If only we could have convinced him to stop sucking so much shit, but alas, he's essentially MAGA.
The boys conclude that this place must be the mansion, the elaborate statues perched over the gate no doubt a dead giveaway. Kuwabara asserts that his heart's desire is caged inside, and assures the version of her that he's built in his head, dubbed "Snowgirl", that he's here to save her. Sweatdropping at the flowery language, Yusuke suggests that Kuwabara confirm she's even HERE, and wonders what Kuwabara would think if he knew the "Snowgirl" was Hiei's sister. Honestly, he probably would think it was weird that such an angel was related to HIEI, but ultimately keep idolizing her. Thirst is a POWERFUL drug.
Kuwabara agrees and holds his fingertip to his temple, but admits he can't sense anything. He suggests the talismans they saw surrounding "Snowgirl" on the tape must block his psychic powers, but he IS picking up on three demonic auras that are stronger than the twelve they took out before. Yusuke is confident that he's ready to take on the three demons that are left, even if they're powerful, because he's got his Reigun rapid fire down to a science. Kuwabara says that HE'S felt a new power surging through him ever since he recovered from his injuries in their last scuffle, and is confident they've gone up a level. As a result, I'm expecting more videogame vibes and structure from this arc, just like in the last. The boys march forward in lockstep with confidence.
Within the mansion, someone suggests to Tarukane that they ALSO proceed. The Bezos-type better strokes his chin on the screen, musing on how interesting it is that there are humans that are able to defeat even the UNDERLINGS of the Brokers of Darkness organization. Tarukane holds up a finger and asserts that their next contenders are a whole different class. The tall Toguro snaps his fingers in a gesture of summons.
Each of them is called a "vertex" and are introduced by a number; the first is the woman with a horn protruding from her forehead called Miyuki, the second is the shorter masked person called Inmaki, and the third is the bulky more classical ogre called Gokumonki. A couple of the betters on the screens praise Tarukane for sparing no expense on this spectacle, because they observe that these three are top-level demons. Sankyo questions if the secret of the Tears of Ice is worth it, and Tarukane affirms that's exactly it. He's certainly got no SKILLS to maintain his fortune. He announces that the second event will be the intruders versus the Ogre Triad, and tells his guests to place their bets. The butler adds that the payout is three times the amount anted by the winner.
Voices call out to put 500 million on the Brokers, another 500 million, and 300 million. Sakyo lets out a stream of cigarette smoke from his lips.
Miyuki notes how this is NOT a vote of confidence for their Triad, and Tarukane says with a strained look on his face that this is easily remedied by them WINNING. She affirms his wish, and teleports away, because it can't be at all comfortable to be in that tense atmosphere.
Transition to another wing of the mansion, where men are firing guns frantically, encouraging each other to keep firing even though their targets are described as FAST. Their bullets only strike tile, and Yusuke appears behind a couple of them as they look at the spot he just was in alarmed confusion. He and Kuwabara, who also managed to materialize behind the armed men, karate-chopping them on their necks and causing them to collapse. The boys' faces are the picture of bored disinterest. Clearly, guns aren't much of a threat to them anymore. I'm definitely NOT jealous.
As the boys stand in front of the pile of unconscious suited men they've taken down, Yusuke informs the gunmen still ahead of them that quantity is no substitute for quality. At least not at this scale. Kuwabara tells them that it's obvious when and where they're going to shoot. The remaining gunmen stutter that these kids aren't human, and guns are useless against them. Or, at least, they are in the hands of a bunch of loser disposable Stormtroopers.
Miyuki has arrived, and tells the gunmen they're right about the guns being useless as she bids them to step aside. She introduces herself by name and vertex number before she darts at them and breaks a crater in the floor, right on the spot Yusuke was standing until he leaped out of the way. Kuwabara has also scurried away from the destruction, complaining from a kneeling position that he can't fight a girl. Why not?
Miyuki says Kuwabara's stated principle is sweet, but a mistake, because she's not going to show mercy just because he's being chivalrous. Yusuke, on the other hand, flatly says that he doesn't give a shit, because he's determined to give a fight to whoever starts one, man or woman, young or old. HE has some personal experience with getting his ass kicked by an elderly woman, so that probably helps. Nonetheless, Yusuke mutters that he had better make SURE first, and when they rush one another for a new clash, Miyuki lands in a crouch from it with an affronted look on her face as she glares over her shoulder at Yusuke.
