Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 238

The Tenchou Gorin Daibukai has been reduced to a three-on-three match for it's final showdown in front of a live stadium audience! But for Otokojuku to survive it's first match, they may need to keep an eye on any copycats...

Chp. 238: Ougi: Sennichi Houkyou!!

127.
Announcer: SO THEN, WE WILL NOW BEGIN THE TENCHOU GORIN DAIBUKAI CLOSING FINALS!! OTOKOJUKU, MEIOU ISLAND 16-WARRIORS, WILL THE THREE REPRESENTING PLAYERS FROM BOTH TEAMS GO TO THE CENTER OF THE BATTLEGROUND!!

128.-129.
(Title page…and so they meet: the three strongest of Otokojuku and the three strongest of Meiou Island…)

130.
Announcer: GENERAL OF OTOKOJUKU: TSURUGI MOMOTAROU!! DATE OMITO!! DAIGOUIN JAKI!!
Announcer: GENERAL OF THE MEIOU ISLAND 16-WARRIORS: TOUDOU GOUKI!! SPARTACUS!! SHIRAN!!
Announcer: THESE CLOSING FINALS WILL BE FOUGHT BY THE AFFORMENTIONED SIX!! WHEN EITHER TEAM HAS SLAYED ALL THREE MEMBERS OF THE OPPONENT, THE CHAMPION OF THIS TENCHOU GORIN DAIBUKAI WILL BE DECIDED!!

131.
Gouki: An apology from me on my father’s way of doing things. But I won’t be forgiving at all in the match!!
Momotarou: Fu: I don’t mind this. With an audience just like this, we too will be able to burn.
Gouki: !!
Gouki: What is this behavior!?

132.
Gouki: Do you intend this to be a friendly match?
Momotarou: Fu: he’s a dreadful man.

133.
Date: But your draw is quite a thing too, Momo.
(TN: “Draw” mentioned by Date is “iai”, the art of one-sword drawing)
Gouki: !!
Gouki: That guy……!!
Announcer: THE PLAYER INTRODUCTIONS IS OVER. WILL BOTH TEAMS WITHDRAW TO YOUR OWN CAMP!! FROM HERE, WE WILL FINALLY START THE MATCH!!

134.
Announcer: WILL THOSE OTHERS THAN THE FIRST PLAYERS PLEASE GO OUTSIDE THE BATTLEGROUND SPEEDILY!! OUR GATES WILL BE CLOSED BY AN IRON FENCE!!
Date: I’ll be going first. I’ll show whatever the level of their power is.
Toramaru: We…we ask of you, Date---!! Ear…earnestly don’t be unprepared!! However we look at it, these guys aren’t ordinary people!
Announcer: WELL, PLEASE HURRY AND ENTER WITHIN!!
Togashi: Fussy, we get it!!
Toramaru: Uo!!

135.
Gouki: Spearmanship………!!
Gouki: I only know that you two are my father’s right-hand men. Show me your skills!!
Spartacus: Before we do, I will say just one thing.
Gouki: !?

136.
Shiran: Our master is Toudou Hyoue-sama, not you. We will not take any of your instructions.
Shiran: Don’t forget that.
Gouki: …………!!
Announcer: BOTH ADVANCE GUARDS, OTOKOJUKU’S DATE OMITO AND THE MEIOU ISLAND’S 16-WARRIORS’ SHIRAN, ARE STEPPING TO THE CENTER OF THE BATTLEGROUND!!

137.
Announcer: BEGIN THE MATCH!!
Toramaru: Wh…what: that guy has a spear for a weapon too~~~!!
Togashi: Wahhahaha, that idiot!! He doesn’t know about spearmanship, which should be Date’s divine skill---!
Spartacus: Regarding Shiran: there’s no connection in what his opponent’s weapon is. He just chose a spear because his opponent is a spear user.

138.
Date: LET’S GO!!
Date: !?

139.
Date: What is your intention!? You’re taking the same stance alongside with me.
Shiran: I am you yourself projected in a mirror…!! You are fighting you yourself!!
Date: I don’t understand your reason for what that is----!!

140.
Date: Nu!!
Date: In that case, how about this!!

141.
Date: HAKYOKU-RYUU: CHIHOUJIN!!
(TN: Reminder: “Hakyoku-ryuu: Chihoujin” = “Supreme Hegemony-Style: Thousand-Peak Dust”)
Date: !!

142.
Shiran: Have you come to understand? This is Ougi: Sennichi Houkyou!!
(TN: “Sennichi Houkyou” = “Thousand-Day Squall-Mirror”; in particular, “Sennichi” has another translation as in “Endless Repetition”, thus it could also work as “Endless Repetition Squall-Mirror”)

143.
Togashi: Wh…what~~~!! Sennichi Houkyou~~~!
Toramaru: Wh…what does he mean!! That guy Shiran is moving without even a tiny bit of different from Date----!
Shiran: There is a tactic that is a forbidden move in the world of Shougi called Mosha Yagura. That is to play the exactly same piece sequence as an opponent and, in the end, work the details out of your opponent’s king.
(TN: “Mosha Yagura” isn’t a real maneuver but an Otokojuku-only one. It translates into “Photocopy Arrow-Treasury”)
Shiran: The human mentality is a brittle thing……!! By doing the same movements thoroughly like this, it invites a feeling of impatience and, unknowingly, produces an opening for certain……………! That’s my excuse for aiming with this.
Commentary:
Sennichi Houkyou…the key point of this technique is to sharpen your concentration power and reflexes to their ultimate limit and to exactly and instantly imitate the actions of an opponent. There are many training methods, but a representative is to lay in Zen until you’re able to avoid while unconscious with only your reflexes the dripping drops of water while underneath icicles. Of course, it goes without saying the need for excellent taijutsu. Incidentally, the aphorism “Show a person’s drawbacks and fix your drawbacks”, which remains even at present, are traces of its training instructions.
-From “Strange Fists of China—Their Origins and Development”, Minmei Publishing

144.
Date: Ha!!
Date: HAKYOKU-RYUU: SOUTENKYAKU!!
(TN: “Soutenkyaku” = “Spear-Turning Leg”)

145.
Shiran: Do anything, but it’s all wicked mischief……!! There has never been a person who has escaped from this Ougi.
Date: Interesting…………!! In that case, I’ll be the first one!!

TN: So it's finally happened: a kendou fighter has emerged that essentially is the ultimate copycat. And...well, that's essentially how Shiran has been depicted so far but that's enough to drive Date mad! And trust me...you really don't want to see Date mad, considering "terrible things happen when he gets mad". Of course, the fact that someone as massively skilled and smart as Date being merely mocked by all this copying is just weird. It does make me wonder if Shiran does have anything else...but that is for next time. Meanwhile, it's strange seeing Gouki in the scenario he's in now: on one hand he definitely seems to still hate Otokojuku and wants to take them down, but is trapped with Shiran and Spartacus, both men loyal to his father, as his final partners. He really has no choice but to fight with them, but he does seem to show an edge that could show eventually if they stick around...or if he is somehow freed from Hyoue's grip.