! I’m perplexed by his quick movements, I didn’t know how; but now that I’m in control, I know clearly. I split him and the light, from starting his multiplying to its end, weakens a little bit.

14.
Momotarou: Its sink-or-swim…………!! Yet it’s come to be the only thing I can do.
Pharaoh: !!
Pharaoh: MU!?

15.
Toramaru: Wh…what---!! Mo…Momo now has completely changed and is starting to slice up those monsters with tremendous force---!
Togashi: St…stop, Mo…Momo---! If you do that, then the number of monsters will increase and it will just become a handicap---!

16.
Pharaoh: FUFU, ARE YOU FINE WITH THIS BEHAVIOR?
Momotarou: That’s none of your business.
Momotarou: HA---!!

17.
Toramaru: Mo…Momo~~~!!

18.
Togashi: Wh…what is he planning, that…Momo---!! He’s increased the enemy numbers to that extent---!
Toramaru: He’s…become too desperate with those attacks to the eerie enemy---!!
Date: You’re wrong……Tsurugui Momotarou, head of the Otokojuku First-Years, isn’t a man who would forget himself when facing any crisis. That should be some sort of intention.
Toramaru: Huh!?
Date: Is this my imagination……………It seems in my eyes like the light of his body is becoming weaker.
Toramaru: ………!?

19.
Pharaoh: WITH THAT, THE MATCH IS OVER. HOW DO YOU PLAN TO FIGHT WITH THIS NUMBER OF OPPONENTS?
Momotarou: You should come at me. Now I’ll remove all of your disguises.
Pharaoh: DIE---!!
Toramaru: Mo…Momo----!! Th…they’re going to take the match at once---!

20.
Pharaoh: !!
Momotarou: Watch: this is your true identity---!!

21.
Momotarou: HISHOU KAKUSUIKEN OUGI: RINSENPUU!!
(TN: “Rinsenpuu” = “Rumbling Whirlwind”/”Rumbling Rotating Wind”)
Toramaru: Wh…what~~~!!

22.
Pharaoh: OOOH!! TH…THIS IS!
Toramaru: Uoo!! Lo…look; th…that’s---!! What exactly is going on---!
Togashi: Th…their bodies are crumbling fr…from the tremendous force occurring from the rotation of Momo’s sword-----!!

23.
Toramaru: Th…they’ve vanished---!! Th…their bodies have disappeared without a trace---!
Togashi: An…and so…some small, nu…numberless grains of light are fluttering in the dark sky---!!
Raiden: Right, he read it! Th…those surely are Konkou Fireflies……!!
(TN: “Konkou Fireflies” or “Konkoubotaru” = “Light-Sodered Fireflies”)

24.
Commentary:
Konkou Fireflies…their technical name is “Egyptian Neom Fireflies”. They are around 20mm in length, live in the Nile River Basin, release an extremely bright light and are known to live communally and have a high intelligence. In Ancient Egypt, they were personally used by every family by being put into a glass bottle to be illumination for the family.

Another characteristic that is used is that they’re trained to interpret battle formations: a group of fireflies released into the night sky were greatly used as being military communications in war time and advertisement signs for shops. However, they were cursed for being way too overused and confirmed to be extinct by the beginning of the 7th century.

In passing: the etymology of “neon sign”, which colors the night skies of cities in the present, has its source in “neom”, the technical name of the fireflies.
-From “The Wonderful World of Insects”, Minmei Publishing

Caption: EGYPTIAN NEOM FIREFLY

Momotarou: Fu, that’s what I thought.
Momotarou: Well you were fighting with clones formed by fireflies. And seeing an opening, you were throwing real knives from behind while repeating with these firefly knives.
Momotarou: The real you is over there---!!

25.
Pharaoh: Fufu, well done, you saw through this. It was magnificent how you weakened the density of the cut clones by attacking and scattering them, and then created a squall on those fireflies, dispersing them.
Pharaoh: But that doesn’t surpass mere entertainment. It seems you are qualified to be the opponent of Pharaoh.

TN: It's strange when people think of a shonen main hero, they mostly think of them as some crazed muscle-head who has no brains. Well...Momo isn't like that as proven once again in this chapter: it takes someone with a lot of skill and patience to determine that your opponent is just a mass of fireflies and that each slash forces the fireflies to split into smaller groups of the same "mass", thereby decreasing brightness of each clone that is created due to less being around. It's a really strange style but...it's Otokojuku which means it's probably rather common to see something that is creative but off the deep end. But with the fake Pharaohs gone...well, now Momo has to face big-ears (yeah, he has huge ears doesn't he, the real Pharaoh) next time!