After returning to the Human World, Toriko expressed his gratitude and left, as he had his own goals to accomplish.
Twenty days later, Setsuna arrived at Healing Town under Jiro's guidance.
The journey wasn't boring. Setsuna sold the few ferocious beasts he had captured before returning to the Human World to the International Gourmet Organization, earning a large sum of money. Naturally, they enjoyed various delicacies along the way.
In this world themed around gourmet food, even the food sold by street vendors was incredibly delicious, giving Setsuna's taste buds quite a treat. It also made him even more anticipate those rare delicacies.
Upon landing in Healing Town, numerous [Healing Butterflies] fluttered in the air. Red butterflies identified serious injuries, blue butterflies identified minor injuries, serving as a preliminary diagnosis.
While Setsuna was curiously looking around, Jiro said with a smile: "You can purchase some Therapy Tulip and Cactus Doctor from Healing Town to take with you when you leave."
"Take with me?" Setsuna was somewhat puzzled, 'Although these two plants could heal injuries, how was I supposed to take them away?'
"It seems you are not aware. The gastric acid inside a Mother Snake is a deadly poison for animals, but it is the best nutrient for plants. Therefore, the best garden in the world is the alternate dimension inside a Mother Snake's body."
Jiro explained: "So, you can completely plant Therapy Tulip and Cactus Doctor inside the Mother Snake's body for emergencies."
"I see." Setsuna understood. He did remember the Snake King saying something similar, but he thought it only applied to that particular fruit at the time.
'I wonder if it would be helpful for growing the God Tree once Titan grows to the size of the Mother Snake?' Setsuna let his thoughts wander as he followed Jiro to a large building.
"International Gourmet Organization, IGO?" Setsuna was confused, 'Why come here?'
"Of course, it's for the Hunter Exam," Jiro replied as if it were obvious.
Setsuna was stunned, 'Hunter Exam? Where had I traveled to? Was this still the Toriko World?'
Jiro explained: "Transplanting Gourmet Cells carries certain risks. In severe cases, it can lead to death, while in milder cases, mutation. One must pass the Gourmet Hunter Exam to confirm their physical fitness is up to standard before transplantation. With your physical strength, this part of the exam is just a formality for you."
Setsuna nodded slowly, 'That made sense, no wonder the exam branch was in Healing Town.'
But he soon noticed the details in Jiro's words: "This part of the exam?"
Jiro continued explaining: "To become a qualified Gourmet Hunter, one naturally cannot rely on brute force alone. Academic performance is also important. At the very least, you must be able to distinguish which animals belong to endangered protected species, so you don't hunt protected animals as ordinary game. Also, for example, after hunting some precious ingredients with extremely short freshness periods, you need to know how to preserve them properly."
Setsuna was somewhat speechless, 'I hadn't even taken the Chunin Exams yet, and now I was taking the Hunter Exam in this world?'
Setsuna couldn't help but sigh: "What other parts are there in the Hunter Exam? Please tell me all at once, Master."
Jiro said with a smile: "There's also an endurance test and a cooking test. The ripening periods of some ingredients are very short, requiring long-term guarding near the ingredient waiting for it to ripen. And these environments are mostly harsh, so endurance is very important."
"As for the cooking test, you aren't required to have the skills of a chef, but you must at least be able to reasonably combine ingredients. Absolutely no wasting of ingredients is allowed."
Setsuna sighed: "Alright, I understand."
Jiro patted his disciple's shoulder: "Although you can't transplant Gourmet Cells yet, I can still teach you some methods of using Knocking to handle ingredients, maintaining their highest freshness."
Setsuna didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He didn't really want to become a chef.
"Speaking of maintaining freshness, could I use this to improve the tenderness of meat?" Setsuna took out a sword hilt from his waist pouch, pressed the switch lightly, and a blade of lightning burst forth like a lightsaber.
"Oh? The quality of this kitchen knife of yours is quite good." Jiro nodded in approval. "Electrical stimulation relaxes muscle fibers, indeed improving the tenderness and flavor of meat."
Setsuna thought to himself, silently apologizing to the Second Hokage, 'Let your weapon shine brilliantly in the culinary world… perhaps it can become a Legendary Cookware.'
…
Setsuna mustered the drive he had for the college entrance exams in his previous life, crazily studying all these subjects he didn't even know the use of.
Finally, just before the next Hunter Exam began five months later, he had crammed all the cultural subjects and even learned some cooking skills.
The day of the Hunter Exam arrived.
"All examinees, please enter in order."
Setsuna strode into the IGO, about to fill out the registration forms, when he suddenly noticed the person who had successfully registered just before him came back, trembling, and said: "I, I want to cancel my registration."
Not just him, the people queueing behind Setsuna suddenly became restless and ran away. Even the staff looked panicked. The entire registration hall instantly descended into chaos.
"Monster invasion?" Setsuna was bewildered. But that didn't seem right either. If it really was a monster invasion, how would those who had successfully registered have time to come back and cancel their registration?
Setsuna didn't bother thinking too much about it. Anyway, Jiro was in the city. Even if it was a monster invasion, it might not succeed, even if the Eight Kings were attacking.
Soon, only Setsuna remained among the examinees in the hall, with only a few staff members holding their posts.
"Hey, I want to sign up for the exam." From another queue, a man with a fierce, demonic face said loudly.
The staff member at that channel was almost crying, trembling as he handed out a card: "Zebra-sama, this is your identity information. Please, please keep it safe."
"Zebra of the Four Heavenly Kings?" Setsuna naturally knew of him. He had caused the extinction of 26 species due to his ferocious nature, making him an extremely dangerous individual. He had been imprisoned and was only released recently at Toriko's request.
"Zebra, why are you taking the exam too?" Setsuna didn't avoid the topic, asking whatever came to mind.
"Of course, because my Hunter License was revoked." Zebra laughed loudly, then realized something. "You're not afraid of me?"
"You just have distinctive features. You're not ugly enough to be scary." Setsuna said tactfully.
Hearing Setsuna's comment, the staff members almost fainted from fear.
However, Zebra just laughed heartily: "You're pretty good. I like honest people. What do I look like? Don't I know? There are actually idiots who say they were scared by how handsome I am."
Setsuna smiled, 'This guy's personality was quite interesting.'
At that moment, the chief examiner moved over slowly, leaning against the wall: "Due to the low number of examinees in this exam, the first three tests are considered passed for you. You will proceed directly to the final combat assessment."
Setsuna's expression instantly turned to stone, 'If I had known I could skip three exams like this, why did I bother studying so hard?'