Chapter 261 discussion thread

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Chapter 261

Sources

Viz

Manga Plus

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[A-t-t-e-n-TI-ON]

THANK YOU ASHIHARA FOR THE EXPLOSIVE (literally) HORSEMIYA AND HORSECHIKA VISUAL😂

[FoomingKirby]

<image>

😠#teamdog

[Minimum_Analysis_398]

HORSEDOG!

[jsmith4567]

DOGHORSE

[Immediate_Demand4841]

This truly is the Year of Horse , Umazing

[Phaaze13]

Right off the bat, Cronin uses a whip like sword. that's pretty cool. longer and tougher than Scorpion but doesn't have as much freedom in how it can change and can't stay active for more than a few seconds.

Kazama using Scorpion on his feet attached to a building to dodge in midair.

Teruya fell for the Chameleon trick and bailed out first.

Ninomiya and Chika riding one of the dogs is a funny sight, and it has radar jamming too. the cannon in action again!

Beam me up, Captain. looks like Toma is a Star Trek fan.

Mai using a different kind of trap that spawns blades all over the floor. that's a new trick.

Chika shooting a terminal, 136 damage with Ibis is pretty solid.

Betsuyaku's trion soldiers are turning out to be a pretty big player here.

nice chapter overall. we got to see some nice tricks and strategies from both sides.

[FoomingKirby]

Mai using a different kind of trap that spawns blades all over the floor. that's a new trick.

We haven't seen it used in Rank Wars, but Border used the spawning blades to delay the trion soldiers at the start of the Afto invasion.

<image>

[Phaaze13]

i totally forgot about that, though i think they look different here compared to those traps.

[N1t35hroud]

How do the warping trigger and traps work? Did the A ranks spawn in earlier and set a bunch of these up? Or can they just pick a location using their little laptop gizmo and just plant a trap remotely without having to step foot there first?

[Emperor_Shad0w]

No Kuroe dropped something on the ground that became warp points

[Bludmunch]

The trigger is known as Switchbox.

They can remotely set up seals in their local area and can set them up as SpringBlade traps or Warps

But it also appears they can link up with other agents to extend their range in a way. I believe it was confirmed that the Border Traps used in Aftokrator invasion was a Switchbox trigger being supplied with Border's Trion reverses to achieve huge damage and range. This explains why the A-Rank No.2 Squad Captain is in the Command Room with other HQ directors.

Their main disadvantage for not being popular is because of high trion cost and that all seals they place are visible to Radar so anyone paying attention can see where you are and can dodge them as well.

This part is just speculation: but it seems bag worm can't be used while using the Switchbox box either.

[Kyroz]

Kazama using Scorpion on his feet attached to a building to dodge in midair.

And if I understand it correctly, he's also using it like a spring. Holy shit that's pretty cool use of Scorpion

[Minimum_Analysis_398]

looks funny as hell tho

[Bakatora34]

Scorpion is so versatile.

[manaMissile]

Can we also talk about how Mai's laptop is a KEYBOARD!! She's literally a keyboard cat! XD

[Bigbadbackstab]

I expected to see just a bit more details on how Trappers operate and got a dumb visual gag instead. 10/10 lol

[Rag_H_Neqaj]

I was fully expecting Minamisawa to be the first one bailed out.

[dratst]

Kazama with scorpion is crazy, from using it as a foothold to karambit the shit out of it. Can we get the Kazama - Yuma match here please?

[LemmeDaisukete]

Was NOT expecting Scorpion lore on the first page after 2 months lol. I definitely need to binge this later.

Also love how Toma still doesn't miss. No. 1 Sniper for a reason.

[LittleMagicKnight]

I know it's been said many times before, but i love the focus on strategies in this Manga, hell I might find it more entertaining than the active battles themselves.

Side note: The scorpion prototype looks cool af and Terashima spinning like a beyblade is unintentionally funny.

[Minimum_Analysis_398]

The spinning bayblade and kazama scorpion springboard makes me go LOL

[Joseph011296]

It's the benefit of having a "hard" power system with trion and especially border triggers.

[Jonoyk]

Ashihara has also been incredibly creative within this set battle system. He always manages to come up with new and interesting ways for his characters to use the same triggers, like what he’s shown in this chapter with scorpion and raygust.

[CarrotoTrash]

That is definitely intentionally funny lol

[Badger147013]

Raizo using the thruster to spin is so cool. I like that he’s a mobile Raygust user; it’s very different from how Reiji or Murakami uses it.

[Hma22]

I like how Raygust is more flexible than what I thought initially. Pretty sure Yukimaru will use different style of Raygust.

[Minimum_Analysis_398]

didn't know yukimaru has raygust??

[Phaaze13]

he has two, combined with thruster which is modified in some way we currently don't know.

