[39] - A Dish Shrouded in Mystery (BONUS)

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"Something's not right... Yuuki's special ability is different from before!"

Just as everyone was stunned by Yuuki's Inferno, Alice Nakiri frowned. Among those present, she and Ryō Kurokiba had seen Yuuki's Inferno the most, so they had a certain understanding of it.

Although Yuuki had used Inferno after returning to Polar Star, he used it rather infrequently. Thus, the other Polar Star residents hadn't noticed the change in his special ability.

"Different?? Is there something strange about it? He's definitely controlling flames, isn't he?" Yoshino Yuki asked, puzzled.

In their view, although the commotion was a bit larger, even engulfing Yuuki in flames, this was just the effect of his special ability.

"It's the temperature. Back at the resort, when he used Inferno, the surrounding temperature would rise drastically. If he was cooking, almost no one could stay in the same kitchen with him." Ryō Kurokiba spoke up.

His observation skills were very sharp. He immediately noticed this after hearing Alice Nakiri's words.

"That's right. When Yuuki uses Inferno, it generates incredibly high temperatures. Although the Chandra's Room is quite spacious, the scale of Yuuki's Inferno this time is also very large."

"We're sitting quite close to the front. At this distance, we should be clearly feeling the heatwave from Inferno, but right now, I can't feel any heat from those flames at all—" Alice Nakiri nodded.

Because of her status, she had brought everyone to the front row seats, allowing them to clearly see the actions of both contestants.

But it was precisely because of this that she noticed the difference in Yuuki's special ability.

"You're right!! Last time Yuuki used Inferno, people were practically being roasted alive!" The others also recalled the earlier scene of Yuuki using Inferno.

"Maybe he's learned to control the high temperature as he developed his ability further? But isn't that a bit too fast?"

Megumi Tadokoro guessed that Yuuki had gained better control over his special ability, but it had only been a little over a month since he awakened it. In such a short time, anyone else would still be trying to understand their ability, yet Yuuki could already control it precisely.

"Should something like this even be surprising when it comes to Yuuki? His rate of improvement has been completely insane recently!" Satoshi Isshiki said with a smile.

Hearing this, everyone thought about it and quickly nodded in agreement.

Satoshi was right!

Yuuki's Culinary skill improvement in this short period had been too fast—

—Compared to the rate at which his Culinary skills were improving, the development of his special ability wasn't actually that surprising.

....

After discussing it, everyone turned their attention to Terunori Kuga. Since Yuuki had completely shrouded himself in flames, they couldn't see what he was doing. Now, they could only watch Kuga.

As for Terunori Kuga—although he was focusing on his own cooking, sometimes, curiosity simply couldn't be contained...

He really didn't want to pay attention to Yuuki, but driven by his curiosity, he would still glance at Yuuki from time to time. Even if all he saw were flames, he still couldn't help himself.

This also made Kuga quite frustrated. Actually, his situation was completely normal. After all, Yuuki's actions were far beyond what ordinary people would do. It would be a lie to say he wasn't curious.

Thankfully, Yuuki's state didn't last too long. Soon, the flames dissipated, and everyone curiously looked towards Yuuki.

But after seeing what was in front of Yuuki, everyone was dumbfounded. Because what stood before Yuuki wasn't a finished dish, but a mold—a mold seemingly used for making tofu.

"What's going on? After all that fanfare, he hasn't even finished the tofu yet?"

The students were all completely confused. Forget about them, even the instructors were puzzled.

"Did he mess up or something?" one of the Elite Ten members couldn't help but ask.

"That's unlikely. Such a basic mistake—never mind everyone here, I doubt any sane person would make it. I think there's something up with that mold. Maybe the actual dish is hidden inside—" Eishi Tsukasa said.

He didn't believe someone like Yuuki would make a rookie mistake.

"Makes sense. The chance of such a fundamental error happening in this kind of competition is practically zero. This is getting interesting now—I wonder what his dish actually is."

"From the moment he started cooking, this dish has been shrouded in mystery." Rindō Kobayashi nodded.

Her curiosity was now at its peak—

It had to be said, Yuuki's tactic of enveloping himself in flames to block everyone's view was indeed very effective!

Now everyone was incredibly curious about what exactly was hidden in Yuuki's mold.

....

"Did his cooking slow down because I distracted him?"

Yuuki glanced at Terunori Kuga.

Logically, Kuga's speed should have been a bit faster than his.

After all, Yuuki had started by making tofu from scratch. But Kuga still wasn't finished, and Yuuki noticed Kuga made a few mistakes that shouldn't have happened.

Clearly, this was because Kuga's attention had been diverted.

This wasn't Yuuki's fault. He had simply been preparing his dish at his own pace. If the other party got distracted, it was because their own focus was lacking—it had nothing to do with him.

Yuuki didn't plan to wait any longer now. He didn't want Kuga's dish to be presented first. His own dish was already at its optimal state—he couldn't wait any longer.

So, Yuuki directly carried the large plate holding the mold and walked towards Senzaemon Nakiri.

....

"He's bringing it up already? Is the dish finished? What kind of dish is hidden in that mold??" Erina Nakiri watched Yuuki, completely puzzled.

Everyone's attention was now focused on Yuuki and the plate in his hands.

"Are we finally going to unveil the mystery of this dish?" Senzaemon Nakiri asked with a smile.

"This dish is a bit special. It needs some secrecy. Otherwise, the impact would be lessened—" Yuuki briefly explained.

After putting down the plate, he directly lifted the mold. At this moment, everyone finally saw what the dish inside actually looked like.

A large block of tofu—layers of black and white tofu stacked on top of each other. Underneath the tofu, a part of the mold seemed like a base, or stand.

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