If what Shinomiya Kojiro had eaten before—the French jelly made by Erina—was shit, then this time's noodles were at least a hundred times worse than that French jelly!
That's why he said that.
But after saying it, he felt something was wrong!
He seemed to have said the wrong thing!
And...
Although Nakiri Senzaemon, Seiichiro, and Dojima Gin, who was also in poor condition, all pretended they heard nothing, Inui Hinako stared at him dumbfounded.
"...How do you know shit doesn't taste this bad?"
Could it be...
Hiss—
Seeing Inui Hinako's expression gradually becoming horrified, Shinomiya Kojiro hurriedly explained!
"Stop it! I probably know what disgusting thing you're thinking, but what I meant is definitely not what you think!"
Shinomiya Kojiro was trying hard to explain.
But if Inui Hinako honestly listened to his explanation, then she wouldn't be Inui Hinako!
So the judges' table became chaotic due to the interaction between Shinomiya Kojiro and Inui Hinako.
With the judges' table in chaos, other spectators also began discussing.
The match result wasn't clearly announced yet.
But basically everyone understood this point—
What Mutou Judai made seemed to be the most normal instant ramen—not delicious, but edible.
As for Saiba Asahi...
According to the judges' feedback... without exaggeration, the best evaluation of his noodles seemed to be that they were shit!
Who won and who lost was obvious at a glance!
After knowing the result, they were more patient with the commotion at the judges' table, but Mutou Judai didn't plan to drag it out too long and directly walked to the judges' table.
"Um..."
With his voice, Shinomiya Kojiro and Inui Hinako also quieted down, then Mutou Judai's gaze fell on the completely stunned Saiba Asahi, slowly smiling.
"Whether it's shit or worse than shit, just ask him and you'll know—after all, it's hard to make flavors you've never tasted yourself, right, Saiba?"
Hah!?
Hearing Mutou Judai say this, Saiba Asahi tried to speak several times but didn't know what to say.
Ask him...
He didn't know either!
How could it be terrible after I carefully combined dozens of spices!?
How could it not taste good!?
You're all liars! You're ganging up to bully me, an honest person!
I don't believe it!
Under the gaze of Mutou Judai and others, Saiba Asahi directly picked up a bowl of his own noodles and took a bite...
Ugh!
He retched for quite a while, finally slumping on the ground in despair and forcing out these words.
"...Worse than shit."
Hiss—
Shinomiya Kojiro was clear about his own situation.
He gave such an evaluation because he had eaten the French jelly Erina made before, so this Saiba Asahi... he...
After having brief thoughts, Shinomiya Kojiro didn't dare continue thinking.
—Maybe he just followed along with what I said.
And if he held onto this, the barely quieted Inui Hinako would probably start making a fuss again.
So Shinomiya Kojiro remained silent.
At this moment, Nakiri Senzaemon directly spoke.
"In that case, let's announce the results!"
With his voice, unsurprisingly, all five points went to Mutou Judai.
5:0
Mutou Judai's complete victory!
Saiba Asahi didn't care much about such results anymore. He was still immersed in that previous taste, directly falling into self-doubt.
Mutou Judai was no longer interested in what followed.
The handling after this Shokugeki was left to Nakiri Senzaemon and others, while Mutou Judai came to Erina's side after the competition.
He noticed that Erina seemed to be staring blankly at the scoreboard, so he slowly spoke.
"What's wrong?"
Hearing Mutou Judai's inquiry, Erina showed a slight smile.
"No... it's nothing really, just purely feeling that with Saiba Asahi's ability, even after activating that level of Cross Knives, he was completely suppressed by you. I'm just a bit amazed by that."
Mutou Judai looked at the slight smile on Erina's face, recalling her previous words about absolutely never giving up, and softly asked:
"So... are you planning to give up?"
Before asking this, Mutou Judai had actually thought a lot. He even thought about what to say if he saw Erina show a confused look.
He thought that what she might need wasn't chicken soup but something else.
He also planned to respect her decision—and was prepared to bear the consequences with her.
But actually, after hearing Mutou Judai ask this, Erina not only wasn't confused, but her smile became even more obvious.
"Who would give up?"
"Even if that Saiba Asahi has abilities like Cross Knives, I have God's Tongue—no matter what techniques, I'll surpass them sooner or later. Even flavors that my current culinary skills can't touch, I'll be able to touch eventually—just because he can't doesn't mean I can't!"
This point hadn't wavered when Erina lost to Mutou Judai herself, and it wouldn't waver now.
What she was really amazed by had nothing to do with Saiba Asahi, but was amazement directed at Mutou Judai.
If she had never been clear why she inexplicably felt reassured after being expelled with Mutou Judai, then perhaps she knew now.
Most of her unease probably still stemmed from the shadow her father left in childhood... Even now, Erina wasn't confident she could resist his decisions when facing her father.
However...
Even when thinking of her father, even when her mind was full of fear of that shadow, when Erina looked at Mutou Judai, she could still show a smile on her face.
When she felt somewhat panicked, confused, conflicted, and angry due to the sudden expulsion problem, when she looked at Mutou Judai standing beside her with an indifferent appearance, showing no emotional fluctuations from beginning to end... she probably felt it from that time.
Everything afterward proved her initial feeling was right.
Whether it was when Mutou Judai actively took the title "Tiger," or when he dealt with that super rookie in his first Kengan match, whether facing that perverted killer Meguro, or when he knew he might have provoked Toyo Electric, which was despairingly massive for ordinary people...