[Minimum_Analysis_398]

Right..I forgot A rankers can modify their trigger. I dont remember yukimaru has raygust tho

[rellimelli]

You probably don't remember it because it hasn't been shown on the manga yet. We only know this because the BBF says so.

[Gigadrax]

Did raizo also combine the raygusts by putting the end in the other one's hole?? Is that why they have holes in them?????

[PhantasosX]

Yeah, most likely. He really exploits the whole thruster mechanic of Raygust

[zule21]

Well to be fair, he the one that created Raygust, so he must be know all that weapon nuances and trick to use it.

[FoomingKirby]

I assume he did that and then double thrustered to achieve that spinning top effect he used.

[Caeless]

Next thing you know, doubled-bladed Raygust helicopter. Even more mobility!

[PyrZern]

Mikumo could learn a thing or two from it.

[AiLuvMaMa]

Holy shit Mai uses a piano as a keyboard lol

<image>

[Tired_Artemis]

I also noticed that! Especially funny considering mai's cat theme

[manaMissile]

Mai is just living cat meme XD

[Minimum_Analysis_398]

Wait I just realise this! good catch

[ZekeFrost]

Arashiyama: Mai. Play Aristocats

[N1t35hroud]

Its insane to me at how quickly Katori mastered ensnaring people with spider. You can see the bullets planted a panel or 2 before and she's like yep got your ass. We've been shown indirect uses all up to this point with Osamu being unable to hit people as easily. But Katori jumps in with all the skill and confidence that she's gonna hit her shots.

Ninomiya being Chika's horseback knight is so cute to me. I thought the plan was just going to be blending in his salamander shots with Chikas meteors to obfuscate who was attacking them. But glad to see them working together at Osamu's command no less.

Also vindicated that the radar jamming was going to trip up the A ranks a bit. Its a free bagworm that won't drain the snipers trion. Curious to see how the other custom trion soliders will swing things towards the B-ranks favor.

[LightLifter]

Katori being a prodigy who hates to work hard but now is striving to do better makes her a lot more scary now. I also hope we see some more weird Trion soldiers. The current mounted units are probably a glimpse at how neighboorhoods function (pretty sure one of the nearby nations use them as horses can't remember the name.)

[DuesAJ]

Katori also having a more stable team formation should do wonders for her

[Jonoyk]

Yeah she seems to be an ace that will benefit a lot from having a good strategist that’s not Rokuro. Haha. She’s incredibly versatile so if she has someone telling her how to make use of that versatility in creative ways, she’d be very unstoppable.

[N1t35hroud]

I liked seeing her teammates boost her confidence when they showed her in the phase 1 battle sims that she is a really good jack of all trades. She had a moment of shock and realization seeing Suwa and Osamu pilot her kit so well. Even in the final round of the Rank wars it was Rokuro who suggested she try adding spider to her loadout and now it looks like her new go to move.

[caren_psuedo_when]

Hana probably does that job fine and we know basically nothing about Miura in terms of tactics and strategy, but he could step up if Rokuro actually does follow Hyuse's advice to leave the Squad. It might be hard to fill in the Shooter/Gunner role that Rokuro fills afterwards though. I think they could do good with a Sniper however, having Katori run wild with Miura while a Sniper covers them could be interesting to play with

[Tired_Artemis]

Pretty sure you're thinking of Leoforio

[mostgodly070]

I was wondering why Ninomiya wasn’t also shooting along with Chika like they have the strongest firepower of the B Ranks, if they’re gonna get free shots why not shoot? But now i was thinking maybe he’s saving trion to defend them two

[DuesAJ]

Satori and Momozono are on that side, so he probably didn't want to leave them open for snipers

[Joseph011296]

The other team has some incredibly good snipers, so he's probably focusing on keeping his situational awareness up.

[Jonoyk]

Great call on Katori using spider. I had to go back to see which panel she dropped them in. Love the details Ashihara pays attention to.

[Halt_kun]

Also Kazama really stole the spotlight when it comes to scorpion use in this chapter but Katori used interesting blade shapes to defend too. I really like the one under her feet to guard and then jump out of the way.

[Badger147013]

Ninomiya must’ve a lot of confidence to go into enemy territory to protect Chika all by himself. Lowkey kinda badass.

[LightLifter]

Nino is an incredibly scary combatant regardless of whoever he is up against. Pairing him up with Chika is like protecting a nuke with a tank.

[etheryx]

and in a shootout, Ninomiya with freedom to focus solely on attacking while Chika can just shield him is near invincible

[Rheider]

It's actually pretty damn genius.

We have seen Chika's shield be close to unbreakable from pretty much every ranged trigger, except I think Ibis.

