Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 173

Not just satisfied in victory, Momo has catapulted himself and Pharaoh out of harms way, completing a satisfying quarterfinal victory! But as the Daibukai enters the semi-finals, Otokojuku may not realize the greater terrors ahead...

Chp. 173: Advance to the Semi-Finals!!

89.
Togashi: Really, you were barely were thoroughly escape from the carnage scene.
Date: Our life-spans had shrunk watching that.
Toramaru: Alright, you’ll be alright too with this. As is, be patient and your followers will come to assist you immediately.
Pharaoh: Tsu…Tsurugi………!!

90.
Pharaoh: Yo…you shall re…receive this…………
Pharaoh: The Tear of Tutankhamen……………………A…treasure among treasures handed down through generations of my royal family.
(TN: I guess we can go by one more Egyptology lesson but it’s actually a rather well known one: Tutankhamen is the king who reigned and died young of the 18th Dynasty, son of Akhenaten (the pharaoh who converted Egypt into a “sun-worshipping cult”) and who is more well known for the massive treasures that remained in tact in his tomb when it was discovered in 1922, including his famous golden mask)
Pharaoh: I…can’t say I’m grateful that you saved my life………wi…without reviewing my own life, I…don’t have a thing to return in words or form for the obligation of saving me.
Pharaoh: Bu…but, I…want you to take this. As…proof of friendship…
Momotarou: …………!!
Pharaoh: We…well, do…don’t say a thing……

91.
Momotarou: Fu, understood.
Toramaru: Gr…great!! That Pharaoh is quite generous as expected! He could do this!! Wahhahaha, with that, we’ll have food to our heart’s content when this tournament is over!!
Pharaoh: I…pray for certain victory for all of you in Otokojuku. With…these battles up to our part…………And…and then……………
Momotarou: Aah, it’s a promise.
Momotarou: We’ll certainly become champions of this Tenchou Gorin Daibukai!!

92.-93.
Momotarou: LET’S GO, TO THE SEMI-FINAL BATTLEGROUND!!
Caption: GENERAL OF OTOKOJUKU: TSURUGI MOMOTAROU

FINALS TOURNAMENT MEETING GROUNDS: MEIOU ISLAND MAP

THESE ARE THE PARTICIPATING WARRIORS OF OTOKOJUKU!!
(from left-to-right, top-to-bottom)
DAIGOUIN JAKI | EIKEI (DEAD) | SENKUU | RASETSU
MANJIMARU | HENSHOUKI (DEAD) | DOKUGANTETSU (DEAD) | BARON DINO
DATE OMITO | RAIDEN | GEKKOU | HIEN (DEAD)
TORAMARU RYUUJI | TOGASHI GENJI | J | AKASHI GOUJI

94.
Toramaru: Fufu, battles are an unknowable thing.
Toudou: This newcomer team, the unknown-in-name Otokojuku, have given their name as one of the Tenchou Gorin Daibukai Four Strengths and have already won their way to the semi-finals.
Man: As you request.
Toudou: Fufu, you’re born with an unexpected power when you’re young. But there’s a paper-thin difference between youth and thoughtless ignorance……there are many situations where they lose their life due to this.

95.
Toudou: So, who are the next competition opponent for Otokojuku………………
Man: Right!!
Man: It is these men.
Toudou: Mu!!
Toudou: Hoo, this is, this is…this banner with the character of “Ryou” with that scarlet ball dragon……
Toudou: It seems Otokojuku’s fate is exhausted here. No, they should be praised for doing well until now.
Toudou: They’re dreadful men. You don’t have any chance of winning with them your opponents. Anyhow with them………!!

96.
Voice: We have a report, Principal!!
Onihige: As notified from the location of the Tenchou Gorin Daibukai, our Otokojuku has defeated P – S in the quarterfinals; currently, they’re in the midst of moving to the semifinal battleground!!
Edajima: Right…they’ve done it at last. So then, do you know the next competition opponent?
Onihige: We…well, th…that, it…can’t be help. There was a question of condition of the radio sensitivity…by all means it was “Ryoukan” or “Ryouzan”………………
Onihige: !?

97.
Edajima: THE RYOUZANPAKU 16-GREATS----!!
(TN: The name of this team in Japanese is “Ryouzanpaku 16-Ketsu”; “Ryouzanpaku” is a Japanese expression for “a place of assemblage for the bold and ambitious”, using three specific kanji: “Ryou” = “Beam” or “Girder”, “Zan” = “Mountain”, and “Paku” = “Overnight Stop” or “Put Up Stay”. It is also notable for being an actual Chinese mountain known as “Mount Liang”, which is the stronghold of the 108 heroes in the Chinese tale “The Water Margin”. “Ketsu” = “Greatness” or “Excellence”, thus why I’ll be calling them the “Greats”)
Onihige: HI!!
Onihige: Ho…how could yo…you do that, Principal………!! Do…do you know of them, th…these Ryouzanpaku 16-Greats---!!
Onihige: ………!?
Edajima: You should look at this. This has written all of the records until now since the start of the Tenchou Gorin Daibukai.
Book: TENCHOU GORIN DAIBUKAI HIDDEN HISTORY
Onihige: Huh~~!?
Hikouboshi: N--?

