Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 200

His body is bloody and beaten after a deceptive blow by Sanen, bringing him close to the edge. But will this fall really spell the end of Rasetsu...or does he has enough willpower left in him for one final attempt at victory?

Chp. 200: Tenacity for Certain Victory!!

87.
Togashi: Wh…what is this………
Toramaru: Th…that Ra…Rasetsu has been killed……
Toramaru: E…even so, bo…both of you are acting calm without one change to your facial expression----!! An…an ally of the same Shitennou is dead----!! Ca…can’t you shed even one tear for him----!
Manjimaru: We believe in him………his fight hasn’t ended yet………
Toramaru: Huh…!?
Senkuu: That’s because his name is Rasetsu of Otokojuku’s Shitennou……!! Because he’s the immortal man who survived even the torture of hell for three days and nights……………………!!
Momotarou: The torture of hell…!?
Toramaru: What exactly is that…!?

88.
Sanen: Fu, what’s the matter, Otokojuku gentlemen? Who will be my next competition opponent?
Sanen: Even so, they were blown with a loss of nerve by watching the atrocious death of their ally……
Sanen: !!
Sanen: HUH!!
Togashi: Wha…!!

89.
Momotarou, Togashi & Toramaru: RA…RASETSU----!!

90.
Sanen: …………!!
Sanen: ………………I don’t believe this……………!! My fist soundly went through your chest and yet……!!
Rasetsu: I…I won’t lose………!! I don’t have reason to lose to this……………!!

91.
Toramaru: Uoo---!! Ra…Rasetsu didn’t die---!
Togashi: He…he’s alive---!! An…and thus he…he’s still fighting---¡
Senkuu: …………!!
Sanen: Fu: It seems I’m fighting an unreasonable opponent.
Sanen: What’s with that behavior!? Taking out that dagger…………!!
Sanen: Well, that’s fine: I’ll just send you back to hell once more!!

92.
Rasetsu: NUN!!
Sanen: Hou
Togashi: Th…that is a…again Kyou-ke Saidai Ougi: Toushi Kiha Dosuiryuu~~~~!!

93.
Sanen: Ha!!
Sanen: Fu: what tenacity for this match……!! Where do you still have left that physical strength!!

94.
Sanen: Well, you should come at me from anywhere. With that Dosuiryuu you’re waging straining the last of your energy and strength……………!!
Sanen: But then, I’m only thinking that you’re digging your own grave for me!!
Toramaru: Ra…Rasetsu………!!
Togashi: It…it’s impossible. It’s…as that Sanen guy said: no…no matter how he has Dosuiryuu, Ra…Rasetsu can’t win with that bo…body…………!!
Momotarou: Please tell me, senpai……!! About this three day and night hell torture you spoke of earlier……………!?

95.
Senkuu: Fine, you should listen.
Momotarou: ………!!
Senkuu: This was many years before all of you First-Years entered Otokojuku……!! Our Otokojuku force had taken our camp deep within enemy territory where we should have subjugated our old enemy that crossed over long years in the western country and were told our strategy…!!
Senkuu: But a platoon lead by Rasetsu, which had headed out for reconnaissance, had come to be captured along with Rasetsu because of the carelessness of the subordinates.

96.
Rasetsu: NUOO---!!
Rasetsu: Gugu!!
Enemy: Fufu, that’s quite a good plight. If you let your hand go, your subordinates will go headlong into the abyss.
Rasetsu: Nuga!!

97.
Enemy: N---!? How about if you thoroughly tell us? Where is the main army of your Otokojuku---!?
Senkuu: His fingernails were ripped off and his body weakened by burns…every possible torture to the limits that can be thought of were repeated on him…………!!
Senkuu: UOO!!
Student 1: Ra…Rasetsu-dono, pl…please let your hands go---!!
Student 2: We…we don’t mind anymore what comes of our lives!!
Student 3: If…if you let go, those guys will---!!
Rasetsu: Ugaa---!!
Senkuu: And thus, that torture of hell continued for three days and nights……!!

