Original subtitles

I hear you out there, old man.

Quit peepin' and show yourself already.

What's wrong?

Little old to be playin' hide-and-seek, ain't ya, old man?

But if you wanna change your stripes, I'll play with you.

That was...

a little joke, by the way. Tigers and stripes. Get it?

Juni Taisen

Episode 6: Even a Champion Racehorse May Stumble

If you insist, perhaps I will play.

I'd hoped to avoid direct conflict until the end...

The girl herself means little,

but that Juseki inside her would have some value in a negotiation.

You coulda just done that from the start...

Goodness.

It's clear that a warrior was hiding out there.

Most likely, that most seasoned of veterans...

The Warrior of the Sheep, was it?

If he sensed my arrival and hastily set those traps,

he can't have gone far.

That stance is preposterous.

What was that, old man? You say somethin' about a tortoise?

I don't remember hearin' about no Warrior of the Tortoise in the Juni Taisen.

But it figures, since there's a Rabbit and all...

I was complimenting your stance, which is truly unbelievable.

By which I mean that

I can't believe you've managed to survive while using it.

Aw, shucks!

Flattery won't get you nowhere, y'know.

I just ain't the kinda person who can hold back and kill gently.

They say a wise hawk hides its talons,

but it seems this tiger lacks such wisdom.

I was surprised when she sensed me in hiding,

but I can safely stand by my estimation that she's the weakest of the warriors.

Wow, you can do that ninja clone thingy? That's way cool, old man.

How'd you make two more of yourself?

If I go back outside...

Even if I could take out the other warriors,

I'd still die, without question.

It's no use. I have to stay here.

Well, I can't afford to lose much more time.

I doubt that the fake trail I left will fool Ox for long.

Huh?

Old man, when did you make four more of you?

Is this s'posed to be a counting sheep thing?

You better not be tryin' to put me to sleep.

I'd hoped that being back in the field would get my blood flowing again,

but this will be wholly unsatisfying.

I suppose the reason the Warrior of the Snake moved first was to divide our forces.

He's moving us like chess pieces...

No, not like chess. More like Othello.

A cold, calculating way of planning,

with no thought given to individuality.

That was aimed at my stomach.

Does he see his opponents as mere vessels for the Juseki?

What a dangerous mentality...

But as far as fighting goes, he still has much to learn.

Well, I guess a necromantist wouldn't need to practice swordplay.

I won't let him escape.

It's not just the way he wields his blades.

The way he moves his legs, the way he uses his body...

He clearly isn't a martial artist.

If I get behind him, I can lock him down easily.

Render him powerless, and negotiate again.

He won't have time to turn around.

What?

H-How did he suddenly use the technique of a master?

Is that...

Snake's head?

Isn't it nice to have people to watch your back?

It's the best, isn't it? Isn't it just the best?

That's right.

It was a headless corpse that ran off with Nezumi-kun.

Hey, it's okay. Don't worry.

All I'm taking is your life.

In exchange, I hope you'll be my friend, too.

I've wanted that so badly since the first moment I saw you...

Why don't we introduce ourselves after you've sobered up a bit?

Shaddup! I ain't drunk!

Not drunk! Not drunk!

Just a teeny bit drunk!

See, I can drink a whole boatload of booze and still not get that drunk.

Just looking at this red-faced warrior is unpleasant.

I should just finish her off right away.

I think, perhaps, I will.

Hitsujii: Warrior of the Sheep, killing deceptively!

Killing Deceptively Sheep

Tora: Warrior of the Tiger, killin' in a drunken rage.

Killin' in a Drunken Rage Tiger

Tora Hitsujii

In a drunken rage?

Wh-What?

But...

She was clearly no more than a drunkard, through and through...

A drunkard...

Yep! The famous "Drunken Fist"!

Though, you look more like the typical Drunken Fist type than I do.

Personally, I get way more drunk on human blood than booze.

And you barely have enough to get me tipsy.

Of the twelve warriors, we are now down to six.

It is time to begin the betting!

I believe the abilities these warriors possess are now fairly clear.

These are the predicted rankings of the remaining six.

Tiger Horse Dragon Rat

The top two are Ox and Rabbit, then...

Ox Rabbit Tiger Horse

I see Tiger received quite a boost for killing Sheep.

By contrast, it seems inevitable that

the lowest-ranked warriors would be Dragon, who lost his brother and partner,

and Rat, who has yet to accomplish anything.

Rat Boar Ox Dog Tiger Chicken Rabbit Monkey Dragon Sheep Snake Horse

Rat Boar Ox Dog Tiger Chicken Rabbit Monkey Dragon Sheep Snake Horse

Ox

That leaves the Warrior of the Horse in fourth,

with average odds, neither a sure thing nor a long-shot.

