Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 240

How do you defeat an opponent who copies your moves? When you're Date, it's simple: make up a move to force him to throw away his advantage! But with his body weakening, has Shiran finally been fully taken care of?

Chp. 240: Cruel! Koriku Fight!!

167.
Shiran: GUKU!!
Toramaru: He…he did it---!! Date won---!
Togashi: In…in that appearance, that Shiran can’t come out to fight anymore---!!

168.
(Title page…something tells me Date isn’t quite done yet)

169.
Announcer: THE FIRST MATCH OF THE TENCHOU GORIN DAIBUKAI FINALS: DATE OMITO OF OTOKOJUKU VS. SHIRAN OF THE MEIOU ISLAND 16-WARRIORS!! AT THE START, THIS MATCH SEEMS TO BE A VICTORY FOR THE OTOKOJUKU-SIDE!!
Businessman: Your Excellency……!!
Toudou: Fuffuffu: there is nothing to be concerned about.
Toudou: It isn’t over with this!! He has been given great care and was made by me. He is a man who has a supreme purpose for just defeating enemies…………!!

170.
Shiran: Wh…where are you going……!!
Shiran: Th…this match isn’t over yet……!!
Shiran: Y…you won’t be…be going back with this!!
Date: It’s useless. This match is already over.

171.
Shiran: Fuffuffu: I…I understand that you’re saying there’s a bit left in my life. Bu…but, I won’t die alone; You too are coming with to hell……!!
Shiran: Y…you should look closely at the wound on your back!!
Date: !?
Date: Huh!!
Shiran: The…the moment I took that blow, my knife grazed onto your body.
Shiran: A….and that isn’t a mere scratch!! On this knife was smeared a deadly poison called Jakan Grass, a secret Chinese formula!!
(TN: “Jakan Grass” or “Jakansou” = “Chinese Snake-Grass”)

172.
Shiran: It doesn’t have to be a fatal wound, but when this poison goes into your body even at a small dose, it has a property where it temporarily desecrates a person’s optic nerves. Fu: how is it: can you still see my face!?
Date: Y…you………!!
Toramaru: Wh…what---!! Date’s eyes have come to not see with that poison---!!
Togashi: Th…that guy, he’s…done that joking behavior---!!
Toudou: Fuohhohho: that’s fine. That is what is called my right-hand man!!

173.
Shiran: Did you think you could defeat me so easily~~~!!
Date: !!

174.
Shiran: Nuaa---!!
Togashi: Da…Date---!!
Shiran: Fu, the poison is steadily going through you.

175.
Date: Gaha!!
Date: Uh!!
Shiran: Fufu: it seems you’ve completely come to not see!!

176.
Shiran: Now the situation is 50/50 with that!! You’ll go ahead and die ahead of me----!
Date: KU!!
Togashi: Ca…can’t he do anything, Momo---!! Wi…with this as a one-side defensive battle, Date will truly get killed----!!
Momotarou: Shiran has an attack that is straining the last of his power…………!! Here he can only endure it!!

177.
Shiran: Fufu: I’ll show you an interesting thing as a souvenir for the next world. Fu, though even saying that, it can’t be seen with your eyes.
Shiran: This tattoo on my arm is proof I’ve completed the Koriku Fight!! Since when I was born, I, who was an orphan, was bought by Toudou Hyoue-sama and was sent to train in the Koriku Battle, the ultimate-limit training method in Chinese Kenpou.
(TN: “Koriku Fight” or “Korikutou” = “Orphan-Kill Fight”)
Date: ………!!
Shiran: The Koriku Fight: that correctly is the hell of this world……!! Children that aren’t even of a tender age that have been kidnapped and bought from around the world are gathered in there.

178.
Shiran: The gathered children are dropped into the bottom of a ravine that is absolutely impossible to escape from and placed into a condition of hunger with nothing to drink or eat for the limit of a week.
Shiran: And then they through rations for 50 people for 100 in there.
Shiran: Naturally, there comes to be a tremendous scramble when disputing for these rations. Those there who were inferior in power, lost in the fights and couldn’t gain provisions died…………!!