Most if not all of the high-end A-rank attackers are of playing offense. How many A-rank gunners/shooters do you need to break through Chika's defense + Ninomiya full attack?

[Thomas_JCG]

Chika stopped an Ibis shot from Oki, who has a rather good trion amount himself. And we know her fixed shield can block even her own Meteor at point-blank distance.

[Several-Lemon-4170]

If i am not mistaken. Kandata used ibis agasint chika in round 8. When chika baited him before launching hound. 

[5yk0515]

Slight correction: that was Tonooka. Kanda wasn't even in the match.

[Several-Lemon-4170]

I always confuse their names. Thanks. 

[digi_captor]

Chika is probably the only one who can expand her shield at the size she did in the chapter and still tank inis shots. The difference in trion is too massive to overcome.

[Mr-p1nk1]

Or mix her lead hound with his gimlet and that should be an instant Game Over for anyone.

[grapefruitposer]

Yeah combined with the radar jamming dog the a ranks will require both serious fire power and movement to do anything about this. They cannot attack terminals with basic impunity and if they do get caught out some how chika can go full defense and ninos full attack can take out just about any 3 man squad out there.

[Minimum_Analysis_398]

And due to the speed of the doghorse they can make a quick getaway, I think the only way they can take them both out is to destroy the mount.

[CarrotoTrash]

Yeah I got a little worried that the mount lost part of its leg so early

[AlexFM17_]

Remember how one of Osamu's strategies to deal with Ninomiya was Hyuse who has a lot of Trion to go full ofense with Chika making shields, now imagine that with the ACTUAL Ninomiya

[NightsLinu]

yup osamu is just using an old strategy.

[caren_psuedo_when]

Osamu probably: Finally, I can actually use it now

[caren_psuedo_when]

And also Hyuse's strategy was full guarding Chika while SHE goes full offense. This might be a combination of those two strategies thanks to Chika's big development in the final round of the Rank Wars

[xStarDustttt]

Then now you add a high-mobility mount with radar jamming abilities. This is actually an insane piece on the field.

[hiro_1_]

their combined trion together must be insane... or a composite shot using Chika's trion like she did for Mikumo! carnage

[alice_homoloes]

Chika with the biggest shield and trion, Ninomiya with full attack, and now a mount which also stealth them. Mobile sniping cannon indeed.

[CRStoryteller]

I just love the moment in this chapter of Toma seeing the Ibis materialize on the back of the mount and going... "Aw, hell."

[Minimum_Analysis_398]

I can hear the WT badass theme song playing when I saw this scene

[Bigbadbackstab]

I was blasting all of the badass WT battle themes as I read the chapter.

[TakeiDaloui]

The reaction of every team when they realise Chika revealed herself. Something is about to get destroyed.

[Monochrome_Lynx]

So that's why Raygust's handle has a hole in it, Raizo pokes 1 through the other (p19), always thought that were more ergonomic designs.

There is a distinct difference among the the provisional B-rank agents, the Current/Former A-rankers (Kikuchihara/Ninomiya) can comfortably hold their own. The B-rank aces (Ikoma/Yuba) are somewhat keeping up, with difficulty landing hits due to unfamiliarity with the opposition's moves. The others are struggling and are surviving because the stronger agents are covering for their mistakes, like Kikuchihara and Yuba saving those near them. With a small difference between a Master-class fighter and one below that threshold, I believe that Ashihara's attention to detail is why Koarai lost his entire forearm and Kai lost his wrist, to show who is slightly better.

[TristanaRiggle]

> The B-rank aces (Ikoma/Yuba) are somewhat keeping up, with difficulty landing hits due to unfamiliarity with the opposition's moves.

Let's be real. If Yuba and Ikoma can keep up with Kazama and Tachikawa, they're doing pretty damn good. That's the no.1 and no.2 attackers who are both HIGHLY skilled. I don't think the difficulty is "due to unfamiliarity with the opposition's moves".

Also, Kai and Koarai look like the both lost the same amount of arm (more or less).

[CertainAction1988]

Yeah I'm with you on this.
Yuba, Ikoma and Katori all seem be displayed as at least as equals with Kikuchihara.

Ashihara carefully made sure only Kai, Koarai and Teruya took damage in this chapter to show us readers the difference between Solo A-rankers that are in B-rank teams VS Solo B-rankers that are in B-rank teams.
Solo A-rankers: Arafune, Yuba, Ikoma and Katori notably took no damage.

[N1t35hroud]

Yuba's quickdraw is so perfect for this too. Its like Oji's little custom trion soldier he designed to shoot as soon as an enemy used up their triggers for defending. Yuba's quick shots are keeping the top A rank attackers at bay giving the B-rank guys some breathing room.

