"So it turns out Hanzo isn't just sick—his nerves are unbelievably thick too."
Lu sighed with emotion from the sidelines.
From where he was standing, Menchi's side of the room already looked like it was on the verge of manifesting thunder and lightning. If Menchi weren't a non-Conjurer, it was honestly hard to say whether it might have actually become real. And yet Hanzo, despite being an animal-type combatant, showed absolutely no instinctual danger sense at all.
Menchi was practically on the verge of going berserk, while Hanzo still had his back to her, troubled over how his momentary impulsiveness had just earned him a whole pile of enemies. The feeling was unbelievably painful.
Of course, something even more painful was about to happen.
"This is so simple! It's this kind of dish—how could there be any difference in flavor at all?!"
Menchi spoke word by word, as if squeezing the sentence out through clenched teeth. That finally caught Hanzo's attention.
The moment Hanzo turned around, he saw Menchi standing right behind him, her face pitch-black with rage, practically smoking. He realized something was wrong—but before he could react, Menchi grabbed him by the collar and lifted him straight up.
"What nonsense are you spouting? To make proper nigiri sushi, even a professional chef needs at least ten years of training! Do you understand?! The previous examinee harvested the fish during motion, keeping the flesh fresh, and achieved perfect balance between the rice and the sauce!"
The "previous examinee," of course, was Lu Ou.
Menchi's words caused many people to look toward Lu Ou. Earlier, most of them had assumed that forcing the fish to swim at high speed was nothing more than flashy showmanship. Some had even thought that after Lu Ou's unbelievable success, such high-profile behavior would eventually come back to bite him.
No one had expected it was all to tighten the fish meat.
"You amateurs can at best imitate the appearance! The flavor is worlds apart from a master's! Idiots!"
Menchi roared with a dark expression and a ferocious glare.
"If that's the case, then you shouldn't have set such a lousy question!" Hanzo snapped back angrily.
His sushi looked fine, yet someone else passed and he didn't. That was simply unacceptable.
"Shut up! You dissatisfied? Say one more word and I'll slaughter you—!"
Menchi grabbed Hanzo, her eyes gleaming with killing intent as she unleashed her aura, scolding him nonstop.
"I knew it—Menchi's old habit has flared up again. Once she gets worked up, she becomes extremely picky about flavor. There are probably only a handful of chefs in the entire world who could truly satisfy her."
Watching Menchi assert her terrifying authority, Buhara could only sigh helplessly. Once she got serious, almost no one could withstand her.
"Where is your heart? Where is your heart?!"
Menchi clutched Hanzo and unleashed her full 'Tang Monk Level Five' verbal assault. Hanzo was nearly lectured into oblivion.
"Examiner Menchi, the exam is still ongoing. There are many candidates waiting to be tasted. I believe he already understands that cooking requires sincerity. Your lesson has surely been meaningful."
Seeing that Menchi showed no sign of stopping—and that Hanzo was already dizzy and barely conscious—Lu Ou stepped forward to intervene. Gon and the others were still waiting to be judged.
Lu Ou had already prepared to use the power of the Face Fruit if Menchi didn't back down. In her current state, only Chairman Netero himself could stop her—otherwise, they'd have to wait until she calmed down on her own.
"Hm?"
Menchi had been just about to continue citing examples and references to hammer home the importance of heartfelt cooking when she was interrupted, which naturally irritated her.
But when she turned around and saw Lu Ou standing there sincerely—and Buhara looking at her with concern—she finally realized she'd overreacted again.
Menchi reluctantly withdrew her explosive anger and released Hanzo.
"Go back and redo it."
After tossing out those words, she nodded briefly at Lu Ou, then returned to the sofa and sat down, signaling for the other candidates to bring up their dishes.
Seeing Menchi regain her composure, Lu Ou let out a quiet sigh of relief. That meant the Face Fruit could be saved for more important situations. Using it on Hanzo would've been a complete waste.
"Cooking requires sincerity."
After being subjected to half a brainwashing session by Menchi, that was the only sentence Hanzo truly remembered as he lowered his head and returned to his station to start over.
"So annoying… I yelled too much and now I'm even hungrier."
Menchi slumped lazily into the sofa and exhaled.
"Alright, next challenger—hurry up."
She couldn't actually slaughter an examinee, so she had to adopt a gentler educational method. It was just exhausting.
She hadn't eaten much to begin with, and now she felt like she could devour an entire roast pig.
"I'm coming."
Gon was the first to respond, carrying his plate forward.
Behind him, a crowd quickly formed—these were the examinees who had already finished making sushi. This time, many of them had followed Hanzo's explanation of the method, so no one bothered covering their dishes anymore. The number of completed plates had clearly multiplied several times over.
"It's all that damn bald monk's fault. Now everyone knows how to make sushi. In that case, I'll just judge purely on flavor."
Menchi was still furious at Hanzo. Discovering that he'd caused this additional problem only made her angrier.
"Please have a taste."
Gon lifted the lid, revealing a perfectly standard piece of nigiri sushi.
"Alright, let me try it."
Menchi knew Gon was Lu Ou's companion, so it wasn't surprising that he understood the method. Her expression softened slightly—but her standards would not.
"No good. You pressed the sushi too tightly. The rice is too hard—bad texture."
After putting it in her mouth, Menchi felt like she had to bite down hard just to chew it. Failure.
"Menchi, that's too strict," Buhara said from behind her, attempting to speak up for the candidates.
"Buhara, shut up!"
Menchi spun around and shouted. Although she had calmed down earlier, Hanzo's words had still affected her, making her harsher than usual.
"The slicing technique is completely unacceptable…"
"The rice shape is terrible. Redo it."
"You worked too slowly. The sushi got too warm."
"This one's no good."
"Redo."
"No."
This time, Menchi didn't flip tables or throw dishes. She ate every sushi handed to her—but every verdict that came from her rosy lips was the same:
"No good. Redo."
It was a complete repeat of the first round.
Seeing her state, Lu Ou knew that—just like in the original storyline—a make-up exam was inevitable. He didn't plan to intervene. He was already fully prepared for it.
Sure enough, after tasting nearly every candidate's sushi, Menchi poured herself a cup of tea and began sipping leisurely.
Clack.
She set the cup down, leaned back against the sofa, and shifted into a more comfortable posture.
"Sorry, I'm full."
Menchi smiled lazily at the candidates who were once again approaching with sushi, and stopped tasting altogether.
"What does that mean?"
Hanzo, who had finally finished remaking his dish, felt that although he recognized each word individually, together they made no sense to him at all.
"It means… just as I expected, only one person passed. Got it? You can all come back next time."
Menchi waved cheerfully, clearly intending to send them all away.
Only Lu Ou had passed.
…Only Lu Ou.