179.
Shiran: Time passed once again. The fifty survivors were placed into a condition of hunger and this time they throw in provisions for 25 people.
Shiran: Again, at the end of the battle, the number of people decreased.
Shiran: And thus, the picture of hell continued. 25 people to 10, 10 to 5, 5 to 2 until it came to the last one……!!
Shiran: And thus, in the end, the surviving child was acknowledged as a person who had qualities and from then on undertook harsh training!! They abandoned all feelings of pleasure and sadness and merely were for being made into a warrior that was destined to just defeat their enemy!!

180.
Shiran: I only fight as I’m ordered, without knowing my parents faces and with no friends!! That is who I am---!!
Date: …………!!
Shiran: This pain can’t be understood by you!!

181.
Date: Gu!!
Shiran: Die!! This is the end of you and I---!
Toramaru: Da…Date’s getting killed~~~!!

182.
Shiran: !!
Shiran: Wh…what………!!
Shiran: Y…you, ha…have you come to look into my eyes………….!! In…in that case, why aren’t you pitying or attacking me…………!!

183.
Toramaru: Uoo---!! He…he did it---!
Togashi: Da…Date’s eyes have barely come to see---!!
Momotarou: Y…you’re wrong: Date’s eyes have already been seeing since quite a while ago!!
Shiran: Ri…right: you’ve heard my Koriku Fight tale……!! A…are you planning to give pity to me…………!!
Shiran: Do….don’t mock me: I can’t have pity!! My feelings will be understood by you----!!
Date: It’s not pity!! Your feelings are well understood by me!

184.
Shiran: HUH!! It…can’t be, that’s…………!!
Date: YES: THE SAME KORIKU FIGHT PROOF AS YOURS!! I TOO HAD MY PLACE CHANGE AND HAD GONE THROUGH THAT HELL……….!!
Shiran: ………!!

185.
Date: You should sleep easy. I won’t forget this difficult enemy called Shiran.
Shiran: I…I’m grateful, Date Omito…………!! Y…you’re the first that has taught me this thing called “a person’s kindness” to me……………!!
Shiran: At…at this time, since I’ve been born…………!!
Date: Yes, I’ll be waiting on the campus of Otokojuku, where cherry-blossoms bloom.
(End of Vol. 26)

TN: It's weird thinking about it but somewhat confusing: prior to this chapter, we really didn't get any thing that really suggested Date had a childhood. Heck, considering the childhoods and pre-Otokojuku stories we've seen (J losing his dad to a fire, Togashi's brother killed by the 3rd-Years), you'd expect Date wouldn't have anything to say even before his first attempt at Otokojuku prior to expulsion and the Gougakuren formation. This chapter...is weird in sort of suggesting Date has a back-history that is a bit more tragic, but just feels weird likewise. I could understand the Koriku Fight being the reason why Date is so unstoppable...but then, if he had top of the line training post-Koriku survival with someone (not Toudou mind you but someone like him who would pull such a thing), then why did he go to Otokojuku the first time? Date for the most part could have ended up like Shiran: a right-hand man for a powerful person who essentially allowed for him to have his way. Heck, even thinking of his camaraderie, we know that Date stunk with it the first time he went to Otokojuku and really didn't make any real "Friends"/"Comrades" to live and die with until he ended up with the Sanmenken and then through meeting Momo's group. I guess in a way this chapter could have explained why Date was so distant for so long, but it really doesn't explain why he would somehow abandon where he got his training and who was tied to his Koriku Fight to end up with his first Otokojuku stay...maybe it could just have to do with him being an orphan and Otokojuku being a society of abandoned outcasts, but someone as powerful as him going there after being through such high-level training is weird. Anyway, it is sad but weird that Date would find a comrade in arms with Shiran...too bad though he never got to say too much regards to him outside combat.