"I'm confident. Vinegared rice plus fresh fish—besides that, what else could be called nigiri sushi? You shape it with your hands. That's definitely right. That's exactly how it is."
Leorio made the final squeezing motion with his hands, his confidence nearly bursting through the roof. There was no way this wouldn't pass.
"All right, finished."
Leorio placed his completed work onto a plate, covered it with a lid, and carried it over to Menchi.
"I'm the first one done. This is called Leorio's Special-Grade Nigiri Sushi. Go on, try it."
As he spoke, he reached out to stop the plate, preparing to lift the lid himself.
Seeing that it was made by someone who came together with Lu ou, Menchi assumed it couldn't be that bad. But the moment the lid was lifted, she realized she had been far too optimistic.
"…What is this?"
Menchi held her chopsticks in midair, staring at the massive lump in front of her, genuinely unsure what kind of expression she was supposed to make.
Because Leorio was Lu ou's companion—and because he was the very first to present his dish—she had held high expectations. Normally, that alone would've earned him bonus points. But now… she honestly didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
When Lu ou had sliced the fish earlier, he'd deliberately cut it to the ideal thickness for sushi to save his companions some effort. Leorio had been smart enough not to alter that thickness—but pasting an entire slice of fish onto a rice ball the size of a palm completely destroyed any appetite at first glance.
"My temper—!"
Menchi's expression stiffened for a split second before she flipped the plate over with one hand.
"Is this even edible?!"
The veins on her forehead throbbed violently. The higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment.
"Hey, you brat! Why did you throw it away?!"
Leorio exploded in anger as well. His proud masterpiece had just been tossed aside—how could he not be furious?
"So what? Aren't you afraid of being eliminated?"
Menchi was genuinely angry. What kind of nonsense was this supposed to be? It was completely unacceptable. Still, thinking of Lu ou and the expectations she had for him, she swallowed her anger and waved her hand weakly.
"Hurry up and redo it."
"Damn it!"
Leorio had no choice. He wasn't about to give up the exam, so he could only go back and try again.
"Listen carefully," Menchi said sternly. "Appearance is extremely important. If the shape of a nigiri sushi isn't right, I won't even bother tasting it."
"But this was the dish I had the most confidence in…"
With his hands stuffed into his pockets, Leorio walked away muttering gloomily. There was no way he could ask Lu ou—that would be blatant cheating. He'd probably get kicked out by the examiner.
"All right, next is me."
Gon passed by Leorio with full confidence. He was certain his sushi would be fine.
When the lid was lifted, Menchi immediately felt that her earlier warning about shape had been completely wasted.
A perfectly round ball of fish sat quietly on the plate—rice wrapped entirely in fish slices Luou had prepared, shaped into a neat sphere.
This was… sashimi-wrapped rice ball.
"…A ball."
Menchi felt her patience hitting its limit. What were these people making?
"A ball."
"This is about on par with Number 40."
She flipped Gon's plate without hesitation, utterly unwilling to look at anything round.
"I'm at the same level as Leorio…"
Gon returned to his spot dejectedly, completely unable to accept being evaluated on the same level.
"I understand how you feel," Kurapika said, patting Gon on the shoulder in consolation.
"What do you mean by that?"
Leorio frowned. The more he thought about it, the worse that sounded—but he couldn't quite put his finger on why. It was infuriating.
"Bring them over. One by one."
Seeing more and more contestants lining up with their dishes, Menchi motioned for them to come forward.
Lu ou tested the temperature of the rice with his hand. Satisfied that it had cooled to exactly the level he wanted, he exhaled softly.
Finally—it was time.
Seeing that both Leorio and Gon had failed, and that Kurapika and Killua—who hadn't even presented yet—were standing there looking helpless, Luou knew they still hadn't figured it out.
That was partly his fault. He'd forgotten that, as natives of the Hunter world, they probably had never encountered sushi before. Without clear guidance, of course they wouldn't know how to make it.
"Ahem."
Lu ou coughed loudly a few times to draw their attention, then stopped.
"Huh? Lu ou, are you okay?" Gon turned around, worried he might be sick.
The other three also turned to stare at him, as if trying to bore a hole through him.
"I'm fine," Lu ou said calmly. "I'm just about to start making sushi. Clearing my throat."
He blinked deliberately.
"…Oh."
The others exchanged glances and immediately understood. Without making a sound, they began carefully watching Lu ou's movements.
Lu ou planned to make only one piece. If Menchi ate too much, she might get full and sample fewer dishes from other examinees. And if someone failed because of that…
'I didn't kill him, but he died because of me.'
That would really be a sin.
He picked up his knife and sliced straight down the center of the palm-sized fish fillet, cutting out a piece about 8 centimeters long and 4 centimeters wide. With his right hand, he scooped up a small amount of rice, shaping it to match the fish into a neat rectangular block.
With his left hand, he lightly dipped the fish into seasoning and pressed the two together.
His movements were smooth and precise. In less than a minute, the nigiri sushi was complete and placed onto a plate he had prepared earlier.
"I'm done. You guys should hurry too."
With that, Lu ou picked up the plate and walked toward Menchi.
"Yeah, yeah—we'll be done soon!"
Gon and the others smiled knowingly and quickly returned to fixing their sushi. This time, it would definitely work. They were full of confidence.
"No. No. No."
Menchi lifted plate after plate—then flipped each one over.
Not a single one was correct.
She kept repeating, "Wrong. Next," so many times it was practically a reflex. She had completely lost all expectation.
"So this is what nigiri sushi looks like… I really look forward to seeing it."
Since everyone had moved into the inner plaza to prepare their sushi, sitting in the trees was no longer an option. Satotz had changed positions and now stood by the entrance to the exam area. It was actually a great vantage point—he could see everything clearly.
As for the troop of Face-Stealing Apes following behind him… whether or not they shared his appearance didn't really matter. Satotz felt that watching the spectacle was far more important.
The apes—more than a dozen of them—were also watching intently, hoping to find a chance to trick a couple of examinees and satisfy their hunger. Among them was one with Leorio's face.
Unfortunately, Lu ou wasn't nearby—otherwise, he would've recognized it instantly.
"Wrong. Next."
Menchi flipped yet another plate, her eyebrows standing straight up. Her mood was rapidly deteriorating.
Lu ou stood at the very end of the line. He noticed that Hisoka—who had been somewhere in the middle—suddenly left the queue, carrying his plate and exiting the exam hall. No one knew where he'd gone.
Murmurs began spreading among the examinees.
"Could that guy earlier have been deliberately trying to mislead us?"
"Maybe this is some kind of strategy—to reduce the number of candidates."
As more and more people failed, the examinees silently began turning their gazes toward Lu ou—expressions heavy with unclear intent.