Kuwabara grimaces in question at Yusuke, who holds up a hand that gropes the air, telling Miyuki he knows it was rude, but also asserting that this should give her some idea of what she's up against. A lewd pervert kid? Because I find it hard to believe that he did the same to Genkai to confirm her gender, but he didn't really hesitate get handsy with a pretty young woman.
In a rage, Miyuki tells him to shut it and leaps at him again. The next thing we see is Miyuki tossed in the background, Yusuke's fist balled in the foreground having just delivered a powerful punch. For some reason, each of his fingers is labeled with words - pure, evil, fresh, and today. I have no earthly idea what that is supposed to mean, and there's NO explanation.
Miyuki gives a mighty thump as she lands face-down on the floor, and a boggled Kuwabara marvels in horror at how Yusuke really DOESN'T give a shit. Yusuke says that he might have gone a little easy on a REAL girl, but again holds up his clawed fingers and reiterates that he "checked". Ugh, here we go... He declares her a "demon cross-dresser", Kuwabara now all the more horrified in his disbelief that Yusuke DID such a thing. The background of this panel is a series of symbols that are the male and female (Mars and Venus) alchemical symbols combined.
Kuwabara is aghast, admitting that he saw none of that, and he can't decide if he's impressed or grossed-out. With Yusuke's shitty behavior, I hope. From the floor, Miyuki calls Yusuke a bigot, and asserts he beats on her because she's different. Uhhh, lady, you showed up for a fight WAAAAY before he knew anything about your parts, so that's not exactly the argument you think it is. She says that she's got the body of a man, but the spirit of a woman.
Sounds like a trans woman to me, but Yusuke characterizes this as a load of shit. Pointing at Miyuki, he says she's not a real cross-dresser (I guess he thinks cross-dressing and being trans are the same thing), accusing her instead on just not being able to make up her mind and advising her to do so before she gets into any other fights. Does he think her genitalia will just change once she decides once and for all that she's a woman? What the FUCK is he talking about??
But with with a gasp, Miyuki says that he's RIGHT, and lowers her head back to the floor in defeat. Oof, nothing worse than a trans person being made to AGREE with the person undermining their identity. She may be a shitty person, but she deserves more respect than THAT.
Not gonna get it from THIS comic, though, because the fight is just... over. The boys scoff over their shoulders at a security camera hanging in the corner, turning to hold up two fingers to it. They tell Tarukane through it that there's only two more enemies to defeat until they're in his face. Tarukane sees this and makes a strangled noise from his chair in the monitor room, the residents of which are all seeing his ass get mocked.
The men on those monitors observe that the intruders are indeed two boys, and this gives those rumors all the more credence. The Bezos-type additionally points out that Tarukane looks pale, suggesting this betting game is getting just a tad too intense for him. Though he sweats profusely, Tarukane scoffs that they're just getting started. Can't stop this train now.
As the boys run along the corridor in the mansion, no indication whatsoever that they know WHERE they're going, Kuwabara says he can't BELIEVE what Yusuke did back there. He asks what if Miyuki had really had the equipment to match her presentation, and Yusuke answers that he would have gotten some cheap thrills in that case. Sexual assault is nothing but cheap thrills on HIS end. Man, he is REALLY not coming out of this one looking good.
With an impish smile, Kuwabara says that Keiko would no doubt LOVE to hear that. Yusuke pauses in his progress down the corridor, taking on a rat-like countenance complete with whiskers and long front teeth, expression dark and angry. He whirls around and grabs Kuwabara by his collar, asking if that means he's liable to TELL Keiko about his indiscretions back there. Kuwabara starts to suggest that he'd keep his mouth shut in exchange for this CD he's been wanting, but shuts up suddenly in alarm.