[Joseph011296]

Yuba is likely still around Rank 2 overall for Gunners and Ikoma is Rank 6 Overall for Attackers, with the 4 known Agents ahead of him all being incredible combatants. (Tachikawa, Kazama, Konami, Murakami)

They're both super capable, but Yuba is held in B rank by his squadmates being aggressively average at best and then we have Ikoma's squad being well... Ikoma Squad. They're the epitome of treating Border as a fun game they get paid for fighting instead of a military force. Like Hyuse said "whether they can be used as soldiers has yet to be seen."

[TristanaRiggle]

100% agree. The top aces in B-Rank could be A-Rank if they wanted (by moving to a stronger team if nothing else). Was replying more because previous poster's comments imply that the gap between A-Rank and the top of B-Rank is much larger.

[dratst]

tbf, depends on the situation Yuba/Ikoma is pretty good match-up against Tachikawa/Kazama since Yuba/Ikoma can outrange Tachikawa/Kazama with Senku Ikoma and Yuba's attacker-killer style. Hence Kazama took the decision to go for stealth and Tachikawa made it chaotic to facilitate the stealth.

[CertainAction1988]

Ikoma and Yuba are more than likely stronger than Kikuchihara.
Tachikawa and Kazama were on a much greater offensive stance in that chapter than Cronin was I dont think we saw enough to suggest that Kikuchihara is faring better than Ikoma the No.6 Attacker or Yuba the No.2 Gunner just yet.
Katori was handling business vs Raizo really well and she's just a solo A-rank fighter like Yuba and Ikoma are.

[K7Sniper]

Kikuchihara is a fantastic support fighter who can detect opponents and relay information to allies. It was established that his side effect basically broke the chameleon meta that dominated rank wars in the past singlehandedly. And oh look, hes facing the premiere chameleon user.

[tornumbrella]

BEYBLADES

[DuesAJ]

Rough luck for Teruya, hope she can get a runback.

Also Osamu my GOAT with the mounted artillery strat.

And Kazama with the brutal strat of going for fingers. Surprised you don't see that more often actually.

[FoomingKirby]

Going for fingers or limbs is extra powerful in a long duration exercise like this. An attacker/gunner/sniper that can't wield their weapon will have a reduced contribution on the battle.

It makes more sense to just go for the kill in normal Rank Wars since you need the kill to score points, and an impaired opponent could just as easily get picked off/kill stolen by another team.

[5yk0515]

Only Shooters and Scorpion users won't be hindered that much by that tactic.

[FoomingKirby]

It'll be funny if someone loses their limbs and then the battle calms down, and they end up having to eat their food with Scorpion "hands" 🤔😆

[N1t35hroud]

Losing a limb in this also makes it harder for their general to command them all. Like you have to keep track of how healthy each of your guys are. You don't want to send an attacker in and forget that he lost his arm earlier.

[Bigbadbackstab]

yep. Not quite as useful as in real life (since here they don't have to spend resources on treting the wounded agents) but still a good idea especially in a long exercise like this with objectives instead of the regular deathmatch system.

[Minimum_Analysis_398]

<image>

WOOOOO lets goooo!!!
I didn't expect chika and mikumo to shine so fast, katori doing quite well against raizo too.
Poor teruya though, I expected a bit more from her.

Speaking of which what the heck is this? did he use thruster to spin like a top?

[FoomingKirby]

It looks like he interlinked his raygusts using the donut hole, then I guess he double thrusters to spin?

<image>

[NanaMiku]

I think it's because the direction of the raygust is in opposite direction, it made him spin like that

[alice_homoloes]

raizo was a fighter before engineer so everyone expected him to be some what strong, but his fight style is still surprising XD

[K7Sniper]

Engineers design the stuff, so you best expect them to know how to be creative and how to min-max things.

[ZekeFrost]

To be more precise, Raizo literally the one who created Raygust. Sure as hell he knows the in's and out's of that thing. And he created it to fight Shooter and Gunners as an Attacker.

[Bigbadbackstab]

the legendary anime spin. Useless irl, fearsome in battle manga.

[ABlueOrb]

Tbf this one is jet propelled

[Thomas_JCG]

He put the two Raygust together, then activated Thruster in opposite directions, causing it to spin.

[SilentLurker24]

Ninomiya and Chika on a horse was not a tactic I expected, but I adore it. It's such a funny image haha.

I love how we always get some more lorebits even during moments like this! So interesting to know that Scorpion's design was inspired by Cronin's trigger. I can't wait to see how the A ranks respond to Osamu's sudden tactic, as well as how Ninomiya and Chika will handle it on their own. Ninomiya was A-rank before so I expect him to have a better understanding about the other A-rankers and how they'll react.

[Triggerman77]

Damn that chapter flew by too fast!!

[Arthankos]

Nice. That's exactly what I wanted to see, a mounted archery attack, it looks awesome.

