Jaden rarely remembered strangers.
If there was no follow-up interaction, people like Kojiro Shinomiya would quickly fade from his memory. He was that kind of person-he remembered acquaintances deeply, but he never made an effort to keep track of people who passed by only once.
However.
"There's no way I wouldn't remember these three judges..."
Jaden looked at the three figures seated in the judge's area. Their faces were pale, their expressions rigid, like soldiers about to be sent to the front line.
His gaze lingered for a moment.
"They've judged my public shokugeki three times already, haven't they? And I've only had four public shokugeki in total..."
That fact alone was hard to ignore.
And there was something else.
Whether it was a public shokugeki with official judges or a private one with Erina, Jaden had always used the Curse. The flavor of a cursed dish could vary depending on the chef's skill and effort, but even at the lowest output, the effect was still terrifying.
Jaden had actually prepared himself for the possibility that no judges would be willing to attend his future public shokugeki.
Yet these three kept showing up.
Every time.
If that was the case-
Could it be that they were the kind of people who got bullied inside the Shokugeki Administration? The type that got pushed out whenever someone needed to take responsibility?
Jaden seriously considered the possibility.
At that moment, footsteps stopped behind him.
"Jaden... right?"
Jaden already knew who it was before the voice finished speaking. He didn't react immediately. Only after a beat did he turn his head.
Hayama Akira was standing there.
"Yes," Jaden replied calmly. "Is there something you need?"
"Hmph."
Hayama let out a low snort.
"I looked into your file while preparing for this shokugeki. You have three recorded matches, and you had another one this morning. That makes four."
He stared at Jaden closely.
"In all three recorded shokugeki, you cooked instant noodles. And the judges were the same three people."
Hayama's eyes narrowed.
"And when the Shokugeki Administration announced today's match, those three rushed out to volunteer. So."
He spoke with certainty.
"You bribed the judges, didn't you?"
After reviewing Jaden's record, Hayama had found the situation strange from every angle.
To confirm it, he had gone out of his way to contact a judge he knew within the Shokugeki Administration.
The moment that person heard Jaden's name, he avoided eye contact entirely. He only gave a vague, roundabout warning, filled with hesitation, before reluctantly mentioning those three judges.
When the topic turned to them, the explanation was even more perfunctory.
"All other judges are busy today."
"Only those three are available."
As if that made sense.
Hmph.
Who would believe that?
The Shokugeki Administration couldn't find judges?
That was a joke.
There were countless judges under the administration's banner. There weren't even a hundred shokugeki in a month. Some matches even invited renowned figures from the culinary world.
Manpower was never an issue.
Which meant there was only one explanation.
Jaden had bribed them.
As Hayama finished speaking, Jaden's expression shifted-just slightly. His initial calm gave way to a trace of surprise.
Hayama took that as confirmation.
He didn't wait for a reply.
He walked past Jaden and headed straight toward the contestant's passage leading onto the stage.
"But your tricks stop here."
His voice was cold.
"I'm not someone you can manipulate. My weapon isn't something your underhanded methods can interfere with."
He paused at the entrance.
"I suggest you take this seriously. If you bring out instant noodles again, your loss will be so ugly people might actually pity you."
With that, Hayama stepped onto the stage.
Jaden watched his back disappear, then reached up and scratched his head.
"This guy..."
He sighed.
"...is really dramatic."
Forget it.
Jaden lowered his gaze to his phone. It was already past nine in the evening.
Seeing the time, he stretched and yawned.
"Quick win," he muttered. "After I finish dealing with this inn's crisis, I'll ask them about Toyo Electric."
The moment he thought of Toyo Electric, his mood dipped slightly.
He clenched his fist.
Strength surged through his body.
"I'm at about fifty percent of Jack Hanma's level now..."
Because the Hanma blood within him had been strengthened, his body was constantly absorbing what would have been impossible for ordinary humans.
Daily training equivalent to thirty hours.
Drugs that even Jack Hanma himself couldn't metabolize.
All of it was being digested and converted by his bloodline-one comparable to Yujiro's.
Every single day, Jaden could feel himself growing stronger.
Clearly.
Tangibly.