98.
Senkuu: But he didn’t let go. Of that rope…for three days and nights……!!
Enemy: Ke, was he killed…………!! Has he entered rigor mortis without letting go of the rope even dead?
Senkuu: Those men made such judgments with their own common sense and negligence was born there.
Enemy: Hehe, nothing we can do after all.
Senkuu: He was waiting for that moment…!! Even while his conscious and body had already rotted away………!!
Enemy: !!

99.
Enemy: Hi…hie~~~!!
Senkuu: And then, many hours later, what was seen by us who had rushed for his rescue
Senkuu: Was the form of Rasetsu, who was surely said to live and eat demons as in the Indian myth……!! It was the form of him, who had annihilated the enemy and in a Niou stance in a sea of blood while still not letting go of the rope……………!!

100.
Manjimaru: He has a tenacity to have insatiable victory to the extent of transcending the verge of death, even from a desperate dilemma…………!! That was the man called Rasetsu of the Otokojuku Shitennou……!!
Momotarou: That’s an amazing story……!! Bu…but………
Sanen: Fufu: what’s the matter? It can’t be: you couldn’t have died while you were underground.

101.
Sanen: FUFU: PATHETIC………!! EVEN HIDING HIS BODY UNDERGROUND, HE CAN’T HIDE WITH THIS BLOOD THAT IS RISING TO THE SURFCE!!
Sanen: DIE---!!
Togashi & Toramaru: Ra…Rasetsu---!!

102.
Voice: I…I’ve caught you, Sa…Sanen……!!
Sanen: NA!!
Sanen: Y…you!!

103.
Sanen: UOO----!!

104.
Sanen: Gunu!!
Sanen: Wh…what the………!?
Sanen: Y…you, th…that arm is……………!! Ri…right: Th…that the reason for the dagger you possessed whe…when you dug underground………………!!
Rasetsu: One arm………!! It isn’t valuable if it’s for victory…………!!

105.
Sanen: Y…you’re that sort of man, Rasetsu. I…I have no regret if I were to lose to a man of your extent……………!!
Rasetsu: That speech can be returned to you here. I too didn’t have regret even in losing if it was to you…………..!!
Senkuu: Th…that is…
Manjimaru: Th…that is the man called Rasetsu of Otokojuku’s Shitennou.

TN: I can't believe it's been 200 chapters of Otokojuku already! And if you think about it, over half of that 200 has been the Tenchou Gorin Daibukai...and we're not even at the finals yet! (yeah...as I may have mentioned before: it's just THAT long a tournament) Yet in this chapter, sort of like what we've been getting a bit lately with a few other chapters, we keep getting some crucial backstory that actually seems to show us more about these characters...and that in some ways show some things that we really wish that we had sooner. Believe me: I loved Rasetsu's flashback story in this chapter and in some ways it was crucial to understanding how the match was going to end up. But somehow, it just...makes me wonder how the series could have been. If Otokojuku had a bit more planning (and wasn't a bunch of fun but random fights), we could have had this sooner with a bit more structure to them. We could have seen these aspects slowly revealed up to the point where we get the story behind it and thus understand it in full. No, I'm not saying it's wrong what the series is doing, I guess I'm just thinking along the lines of a modern manga reader again instead of just taking it for what it was at the time. Rasetsu's flashback just felt so gruesome and epic that...I sort of wish we had a way to know about it before it was just "revealed" by a flashback. As for the end of the Sanen fight itself...well, that was just a brilliant move once again but also shows the costs needed to secure victory. Tearing off his own arm in order to make himself seem dead and finally approach Sanen is just an appropriate way to get back after the whole "joint removing backwards" bit Sanen used last time. It just applies the true way of Otokojuku...and makes me wish we had more of that in another aspect I guess.