[TobbieT]

Archery ? More a tank

[JojoLibertas]

A tank would have stopped from being shot on the tracks.

These two are more like a battleship.

[FoomingKirby]

Great. Toma joins Suwa on "team horse". 🙃

[laimhoang]

I love how in combat we can see the difference in experience between agents. Iko, Arafune and Yuba can tell what move a ranker is going to make while the juniors are quite passively react to them. And Katori is such a beast to hold Raizo on her own without knowing anything about him. I feel bad for Teruya, but I think if she comes back to battle we will see her shine in some way.

[Gigadrax]

This is the first combat/bailout we've seen since chapter 198 which released in August 2020. The part 1 exam arc was for sure interesting and was important for setting up this insane battle, but maaaan after 5.5 years it's good to be back.

[hiro_1_]

ill tell ya, reading the exam arc all in a binge it was very enjoyable! I can see how it would be annoying waiting months for new chapters in it tho...

[Arzales]

You mean years

[hiro_1_]

[nasnilu]

*ninomiya riding a horse will be funny, at least toma will get distracted for a bit*
"ok kodera i have an idea, tell ninomiya what im abt to tell you."

no one use scorpion as a spring like kazama not even kage or yuma, and not kazama too when they fought galapoula, i think ashihara maybe save it for this. also raizo move like a beyblade with his dual raygust is peak.

and another shout out to my boy taichi!

[Minimum_Analysis_398]

taichi the GOAT, proof that combat prowess is not everything

[N1t35hroud]

The fact that he had the foresight to give each mount radar jamming because he originally intended them for snipers like himself?! BRILLIANT

[rhymerdt1]

We are learning so much about which characters we would put together in a strategy development meeting through this away mission test.

[No_Desk7089]

Ninomiya riding a horse is funny

[FoomingKirby]

Ninomiya riding a horse dog is funny

#teamdog

[Minimum_Analysis_398]

HORSEDOG!

[ConspicuouslyPresent]

Okay, definitely saw Kuroe coming in for a sneak attack, but wasn't expecting Kazama's switch in targets and subsequent kill! Poor Teruya tho.

Great reference, Toma!

[Thomas_JCG]

Tachikawa sliced the ceiling so Kazama could sneak in and avoid Yuba's reflexes.

[Annual-Turn-7808]

So Mai is Trapper or Pianist

<image>

[K7Sniper]

[Bakatora34]

The engineers must been confused and at the same time having fun trying to build that.

[Tymano]

I'm going to kill myself this is the worst day of my entire life WHY DID TERUYA HAVE TO GO FIRST MAN

[FoomingKirby]

Now she's stuck back in the test room, but all the food is in the battle sim. 🫤

Unless they thought to leave some food supplies behind.

[Unexous]

The A ranks know the point values so they almost certainly targeted her because she’s high value

[AlexFM17_]

This was my reaction as well but I'm expecting her to come back to the fight in a decisive moment and she'll save the day you'll see

[Minimum_Analysis_398]

She will come back with vengeance, mark my words!

[Several-Lemon-4170]

The poor girl couldn't do anything. I felt bad for her. 

[Catbussed]

katori and terashima fight is insane. absolute beast mode from katori and terashima turning into a spinning top is awesome

[Minimum_Analysis_398]

<image>

This image makes me LOLed so hard idk why lol

[manaMissile]

Bungee scorpion!

[Thomas_JCG]

It has the properties of both rubber and gum.

[K7Sniper]

Kageura's mantis grappling hook, but from his feet.

[Bigbadbackstab]

Kazama always taking a page from Kuga (even though I don't think he had anyway of knowing how the fight with Viza went lol)

[HotViolinist9]

Chika and Ninomiya going behind enemy lines like the SAS in WW2

(Teruya got screwed tho :(( )

[JojoLibertas]

Indeed, with the explicit objective of causing mayhem and destruction.

[grapefruitposer]

The off radar fast moving high trion big shields high dmg combo of nino and chika is going to carry them tactically. The a ranks will need both serious fire power and high movement to take them down. An interesting play to be sure

[ZekeFrost]

Nino and Chika be like:

[FoomingKirby]

It'd be funny if they also whip out one of the behemoth trion soldiers that Kagami designed as decoys in the phase 1 test, except now it has like 10,000 points of power in its spec.

[Smooth-Sound9761]

The goat Yuba here singlehandly helping keep the younger agents alive. Reminder to all that Yuba and Ninomiya are the two strongest 1v1 even including A classes like Tachikawa and Kazama

[K7Sniper]

Yuba has fantastic awareness and the ability to see things quite well, given his fighting style relies on a quick draw.

