Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 279

Though they thought it was a move respecting each other as men, Togashi's attempt to take on Hou Kintan on his own backfired as he becomes trapped within a suffocating iron mask! Is this really his end...and what about Toramaru!?

Vol. 31: The Wirepuller’s True Identity!!
Chp. 279: A Man’s Willpower!!

7.
Toramaru: Uo---!! To…Togashi---!!

8.
Hou Kintan: Fufu; one to start with…!!
Toramaru: Y…you can’t die, Togashi---!!

9.
Toramaru: Ho…hold on---!! It…it’s not a big deal---!! Those wounds are shallow---!! We…we’ll get you treated immediately; I’ve figured you’ll be saved!!
Togashi: Ge, gu…guere gare goes gounds gallgow……… (Heh, wh…where are those wounds shallow?) Go…gon’t gay gose ginsiggifigant gongogations… (Do…don’t say those insignificant consolations…) Gi…Gi go…gon’t gave gong ganygore……. (I…I do…don’t have long anymore……)
(TN: Togashi’s speaking literally is gagged due to the mask he’s wearing and I’m trying as best as I can to make the English feel similar to the pain in Japanese, where nearly every character he says is gagged)
Togashi: Go…Go gen, gile…gile gi’m geeging… (So…so then, while…while I’m breathing…) Ge…gegeat gim!! (De…defeat him……!!)
Togashi: Ga…gat gis gy gast gueguest… (Th…that is my last request…….) Go…Gogagagu (To…Toramaru…!!)
Togashi: Gergangly!! (Certainly!!)
Toramaru: ……!!

10.
Toramaru: Th…this match is do…done---!! It…it would be great if you remove Togashi’s mask already!!
Hou Kintan: Fufu, that’s fine. It’s arranged for the magnetism to be intercepted if you use this key!!
Hou Kintan: The keyhole is in the center of the brow.
Togashi: Hu…hurry………Y…you don’t have time……!!
Toramaru: Aah, u…understood. I…I’ll certainly avenge your enemy……………!! Wa…wait for me!!

11.
Toramaru: I…I’m returning this.
Hou Kintan: Fu, I won’t need this mask or this key anymore.
Hou Kintan: Kisou Gouonmen is a special technique that can only be used once: when you know the mechanism, you can’t use it again. I don’t think you’ll be defeated by the same method.
Toramaru: Th…that won’t be so. To…Togashi was de…defeated thanks to this.
Toramaru: I…I must win by destroying this technique and defeating you---!!

12.
Hou Kintan: !!
Togashi: To…Toramaru……!!
Pharaoh: Wh…what---!! Th…that idiot---!!
Hakuhou: To…Toramaru, you’re putting on the iron mask yourself----!!

13.
Toramaru: Fuoo!!
Hou Kintan: Are you sane!? Wearing that mask is similar to already deciding victory or defeat in the end……!!
Hou Kintan: Fu, well, that’s fine. You too will come to have the same fate as the hat man after all.
Hou Kintan: Well, come at me from anywhere.
Momotarou: Wh…what is this……………!! Does Toramaru have some plan!?

14.
Toramaru: Fugoo---!!
Toramaru: Fuho!!
Hou Kintan: Fufu

15.
Hou Kintan: On top of wearing the mask yourself, you think you have some sort of plan, but
Hou Kintan: You’re merely just waving around that dosu!!
Hou Kintan: Don’t you understand yet that you can’t defeat me with that---!!
Toramaru: Gufu!!

16.
Toramaru: Goha!!
Hakuhou: To…Toramaru---!!
Hou Kintan: You have those sorts of eyes from straining your trifling willpower.

17.
Toramaru: Gaha!!
Hou Kintan: But now it’s already late to even repent. Your limbs are in small pieces---!!
Pharaoh: N…no---!!
Hakuhou: Wh…whatever he’s thinking, he doesn’t have reason to win in that condition where he’s tied to that chain!!
Date: Wh…whatever this is, if he can’t remove that mask…………!! With that, he’ll be repeating Togashi’s failure……………!!

18.
Toramaru: Guha!!
Hou Kintan: You’re a man who possesses quite a sturdy body with the walls made of rock crumbling down. But then, this prison has become too old and even the walls have become brittle.
Hou Kintan: Ooh, that will be fine. With that iron pipe on the ceiling, it will be intolerable even to you that I’m sending.
Hou Kintan: Even this height will be plenty.
Toramaru: I’ve waited for this moment!!

19.
Hou Kintan: Soryaa~~~!!
Toramaru: Watch me, Togashi!!
Hou Kintan: N!?
Hou Kintan: Huh!?

20.
Toramaru: Fugoo!!

21.
Hou Kintan: ………
Hou Kintan: Fu, what were you planning?
Toramaru: …I defeated it; the Kisou Gouonmen…………!!

22.
Hou Kintan: Y…you!!
Hakuhou: He…he did it---!! Th…that Toramaru has placed that iron mask into small pieces----!!
Toramaru: You made a blunder telling me about the keyhole that will remove the mask that’s on the brow!! That was a dumb thing that fulfilled this!! If there is a brittle section even if it’s one point, then it will crumble when it takes all the power in there, even if it’s a place that is made to be quite sturdy!!
Hou Kintan: That’s smart behavior…!!
Hou Kintan: !!

23.
Toramaru: I’VE GOT YOU----!!
Togashi: To…Toramaru……!!
Hou Kintan: St…stupid………!! That…that I have…………!!

24.
Hou Kintan: Guwawa!!
Toramaru: I…I’ve done it………!!
Toramaru: Ho…how was that; did you see Togashi---!! I…I w…won----!! Your foe has been………..!!
Toramaru: To…Togashi……!!

25.
Note: YOU WERE THE STRONGEST A**HOLE AFTER ALL. GOOD-BYE.
(TN: Togashi does actually call Toramaru “Dachi”, which is slang for an “a**hole”)
Toramaru: TOGASHI----!!

TN: This was a sad but slightly strange chapter looking at what exactly happened. The sad part is...well, what just happened to Togashi. He seemed to have escaped from bizarre deaths before in this series (see the fights with Hien and the Kokurenju brothers), but this one was right in front of everyone both in excruciating detail and all the pain involved. And those last words to Toramaru...well, the two of them have been the greatest of allies even with their alliance with other characters (and all the narration stuff that seems to have been taken over by Hakuhou and Pharaoh) so somehow it just feels like...we've reached the end of the line.

As for the strange part...I don't really see why Toramaru needed to do the mask again except just to prove it could be defeated. I mean, Kintan himself said that once it's used, he can't use it ever again. Toramaru merely wanted it just to show it could be stopped...but I guess it's the typical "break their pride" moment that Otokojuku fighters usually tend to do.