Absolute Gap

Chapter 303: Absolute Gap

"Contestants, take your places. The loser will lose everything. A life-and-death battle on the tip of the tongue—Food Wars! begins!"

As the announcement rang out,

Mito Ikumi immediately unveiled her ingredients.

An entire dressed cow hung from the rack. Judging from the color of the beef alone, the finely marbled meat, both fat and lean, gleamed with an appetite-inducing luster. Even raw, it was enough to whet one’s appetite; one could easily imagine how delicious it would be once cooked.

The highest-quality A5-grade wagyu beef!

"Transfer student, let me show you ingredients that trash like you will never get to use in your entire life!"

Mito Ikumi licked her lips, then picked up the knife originally meant for butchering and began cutting portions from the beef.

Her knife skills were so practiced that a piece of beef flew up with every cut.

No one could have guessed that the person wielding the blade was a girl.

"T-That’s… As expected, the ultimate A5-grade beef!"

Koichi Konishi, watching from the sidelines, wore a look of despair after seeing the ingredients she had brought out.

The importance of ingredients to a chef was beyond question. Truly delicious ingredients could reach the pinnacle of flavor even when simply steamed—or even eaten raw!

Not to mention that she herself specialized in meat dishes.

And the most outrageous part was that she had prepared an entire cow, yet still selected only the most delicious cuts from it.

It was already A5-grade beef, and combined with her current skills, it was the ultimate of ultimates!

Mito Ikumi’s family was a major conglomerate specializing in supplying beef ingredients, which was why she could so easily obtain ingredients of this caliber. There was no way they could get something like that on such short notice.

And if he remembered correctly…

"Mito Ikumi has brought out A5-grade premium beef, so let’s see what kind of meat ingredients this transfer student can bring out to face her!"

Following the announcer’s words, Xu Yue cooperatively lifted his supermarket bag.

The logo on the bag vaguely gave everyone a bad feeling.

‘Cheap no matter what, ultra-low-price supermarket—Chiyo Supermarket.’

Then he took out a package of beef wrapped in plastic film, marked with the words "Half Price."

In an instant, the scene fell into chaos. Even ordinary students would not use beef of this quality for cooking, much less here at Totsuki Academy!

Even Mito Ikumi was utterly dumbfounded. Then she stopped paying attention to Xu Yue and merely said one last thing.

"Enough. Go tell your friend to pack his bags. Hey, kid, you don’t have some grudge against him, do you?"

As she spoke, she began preparing her own cooking process.

First, she seared her beef in the pan, then began basting it with butter, using a unique technique to coat the entire piece of beef in melted butter, forming a lock of flavor that prevented even a drop of juice from escaping!

That technique alone gave the spectators watching the Food Wars! a sense of artistic beauty, like a piano performance.

"As expected of Mito Ikumi. That must be her unique skill."

"She can control the proper amount of butter to achieve the most delicious balance while completely coating the ingredient. It looks simple, but we could never make it so even."

"…"

For chefs of this level, every movement could affect the dish’s flavor in the smallest details. Their cooking techniques might not appear much different from those of ordinary chefs, yet through the continuous accumulation of such details, their dishes could leave ordinary chefs far behind!

And while she was sealing in the meat juices with a "butter coat," Xu Yue stood at his own cooking station and made movements almost identical to hers!

Searing, basting, sealing!

At first, no one thought much of it. Given the absolute gap between their ingredients, they had practically already sentenced this guy to defeat. Even a slight difference in ingredients required considerable cooking skill to compensate for, much less a gap this vast!

Even the Elite Ten could not make up for it, could they?

Yet when Xu Yue began moving in complete synchronization with her, their actions seeming almost like those of clones, a slight commotion broke out among the crowd.

Although Xu Yue’s arrangement of utensils and ingredients was entirely different from hers, and there were minor differences in their movements, the two somehow gave off a feeling of being "synchronized"!

Even when they picked up their plates, they did so within the same second!

This drew widespread surprise and confusion.

But after the surprise, it was quickly replaced by another emotion.

"What’s that?"

"What’s going on? Some kind of trick performance?"

"Who knows."

"Just showing off!"

"He knows he can’t win, so he’s making a fool of himself."

From the audience’s distance, they could not see Xu Yue’s detailed treatment of the ingredients. All they could see was that the rhythm of his movements was identical to Mito Ikumi’s.

But outward appearances alone proved nothing. At most, it was an ordinary imitation act!

As for his detailed handling being the same too?

What a joke!

Only Yukihira Soma, who knew something of Xu Yue’s abilities, had a somewhat stiff expression.

This was not what they had planned!

Over the past three days, Yukihira Soma had considered the type of dish they would make and discussed it with Xu Yue.

This was not the direction they had prepared for!

Thus, even when Xu Yue took out that cheap beef, Yukihira Soma had remained confident.

But now, that confidence was beginning to waver.

Did I offend Yue somewhere? Why was he trying to screw me over…

Granted, he knew Xu Yue possessed terrifying talent and could learn an opponent’s dish on the spot.

But with a type of dish he had never encountered before, a directly copied dish should still have some gap in mastery.

Even if he performed perfectly, solved every problem, and reached the same technical level as his opponent—

How was he supposed to make up for the absolute gap in ingredients?!

Come on~

If he made a different kind of dish, Yukihira Soma would completely believe he could win.

But if he followed the opponent’s approach exactly, was he really trying to get him expelled?

His dad would laugh himself to death. This was too much. Was it just because he had made him eat something weird?!

Yukihira Soma’s expression had turned completely petrified. But Tadokoro Megumi and Koichi Konishi had gone cold even earlier and were already considering how to help Yukihira Soma pack his luggage…

"Perfect!"

She took out a thin steel needle and pierced the surface of the fully cooked beef. A large amount of meat juice immediately sprayed out, and Mito Ikumi could not help revealing a smile that said everything was under her control.

"Sixty-four degrees… no, sixty-five."

After touching the steel needle with her lips, Mito Ikumi had perfectly gauged its temperature. Then she began processing the cooked beef once more.

Like a piano performance, her grasp of every detail was flawless!

"Hisako, do you know what her greatest strength is?"

In the private observation room, Erina Nakiri watched the Food Wars! below and revealed a faint smile.

"It’s her meticulous treatment of ingredients. That transfer student may not be as simple as he appears, but with such an absolute gap in ingredients and nearly identical cooking styles, he cannot win."

Erina Nakiri had eaten Xu Yue’s dishes and knew that the transfer student was certainly not weak. However, he lacked control over the finer details.

And now, not only was there an absolute gap in ingredients, but he was also using a cooking method that competed on fine details. There was simply no chance of victory whatsoever.

Like a lofty Queen of cuisine, Erina Nakiri stood before the window, looking down over the entire Food Wars! arena, with everything under her control…

Two updates finished~

I’ve preserved my sacred streak of two updates again. No missed updates and no single-update days—this is what Integrity-kun’s hard work cultivating immortality has earned!

I’m amazing!

P-Please be gentle…