The Mark of the Pig

Oitsumerareta Ryoga (追いつめられた良牙) is the 144th chapter of the manga and the third chapter of the Mark of the Gods Arc.

Ryoga can not bear to face Akane and makes a tearful farewell. Shortly after he leaves Ranma hatches a new scheme: to dress up like a helpless volleyball playing girl and attack Ryoga unaware! Ryoga walks all night and is exhausted the next morning. He soon realizes that he has been walking in circles and is still in Nerima.

Continuing from the Previous Chapter
After thinking intensively about the day's events, Akane finally convinces herself that the doodles on P-chan and Ryoga are identical. However, not knowing why this is the case, Akane heads downstairs to see if Ranma knows anything, but Ranma just turns away from her continuously.

As Akane becomes suspicious that Ranma might be hiding something, Ryoga, meanwhile, hides in the garden, hoping that Akane doesn't figure out that he's P-chan. At that moment, Akane declares that the two marks are be one in the same... so therefore must've been drawn by the same person! Whilst Ryoga recovers from Akane's rather blindsided deduction, Ranma stops Akane from going any further and falsely claims to be the one who drew the mark.

Despite Ranma's best attempt to recreate the mark, Akane can't help but comment that it wasn't "this badly drawn". Having had enough of Ranma's stupidity, Ryoga can't hold himself back anymore and hits him. Unfortunately, Ryoga is now face-to-face to Akane and, not wanting to risk his secret ever being exposed, Ryoga sees that he has no other option than to bid Akane farewell. Once Ryoga leaves, Akane immediately turns to Ranma, demanding to know just what is going on, but when she turns Akane finds that Ranma has also disappeared.

Having found himself somewhere to hide from Akane, Ranma thinks about how much of a fool Ryoga made himself look just now, but quickly those thoughts aside and starts concentrating on a way to beat Ryoga so that his suffering can end. However as Ranma's Desperation Strikes did nothing, he can't come up with a way to get an opening. At that moment Ranma is struck by a plan to create an opening...

Next Morning
After walking all night, Ryoga finally sets up his tent when suddenly Genma jogs past in his panda form and holds up a sign asking Ryoga how he's doing. Just as Ryoga realises that he must've walked in circles all night, a volleyball comes flying at him as a female voice requests he catch it for her. However, when Ryoga goes to hit the ball back, the girl (who's actually Ranma in disguise) uses the opening and manages to scrape Ryoga's face before getting sent flying by Ryoga.

Once Ranma lands behind Ryoga, he immediately rushes over to her and starts apologising for what he just did. With Ryoga having fallen for her disguise, Ranma pretends to start crying whilst asking why he hit her when she was just playing volleyball, this prompts Ryoga to explain that when anyone charges at him his body just reacts. Continuing, Ryoga bows his head and asks the girl to forgive him, however, this gives Ranma another opportunity to try and land another hit. Unfortunately, Ryoga's body reacts again and sends Ranma flying for a second time.

As Ranma flies away, Ryoga can't believe he hit a helpless girl twice and runs after her, but soon loses sight of Ranma as she lands on a nearby roof. Unfortunately, as Ryoga continues his search, he is splashed by the Old Washer Woman and subsequently changes into his P-chan form.

Akane's Discovery
Elsewhere, Akane is out on her morning jog, all the time thinking about how strange it is that after Ryoga left that P-chan disappeared also. At that moment Akane makes some sort of possible connection between the pair, but refuses to accept it. Suddenly Akane notices P-chan on the pavement and, overjoyed at his return, picks up and declares how happy she is to see him. Ranma, meanwhile, is busily thinking about she can possibly get past Ryoga's reflexes when she suddenly remembers how her first kick got through which causes her to reach an epiphany.

After returning to the Tendo Dojo with P-chan, Akane takes him to the garden so that she can rub off the mark from his abdomen. Whilst she starts trying to remove the mark, Akane comments how strange it is that both P-chan and Ryoga have the same mark. She then correctly guesses that Ryoga and P-chan are one-in-the-same, but quickly dismisses the idea as Ryoga is off on a quest while P-chan is here with her. With P-chan's abdomen now covered in soap, Akane prepares to wash it off... with some nice hot water!

With her new theory in hand, Ranma rushes off to try and find Ryoga again so that she can, hopefully, defeat him and remove the mark once-and-for-all. Akane, however, has just dropped the now empty and is shocked at what she's just witnessed...

Cast in Order of Appearance

 * Akane Tendo
 * Ryoga Hibiki (P-chan)
 * Ryoga Hibiki (human)
 * Ranma Saotome (male)
 * Genma Saotome (panda)
 * Ranma Saotome (female)
 * Old Washer Woman