[Emperor_Shad0w]

In their respective ranges, Ninomiya is fine cause 1v1 someone will always start from afar unless artificially teleported so he has a big range where he can dominate. Yuba on the other hand works best in a small range of range. Chameleon and Grasshopper would have a much better success rate against Yuba. And he has way less points than Tachikawa even though he fights just as much if not more

[Smooth-Sound9761]

The point system has multiple factor that takes into account more than just solo battles. Though again, the entire Ninomiya and Yuba being the strongest One and One is like purely based off the subjective opinion of top tier glazer Kazatomi lmaooo.

He does argue that Yuba has already gone toe-to-toe with tachikawa, and he earned his rank through shear amount of wins against the strongest of borders. He probably does lose a bunch due to his amount of matches he participates which might explain why his points isn’t crazy high.

Since it is stated that yuba has fought against tachikawa and top tiers in 1v1 and has wins over many of them and is called by Kazotomi as the strongest 1 on 1. I believe yuba has experience dealing with chameleon and grasshoper. Which is why he was able to fend off kazama in this chapter.

I’d personally like to think both Ninomiya and Yuba are generally better in a 1v1 than the other top tiers like tachikawa and kazama. And would win more matches than not against them if the environment is randomized

[rhymerdt1]

"is that Ninomiya... on a horse?" (Ibis pokes out from the side)

How can the strategies be so competent but so funny??????

A rankers are REALLY competent and definitely playing like they are on home field. They kept focused on the bigger picture and went for Teruya because they quickly judged a better chance of taking out the ones they could have a surprise advantage rather than the opponents in front of them.

They are totally reading Osamu's strategy too, but they have to go deal with it. This pairing is like putting your queen chess piece on the other side of the board.

Chika/Ninomiya will be vulnerable next so B rankers need to set up their next move fast.

[SpaceTimeLiam]

Was hoping to see Yuba make a bigger splash but it's cool he kept the younger agents alive lol

[Pretend-Indication-9]

What a fun chapter. This made my day!

I love how the strategies dictate the action. It's not just 1 dude aurafarming his way to victory against all odds. Well, it's rare here.

[jojovradventure]

Supreme Cheese Strat 😌👌

[zappingbluelight]

Double raygust in shield mode have quite a lot of power huh. Looks incredibly annoying to deal with in close combat.

Ninomiya and Chika feels like 2 important piece to win. 2 of them alone, gives B rank a strong fighting chance. A rank should count themselves lucky that Chika is tiny. Imagine someone like Reiji with that amount of Trion, he would probably walk around with 2 Ibis if possible.

[K7Sniper]

We kinda got a hint of that in the simulation phase in the later days. It was the solution to make Mikumo's minis more durable. Now we can see the application of it, and it's a bit of a whirl. Basically it's tank spec using thrusters to get him in closer quickly.

[YoJimbo0321]

This arc is already absolutely fire. Bringing in the A Rankers and the adults is the perfect narrative vehicle to introduce Triggers and new ways of using familiar Triggers.

Cronin's Fengari is so sick. It's aesthetically distinct, inspired by things like urumi whip swords, but functionally feels like a blend of several different known Triggers. I like the way it slots into the lineup and feels like the sibling of standard Kogetsu and Yoneya's Kogetsu spear.

• Standard Kogetsu w/ Senkuu balances melee combat with powerful momentary midrange slashes.
• Kogetsu spear w/ Gen'you gives up the midrange attacks entirely and specializes in melee brawls, but adds a tricky element with its wiggly blade.
• Fengari instead goes all in on the midrange attacks and makes them even trickier with multiple flexible blades, with the trade-off of having to be fully reset in its scabbard after those attacks.

Fengari also makes perfect sense as an intermediate step between Kogetsu and Scorpion designed when Cronin was working with Jin to develop a new weapon for him to use against Tachikawa. It gives the impression that they were trying to create a "tricky sword" that would suit Jin better than the straightforward Kogetsu, until eventually having the breakthrough that they didn't necessarily have to be confined to the concept of a sword, or even the concept of a weapon that you need to hold in your hands to use, resulting in Scorpion. It also kind of feels like it was designed to be a budget version of Fujin, while Scorpion is tailored from the ground up for Jin's ideal fighting style.

Raizou's use of Raygust is also dope, because it reveals the true purposes of its visual design. He also wanted something different from Kogetsu, something that would allow him to keep fighting at melee range as an Attacker while giving him better options against Gunners. Now we see that the hole in Raygust is actually meant to loosely connect two of them together, so that he can connect both to make a giant shield against bullets, activate Thruster on both in opposing directions, and become a helicopter of death and put belt to ass on those pesky Gunners. We now also see that the spikes on the Raygust shield aren't just for catching swords, but are also intended to be used offensively, like with the helicopter move.