98.
Records:
1976: CHAMPION: RYOUZANPAKU 16-GREATS
1980: CHAMPION: RYOUZANPAKU 16-GREATS
1984: CHAMPION: RYOUZANPAKU

Onihige: WH…WHAT~~!!
Onihige: Wh…what is this saying…………If…if we go by this
Hikouboshi: They’re…not just the champion team of the previous Tenchou Gorin Daibukai once four years ago…………
Helmet: Th…they’ve achieved three consecutive championships here……………!!
Edajima: My greatest fear has become reality. They’re the favorite among favorites this year……I wished we wouldn’t have to confront them until the finals somehow but…
Onihige: Pr…principal, wh…what exactly are these Ryouzanpaku 16-Greats………
Edajima: This isn’t the situation to talk now. We must command for a regimentation of Otokojuku’s total energy.

99.
Edajima: Gather the entire First-Year class as we’ve planned previously!!
Onihige: Um…right---!!
Matsuo: HURRAY~~~HURRAY~~
Matsuo: O—TO—KO—JU—KU--!!

100.
Tazawa: Really, we have to lower our heads to that Matsuo. Since Momo and the others headed to the front, he’s been practicing the Great Chime Yell as such when he has the leisure, even on rainy and windy days.
Tazawa: Aa—h, what can we do for Momo’s group now? Are Togashi, Toramaru and the others being safe?
Tsubakiyama: I want to meet with all of them.
Speaker: A state of emergency has emerged; a state of emergency has emerged!!
First-Year: Hu~~h?
Speaker: We are informing all Otokojuku First-Years!!
Speaker: From here, all First-Years will depart to Meiou Island, where they are conducting the Tenchou Gorin Daibukai Finals League. All of you prepare yourselves speedily!!
Hidemaro: Wh…what---!!
Tazawa: We…we’re going to Meiou Island~~~!!

101.
Matsuo: We…we’ve done it---!! We…we’re going to meet with Momo---!
Tazawa: They’re…going to do this---!! Cause now we’re going----!
Toramaru: Fu—it’ll be great if we’ve really walked to wherever we are.
Togashi: We’re not there yet: the battleground of the semi-finals?
Toramaru: Well, I can’t walk another step anymore with my throat dried up.
Togashi: N? Th…that’s…………the sound of flowing water.
Toramaru: It’s wet—we can drink water there!

102.-103.
Togashi: WH…WHAT---!!
Toramaru: WH…WHAT EXACTLY IS THIS!?
Momotarou: It seems this here is the semifinal battleground that we’re fighting at now.

104.
(Yep, that’s a lot of flowing water)

105.
Toramaru: Wh…what a magnificently large waterfall………………!! It’s…like Niagara-class.
Togashi: And…yet, th…that’s a fierce river current……
Toramaru: If…we’re swallowed in that as such, we could raise ourselves any way, but we wouldn’t live when we fall headlong into the waterfall basin---!!
Togashi: It…can’t be that…we…will have to fight on top of that strange-shaped stone in the center of the river!?
Date: Other than that, are you thinking of anything else?
Toramaru: Wh…what’s that?
Toramaru: Aah, it’s…the helicopter---!!
Togashi: Hey, it’s the helicopter for the management HQ of the tournament---!!
Helicopter: YOU’RE LATE, GENTLEMEN OF TEAM OTOKOJUKU!! SO FROM HERE, WE SHALL START THE MATCH OF OTOKOJUKU VS. THE RYOUZANPAKU 16-GREATS, THE SEMIFINALS OF THE TENCHOU GORIN DAIBUKAI!!

106.
Momotarou: The Ryouzanpaku 16-Greats………!?
Date: Ryouzanpaku……that’s a name I’ve heard somewhere.
J: What’s wrong, Raiden? Your complexion is terrible.
Raiden: ………!!
Raiden: It…can’t be, they’re that………the gathering of heroes and great men handed down by people, whose name roars through the 3,000 year history of China…th…that Ryouzanpaku………………!!
Toramaru: Lo…look: so…someone is unexpectedly on the other bank----!!

107.
(Oh boy…a guy with a Ryouzanpaku flag…and an eyepatch. Yep…he should be respected immediately)

TN: Personal admission at the start of this entry: when I saw that this team was called Ryouzanpaku, I literally thought they were going to be the inspiration for the "Ryouzanpaku Dojo" in "History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi". But...considering that Ryouzanpaku is an actual Japanese term, that really isn't so and it's just a coincidence they both have the same name. Aside from that, the best thing about this chapter...well there are two. The main one is obvious: after a long time waiting, the rest of the First-Years return to the story! Nothing against Date and the 3rd Years, but Momo, Togashi and Toramaru just need to have the likes of Tazawa, Matsuo and Hidemaro around. They're just as much family (if not more so) than their war buddies and I sort of expect things from them interacting with the final stages of the Daibukai. The other...well, I did chuckle at Date's comment about how Togashi and Toramaru talk too much. But then again...if they didn't say the obvious, then no one would and we'd have way too much silence in this series. (aside Raiden's explanation of kenpou and schools)