Kuwabara freaks about how the cape made Inmaki invisible, the taps of his feet sounding all around them with no visible presence. Kuwabara asks if he can pinpoint the guy, but Yusuke answers in the negative, saying he's too fast and his direction keeps changing. Inmaki reappears behind Yusuke mid-leap upward, and slashes at his shoulder with his Wolverine rip-off claws. Yusuke cries out and pitches forward, blood spurting from his back.
Kuwabara yells the suggestion that they scram, and they flee from a chuckling Inmaki, who states with glee that you can't fight what you can't see. He then ducks back under the cloak. The boys run around a corner, and the pursuing Inmaki tells them it's no use, following like a dutiful pet. Kuwabara yells to Yusuke to do something now, much to Inmaki's confusion.
Once the explosion of shots subsides and Inmaki is pressed into a cracked crater in the opposite wall, Yusuke harkens back to when he told the gunmen that quantity is no substitute for quality when he says that quantity DOES have its uses sometimes. Inmaki croaks out a question of HOW they were able to strike him, and Kuwabara explains that his sixth sense was able to pinpoint Inmaki's location even when the cloak visually hid him. Kuwabara also notes Inmaki isn't much of a threat when he's lost the advantage of invisibility. Yusuke observes his balled fists as he talks about how he filled the corridor with reiki blasts when Kuwabara gave the signal, some of which were BOUND to hit.
Again, the boys smirk at another security camera mounted on the ceiling and each hold up one finger to it, announcing they have one more demon left to beat. Tarukane is DRIPPING in sweat, recoiling as though they are right in front of him and pulling back for a punch. His horror is growing that yet another of his hired guards has been defeated.
Oddly, the tall Toguro smirks, and says it looks like HE'S on deck. We just skipping Gokumonki or what? Toguro claws his hand, the joints in its fingers cracking, while he gushes about how he can't remember the last time he felt such anticipation.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I definitely appreciate how fast things are moving in this chapter. As the last panel above indicates, we're all REALLY looking forward to a clash between the boys and the enigmatic Toguros, so the mid-level fighters that stand in between are just there to build up anticipation. There's nothing to distinguish them as foes before they just show up either. All we know is that they're presumably more skilled than the twelve nameless goons Yusuke and Kuwabara defeated so handily outside the house. Toguro doesn't even say anything positive about their strength or experience when they appear as a unit. Though Toguro phrases his last line in such a way as to imply there's a CHANCE Gokumonki will defeat the boys before they can get to him, he's already expanding his muscles again as if to say that he thinks those chances are exceedingly slim. He's definitely expecting Gokumonki to fail like the other two.
If I were Tarukane, I would be questioning whether or not Toguro had always planned to put out a parade of weaklings like a trail of breadcrumbs straight to me. Honestly, I don't know why he's not already demanding answers from Toguro right now, given how paranoid rich people tend to be. Maybe Tarukane doesn't have the smarts to question whether his hired guard is loyal to him, but if he is, it might be interesting to see if he gets it in his head that the Toguro brothers are spies after his life/source of wealth, rather than thrill-seekers looking for a challenging fight. And who can really say which is correct at this point? Neither one of them is saying ANYTHING regarding their motivations thus far.
Alright, let's address the elephant in the room: the transphobia is pretty potent in this one. It's not the WORST I've seen, and it at least didn't make me ill, but the thing that stood out to me was that there was absolutely NO reason Yusuke should have been motivated to "check" if Miyuki aligned with his conception of female. He begins by saying outright that he doesn't give a shit what gender she is, and it makes sense that he wouldn't, given his ongoing work with Genkai. So WHY in the world was it necessary to reveal that she had male anatomy by grope? I can think of no other reason than the purpose was so YT could make some sort of weird statement about trans women, because it READS like the kind of lecture an ignorant fuck would give a trans person about their own identity. Miyuki even AGREES, which is exactly the kind of response that a smug bigot would envision to their nonsensical arguments. And make no mistake, Miyuki was absolutely correct to call this bigotry.
At least it comes out of the mouth of a teenage boy, which is somewhat understandable. We're all stupid when we're teens, and it's much more expected that an adolescent would formulate an opinion like this with their limited worldview and allergy to anything they consider weird or cringe. Doesn't make it fun to read.
Oh well, YT can't do a single thing about my headcanon that Kurama is a trans man, so take that! Hahaha!
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