The mere fact that he survived Ox's attack is to his credit, but...

Tiger Ox

Yes, he seems to have lost his will to fight, and isolated himself.

But there is also the chance that Ox and Rabbit's battles

could take out other high-ranked warriors earlier.

Of course, it may be the time limit that kills them all.

Though, I'd certainly prefer to avoid such an unsatisfying resolution.

At this rate, I... I'll hit the time limit,

and I'll die of poisoning.

A decisive failure, the result of my own weakness...

After that, I endeavored to thoroughly alter my physical body.

I underwent grueling training to give myself muscles like armor.

I tried any scientific treatment available.

And what it produced...

was the impenetrable defense technique, "Stirrup."

Right now, my body is changing on the cellular level.

Could it be...

Could Stirrup's defense be effective

even against the poison attacking my body?

Even if I don't meet the win condition by acquiring the other warriors' Juseki,

if I survive, I still win.

As long as I keep my armor up... at the very least, I can't lose.

Yes. And if I don't lose,

isn't that the same as winning?

It's so dark here, it's hard to stay awake.

They say the glass used in smartphone screens

is the same type of reinforced glass used by the military.

I even heard an urban legend

that if you keep one in your breast pocket, it can stop a bullet.

I wonder if that's true...

What are you talking about?

Incidentally,

I'm the type to intentionally break my smartphone the moment I get it.

Those fine, radial cracks, like a spider's web...

It's pretty metal, don't you think?

How the hell did this kid get in here?

Oh, don't worry about that.

You know how rats are. They can slip through any crack, no matter how small.

Crack?

Nezumi: Warrior of the Rat, killing all.

Uuma: Warrior of the Horse, killing silently.

Oh, yeah?

How did he...

Why did he come in here?

Oh, I had to find a place to hide.

I was thinking this would be an effective panic room,

so I decided to take a breather.

The Snake is after me right now.

The corpse of the Snake, rather...

I was chasing him at first, but things turned around.

Even dead, he's as persistent as a serpent...

Or is that just because he is a serpent?

What the hell is going on up there?

Come to think of it, you were going to join Monkey's alliance, weren't you?

As thanks for sheltering me, I'll tell you...

That went up in smoke.

Up in smoke?

The Monkey was killed.

That pacifist was the key figure in the peace agreement,

so without her, it's pretty much done.

How lame is that?

It's fine to be a pacifist, but you can't do anything if you're dead.

Monkey is dead? But she was so skilled...

She died before we could learn what her peace proposal was.

Makes you wonder if she was an idiot bluffing her way through from the start.

The peace talks themselves are the real hero.

You get people to stop fighting,

then everyone thinks things over together.

Seems pretty plausible, right?

Was it Ox who beat her?

But I don't really understand it.

Exactly how much is peace worth?

If everyone in the world just holed themselves up like you're doing now,

the world would stand still, right?

It's crazy radicals who bring change and progress, right?

A world in which everything stands still...

That's basically a dead world.

Just as you are effectively dead right now.

I'm dead right now?

Just surviving and nothing more is the same as being dead, isn't it?

What's he talking about?

Somehow, the corpses animated by that perverted rabbit

seem more alive to me.

Oh, yeah.

Do you know where the Sheep geezer is?

The Sheep geezer?

Does he mean the old man who asked about explosives

back in the observation room?

I remember. He did leave an impression.

But why is this boy so interested in his whereabouts?

Oh, you don't know? Okay, I see.

That's fine. Never mind, then.

Well, staying locked up in a place like this... yeah.

It seems unproductive. Kind of... gloomy, I guess.

Well, I'd better get going.

I'll tell you one other thing.

Snake might come here after me.

You should get out of here.

"Get out of here," he says?

But where would I go?

The Genius of Slaughter, Ox, is out there!

But the Rat boy...

I still don't know... how he got in here.

Snake...

Or Snake's corpse?

It probably won't be able to do the same thing.

It's still safer to stay holed up here.

A world in which everything stands still...

That's basically a dead world.

Just as you are effectively dead right now.

Just surviving and nothing more is the same as being dead, isn't it?

The prattling of a child who doesn't know how the world works.

I don't need to take it seriously.

Go on the defensive. Hole up. Remain still.

That should be the easiest thing in the world. And yet...

Yet, it's so hard to breathe...

It's hard to breathe because... because...

It's not because of what the boy said!

Something's burning?

No, it's being burned!

I can take the heat,

but the oxygen's... running out...

They say that a half-dead snake can still bite.

A snake with no head may not have a leg to stand on,

but a snake doesn't need legs, anyway.

Next time: In Like a Dragon, Out Like a Snake, Part 1.

Episode Seven: In Like a Dragon, Out Like a Snake (Part 1)

Everybody, clap your hands!