But it still wasn't enough.
If the threat was something lethal, like a sniper rifle or conventional firearms, he wouldn't be worried. He could sense the moment a barrel was aimed at him-often even before that point.
There was no chance such a bullet would ever reach him.
Those weapons were meaningless.
But tranquilizer guns were different.
They weren't designed to kill.
And that made them troublesome.
He wasn't Miyamoto Musashi from Baki.
If he had Musashi's level of strength, he would have already stormed Toyo Electric's headquarters and solved the problem at its root.
But his current state didn't allow that.
A quick kill using the Curse would be easy.
But for a massive corporation like Toyo Electric, removing one person meant nothing. Expecting a conglomerate to collapse because it lost a single leader was just a bad joke.
Overaggression only caused internal heat.
So for now-
Steady the pace.
"Wait until I finish merging the panels."
No.
"Wait until I unlock the Demon Back."
And ideally-
"Until I strengthen Conqueror's Haki to the level of a normal user in the One Piece world."
By then.
"By then, I'll make Toyo Electric... no."
He corrected himself.
"I'll make this country-and even the world-experience the terrifying legend of 'Yujiro Hanma' that once shook the Baki world."
Of course.
"If I can draw the 'Fighter·Kakarot' panel in the meantime..."
He smirked faintly.
"That'd be even better."
...
As Jaden and Hayama stepped into the venue and began their preparations for the free-theme shokugeki, something else was happening in the judge's seats.
Before the match officially began, the three unfortunate judges were approached.
The man who stepped forward had neatly slicked-back hair. His smile was strange-neither clearly cold nor particularly gentle.
"Pleased to meet you," he said smoothly. "My name is Azami Nakiri."
He didn't waste time.
"I'll be direct."
At his signal, the man in a black suit beside him-clearly a bodyguard-opened a briefcase.
Inside was a large amount of cash.
The moment they saw it, one of the judges frowned deeply.
"If you're asking us to give false evaluations," he said firmly, "then take your money back."
The other two nodded in agreement.
Azami's expression didn't change. He slowly shook his head.
"No. A shokugeki must be fair."
His voice was calm.
"I'm not asking for false evaluations. I want you to relinquish your positions as judges."
He paused.
"I'll serve as the judge for this shokugeki."
The moment he finished speaking, the three judges suddenly rushed toward him.
Azami blinked.
The bodyguards moved instantly, stepping in front of him. Azami himself looked at the three men with visible confusion.
They stopped just short of him.
The three judges exchanged glances.
Then silence.
After a few seconds, Azami frowned slightly.
"I understand that you are professionals, and that you may be unwilling to accept this."
He gestured lightly toward the briefcase.
"So... should I increase the payment?"
Before the words fully settled, one of the judges shook his head.
His expression was strange, as if he were forcing himself to endure something.
"...May I see your judge identification?"
Azami paused, then nodded.
He took out his own judge ID.
Then the IDs of the two judges beside him.
Three IDs.
The middle-aged judge stared at them.
Then-
"Hahaha!"
He burst out laughing.
"We agree!"
Before Azami could react, the judge next to him snatched up the briefcase.
The three of them turned around immediately.
Their faces were filled with joy.
Almost fearfully so.
They hurried toward the exit, as if worried Azami might change his mind at any second.
From behind them, the scene felt less like a negotiation and more like a robbery-followed by criminals fleeing before they could be punished.
As they ran, Azami vaguely caught fragments of their voices.
"Haha, I can't believe a fool showed up!"
"Hurry up!"
"It'd be bad if he changed his mind!"
"If we have to, we can throw the money away-no, we'd even give some back!"
"Anything is fine!"
"I just don't want to be a judge for this shokugeki!"
...What?
Azami stood there, stunned.
He had only just arrived.
All he knew was that his senior, Joichiro, had lost. That the World's Number One Chef had been decided today. And that this person had a close relationship with his daughter, Erina.
He hadn't even contacted the Shokugeki Administration before rushing over.
He found the judges just before the match began.
Given the stakes, he had already prepared contingency plans in case the judges refused.
But now-
"This situation..."
Azami stared at the empty exit.
"...isn't what I imagined at all."
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