Four Opponents

Chapter 339

Having calculated Rindou Kobayashi’s tasting speed and route, Xu Yue had specifically brought out this ingredient only today.

He had not used many elaborate cooking techniques on this snake meat. The main point was to bring out its pure, natural freshness and fully showcase the ingredient’s inherent quality!

Because his Sage Mode belonged to the snake sage lineage, Xu Yue’s understanding and control of snakes were naturally at their strongest.

With ordinary ingredients, injecting too much Yang Release could reach the limit of "milking something back to life."

But for this carefully selected snake, specially hunted down and nearly comparable to an ordinary snake from Ryūchi Cave, Xu Yue could almost completely "immortalize" the quality of its meat, just like Sage Mode itself!

This was far beyond the ingredient’s already outstanding upper limit.

The instant Rindou Kobayashi took a bite, her beautiful eyes widened, as if she herself were about to turn into a beautiful snake woman.

That exquisite freshness, the vitality contained within the meat juices, and the thrilling sensation after swallowing it—as though a snake had wrapped itself around her naked body—were truly irresistible!

As an expert in wild game, Rindou Kobayashi could naturally tell that this meat had barely been processed. It had simply been grilled, sprinkled with a little salt, and served to her. It relied entirely on the quality of the ingredient itself!

What was the greatest advantage of the Totsuki Academy Elite Ten Council?

Why did people fight to obtain those positions?

Money?

Aside from Etsuya Eizan, the others did not really care much about it. They were people who loved cooking to the core, people whose value could no longer be measured in money.

What they cared about was the endless supply of premium ingredients and the preferential allocation of related resources!

As long as an Elite Ten member wanted to research a dish, every requirement would definitely be met.

The various rare wild delicacies Rindou Kobayashi sought were already relatively difficult to obtain, yet Totsuki Academy still used its immense resources to get them for her. Even if she wanted a polar bear, they could have one delivered.

Yet Rindou Kobayashi, who had sampled all kinds of ingredients, could say with certainty that she had never encountered such an exceptional ingredient before.

It was wild game that suited her tastes perfectly, and it was snake meat.

For a moment, her already somewhat slit-like pupils narrowed even further.

"Even Totsuki Academy can’t get ingredients like this. Where exactly did you find it?"

Rindou Kobayashi’s resistance to culinary explosions was clearly quite high. Since Xu Yue had not deliberately processed it and had relied purely on the ingredient’s flavor, she did not react too disgracefully.

She merely stared hungrily at the remaining snake meat in the bowl.

For a chef, excellent ingredients were unquestionably extremely important!

"That isn’t something you need to consider, Senior. You only need to know that if you agree to a Food Wars! battle with me, then regardless of who wins or loses, I’ll provide you with a large quantity of these ingredients."

Xu Yue began packing up with a faint smile. Today’s business hours had already ended.

"Heh. Looks like you really are confident in yourself. Fine, since you have something I want, one Food Wars! battle won’t hurt."

A mischievous smile appeared on Rindou Kobayashi’s face. Then she patted Xu Yue on the shoulder and said,

"So, do you have time? I’ll treat you to something delicious…"

"Then I’ll gladly accept."

Xu Yue did not refuse Rindou Kobayashi’s invitation.

Originally, she should have invited Yukihira Soma on the final day of the school festival to eat at Eishi Tsukasa’s restaurant, the Elite Ten’s First Seat.

But after being provoked by Xu Yue, she apparently intended to go over early to calm herself down.

Given her relationship with Eishi Tsukasa, cutting the line was no big deal at all.

"Oh, right. You originally planned to challenge all three of us upperclassman female Elite Ten members to Food Wars! battles. Now it seems Nene Kinokuni is the only one left."

Walking beside Xu Yue with both hands behind her head, Rindou Kobayashi tilted her head and spoke with some curiosity. Since this guy had already achieved his goal with two of them, he would probably work hard to get the last one too.

"Yes. After I defeat Senior Terunori Kuga, I’ll have him arrange a challenge with her for me."

"Huh? Those two have a terrible relationship. Also, you’re pretty confident, aren’t you?"

