"Midnight Chefs, huh? Those guys really are a pain. If they show up, the Shokugeki Bureau will need to add a few new rules."
At the mention of the Midnight Chefs, Senzaemon Nakiri's eyes narrowed.
Those people were trouble wherever they went, and everyone in the culinary world knew better than to welcome them.
There were two major groups among the Midnight Chefs.
One was like Asahi Saiba and his crew—people who used their cooking to get whatever they wanted, and weren't above fighting dirty when necessary.
The other group… was far more dangerous. Many of them had criminal records, or outright bounties on their heads.
They were lawless, unpredictable, and willing to do anything.
Of course, in Japan, Senzaemon wasn't worried about the latter group at all.
With his influence here, he'd know the moment any of them set foot on the island. The "Demon King of Cuisine" wasn't a title given lightly—if he wanted to take someone down, no one could stop him.
What he did worry about was the first group. Once people like that entered Japan and started interacting with the Shokugeki system, who knew what kind of chaos they might cause?
So after ending his call with Mana Nakiri, Senzaemon immediately contacted the Director of the Shokugeki Bureau.
Since Shokugeki originated from Totsuki, the Bureau's leadership naturally came from the Nakiri family.
And Senzaemon had one goal: create new regulations.
First—any outside challengers requesting a Shokugeki must be reported to him directly.
Second—the betting stakes needed strict limits. Before, stakes were pretty flexible, but that wouldn't work anymore. If the Midnight Chefs arrived, no one knew what insane wagers they'd drag into a match.
So the second rule was simple: if the difference in stakes between the two sides exceeded a certain level, the Shokugeki would not be approved.
Third—there would be strict investigations of all unofficial Shokugeki matches. Some people didn't report them to the Bureau, or acted impulsively before approval could be issued. And if both sides agreed, the Bureau couldn't interfere.
That had to change. With the Nakiri family's authority, as long as these three rules were enforced, even the Midnight Chefs wouldn't be able to cause major damage.
After settling everything with the Shokugeki Bureau, Senzaemon made more calls—this time to operatives who were nothing like Gin Dojima.
Dojima worked in the open. These people worked in the shadows.
Senzaemon's order was simple: watch every outsider entering Japan. Mana had already given him intel on the Midnight Chefs—while incomplete, their most notorious members were all listed.
With that intel and his agents keeping watch, he'd be alerted the moment any of them made a move.
Only after setting all this in motion did Senzaemon finally rest.
Meanwhile, Mana Nakiri took action as well. Compared to the Nakiri family, the WGO had an even wider reach. And while Japan was firmly under Nakiri control, she wasn't taking any chances.
She ordered the WGO to monitor every Midnight Chef's movement around the world.
Of course, she wasn't doing this to keep them out. As long as they didn't try anything extreme, they were potential experience fodder for Kael.
In fact, she welcomed the idea—Midnight Chefs challenging Kael would only help him grow faster.
As for those who were dangerous criminals… she'd eliminate the manageable ones herself, and pass the others to Senzaemon.
Thanks to this father–daughter duo, Japan had become a trap waiting to be sprung. Any Midnight Chef who entered had two possible outcomes:
If they behaved and simply competed in cooking, they'd leave unharmed.
If they didn't…
They might never leave Japan again.
None of the Midnight Chefs would ever guess that Kael had earned such terrifying protection.
Naturally, word began spreading among the Midnight Chefs, though their information network was fragmented.
The first ones to hear about Kael turned their attention toward Japan immediately. A fifteen- or sixteen-year-old Eight-Star Chef—that had never happened in culinary history.
Of course they wanted to see it for themselves.
"Asahi, are we going? An Eight-Star Chef at fifteen or sixteen… even if it sounds outrageous, the head of the Nakiri family wouldn't lie."
Inside a luxurious villa, three people sat together.
The one in the center was a handsome young man—Asahi Saiba. The two beside him were his subordinates:
Claude Ville, known as the Crimson Executioner, his Special Ability being Blood Cuisine;and Malcanta, nicknamed the Kitchen Clown, known for his Circus Cuisine.
Both had already been defeated and recruited by Asahi. He had planned to gather even more Midnight Chefs under him, but then news of Kael becoming an Eight-Star Chef spread across the world.
"Yeah. Even you are only an Eight-Star Chef right now."