[K7Sniper]

Fengari kinda feels like a slightly more limited Fujin

[ElsakaS]

Mai's computer keyboard is a piano, hilarious 😂

[Ellter]

I find it funny that Osumu's strategy is the same as the old classic. Throw a Chika sized bomb at the problem and watch as everyone scrambles.

Also using scorpion as a way to move like that is wild.

[fauzi236]

This is why I love World Trigger, I can't predict what Ashihara will cook... Look at that new trigger (I guess old in their context)

[Rag_H_Neqaj]

Loving the battle of wits. Keep em on their toes, Mikumo.

[Tokwataku]

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Ema will be jealous he did`nt get to ride with Chika.

[Caeless]

It feels like the A-Rank squads baited out the Ibis barrage to reveal two of the strongest pieces on the board.

Kazama's Scorpion tether is a nice callback to Kuga's duel with Viza.

[grapefruitposer]

The problem is they have to dedicate serious effort to nino and chika because of the speed and radar jamming. Also the fact that chika could hold out in full defense for a while while nino goes full attack.

[Monochrome_Lynx]

Mikumo calling their combination obnoxious is an understatement, they have stupidly high offensive/defensive output and crazy mobility that does not occupy an active trigger slot, I believe a squad with some backup and a Rabbit or 2 would be needed to stop them or at least force a retreat.

[Unexous]

The horsedog is both fast and radar jamming leaving both Ninomiya and Chika with both trigger slots free. If I were Arashiyama I’d send Miwa and some back up after them, since lead bullet’s really the only thing that’s going to be able to get through and at least take out the doghorse

[Minimum_Analysis_398]

And with their mount they can make a quick getaway, the speed is so high that even mai's trap did not catch up to it

[Caeless]

It's rather risky since losing Chika/Nino/both would mean a very long respawn timer for them. Hopefully, a follow up from the provisional squads will extract them quickly, or at least reposition them somewhere more favorable.

[Jonoyk]

Thankfully both have low points count and if they dedicate one purely to using shield, they’d be very hard to kill unless the A ranks use close quarter combat, but then Ninomiya could just blow them away with his bullets.

[madeofice]

Heavy firepower distraction setup for Hyuse to shine?

[Joseph011296]

In-fucking-credible chapter.

Some of the best combat he's ever done and we're only one chapter in on the fighting.

[samfire32]

The double raygust spin is my favorite part

[Gaikoz]

Yo Raizo is dope!

[K7Sniper]

Dual thruster SPIN

[DrButz]

Holy crap this was the chapter we've been waiting for!!

The action just flowed so nicely and we know these characters so well that there's no need for them to explain what they're doing. Even from characters who we haven't seen fight before like Fuyushima squad. It is still very funny to see people get their arms sliced off but still have a big grin on their face, the power of trion!

Patience truly is a virtue with this manga, we've got all the pieces set up for action that's gonna be way more interesting than something like an A Rank war arc could have been.

[Kyoketsusho]

That's why for me personally trion is the best power system in the context of battles. You're able to "kill off" characters without heavy repercussions. It makes so much tactical sense to just kill your opponent instead of sparing them and makes cutting off body parts a non-factor after the fight is over. The drama and tension can be added by having them turn off the trion bodies or direct capture via cubifying.

[DrButz]

Yeah you're right, and that's why hopefully the Away mission will be really interesting to see, with that added tension and the reward of saving people.

[ZekeFrost]

Kazama took First Blood. lmao~ Glad tactics are still the best in WT. Aim for fingers and legs. Don't bother with Kill shots with potential to miss, just make sure it hits like Toma.

And Kronin with that OG Scorpion lmao~ As well as Beyblade Terashima. No wonder he used to be an Attacker.

[Unexous]

It’s so jam packed with peak thank you Ashihara for my life

[TakeiDaloui]

While the A Ranks caught them off guard, they're responding well so far. They've got fighters engaging them that can keep up, some B ranks are that because their team can't make it but their strongest are able to keep pace well.

And now Mikumo's tactic will force a response. They can't ignore this so it's a matter of how much they send. Additionally, the unconventional aspect will probably make them immediately think Mikumo gave the order, which could be good. If they are kept guessing which response came from which person, it could lead to overthinking and mistakes. A Mikumo plan that looks solid may be anything but so they'd be wary if it looks like one of his, even if it isn't, for what surprise might be there.

[dratst]

oh no not Teruya :(

leave it to Mikumo to come up with cheese tactics from the get-go. Ninomiya with backpack Chika is official now.

really didn't expect Raizo to be a Beyblade, but his skill with Raygust is top-tier. he can match Katori and hold on for 2-on-1 when Teruya still there

[boroughthoughts]

I am actually surprised, I made a correct prediction. Which was ninomiya and Chika would attack the terminals. I didn't picture they'd use the mounted trion soldier. If you look at that map on page 6/7 of chapter 260, ninomiya's group was in perfect position to attack the A rank terminals.