Although Erina didn't know the reason, it seemed that when Mutou Judai faced various problems that would make ordinary people despair, he might hesitate about certain aspects, but he never truly took these matters to heart.
It seemed he felt from the beginning that he could definitely solve these problems, never thinking these matters were problems for him...
The more you understood him, the more you could feel that strength within his plainness!
And the more Erina felt Mutou Judai's strength, the more the shadows in her heart would be dispelled by Mutou Judai's presence, giving her an even stronger sense of security...
She was depending on Mutou Judai.
—And this dependence seemed to have been maintained from the first time she talked with him until now.
But Erina had no intention of changing this, not even thinking it was a problem.
When seeing Mutou Judai somewhat worried about her, she even felt quite happy.
On the other hand, seeing Erina's smiling appearance, Mutou Judai was somewhat puzzled.
Seeing Mutou Judai like this, Erina also turned around, and while facing away from him, smiled and snorted.
"Let's go. It's almost noon. Since you have such thoughts, I'll let you know a bit that my culinary skills have improved~!"
"So, like before, shall we have a Shokugeki?"
"Of course!"
Mutou Judai and Erina left while chatting and laughing like this.
Everyone else was discussing the recent Shokugeki, so they either didn't pay attention to Mutou Judai and Erina's departure, or if they saw it, they would only think it had nothing to do with them.
But not everyone was like this.
For example, someone who had been watching this side—Nakiri Alice.
After seeing Mutou Judai and Erina leave, she blinked and directly followed them.
...
On the other side, Hayami Katsumasa, staying at Toyo Electric headquarters, also gave orders to his subordinates expressionlessly after learning that Saiba Asahi had lost.
"Saiba Asahi lost so quickly, what a waste—don't bother with that waste anymore. Now have that Eizan Etsuya start moving!"
"Chairman, shouldn't we wait a bit longer?"
"No more waiting—if we continue waiting, that guy Eizan Etsuya will only be exposed. Better to have him act as an inside agent to cooperate with you in kidnapping that God's Tongue. Then while Totsuki is in chaos, he can probably hide for a few more days. Maybe he can even drug Totsuki's fighter before the Kengan match, or cause other interference. Anyway, maybe he can be used one more time."
"...I understand."
Hearing Hayami Katsumasa say this, his subordinate employee lowered his head, responded, and went to contact Eizan Etsuya.
Hayami Katsumasa looked at the power distribution map before him and snorted lightly.
"The representatives sent by those fishermen by the sea probably won't go far either, at most just eliminate some trash. So the plan to build a nuclear power plant by the sea remains unchanged. Those fishermen will only be used by me, counting as the top card..."
"If the plan on Totsuki's side succeeds, along with the entire food circle, we can probably gather two or even three more spots, which will give me dozens more supporters in the Kengan Association. If we can then solve the Nogi Group's side, then my support within the Kengan Association will exceed half..."
"After that will be the Kengan Annihilation Tournament..."
For the Kengan Annihilation Tournament that could pull down Katahara Metsudo, who had been sitting in the Kengan Association chairman position for decades, Hayami Katsumasa actually only had one card prepared.
—That was the fighter he found, the "Monster" Julius Reinhold.
All other backup plans were just in case. Those fishermen and the assassins sent, Totsuki and Korakuen—these were all normal moves and smokescreens before the trump card!
Success would be best, unexpected gains even better.
Failure—wouldn't matter either.
Because...
"Julius will never be defeated."
So...
Hayami Katsumasa slowly smiled.
"Katahara Metsudo... how much longer can you sit in the chairman position~"
Thinking of this, Hayami Katsumasa enjoyed this pleasure alone.
After receiving the order, Eizan Etsuya felt his scalp tingle at the task Toyo Electric had arranged for him after putting down the phone.
"Kidnap that God's Tongue... are you kidding me? God's Tongue should be with that Mutou Judai now..."
Thinking of Mutou Judai, the first thing Eizan Etsuya showed wasn't hatred or anything like that, but fear!
Deep-seated fear!
He still remembered how that person easily shattered his pride that day, then destroyed his confidence... Thinking of those cold and condescending eyes, Eizan Etsuya couldn't muster any thought of resistance.
If possible, he never wanted to have any contact with Mutou Judai again in his life!
But this was a task commissioned by Toyo Electric!
He had no right to refuse.
This made Eizan Etsuya cover his head, struggling very painfully.
Finally, he thought of a solution, then hurriedly picked up his phone and found a number in his contacts that he had specially categorized but never used.
—That was the number to contact the legendary assassin clan, the Wu Clan.
"I can't do anything about you, Mutou Judai, but if I commission the Wu Clan, that should be fine!"
This was the solution Eizan Etsuya thought of!
If he commissioned the Wu Clan, as long as he paid money, he could both eliminate Mutou Judai, who had already left a psychological shadow on him, and complete the task commissioned by Toyo Electric.
Win-win!
—I thought of a win-win solution!
Thinking this, Eizan Etsuya dialed the number with trembling fingers, and what came from the other side was a girl's voice.
"This is the client..."
She said this first, then the phone seemed to be snatched by someone.
"Karura, don't mess around, this is a commission call—"
Then there was a commotion from that side. After it quieted down, Eizan heard a steady but somewhat dejected male voice.
"Is this the client? This is the Wu Clan. State your task."
Eizan was somewhat irritated by this little drama, but he didn't dare say anything in front of this legendary assassin clan. He could only exhale and calm his emotions before speaking:
"I want to commission you to kill... no, help me capture one... no, help me capture two people!"
"One is Nakiri Erina from Totsuki Academy."
"The other... is a man called Mutou Judai!"
...