Claude nodded. Asahi's success was due to his Special Ability, the Cross Knives, allowing him to copy another chef's abilities—even their Cooking Heart.
Of course, there were restrictions. To copy someone's cooking or Cooking Heart, he needed their kitchen knife. And if that knife left his body for too long, everything he copied vanished.
That was why he carried so many knives everywhere.
The true purpose of the ability, however, was to study each technique slowly—turning borrowed skills into his own.
As the final big villain of the Food Wars world, Asahi's power was outright broken. But even so, it came with its own challenges. Copying one chef's techniques took a long time, and Cooking Hearts weren't something you could truly steal.
He could imitate another's Cooking Heart temporarily, but never master it permanently. A Cooking Heart was unique to its owner—it couldn't simply be reproduced.
So all he could do was use others' Cooking Hearts as references, breaking them down to understand his own better.
But Asahi was only seventeen—equivalent to a third-year at Totsuki. Even with insane talent and his Cross Knives, he had limited time and energy. Just researching Joichiro Saiba's knife had taken him ages.
There was no time to process everyone else. So he carried the knives until he needed them.
But there was a huge flaw in this method—he could only get knives by beating opponents. If he ran into someone stronger than him, it was over.
Combining the skills of a hundred Eight-Star Chefs still wouldn't create a Nine-Star Chef. Just like mixing many buckets of lukewarm water wouldn't magically become boiling water.
In the original story, Asahi even defeated Joichiro before going to Totsuki—but in this fanfic world, that was impossible.
The Food Wars storyline fell apart badly in the later arcs, with students suddenly becoming world-class out of nowhere.
Like a Chunin suddenly punching out Madara Uchiha.
Asahi could no longer defeat Joichiro, but the Cross Knives' power was still terrifying—similar to Kael's, in some ways.
Kael inherited Kaiyu's legacy through a system; Asahi inherited Joichiro's legacy through copying.
With such guidance and his own talent, Asahi surpassed Joichiro and became an Eight-Star Chef at seventeen.
But compared to Kael, he still fell short. Kael was even younger by a year or two… and also an Eight-Star Chef.
He also knew Kael's Special Ability was Divine Hearing. Impressive, but in Asahi's eyes, it still couldn't compare to Cross Knives.
"I hadn't planned to go to Japan yet. I still have people I want to recruit. But with this news… all the prideful ones will head there first. Which means we don't have a choice anymore."
He originally wanted to collect more elites—but now everyone else was already converging on Japan to challenge Kael. His plans had to shift accordingly.
"Then let's go. Didn't you say one of your targets is also there? Want to deal with him while we're there?" Malcanta grinned.
"Technically, I have two targets. One of them is in Japan. But he's still too weak."
Asahi had always kept track of Soma Yukihira and his father. He needed to defeat both—steal Soma's everything, then surpass Joichiro.
Only then could he prove he was the greatest chef alive.
Soma was currently only a Four-Star Chef. Even if he grew until Asahi's age, he'd probably only reach Five-Star or Six-Star level at best. Seven-Star? Impossible.
His starting point was too low. He entered high school as a Three-Star equivalent, while Joichiro had entered as a Six-Star and graduated as a Seven-Star.
Soma was a genius, sure… but nowhere near Joichiro's level. And Asahi was beyond both.
"I still don't get why someone that weak is your target."
Asahi naturally didn't explain his longing for parental love. He only named the people he needed to defeat.
"You don't need to understand. Just pack up—we're heading to Japan."
The three separated to finish their preparations.
The entire culinary world was now moving because of Kael.
Meanwhile, Kael continued visiting the fish market with Megumi Tadokoro every morning to search for ingredients for the upcoming Autumn Elections round, which required them to gather their own sanma.
But recently, he noticed something strange.
Whenever he looked at ingredients, a sensation stirred inside him—like he could control them.
And it wasn't his imagination. The feeling grew stronger every day.
At the market, he discovered that living ingredients could actually respond to him. Fish sitting in tubs would move exactly where he mentally instructed them.
Not just fish—other small animals too. He confirmed this by experimenting in Yuki Yoshino's livestock area.
But there were limits. Large animals like pigs, cows, or sheep resisted him completely. It felt like pushing against tremendous weight.
Yet even that resistance was weakening day by day.
With changes like this, Kael was certain—
He was awakening a Special Ability of his own.