Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 298

With the truth finally patching the differences between Wan Taaren and the departing Kennou of Shinken Temple, Otokojuku can finally place Shinken Temple behind them...except that the true threat is still right in front of them!

Chp. 298: Grudge Battle: Once Again!!

27.
Hakuhou: Wh…what is this………!! Ke…Kennou had his own wife Shunran taken hostage and fought with us so he could take her back……!!
Momotarou: Un…forgivable………!! Those heretics of the “Dark Tusks”………!!

28.-29.
(Title page…we’ve come a long way with all we’ve seen and witnessed…but how much further will we have to go?)

30.
Everyone: !!
Pharaoh: Wh…what is that helicopter---!!
Hakuhou: It…it’s coming to descend here---!!

31.
Toudou: Fuffufu, it’s been a while, Gentlemen of Otokojuku!!
Momotarou: Wh…what---!!
Pharaoh & Hakuhou: Th…that’s, it…can’t be---!!

32.
Toudou: Yes: Toudou Hyoue has come back from hell!! Changed into a demon of revenge so I can kill all of you!!
Raiden: Th…that idiot, he’s…in this place…!!
Momotarou: Th…that guy was truly taken by my hands…!!
Toudou: Fuohhoho, you’re overdoing your surprise, but I, as you can see, am in front of all of you!!

33.
Toudou: The kidnapping of Edajima and even the devising of this “Battle of Seven Tusks” were all my deed. Because the “Dark Tusks” are one organization that are my subordinates.
Toudou: If I were to just merely kill all of you, I easily could have done it anytime. But that won’t settle my feelings. These wounds are aching---!!
Gouki: ……!!
Toudou: Fu, Gouki. You’ve done well. You’ve betrayed me and lowered yourself to the camp gate of Otokojuku.
Toudou: You too can’t live!! We’re not father and son because, after all, we’re not connected by blood.

34.
Toudou: All of you from here will separate to three groups and go towards several different lands by those helicopters so you can obtain the remaining three floppy disks.
Momotarou: Se…separate to three groups and go…to different lands……!? Wh…what does that mean……!?
Toudou: Fuffufu, that will make the rest interesting. But I say that the true battle of the “Battle of Seven Tusks” is just starting from here. I can say that the battles up to now haven’t surpassed mere entertainment!!
Toudou: Take this!! This is your separation list.
Hakuhou: Wh…what---!! Separation list---!!

35.
Separation List:
1st Group:
TSURUGI MOMOTAROU
DATE OMITO
HIEN
TORAMARU RYUUJI
GOBARSKI
SOUKETSU

2nd Group:
J
RAIDEN
GEKKOU
TOUGOU SOUJI
SHU KOUGEN

3rd Group:
TOUDOU GOUKI
HAKUHOU
PHARAOH
TOU FUUKETSU
SOU REIGEN

Pharaoh: Ke, is…isn’t this ridiculous----!!
Momotarou: ……
Hakuhou: I…I don’t know what you’re scheming, but on top of understanding you as the wire puller, you’ve come to make us do what you say----!!
Toudou: Silence!! If I say what to do, then all of you can only come to do what is said.
Hakuhou: Ku!!

36.
Toudou: Fu, so then farewell. I wish for fortunes in war for all of you.
Toudou: Oh, that’s right. That’s Wan.
Toudou: Shunran is fine. When, by any chance, you obtain the remaining three floppy disks and rescue Edajima, she will be returned alongside!!
Toudou: Uwahhaha, that will be absolutely unbelievable!!
Souketsu: Nuuu, he won’t go back alive!!
Momotarou: Wa…wait, Souketsu!!

37.
Momotarou: He…here we can only endure this. As he said: the Principal’s life is being grasped within his hands.
Souketsu: Kuku!!
Toudou: Uwahhaha----!!
Pharaoh: Ooh, n…now three helicopters are descending towards here----!!

38.
Voice: Well, board with speed!! As listed by instructions of Toudou-sama earlier, become distributed by splitting into three groups!!
(TN: The “distributed” here is a word that really didn’t have any meaning in Japanese being “Haiin”, but since its literal meaning is “distributed people”, I went with “distributed”)
Date: There’s nothing we can do: shall we go!!
Pharaoh: Why am I together with you again?
Hakuhou: Shut up, that’s my line!!
Momotarou: Everyone, listen.
Momotarou: As he said, the battles from here should be to the ends of severe………!! This may be our farewell in this life!!

39.
Momotarou: But wherever we go, our hearts are always one!! Under the flag of Otokojuku!!
Pharaoh: Oooh---!! Let’s do this---!!
Hakuhou: We’ll rescue the Principal, and this time that old man Toudou won’t revive---!!
Momotarou: Everyone, be well---!! We sixteen will absolutely have our faces together again---!!
Momotarou: Wan Taaren, what about you from here!?
Wan Taaren: …………………I will go together with all of you.