Hearing Xu Yue’s matter-of-fact answer, Rindou Kobayashi found it rather strange. He seemed not to have considered the possibility of losing to Terunori Kuga at all.

"It’s precisely because they have a bad relationship that arranging a challenge will be easy. By then, making Senior Terunori Kuga kneel and apologize, or getting him beaten up, should both be easy to settle…"

From the moment Terunori Kuga’s Food Wars! challenge letter had arrived and Xu Yue accepted it, he had already planned everything out.

He had prepared appropriate methods and tactics for challenging every remaining target.

Terunori Kuga’s greatest use, naturally, was to deal with Nene Kinokuni.

"…As for the result of the Food Wars! battle, I don’t think there’s any need to consider it."

Xu Yue’s following words were spoken casually and calmly, yet Rindou Kobayashi could feel the incomparable confidence emanating from him!

She had only ever felt that sensation from Eishi Tsukasa!

It was like how Tsukasa, despite his outwardly timid personality and his constant worrying about this and that, had never once asked diners whether his food tasted good!

He would ask whether the service was attentive enough or whether the presentation looked good enough, but he would never ask whether the food tasted good, because there was simply no need for him to ask.

For a moment, Rindou Kobayashi realized that these two people, whose personalities seemed so different, actually shared some indescribable quality…

Different people required different attitudes. Without question, this approach was the easiest way to catch Rindou Kobayashi’s attention.

"Worthy of the Elite Ten’s First Seat."

After leaving Eishi Tsukasa’s restaurant, and being seen off by that extremely timid First Seat, Xu Yue had also experienced the other man’s terrifying culinary ability.

The White Knight of the dining table truly lived up to his reputation!

Judging solely from the dish he had tasted today, Xu Yue was still confident he could defeat it. But dishes made for a restaurant and a chef’s most skilled dishes were clearly on completely different levels.

Had this guy already reached the level of a graduate?

If he truly wanted to have a Food Wars! battle with him, it would be safer to first defeat the others in Food Wars! battles and absorb more Culinary Will.

When the time came for the final reckoning, taking the First Seat of the Elite Ten was one of his goals as well…

The five days of the school festival passed quite quickly. On the final day, Yukihira Soma finally surpassed Terunori Kuga in single-day sales through his efforts of repeatedly failing and repeatedly trying over the past few days.

It left the Eighth Seat feeling exceptionally humiliated.

Filled with that fury, he prepared to come and complete the Food Wars! battle with Xu Yue that he had previously challenged him to.

But what left him somewhat dumbfounded was this.

When he arrived at Moon Heaven Hall, aside from the five judges, Rindou Kobayashi, Momo Akanekubo, and Nene Kinokuni were also there watching.

This time, since there had been no grand publicity, not many people knew an Elite Ten battle was taking place. Everyone else was still immersed in the lingering festive atmosphere of the school festival.

There were only a handful of spectators here, most of whom were members of Polar Star Dormitory.

"You three are here to watch? Fine, then I’ll let you see the strength I’ve recently improved. Consider it preparation for making you give up your seats in the future."

Seeing the three fellow Elite Ten members ranked above him, Terunori Kuga’s face filled with confidence.

"No. Momo and I have also agreed to Food Wars! battles. We’ll take the stage after you finish. As for Nene Kinokuni, Xu Yue said that after he defeats you, he’ll make you kneel and apologize in exchange for the chance to challenge her. In other words…"

"…the three of us are all contestants."

Rindou Kobayashi bared her little tiger teeth and revealed a teasing, mischievous smile.

Meanwhile, Nene Kinokuni adjusted her glasses, and a gleam flashed across the lenses…

This outcome left the Food Wars Management Bureau staff and the judges utterly shocked.

The later Food Wars! battles had not even been applied for or registered!

Even they had not known about them.

However, as long as there were judges, temporary registration was completed, and both parties agreed, consecutive Food Wars! battles could indeed be held!

This was…

Consecutive Elite Ten-level Food Wars! battles?

And the Tenth Seat would consecutively challenge the Eighth, Sixth, Fourth, and Second Seats!

This was absolutely unprecedented, something no one had ever heard of or seen before!