Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 228

He may have defeated Qubilai Khan and returned to dry land, but the big question remains: how the heck did Eikei get away with his masquerade for so long!? But to answer that, we may just need a master of explanation...

Chp. 228: The Order of Death

109.
Momotarou: ………!!
Eikei: It’s been a while……!!
Momotarou: Eikei-senpai……! It seems the time has come to have you speak at last. Why had you must hide your real face until now………………!!
Eikei: Umu
Voice: No, that will be said from my mouth.
Momotarou: !!

110.-111.
Momotarou: Huh!!
Togashi: It…can’t be…………th…that voice is…………!!
Togashi: SA…SANMENKEN RAIDEN~~~!!
(TN: And the monkeys too!)

112.
Raiden: I’VE MADE YOU WORRIED.
Momotarou: Ra…Raiden………!!

113.
Togashi: Th…this is ridiculous……………!! We…we ha…have to be dreaming……………!
Toramaru: Ra…Raiden should have taken that cowardly hand of Ryoukou, the head of the Ryouzanpaku 16-Greats in the semi-finals and died being swallowed into the waterfall……!!
Raiden: This isn’t a dream or me appearing in a disguise. As you see, my legs have reached here.
Raiden: I too had my life rescued like Togashi and Hien. It was Eikei-dono who was there!!
Raiden: In truth, I and the monkeys had already lost conscious and were on the verge of falling into the waterfall basin.

114.
Raiden: But barely……!!
Raiden: And then, when I became aware, complete medical care had been done on me and the unmasked Eikei-dono was there. At that moment, Eikei-dono told me everything.

115.
Eikei: The rest will be told be me.
Eikei: This entirely was the Principal’s idea………!! I was undertaking the Principal’s secret order and mobilized for it!!
Momotarou: The…Principal……!!
Eikei: Yes: I was called into the Principal’s office alone the morning that Otokojuku departed for the Tenchou Gorin Daibukai…!!
Sign: PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE
Eikei: Third-Year Eikei entering!!
Edajima: I AM THE PRINCIPAL OF OTOKOJUKU, EDAJIMA HEIHACHI!!
(TN: It’s been forever since we heard that line in the flesh…)

116.
Edajima: Eikei, as you head out for the Tenchou Gorin Daibukai, I have a command for you as general of Otokojuku’s Shitennou!!
Edajima: YOU WILL DIE!!
Eikei: Huh!?
Edajima: Fufu: even if I say “die”, you’re not really going to die. Give the appearance that you’ve died……!! If you can do it at the earliest opportunity you can, then it will be in a match in the preliminary league.
Edajima: And then, you will disappear. Understand the meaning!!

117.
Eikei: Understood………!! And then, you’ll tell me to protect my allies from the back.
Edajima: Right. This fact will never be known by Momo and your other allies. They must think you’ve died to the end!! Because we’ll certainly generate unpreparedness due to their feeling of relief if they knew!!
Eikei: Certainly, Principal!! Eikei will wager his life on it…!!
Edajima: I leave that to you!!
Edajima: Fufu: that was at most parental love…!!

118.
Eikei: And thus, I did as ordered by the Principal. I pretended to lose and die in the battle with Taigen Houshi of the Gandhara 16-Monks of the Preliminary League.
Momotarou: But just you watching over us made you grieve in the long run. It was there that you had circumstance to hide your true identity with a mask and participate when you saw the chance.
Eikei: Fu: but if we’ve come this far, it’s not necessary anymore.
Toramaru: Ri…right: he would do that. As expected of oldie Edajima!! Bu..but it really is good; Raiden, you’re alive~~~!!
Toramaru: But then, these horrible monkeys are different!!

119.
Toramaru: Uwa!!
Toramaru: Y…you!!
Monkey: Kiki—
Toramaru: I…I’m being mocked by these monkeys~~~!!
Togashi: Uwahhaha, that’s good, Toramaru! You’ve have these good friends!!
Togashi: WAHHAHA

120.
Qubilai: Uuh, I…I was negligent. So…sorry but give me a hand.
“Third Khan”: Negligent………….!! Don’t you understand yet; that you weren’t an opponent that could win…!!
“Third Khan”: Besides, you had the sympathy of the enemy and your life was saved……!!
Qubilai: E…even if you say that……………!!
Qubilai: Ha!!
“Third Khan”: KNOW SHAME!!

121.
Qubilai: UO!!
Qubilai: UGYAA~~~!!

122.
Qubilai: GYAAA---!!
“Third Khan”: Otokojuku………!! I won’t let any of you live.

123.
Togashi: Wh…what---!! L…look? Now---!
Toramaru: Wh…what a guy. Qubilai Khan, whose life was saved with pain by Eikei-senpai was extremely---!!
Date: E…even so, that now was……!? At the same time as he held his hand, Qu…Qubilai Khan’s body suddenly was engulfed in flames……!!

