Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 187

With a slight unwrapping of bandages, the mysterious identity of the 2nd Otokojuku assistant may finally be revealed...or has it!? Is this mysterious fighter with a familiar style really...who Otokojuku thinks he is!?

Vol. 21: Enter Ryouzanpaku’s Leaders!!
Chp. 187: The Floating Death Arrows

7.
Toramaru: I…I’m certain!!
Togashi: It’s…absolutely………!!
Raiden: Th…that there is Kiritsu-ryuu Dokushuken, said to be the ultimate secret art in the numerous Chinese Kenpou…!
(TN: Reminders:
“Kiritsu-ryuu” = “Breathless Dust-Style” or “Angry Garbage-Style”
“Dokushuken” = “Poison-Hand Fist”)
Momotarou: That face hidden under that mask; it…it’s…………!!

8.
Momotarou: EIKEI, COMMANDER OF OTOKOJUKU’S SHITENNOU---!!

9.
Togashi: He…he’s alive---!! Th…that Eikei, wh…who we thought had just died in the Gandhara match in the Tenchou Gorin Daibukai Preliminary League Finals----!!
Toramaru: Do…don’t be distant to us, Eikei!! Wh…why ha…have you been hidden until now----!
Togashi: N…now, qu…quickly take off that mask and show your face to us----!!
Togashi: He—y, what’s wrong Eikei---!!
“Masked Man”: …………!!
Togashi: !?

10.
Houketsu: Nun!!
Houketsu: Guku!!
Houketsu: Th…that was close, bu…but I could take out the poison with that.
Houketsu: I was negligent. It can’t be that you are a user of Dokushuken.
Houketsu: Right, they said the name is Eikei.
“Masked Man”: Eikei……!?

11.
Shoukaku: I don’t know of that name…………my name is Shoukaku………………!! You’ve made some misunderstanding.
Toramaru: HUH!?
Togashi: Wh…what--!! He’s Shoukaku, not Eikei--!
Toramaru: Wh…what are you saying: you’re Eikei, we have no doubt---!! Do…do you think we wouldn’t remember an ally that fought life-or-death alongside us until now~~~~~!! Fi…first of all, that best proof is your poison-fist---!!
Shoukaku: There isn’t just one person who has mastered poison-fist in this world. This would include this person called Eikei…………!!
Toramaru: ……………………!!
Togashi: Bu…but…………

12.
Toramaru: Mo…Momo, what exactly is going on here~~~!!
Togashi: How…how could he come to have no inkling of anything to us-----!!
Momotarou: I don’t know…………!! But if this man isn’t Eikei, then what sort of person exactly is Shoukaku……………………!?
Houketsu: Fu: it’s fine whoever your true identity is. What’s important to me is you are a master-hand of the terrible Dokushuken, which can send an enemy to that world with one scratch.

13.
Houketsu: If it’s come to this, I must use this: the ultimate secret possessed by me……………!!
Shoukaku: ………!!
Old Man: Fuohhohho, Houketsu seems to have finally become serious.
Old Man: It would have been good if you had used this without using the Kyoujouken from the start. As you said: there’s no match facing this secret of secrets.

14.
Houketsu: RYOUZANPAKU HIOUGI: HONKYOKU SHUUSEN!!
(TN: “Honkyoku Shuusen” = “Running-Thorns Attacking-Harpoons”)

15.
Houketsu: No matter how you possessed uncommon taijutsu, you can’t run away from here on!!
Shoukaku: …………!!
Toramaru: Wh…what is…that---!!
Togashi: A…black harpoon of an unknown nature has…flown out with tremendous force from Houketsu’s cape and is running around the sky----!!

16.
Houketsu: Go, 2nd Array!!
Shoukaku: Mu!!
Shoukaku: Ku!!

17.
Houketsu: 3rd Array!!

18.
Shoukaku: Hau!!
Shoukaku: !!
Shoukaku: Th…this is…………!!
Toramaru: Uoo!! Wh…what’s going on w…with that~~~!
Togashi: Th…that b…black harpoon has split into several with Houketsu’s signal and attacked---!! An…and what is that scratch taken by Eikei…no…th…that masked man---!! It’s reddening and swelling up~~~!

19.
Shoukaku: It seems I’ve seen the true form of those monster harpoons……………
Houketsu: 4th Array!!

20.
Houketsu: !!
Shoukaku: After all that…………!!
Shoukaku: This is it’s true identity!!

21.
Toramaru: Wh…what---!! Th…that’s a bee----!!
Togashi: Th…those bees have assembled and imitated an arrow and then commenced to attack---!!
Raiden: Nuuu: ri…right, that is Souhougunken, which I’ve heard of in this world!!
(TN: “Souhougunken” = “Manipulating Bee-Swarm Fist”)
Commentary:
Souhougunken… it is known of bees’ unique communal living generally, but in Chinese Kenpou, they’ve worked out a murdering fist that trains and use Kinko Bees, which are said will make even a wild cow die if stabbed by three of them. Due to this, they were feared in their usage as assassination tools. In ancient China, powerful people of the time were prohibited from raising bees.
-From “Fu Aburu’s Account of Insects”, Minmei Publishing
(TN: “Kinko Bees” or “Kinkobachi” = “Captive-Tiger Bees”)

22.
Houketsu: Fu, understand…but even if I see through your true identity, it won’t have any meaning.
Houketsu: Because there is no means to protect your body from poisonous bees!! This is your end at last.

23.
Houketsu: Go---!! Take the general offensive and literally make him a beehive----!
Toramaru: Wh…what---!! Th…that masked man has…jumped into the river----!!

24.
Houketsu: You fool……!! If you’ve thrown yourself into the rapids, then you’ve already accepted that you won’t live………!!You’ve chosen your own death over even the terror of being stabbed to death by bees!!
Houketsu: You weren’t my match from the…………!!
Houketsu: !!
Houketsu: Fu: a person like you would……I overlooked this: the bandages wrapped around your poison-fist were your lifeline.
Houketsu: Do you think this will deceive me----!!

25.
Houketsu: Huh!!
Shoukaku: Even if you take extract poison, you can’t on your back, Houketsu.
Houketsu: …………!!

TN: Shoukaku...Eikei...well, whoever he is, he really is skilled with his poison fist. It does feel weird that the character that they all specifically thought was Eikei is actually someone completely different...but things are not always as they appear. Just remember Edajima's words the previous chapters (no...the ones about the 2nd Helper...not the ones prior, he always does that): he is a fighter for Otokojuku and most likely one of the 16 they first sent out to the battlefield at the start. There is still possibility he may be Eikei...but until it's completely confirmed, he's Shoukaku for our purposes. As for the chapter itself, it was really bizarre that Houketsu would just have a whole swarm of bees under his cloak...but considering this is a series where we just saw a guy fight with a spring on top of his head on sword stilts, it really isn't as extremely impossible as it would be in some other series. But at least with the poison fist in a place which is a lot harder to treat, Shoukaku has the advantage...even if there is still that deadly bee weapon.

Bees...my god.