š„š„ You can find 40 chapters ahead here
Support link: pat_reon.com/Redon1
Also other exciting fanfic available š„š„
----------------------------------------------------------
The script felt all wrong. That's what Senzaemon Nakiri felt. It shouldn't be like this. From any perspective, Renz shouldn't be displaying such exaggerated ability.
Senzaemon's expectation was that Renz would win one or two restaurants, achieve at least an "honorable defeat" rating on Gourmet Street, and then end the challenge.
Senzaemon was prepared to help Renz navigate the conclusion smoothly. He was still young; even if he lost the Shokugeki, he wouldn't need to be too upset. Winning a few already saved face, and losing would be glorious. Representing the Nakiri family by saying a few "fair words," Renz's challenge would only transform into a boost for his reputation, a stepping stone for advancement.
But unexpectedly, Renz's displayed strength shattered Senzaemon's expectations. This kid was too fierce. One after another. First sushi, second molecular gastronomy, third Japanese noodles Renz went through them all without even breaking a sweat, as if there was no pressure at all. Except for the confrontation with molecular gastronomy, where some unforeseen circumstances occurred that could have led to failure, but Renz adjusted incredibly quickly.
The second round of that Shokugeki was an outright "crushing defeat" for Chef Morita's work, thanks to Renz's raw skill. Senzaemon hadn't actually realized anything was amiss yesterday. He thought Renz had prepared before the challenge, like he had already devised and practiced dishes for the competition, and was now unveiling them to stun everyone. This was theoretically possible.
Because the themes on Gourmet Street could be clearly "predicted" they were all open cards. With Erina's God's Tongue assisting him, predicting topics, preparing dishes in advance, and secretly practicing, then using the prepared dishes during the competition. Winning was possible. Yesterday, Senzaemon's thoughts were that simple.
But today, looking at it, the simple situation became complicated. Even with preparation, one couldn't prepare for everything, for every single scenario, right? In addition, Senzaemon recalled Renz's Shokugeki against Chef Morita. Renz even performed an impromptu culinary creation. Although it had flaws, the taste was unimpeachable. If those professional adjustments were made, Renz's dish still had the foundation for victory.
Once he understood this point, the question arose. Renz was relying on his true ability, without predicting the topics, and had already won two rounds, and now the third Gourmet Street restaurant had been taken down.
So, how far could he go?
And furthermore, this kid knew too many types of cuisine! What had he been doing during Erina Nakira's pregnancy year? Learning an entire year of cooking?
Even a year of learning shouldn't result in this level of intensity, this level of culinary skill felt like cheating.
Gin Dojima was completely "numb." This round, his vote
went to Renz. The problem was that Gin Dojima was also a head chef on Gourmet Street. And he was also one of the main authorities at Totsuki Resort. In a Shokugeki, for him, the challenged party, to be invited as a judge, his reputation and strength were indispensable.
However, Gin Dojima was very uneasy being this judge.
How could he not be? As a judge, he had to taste the challenger's dishes, and Gin Dojima, having tasted them, could feel the terrifying power hidden within Renz.
Those with less professional expertise can only discern
whether something tastes good or bad. Gin Dojima had long since passed that stage. As a judge, he could certainly discern the quality of a dish. Renz's two dishes yesterday demonstrated a comprehensive ability that could only be described as "perfect."
Today's opening dish[Renz's Secret - Lanzhou Beef Noodles] was still impeccable. All Gin Dojima could think was "impeccable." He couldn't find any flaws. After all, he might be an opponent later, so Gin Dojima would naturally rack his brains to find flaws in the opponent's dishes. And for a top chef to deliberately seek flaws in a dish...
If you truly tried to find them, you could. But it's not like trying to find flaws in an egg where there are none; that's unrealistic. However, Renz's dishes made it impossible for Gin Dojima to even attempt to find flaws.
His dishes were too cohesive, and their finished quality was extremely high, with almost no points of error.
From the cooking temperature, the ingredients, the preparation, even the knife skills and noodle kneading, Gin Dojima couldn't find anything to criticize. Should he criticize that the volume and shape of each noodle strand weren't exactly identical? That wouldn't be finding flaws; that would be pure nitpicking.
The third judge, Asahi Saiba , who temporarily filled the judging position and was also somewhat famous internationally, also didn't give a courtesy vote. He was very good at reading the atmosphere. From the aura, Senzaemon Nakiri was in a "very proud" state as a "grandfather." It was probably a "my grandson-in-law is excellent, I'm very happy" emotional state.