40.
Souketsu: Where are we going to be lead to this time by this helicopter!?
Gobarski: It’s been already five hours of this or that since we’ve departed Shinken Temple…where are our other colleagues going to be lead to!?
Wan Taaren: Tsurugi, I hand this over to you. The fourth floppy disk. The senior handed this to me before we took off.

41.
Momotarou: Did you know!? That Toudou was the wirepuller of this “Battle of Seven Tusks”!?
Wan Taaren: I knew……….!! Immediately since all of you departed from Otokojuku, I engaged with all the efforts of my information network and they found it out!!
Wan Taaren: And I know of the whereabouts of the Fifth Tusk we’re headed towards now. At there, I already have on standby the best helper that’s there.
Momotaoru: !!
Gobarski: Th…the best helper……!?
Announcer: I am informing all children of Otokojuku!! We’ve arrived at our place of destination!! From now the plain will be entering our landing orders!!
Wan Taaren: Fuffufu, I’m certain he’s the best helper…!!

42.-43.
Momotarou: !!
Jaki: Wh…what, th…this is---!!

44.
Momotarou: A…castle………!!
Hien: Fu…further, it’s Japan………!!
Toramaru: It…can’t be!! Did…you say here is Japan…!?
Voice: Fufu, you have that stupid mug as ever, Toramaru. Of course!! This here is certainly Japan!!

45.
Toramaru: HUH!! Y…you’re----!!
Togashi: It’s been a while. It can’t be that you’ve haven’t forgotten my name!!
Toramaru: To…To…Togashi! Togashi Genji----!!

TN: Heh...I really don't know what to say now regarding that ending. I mean, you know I love Togashi and all, but...I guess with him being gone for such a long time at this point (well OK, about two volumes) compared to some of his other "revivals" (heck his longest "supposed death" was about a volume or so in time after the Hien fight) that for once I actually was sort of used to him being dead. But...while it's great to have him back, it just feels weird he is, as if he could never stay down...or that we weren't going to have the commentary of Hakuhou and Pharaoh coming up so why not reunite the classic duo?

Aside from that...well, the series is picking up steam as if it's moving faster, but I can't quite say it's moving "better". First of all is just the whole prominence of Toudou being behind the Seven Tusks matches, which we already sort of knew from his mocking Edajima before. If he was the "man behind the curtain" and revealed in a more constructive way...well, it would have made sense even if it wouldn't have been popular with me. But...the fact that we already knew with the Alcatraz fights and this merely was just him telling the Otokojuku students what he already told Edajima...well, it just feels like he has gotten so bored (and Miyashita under the wire) that he just wants to openly mock them by revealing he was behind it all the time. Second...well, way to destroy all the tension regarding Shunran. It's not like it really matters since Kennou is dead and Wan Taaren is probably not going to have anything to do with her now. (heck, they don't even say who is going to lead the temple now that their fist emperor died against his greatest rival) But at least have a bit of tension regarding the matter and perhaps a bit of an enigma that shows the future of that temple instead of just saying "oh yeah, her...she's alive and with me, I'll return her..." (and BTW: she's never mentioned of again) Third: I sort of wish we got a bit more tension regarding him and Gouki even with that stupid "he's not my father" revelation we already had earlier in the arc. Maybe if the Toudou revelation came at a time where it made more sense or mattered, it would have lead to a great moment confronting the two of them...but no, Toudou just passes him off among all those he hates and keeps going. Way to lose relevance, Gouki. And finally...there's the "sending off everyone to three different places for the last three floppy disks" scenario. This could have been actually a fun scenario allowing for us to see the interaction and evolution of characters beyond their typical mass group. But...sadly, the only ones we see is "Team Momo", which stinks considering that the second group has characters who have yet to fight once in this arc (say hi, Raiden and Shu Kougen...heck, even Gekkou didn't have a legitimate fight in that group even with his fight with Momo as a bad guy...and let's not get started on what J and Tougou got). But...with the way things were going, I guess they just wanted to get to the last three disks without a ton of development further. Though...I'm sort of sick of the whole "the next set of enemies are way stronger than the ones you just fought who were uber themselves once upon a time!" I guess it's all part of a mocking cliche that Miyashita is doing, but remember: just because you fight someone later doesn't make them stronger than the previous team. (or should we go into the whole "Pharaoh Sphinx is stronger than most of Ryouzanpaku" argument again...and lets' not get started on how Olympus could have probably cleaned the floor with most of Gandhara and Pooron Kokurenju) But hey, at least with Togashi back, we should have...well, something interesting to talk about with the next set of fights.