St. Happosai

Hotoke no Happosai (仏の八宝斉) is the 133rd chapter of the manga and the ninth chapter of the Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion Arc.

Happosai quickly realizes that Ranma is trying to use the Hiryū Shōten Ha on him as Cologne did the same thing when they were younger back in China. Happosai becomes a lot more tolerant of weak Ranma than he ever has before, and refuses to fight him.

Continuing from the Previous Chapter
Outraged, Happosai wastes no time in launching his attack on Ranma, who in turn begins drawing the old lecher into the spiral of the Hiryū Shōten Ha. As the others look on, they see that Happosai is expelling a large amount of Battle Aura, meaning the Hiryū Shōten Ha should be exceptionally powerful. Ranma then draws Happosai into the centre of the spiral and prepares to complete the technique, however, when he raises his arm, Happosai has disappeared.

Ranma quickly spots Happosai peeping on a woman getting changed. He then tries to get the old lecher to return to their fight, but can't make Happosai move an inch due to the Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion. Just then the woman opens the window and sees the pair. She the proceeds to send both Ranma and Happosai flying high into the air.

Happosai Flees
The pair land on a nearby rooftop, as Happosai declares how cruel youth is for robbing an old man of one of his waning joys. Ranma responds by telling Happosai that if he feels that way he should come at him, however, Happosai, with tears in his eyes, tells Ranma that attacking Ranma in his weakened state is more than his sense of justice can handle. Happosai then runs off, with Ranma following after him, demanding he come back.

Genma, meanwhile, wonders about when his master got a "sense of justice", to which Cologne adds that Happosai must be up to something...

Some time passes and Ranma continues his pursuit of Happosai, all the time he demand they fight for real. However, Happosai (whilst dodging Ranma's attacks) suddenly declares that he only wants to do that because so that he can make a poor old man suffer the Hiryū Shōten Ha. As Akane and co catch up, they're all shocked that Happosai knows of the technique, especially Cologne who adds that the Hiryū Shōten Ha is one of the most closely guarded secrets of the Joketsuzoku.

In order to answer Cologne's question, Happosai reminds her of when they were 18 and she stood him up for a date, where she used the Hiryū Shōten Ha in order to get rid of him. As Akane looks at Cologne and asks her if she couldn't have mentioned this, Happosai closes his eyes as he recalls his bitter-sweet memories. He then tells Ranma that without his Battle Aura the Hiryū Shōten Ha is useless. This causes Ranma to try to make Happosai angry with him, but no matter he does, Happosai remains perfectly calm.

Returning to the Tendo Dojo
Seeing no other choice, Ranma decides he'll do something which will guarantee Happosai will be infuriated. He then returns to the Tendo Dojo and gathers all the underwear which Happosai has stolen, before setting it alight!

Initially Ranma's plan seemed to have worked as Happosai's battle aura begins come fourth, but he suddenly changes back, before sighing and happily telling Ranma that it's fine as he can get more nice things, but does note that it does make him slightly a little upset. The group are shocked by this reaction, forcing Ranma to fall to his knees and declare that he's lost. Happosai then walks over to Ranma and tells him not to worry as he's just an amateur while he's infinitely better than he is. At this moment Akane kicks Happosai skyward, while telling him to pick on someone his own size.

Later that day, Soun learns of what happened and is devastated given all the training Ranma went through. As Ukyo wonders if Ranma will get his strength back, Ranma sits alone in his room and is distraught with having gone through all that training for nothing. Outside, Akane walks up to Ranma's room in the hope that she can cheer him up, however, when she gets to the door, Ranma bursts through and declares he knows a way to get out 120% of Happosai's aura...

Cast in Order of Appearance

 * Happosai
 * Ranma Saotome (male)
 * Cologne
 * Akane Tendo
 * Genma Saotome (human)
 * Ukyo Kuonji
 * Soun Tendo
 * Genma Saotome (panda)

Trivia

 * This is the first time Cologne's younger self is seen.