Two and a Half Minutes

"Huh? How could that be? Weren’t they using the same ingredients?"

"I remember that during Food Wars!, he even defeated an opponent whose ingredients were far superior to his."

"What’s going on?"

After Inui Hinako announced the result, quite a few students who had watched Xu Yue’s previous Food Wars! were stunned.

The two guys who had borrowed from the space cannon and decided to gamble were equally dumbfounded.

The dishes were practically identical!

Were you screwing with us?!

"As far as today’s classroom assignment is concerned, this is good enough. But as a stepping stone for challenging me, it still falls short. Unless you bring out a signature dish at the Elite Ten level, I won’t acknowledge it."

Inui Hinako held her teacup, looking warm and gentle all over. Her healing smile had narrowed her eyes into crescents.

Yet for some reason, she gave off the feeling that she had gone dark.

Holy shit!

(╬￣皿￣)凸

When did we ever say we wanted to challenge you?

What kind of bullshit trap was this?

Did you set your sights on the little brother beside us?

At that moment, Yukihira Soma briefly glanced over before starting to prepare his own dish. He believed that with Xu Yue’s abilities, there was no way he would fail even this kind of test.

He should finish his own dish first!

Takumi, who had always paid more attention to Yukihira Soma, stopped bothering with the group that had made a dish similar to his and said to Soma,

"You’re only starting now. Will you make it in time? I don’t want to hear any excuses."

Yukihira Soma tied on his headband, a confident smile appearing on his face.

"At our diner, if we can’t serve a dish within fifteen minutes, the customers will leave!"

Then he began preparing his dish, using the rice crackers in Inui Hinako’s hand, which Xu Yue had nearly finished eating, as a coating to make a deep-fried fish dish.

Within fifteen minutes, he had completely finished his dish and presented it.

After taking a bite, Inui Hinako’s face once again showed a satisfied, blissful smile.

"It’s wonderfully crisp and chewy, while the inside is tender and soft. The coating locks everything in, fully concentrating the salmon’s freshness and tenderness. It’s an impressive dish. You pass."

"What?! That passed too?"

Blondie and Glasses were gritting their teeth.

Their dish was definitely not weak. Judging from the boost to its auxiliary attributes alone, it was first-rate!

"Yo, you two still want to think of something? There isn’t much time left."

Xu Yue spoke to them in a slightly regretful tone.

"What else can we think of? Even if we used his dish, there isn’t enough time left."

"Damn space, damn woman."

Blondie and Glasses were filled with despair. Were they really going to stop here?

Not only had they emptied their savings, they had even borrowed against the future from the space. There was no turning back now. What were they supposed to do?

"What a pity. Yukihira Soma returned a little too late."

Seeing the helpless despair on their faces, Xu Yue knew they had reached their limit. Even if the space continued to "generously" offer loans, they did not have enough time to cook.

If Yukihira Soma had returned earlier, perhaps he could have persuaded them to learn another dish Soma had cooked…

Meanwhile, Yukihira Soma and Takumi began waiting for Inui Hinako’s judgment, letting her decide whose dish was better and who would win.

Inui Hinako kept teasing the two of them. She first went on at length about how delicious the duck dish was, then, just as Takumi thought the outcome had been decided, she said to wait a moment.

Then she went on at length about the deliciousness of the fried salmon, only to say wait a moment again, as if she found it difficult to choose.

The two of them had their emotions constantly rising and falling with the words of this person who might have been naturally airheaded or naturally sinister.

"Hey, Hinako-senpai, time isn’t up yet, right? Why don’t you help me pass the assessment first before getting back to your extra hobby?"

At that moment, Xu Yue’s voice carried over.

Inui Hinako was the evaluator for this subject. Her main task was to judge the dishes made in class; the mock Food Wars! between Yukihira Soma and Takumi could only be considered an extracurricular activity.

"Hm? Little Xu Yue, you haven’t given up yet?"

Inui Hinako still wore that warm, healing smile, and the way she addressed Xu Yue sounded quite intimate.

There was no sign at all of the attitude she had shown earlier when she rejected every dish from Xu Yue’s group that might otherwise have passed.

"It isn’t over yet. We should at least try to salvage things. Don’t you agree, you two?"

As Xu Yue spoke, he turned toward Blondie and Glasses, who looked utterly dead inside.

They only nodded numbly. They had already given up treatment. If this native had any ideas, he could go ahead and try them. They no longer held any hope.

When there had been fifteen minutes remaining, Yukihira Soma managing to produce a passing dish had already amazed everyone else.

But now that Yukihira Soma had presented his dish, only three minutes remained. After a few more exchanges, it had dropped into the two-minute mark.

You wanted to make a dish in two minutes?

There was not even enough time to heat it!

"Sure. If you still want to struggle, start whenever you like. I’ll be ready whenever you are. A friendly reminder: there are 2 minutes and 32 seconds left. Oh, 31 seconds, 30 seconds…"

Inui Hinako spoke slowly in a dull, absentminded tone.

Then she actually started counting down.

She looked adorably cute, but for some reason, she gave everyone else an unusual sense of urgency.

Besides Xu Yue, many other groups still had not produced dishes that satisfied her!

This countdown was like a Sanguine Bell, leaving people restless with dread.

"Two minutes? That’s enough time. I’ll use salmon."

A slight smile appeared on Xu Yue’s face.

Then he directly pulled out one of the salmon the two Juice Guys had caught earlier.

Knife in hand.

He began…

Perfect, art-like decorative cuts appeared. His knife work was rapid yet steady, and in an instant, the entire salmon had been separated into bones, flesh, and skin.

It became a sashimi platter.

"This is…"

"Sashimi?"

"Freshwater salmon can be used for sashimi?"

"What’s going on? Is he trying to fool the teacher with this?"

Throughout the entire back mountain, salmon was one of the easiest ingredients to acquire, so more than half of the groups had used salmon.

But the vast majority had chosen to grill or fry it.

Sashimi?

Not a chance!

It was not that salmon could not be made into sashimi. For example, the salmon popular in China was a kind of salmon—specifically, Atlantic salmon—though it was not particularly popular in Japan itself.

Freshwater salmon, however, was often used by unscrupulous merchants as a substitute for Atlantic salmon in sashimi.

Whether in price, texture, parasite concerns, or any other aspect, it was absolutely unsuitable as sashimi, at least in the eyes of this group of excellent chefs.

"Are you trying to make a fool of me?"

Inui Hinako still had that warm smile on her face, but her brow had begun to darken.

"Make a fool of you? I suppose so…"

As Xu Yue’s words fell, he picked up a culinary blowtorch and aimed it at his sashimi platter.

In an instant, an explosive Storm of fragrance swept through the entire classroom!

Everyone in the classroom unconsciously swallowed.

All their previous doubts were thrown aside, overwhelmed by the scent dominating their senses.

Every part of their bodies sent out the same signal.

I want to eat!

"Welcome to my Ultra-Fresh Seared Salmon…"

After turning the blowtorch in his hand, Xu Yue placed the sashimi platter, filled with a rich fragrance, before Inui Hinako…

Two updates!