Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 278

Through a rather smelly strategy, Togashi and Toramaru has brought an end to the two-on-two teamwork of the Hou Brothers! But with a still-angry opponent, can the duo figure out their next move before he releases his next horror?

Chp. 278: The Tenacious Bloody Characters

187.
Hakuhou: Th…they did it---!! Th…those two did it---!!
Pharaoh: Wi…with that, the match is two-vs.-one!! This will be an absolute victory---!!
Hou Gintan: Bi…big brother……!!
Hou Kintan: Gintan…!!

188.
Toramaru: Wahhahaha: are you afraid---!! This is our true power---!!

189.
Hou Kintan: You’re fine. You won’t die…………!! Take a rest for a little while.
Togashi: Kakkaka: the…results of the special training is bearing fruit---!!
Hou Gintan: Bi…big brother, I…I’m regrettable…………!! I…I’ve suffered by…by them…………!!
Hou Kintan: Don’t worry! I certainly will take the enemy!! And further, your pain will be done by several times!!
Hou Kintan: Well, can’t you come at me you two---!!

190.
Hou Kintan: !!
Toramaru: We got a tie!!
Togashi: Yes~~!! I’ve won--!! I ask for your support, Toramaru!!
Toramaru: Damn it, wasn’t it from my slowness now, Togashi---!!
Hou Kintan: What are you two doing!?
Togashi: Heh, it’s as you see. We’re deciding which of us will fight you with janken.
(TN: “Janken” is the Japanese term for rock-paper-scissors)
Hou Kintan: What!? Both of you together aren’t coming after me!?

191.
Togashi: Naturally!! Because what pride can we get even if we win in a two-on-one match!!
Hou Kintan: …………!! Don’t forget those words!! You’ll come to regret them!!
Hakuhou: These idiots are caught in the moment………………!! They’re playing their merits of their extremity surprise-attack plan because they have too much common sense for defeating the younger of the Hou Brothers…!! They may be able t do something if they go at them as a duo, but do they think they can win in a one-on-one match!!
Momotarou: You’re wrong, Hakuhou.
Hakuhou: !?
Momotarou: Both Togashi and Toramaru understand sufficiently his power and strength!! But two-on-one isn’t spoken as a battle of men for those two!!

192.
Momotarou: THAT’S WHO THEY ARE!!
Togashi: Here we go---!!
Togashi: Nuryaa---!!

193.
Hou Kintan: You’re Togashi.
Hou Kintan: You won’t merely be killed!! You will be presented with the most atrocious death in this world!!
Togashi: Hu—h? What is that myouchikurin thing!?
Togashi: !!

194.
Togashi: Oh!!
Togashi: Heh, what’s wrong with that thing!!
Togashi: There aren’t blades attached and there isn’t significant power or speed!! I know at most I’ll get hit by this and I can avoid it easily as such!!

195.
Toramaru: Right, great Togashi--!! The most atrocious death in the world said by him he said as a bluff.
Hou Kintan: So then, how about if I do this!?
Togashi: Heh, there’s no relation if you increase it to two!! Here, of course!!
Hou Kintan: You say that, but those two are made of a metal that carry a super-magnetism.
Togashi: Huh!?

196.
Togashi: FUGO!?
Toramaru: WHA!?
Momotarou: WHAT---!!

197.
Togashi: Fuguoo!! Fuguoo!! Fuguoo!!
Togashi: Aga!! Ugu!!
Hou Kintan: Fufu, I’ve caught you with this: Kisou Gouonmen!! With that iron mask, you will struggle with pain and die!!
(TN: “Kisou Gouonmen” = “Mutual-High-Rank Coveting Steel-Grudge Mask”)
Toramaru: Wh…what!?
Hakuhou: Kisou Gouonmen----!!

198.
Commentary:
Kisou Gouonmen…its origin was as a punishment said to be the covering with an iron-made mask that can’t be removed in a lifetime towards a criminal in China’s Ming Dynasty. This condition, where you’re without speaking words and can’t sufficiently eat meals until they die, is an agony unimaginable in language and it was applied for particularly heavy sentences for those with the crime of treason to the nation. This has been applied to kenpou; its probability as a technique was largely by the discovery of magnets that carry super-magnetism. The mask, which carries the magnet and split into two, unites around the enemy’s head and attaches there. Similarly the match is already over by the time you snatch away the freedom of the body with the chain. Since the origin of this technique, it’s been said that not one person has escaped from it. Incidentally even in the present, there are many situations where expressionless people who are reticent are attached with the nickname “Iron Mask”, but whether or not ancestors who took this technique and died had it or not isn’t for sure.
-From “Confession of the Iron Mask”, Akebono Hourai Newspaper Company

Togashi: Fugo!! Fugo!! Fugo!!
Hou Kintan: Fufu; it’s useless. You can lift it many times, but you can’t take that iron mask off!! The one who can remove it is just me!!

199.
Hou Kintan: You too will taste the similar pain taken by my little brother!!
Togashi: Ugo!!
Togashi: Fuga!!
Toramaru: To…Togashi---!!

200.
Hou Kintan: It’s still early for you to lose consciousness like that!! You must suffer to your heart’s content!!
Togashi: Gefu!!
Hou Kintan: Fufu: good sound. It’s the sound of bones getting crushed!!

201.
Toramaru: St…stop that---!! If…if you do that further, Togashi will really die---!!
Hou Kintan: What’s that you!? Are you interfering from the side in spite of saying this match isn’t over yet!? That big show you had of a one-on-one match should have been by both of you!!
Toramaru: Y…you’re noisy!! Ha…can I hold my fingers in my mouth and watch this any further---!! I…I’ll be your opponent----!!

202.
Toramaru: !!
Toramaru: To…Togashi……!!
Togashi’s Characters: DO NOT COME

203.
Toramaru: Bl…bloody characters………!! A…a person like you…………!!
Momotarou: Now they shouldn’t have a chance to win!! Togashi rather go through his own faith more than even his life!!
Togashi: Ha—ha—ha—ha—
Hou Kintan: Fufu, you’re a great man. You’re too good to be killed, but I can’t let that be.
Hou Kintan: This will end this!!
Toramaru: To…Togashi---!!

204.
Togashi: Hagaa---!!
Hou Kintan; It’s useless!!
Hou Kintan: Your tenacity is magnificent!!

205.
Hou Kintan: With this, one of you has been dealt with. Next is your turn!!
Toramaru: To…Togashi---!!
(End of Vol. 30)

TN: Dang...just...dang. Togashi has been through a lot in this series in practically every one of his fights. But this time, being forced to suffocate on an iron mask and smashed around by the Kinta, he just feels like he's being forced into something that isn't even gutsy...merely torture. It's really hard for me to figure out how the iron mask of his works outside "it clings together around the head and cuts off breathing", but considering how Togashi is essentially at it's mercy cause of it just proves how deadly it is. As for why they didn't make it two on one...on one hand you get the guts and the respect that Togashi and Toramaru have towards one another, but considering that the iron mask strategy would have never started if they just ganged up on Kinta before he threw it, it merely just set themselves up for their own downfall. Strangely this feels a whole lot, though, like a sequel/modified version of the double-team fight in the Daibukai with the brothers of Kokurenju...but I sort of hope there isn't a similar ending considering what nearly happened to Togashi then!