124.
Toramaru: Wh…what is th…that---!!
Togashi: The floor of the battleground opened and some large tree-like thing that’s shining in glitters has risen in place of the glass sphere---!!

125.
“Third Khan”: THIS IS MONGOLIA’S ULTIMATE DUELING METHOD: RYUUKYOU HYOUJU!!
(TN: “Ryuukyou Hyouju” = “Narrow-Sulfur Ice-Trees”; in particular is the second kanji, which is read as “kyou” but is an ancient kanji for “semai”, the “narrow” of this reading)
“Third Khan”: Understand? This is ice! These are trees entirely made of ice!

126.
“Third Khan”: As such, they’re extraordinarily brittle things.
“Third Khan”: And the saucer beneath is completely filled with a concentrated sulfuric acid liquid.
“Third Khan”: If you fall in, not even your bones will be left.
Shai: Well who will it be!! Who will be an opponent to Shai Khan here!?
(TN: Compared to the other two Khans, where we had a name based on an ethnic group [Kyrgyz] or a famous Khan [Qubilai], I couldn’t find one for Shai that worked correctly [unless I translated it as “shy”] so I just transliterated it)
Toramaru: Wh…what---!! Fight on top of those ice trees---! Really these outrageous things are sent out from next to next---!!
Togashi: I…idiot---!! Who would do that dangerous battle---!

127.
Commentary:
Ryoukyou Hyouju…its origin was as a narrow ice battle that occurred vigorously in the center of Mongolia. It is a thing that is fought in the midst of terror, where is said that they choose lakes that have been spread with thin ice said to be approximately 1cm in thickness and where they may be able to break the ice eventually. Naturally, it is necessary to have taijutsu that excels in movements that won’t break the thin ice.

Since then, due to taking into consideration third-dimensional movements along with the development of ice-making technology, it became a battle on top of ice imitating trees but that is the dueling method of Ryuukyou Hyouju. Incidentally, even in the present, the saying of “The thought of stepping onto thin ice” for an appearance of shrinking with dread came forth from here.
-From “Skater’s Waltz”, Minmei Publishing
Voice: Amusing.
Raiden: This battle will be taken by I, who has come back from hell!!
Togashi & Toramaru: RA…RAIDEN~~~!!

TN: Alright, honest question time: which is more epic:
1. The return of Raiden in all his martial artist (and monkey buddy) glory?
2. The whole fact that Edajima literally told someone to die...no questions asked?

I'd say both (then again as I've said before: self-proclaimed Raiden fan), but I think in some ways the latter is just funnier and more epic as well as actually showed some of the back-plotting that Miyashita actually got away with. (sort of) When Edajima Heihachi tells you to do something, you must do it...and I mean "must". (unless you're Togashi...then you'd probably complain a lot, get yourself beaten to a bloody pulp by your Principal...then do it) The mere fact that Eikei's "death" was orchestrated so he could work behind the scenes was just a genius move, allowing for someone to actually protect Otokojuku from behind the scenes without having to sacrifices a ton of lives that usually would have been lost in the tournament. Without Eikei being there protecting them, the likes of Togashi, Hien and Raiden would have all perished...and without them, it would have made this tournament way harder. Though while it feels like it was the ultimate protection of the death concept, there are a few questions that just keep bugging me about it:
-First of all, why didn't Eikei do it earlier? Sure, I get that he had to do it before the end of the preliminaries, but couldn't he have done it prior to the fight with Gandhara? I get some would suggest the preliminaries as being the "easy part" of the tournament, but there were still casualties in the first couple of matches...such as Dokugantetsu against the leader of Rouroukan or Henshouki with Centaur. (Zeus himself was insane but that was Jaki's prey so of course that wasn't a means to go out there) And while everyone (not Togashi and Toramaru) got their chance in the preliminaries, there were ample opponents prior to the Gandhara fight where Eikei could have done his death match. (my only real guess: Eikei probably figured Otokojuku would get to the end of the prelims and then perform his big "disappearing act" with the finals of that phase...then again there was the whole problem of Hien literally being there confirming his death before taking down the opponent, so how to fool someone as medically trained as him is beyond me)
-Secondly: if Eikei was so intent on saving people, then why didn't he save everyone who died in the tournament? I mean, I get the saving of Togashi, Hien and Raiden considering it's convenience and the situations they occurred with. But what about Baron Dino: sure the other Chinju Corridor fighters were before Eiekie went undercover, but Dino fought and sacrificed himself in that match! Then again...I guess both the will Dino had plus the fact he was taking someone with wasn't convenient for him. And then there is Gekkou...that just recently happened sure and he was thrown into a chasm, but with Eikei nearby, he could have at least tried.

I swear there are other things to worry about...but hey, Raiden's fighting next so no worries about that.