Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 190

General Soukou, the vice-leader of Ryouzanpaku, expected the entire Otokojuku force to face him and his three strange ball men. But with only Akashi accepting the challenge, can the swordsman prove he's a one-man force of his own!?

Chp. 190: Bottomless Ingenuity

67.
Toramaru: Be…be careful, Akashi-senpai!! We…we really don’t know the nature speaking of those strange balls or that weird-bearded oldie!!
Togashi: Kakkakka: you’re a dummy, Toramaru!! You’re ten years early in having your mouth heard by Akashi-senpai, the head of Otokojuku’s Second-Years that is said to even silence a crying child~~~~~~~!
Akashi: Momo……!!
Momotarou: What is it!?
Akashi: May I borrow your broadsword?
Toramaru: Wha, Mo…Momo’s broadsword………..
Momotarou: Ossu………!?

68.
Toramaru: Wh…what exactly is that Akashi guy doing………!?
Togashi: It…can’t be: isn’t he going to Nitouryuu with two swords, imitating Miyamoto Musashi!?
(TN: “Nitouryuu” = “Two-Sword Style”; meanwhile, while many things are notable about Miyamoto Musashi, he is also notable for being the founder of a sword-style that uses two swords in combat)
Momotarou: Fufu: he’s a great man of immeasurable scale.
Hien: Y…yes: he’s always overwhelming to us.

69.
Soukou: I should have said to come at me by becoming a group of many, but merely one has come……!! It seems you haven’t heard what I said.
Akashi: Don’t worry: that’s my style.

70.
Akashi: But before I fight with you, I must deal with these.
No-Hair: Fufu: that’s natural………!!
Mustache: Does a youngster opponent like you think he can take with expressed labor General Soukou, the vice-head of Ryouzanpaku?
Hair: You will realize: our terror for being under the direct control of General Soukou!!
Soukou: Go!! This prey will be taken by you.

71.
Ball-Men: RYOUZANPAKU HEIHOU OUGI: REKIBYOUKYUU!!
(TN: First of all: “Heihou” = “Art of War” or “Tactic”; second: “Rekibyoukyuu” = “Running-Over Tack-Spheres”)
Toramaru: Ooh!! L…look~~~! Those three iron balls are thrusting with tremendous rotation aiming for Akashi~~~~~!!

72.
Akashi: !!

73.
Akashi: NU!!

74.
Ball-Men: Uwahhahaha: it seems you’re naively watching the Rekibyoukyuu!! Do you think you can wage at us by merely directly opposite in a straight line---! The true terror of Rekibyoukyuu is mutual diffused reflections originating by perfect calculations, making you unable to figure out from where is the orbit which we’re attacking---!!
Toramaru: Wh…what is this: these movements by the iron-ball men---!!
Togashi: It’s…as if they’re mutually being knocked around and attacking like billiard balls----!!
Raiden: Nuuu: that’s Rekibyoukyuu, which I’ve heard of in this world………!! It’s a technique which hints of terror……………!!
Commentary:
Rekibyoukyuu…a maneuvering tactic said to have been devised by General Hankou, who was famous in his surroundings as the pre-eminent great commander of the war era in ancient China.

It is known to exhibit its power and making a decisive battle in particular for situations of a large group of enemies. In the Battle of Kougen, General Hankou ensnared into great chaos a thousand enemy Wu troops with merely three Rekibyoukyuu lead by he himself.

A digression in passing: due to the optimization of these Rekibyoukyuu by improving their sense of equilibrium, they were used as an aviation training method by the Air Forces in every country of the world during World War II.
-From “World Ancient Weapon Encyclopedia”, Minmei Publishing

(TN: There was no real “Battle of Kougen” that we know of, but the “Wu troops” referred to here actually did exist: they were in reference to the Eastern Wu nation, who was one of the three allied forces of the Three Kingdoms during China’s warring period)

75.
Ball-Men: What’s wrong, why aren’t you headed out!! Are those two swords for decoration----!
Ball-Men: Wahahaha: you’ve been cornered, there’s nothing behind you. This quickly makes it match~~~!!

76.
Ball-Men: DIE----!!
Akashi: Guwa!!

77.
Ball-Men: Fu: that was silly; we settled with him simply like that.
Momotarou: !!
Togashi: A…Akashi was pushed into the rapids----!!

78.
Togashi: Uoo!! It…it’s so stupid that this Akashi-senpai was killed simply like that---!
Toramaru: N…no matter how he gets up, he’ll be thrown headlong into the waterfall basin without difficulty if he’s swallowed by the rapids---!!
Momotarou: Fu, well, that’s understood……………!!
Toramaru: Huh!? Wh…what’s understood, Momo---!!
Momotarou: He’s a person beyond our imagination; that man……!!
Toramaru: …………!!
Togashi: Wh…what do you mean by that!?

79.
Akashi: Haa!!

80.
Hair: Well, Otokojuku’s next daredevil, you should come down here!!
Mustache: Uwahhaha: but then, they can’t do such with their legs cramped with being shown our overwhelming strength----!!
Akashi: Whose overwhelming strength?
Bald: Mu!!
Togashi: He…hey, th…that’s~~~!!
Toramaru: Ah…aaah~~~!!

81.
Togashi & Toramaru: A…AKASHI---!!
Bald: Hou, he’s still alive?
Akashi: Yes: I stabbed this sword into the river bed and protected myself from the rapids.
Momotarou: If my guess is correct………!!
Togashi & Toramaru: ……!?
Momotarou: The fate of those three has already been decided……………!!

82.
Bald: N~~~!? What’s with that behavior? You drew a line in the ground.
Akashi: This line is the boundary between this world and hell………!! If you take even a step over this line, all of you will come to die. If you accept this, then you should come at me.
Hair: Kuku: what’s with that joke!!
Ball-Men: Now we will certainly send you to hell---!!

83.
Bald: Wahahahaha: we surpassed the line as you said! So what exactly is wrong with that………!!
Hair: Huh!?
Bald: Uo!!
Mustache: Th…this is an…earthquake!! Th…the ground is shaking……!
Akashi: Ichimonji-ryuu: Zanganken…
(TN: Reminders:
1. “Ichimonji-ryuu” = “Straight-Line Style”
2. “Zanganken” = “Stone-Cutting Sword”)

84.-85.
Akashi: THERE IS NOTHING IT CAN’T CUT IN THIS WORLD!!
Bald: Uoo~~~!! What’s that; the…battleground is slanting~~~!
Hair: It…can’t be: you cu…cut the pillars supporting the battleground in the river----!!
Mustache: Nuaa~~~!! We…can’t stop; we’re tumbling in~~~!
Ball Men: GYAOOU~~~~!!
Akashi: This is my means!!

TN: There goes Akashi, destroying public property for his second-straight match. (remember: not only did he destroy the last battleground he used with the Zanganken...but essentially lead to it's annihilation by J later in the fight!) Personally though I thought it was amazing not that Akashi was able to defeat the ball men...but in being able to actually go into the rapids long enough to slice through the pillar. Considering how troublesome that thing is with the previous matches (Baron Dino's suicide, Eikei/Shoukaku's trick that made him seem he went in but didn't), seeing Akashi dive in was a chance...but it was a chance that paid off considering that it did get rid of the three billiard-bouncing clods. But of course, there is still the general himself...and I doubt they want to fight on a super-slanted arrow now!