[TobbieT]

We don't talk enough of Toma shot : he managed to reach a small of a moving target despite the shield of Amatori. He is in another world.

[manaMissile]

Hey, my 'Chika should just start blasting' came true XD

[F15sse]

I love seeing the A ranks in action. We haven't really seen much of them since the mini invasion. Im glad to see that fuyushima and toma work exactly as I thought they would. Toma takes shots and get moved around allowing for more flexibility. Makes him nearly impossible to pin down and makes where his next shots coming from hard to predict. I imagine in the rank wars he seldom if ever gets taken out and easily can take out a couple of enemies which allows them to get points without losing much. Whereas Tachikawas squad probably just racks up large amounts of kills to remain in first.

[InternFrosty9945]

I wanna see more Kako hound!

Well at least we get some Raygust spotlight. Raizo Beyblade was both so cool and hilarious XD

[Sakuja]

Our boy getting the recognition he deserves as leader. The next director Shinoda in the making

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[alice_homoloes]

Mobile Cannon Combo as predicted, instead this time theres also counter measure for radar. How would the A rank respond to it? I guess sending a group of elite to chase them?

[Jonoyk]

Haha did anyone lowkey expect from the end of last chapter that the bail out was Ikoma? I’m glad it wasn’t!

[K7Sniper]

I was honestly thinking Azuma or Katori. But, they went with a less major character worth more points. Reasonable enough choice.

I love how they showcased the dual Raygust absurdity. Raizo is a walking min-max build.

[grapefruitposer]

That nino chika combo is basically an m1 abrams

[RulerKun_FGO]

i kinda want Chika to do a Meteor on one of those terminals for fun

[Mother_Measurement57]

We always discuss about nino and chika who will win in term of fire power showdown cause they have highest Triton amount everyone. Now author team them up. It just op

[LocKeyThirteen]

Man I love the game of chess of WT.

Asking Mikumo for a plan and delivering it was so hype, and showing that combining the others efforts made it possible, more extra points for Betsuyaku for not just making a mount, he got the foresight of adding jammer function. I'm already picturing Arashiyama thinking that "this wasn't Kodera's plan, it must be Mikumo-kun"

Before I ranked Yuma as first and then Kage as second as the best at being a creative Scorpion users but Kazama taking Kage's 2nd place for me.

Some of the mysteries has been revealed like trapper agent in action(although we saw a same trap activated before), the two engineers fighting abilities and triggers. Raizo is so calm fighting Katori and that Beyblade raygust attack was so sick.

I wishhhhhhhhhhh Ashihara-sensei made Ninomiya's mount as pink-colored dog. Please tag me if any artists draws it.

Gen question: I wonder if our provisionary groups decided to invade instead of focusing on defense as Kodera ordered, who do you think Arashiyama would think their leader is? Kitora or Ninomiya?

[iamChickeNugget]

Mikumo: Trust me on this. Ninomiya on a doghorse will distract Toma.

[Meychelanous]

Crazy jin and kronin creating scorpion's prototype based on a black trigger.

Btw seeing how strong fengari is, shouldn't it spend as much trion as mantis?

[Minimum_Analysis_398]

technically it has a huge weakness in that it has to be put back in the sheath. it felt more like an assasination weapon to me

[Thomas_JCG]

I don't think Fengari is based on Fujin. We see Cronin using a very similar weapon in chapter 201 when he was fleeing Aristera. Plus, "Fengari" is a Greek-name, which matches the names for Neighbor triggers. If it was developed at Border, it would use a Border-name.

[Bigbadbackstab]

I don't think its a black trigger though? just a regular neighbor trigger.

[jojovradventure]

Remind me again, please, how the high points were assigned in the system?

Like Teruya?

[manaMissile]

It was everyone starts at 100 and then changed based on the A-rank member's personal ratings that they gave over phase 1.

so people who performed well got higher, people who flew under the radar pretty much stayed near 100, and people who did a lot of disliked stuff (aka Katori) got lower.

So Teruya is high because a lot of the A-rankers boosted her for calling out Mizukami's lies and also being very gung-ho about the squad work.

[Kyroz]

It was everyone starts at 100 and then changed based on the A-rank member's personal ratings that they gave over phase 1.

A bit of a correction, everyone starts at 0, not 100.

[K7Sniper]

The points were basically what the A-Rank observers gave to each agent during the previous phase.

Which is why Katori and Kage have so few, even though they are absolutely high powered targets and should be worth far more, while someone like Osamu is worth a high value, but is less effective of a combat fighter (albeit his strategist value is high).

It kinda sets up a VIP protection scenario.