Although this was Totsuki's Gourmet Street, which was Nakiri family property, and courtesy votes should be given, the problem was that the old man was very happy right now, and Renz was also Senzaemon Nakiri's grandson-in-law. If Asahi Saiba had given a courtesy vote to the restaurant owner today, as he did yesterday, it would have been purely contradicting Senzaemon Nakiri.
Moreover, courtesy votes depend on the person. Chef Morita Adria could get a courtesy vote largely due to his international prestige, past fame, and background, plus Asahi Saiba had a certain acquaintance with him.
At that time, the old man also tacitly approved. When that courtesy vote was given, Senzaemon Nakiri had no objection. But now, not to mention the gap in dish quality, given Senzaemon Nakiri's heightened mood, Asahi Saiba was not suited to give a courtesy vote. 3:0, 2:1, 3:0. In the first three restaurant confrontations, Renz only lost one minor point, and that one vote was a courtesy vote that everyone understood.
Three top Gourmet Street restaurants were defeated in a row. The owners of other Gourmet Street restaurants in the back also grew anxious.
The fourth challenger was Nodaiwa, a restaurant specializing in Japanese eel rice. Before Renz was about to arrive, the owner came out and called a truce. The battle was halted. Not that they wouldn't fight.
In Shokugeki, there needs to be a reason to refuse a match. The most common reason for refusal is "status disparity." Generally, unknown chefs challenging through Shokugeki can be refused by restaurants with some reputation. However, Renz's wife is Erina, the God's Tongue, so the "status refusal" argument doesn't hold water.
When Renz initiates a Shokugeki, these restaurants must accept. Otherwise, it's disrespectful to the Shokugeki rules and automatically declared a loss. Moreover, the Nakiri family stands behind Renz, and others cannot afford to offend them. Nodaiwa calling a truce was to stop Renz's current hot streak, and second, to allow the entire restaurant staff to figure out and prepare a "dish" to counter him. The first three restaurants didn't prepare.
Ono Sadayoshi didn't have time to prepare; Renz came too fast. When challenged, he thought that as the strongest sushi restaurant, Ono family, he had nothing to fear, and then he was crushed. Chef Morita Adria simply didn't think he would lose and didn't prepare, using his old works to compete, suffering the disadvantage of not having time to refine a new dish.
The third ramen shop had time to prepare, but still underestimated Renz, thinking he couldn't be strong in everything. They believed that having run a ramen shop on Gourmet Street for so long, they could definitely hold their own against him.
This led to all three of them suffering losses. Nodaiwa didn't want to suffer this silent loss. Similarly,
Nodaiwa's truce also proved that the chefs of Gourmet Street were starting to panic. In the past, who would call for a truce? Just against some minor chef challenging a Shokugeki.
Would a truly powerful chef resort to Shokugeki?
Powerful chefs in Japan would just open a restaurant on Gourmet Street directly. Would they still try to gain fame through Shokugeki? These Gourmet Street chefs never expected to run into a freak like Renz.
He's strong, yet he insists on gaining fame through Shokugeki. The result: all the Gourmet Street restaurants suddenly found themselves becoming stepping stones for their opponent. Crucially, Renz had the ability to make them stepping stones.
After all this time, they hadn't regarded him as a capable or threatening person. Only when they fought him and realized he truly possessed such a threatening power did these Gourmet Street chefs finally realize: Was the clown me all along?
At this moment, Nodaiwa's call for a "truce" meant that all the chefs in the restaurant had gathered to brainstorm, planning to bring out their most signature dish, and even improvising improvements on the spot to defend themselves. This was the highest level of respect.
No kidding. They were truly scared.
However, the people gathered at Nodaiwa were not only the chefs from Nodaiwa itself but also chefs from several subsequent restaurants, all "sadly" gathered. The idea of Renz doing a "one-versus-twelve" on Gourmet Street... where would the Gourmet Street restaurants put their pride?
Before, they were laughing at Ono Sadayoshi, saying his sushi skills weren't what they used to be and he deserved to be smashed by a young man's fist. They lamented that Chef Morita Adria was merely a person with an undeserved reputation, easily swatted aside by Renz.
Then, around the corner, they found their own house about to be torn down by him.
How could they not come up with a plan for Nodaiwa? If they didn't, then when one house falls, the next one would follow. Renz was like a grim reaper, knocking on doors one by one. They didn't know which house "happiness" would be delivered to, but all the restaurants whose doors were knocked on were now quite scared. Laughing until they cried was their current most truthful situation.
"Truce?" Renz paused. "There's such a thing in Shokugeki?"
Erina replied, "Yes, but very few restaurants use it."
"Yes, it's within the rules," Hisako Arato added.
"It's generally not used, only in special circumstances."
Renz had fewer Shokugeki in the future, with more formal competitions.
"Shokugeki are generally divided into individual Shokugeki and restaurant-level Shokugeki.
Restaurant-level Shokugeki often have the meaning of 'taking over a dojo,' but for civility, they are collectively called restaurant-level Shokugeki instead of 'dojo-taking' Shokugeki," Hisako Arato continued.
"However, the underground culinary world still prefers to call this kind of Shokugeki 'dojo-taking' Shokugeki," Hisako Arato explained.
"And in 'dojo-taking' Shokugeki, if the initiator has a certain reputation, the challenged restaurant can request a one-hour truce to prepare a dish."
"It's uncommon because most people who try to 'take over
a dojo' rarely succeed."
"Truly powerful chefs wouldn't fall so low as to engage in 'dojo-taking' Shokugeki to earn fame."
Erina, chiming in as Hisako Arato finished, added: "In the original 'dojo-taking' Shokugeki, the losing restaurant had to cover all the ingredient costs of the Shokugeki, and also pay protection money to the winner of the 'dojo-taking' Shokugeki."
"As for why there's a one-hour truce rule, it's to prevent powerful chefs from specifically preparing for Shokugeki against certain restaurants to earn this protection money.
As you know, the Shokugeki themes of Gourmet Street restaurants are all open, and if targeted, it's very easy to be defeated," Erina said nonchalantly.
"A one-hour truce is to give these shop owners time to adjust and choose the dish for this battle."
"And in my eyes, their action actually means they're scared." Erina was truly the kind of woman who didn't bother to save face. Her words carried a killing intent, like a white knife piercing the hearts of these Gourmet Street chefs, one cut at a time. She spoke too directly.
"Isn't that just wasting an hour?" Renz pondered.
"Whether they prepare or not, they won't win, right?"
No. What's wrong with you two? Are you two just incapable of doing anything normal?
"It's not shameful to increase the theoretical chances of winning," Erina pouted.
"The difference is from a 0.1% chance of winning to 1%.
From having no chance at all to winning by sheer luck," Erina stated.
Hisako Arato couldn't help but let out her inner complain about.
"That sounds too pitiful, like a real-life reenactment of Les Miserables. However, my biggest fear is actually that they'll turn a 0.1% win rate into 0.01%," Erina said with a smile.
"For example, even though they could use their best dish, they might choose a niche dish as the Shokugeki theme to test your culinary repertoire." The situation Erina described was entirely possible.
Because Renz won against all three restaurants in the previous rounds, their Shokugeki themes were all openly known. What if someone thought Renz won by predicting the topics and preparing dishes in advance?
It's highly likely someone would come up with a bad idea and suggest that Nodaiwa change the dish theme, choosing a more niche category to compete with Renz.
That would be a classic act of asking for trouble.
No way. It's too coincidental. They ran straight into the gun. Renz's biggest advantage is actually the wide variety of dishes he knows. If the opponent uses a dish they're not good at to test Renz's culinary repertoire, they'd simply be making a fool of themselves. Just as they were discussing, a voice rang out.
"Our Shokugeki theme for this round is changing to [Soup Dishes]." At the entrance of Nodaiwa, a messenger signaled to Senzaemon Nakiri. Nodaiwa specializes in eel rice, and rice dishes are their strongest suit. While Nodaiwa does make soup dishes, they are not their strongest culinary category.
Renz heard this and shook his head helplessly.
"Erina, it seems your analysis was spot on. Whatever you say comes true. But their luck is a bit bad. They wanted to blindly guess my culinary repertoire, so they chose a soup dish."
"But..."
"Soup dishes are the best dishes I make." Renz wasn't joking. Moreover, Renz's claim that his soup dishes were excellent was officially certified by the God's Tongue.
Because he usually had to make black chicken soup to serve Erina.
Besides black chicken soup, Renz had thoroughly perfected all kinds of nourishing soups, especially when Erina was at her weakest after giving birth. As a result, these types of dishes became essential daily supplements for Erina.
Nodaiwa was genuinely challenging one of Renz's strongest dishes. The only thing Renz could do was respect their choice.
__________________________
š Boost This Fanfic! š
Every 350 Power Stones gets 2 bonus chapters! š
Want faster updates? Show your support by dropping Power Stones, leaving reviews, and sharing your thoughts in the comments! Your engagement keeps the story going strong!