Even If You Know Some Things, It Is Hard to Find a Countermeasure

"I hate chefs. I hate cooking even more."

"Huh...? Haven't you already decided to defeat Totsuki through legitimate means?"

"That's true, but that doesn't mean I have to give up the methods I'm good at. I'm going to establish a new Chef Academy and crush Totsuki from every angle. Totsuki? Hmph!"

"Even though you don't plan to learn cooking?"

"Who said the chairman of a Chef Academy has to be skilled at cooking?"

"That's true... Haha..."

Slime Shirou transformed back into a slime, hopped onto Sakurai Shirou's head, and asked lazily,

"This is just misplaced anger, isn't it? The one you hate is Nakiri Mana, not the entire Totsuki Academy."

"No, what I hate is all of Totsuki." Sakurai Shirou paused. "And don't call it misplaced anger. I've never cared whether that woman lived or died."

"Lie! Lie..." Slime Shirou said repeatedly.

This guy!

Sakurai Shirou instantly realized that he had suddenly turned into a slime and jumped onto his shoulder so he could peer into his emotions while talking.

Yet even knowing that, he had no way to resist.

After all, their strength was exactly the same, so it was difficult to shake him off.

"I've never cared about that woman. I hate Nakiri Mana only because she made me lose my first pot of gold."

"Lie! Lie..."

"At this point, I've long forgotten that woman completely."

"That's another lie!" Slime Shirou chuckled for a while before saying seriously, "Water Shadow has the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu. It's still a very crude version, but you might be able to give it a try."

"Heh... Don't say such stupid things. How could I possibly do something like that?"

"You were tempted. In that instant just now, you were thinking: When I get back, I have to try it."

"Shut up!"

Sakurai Shirou reached out with his right hand, wanting to peel the slime off himself, but it calmly evaded him.

"It's not cute when a man acts tsundere. Besides, we're both the same person. You can't hide anything from me."

"Hmph! Who in the Food Wars World doesn't know that I, Sakurai Shirou, keep my word and never lie?"

"Ooh...! Amazing! But that statement is so ridiculously fake that I can't even bear to look at you."

Is this guy getting back at me for my sharp tongue earlier?

"That's right." Slime Shirou suddenly laughed. "Hehe... Who told you to act so arrogantly just now?"

"You! I'll give you enough food to feed one hundred thousand people for a year."

"Really?"

The slime suddenly jumped down from Sakurai Shirou's shoulder and instantly assumed Slime King Form, saying excitedly,

"I want rice and vegetables! Also, I want recipes from your world, as complete as possible."

"What matters is cooking skill. What do you need recipes for?" Sakurai Shirou asked instinctively.

"As long as you follow a recipe strictly, you can make dishes above a certain standard. The rest just takes practice. Recipes determine the lower limit, while cooking skill determines the upper limit. How could they be useless?"

"Fine. I'll get them to you within three days."

"Once they're ready, just leave them here. I'll come take them when I have time. Oh, and I want food too. I want to taste the most delicious dishes in the Food Wars World."

"Food? How am I supposed to give that to you? Leave it here too?"

"No need. Go eat, then come back and shake my hand."

"I can't. I have no sense of taste."

"That's easy to solve. Just drink a Recovery Potion. Also, I've trained Life Return to its highest level. The injury on your tongue is nothing at all."

"Life Return?"

Sakurai Shirou recalled the Life Return technique derived from the Six Powers. With a thought, his body gradually began to slim down.

In the blink of an eye, he went from a fat man with a huge belly to a scrawny young man.

"You've gotten too thin! You look no different from Zepp or Sanji after starving for over two months," Slime Shirou reminded him.

"Mm."

Sakurai Shirou adjusted his condition, and his body gradually filled out until he quickly became a healthy, normal young man.

His short black hair paired with his overly large clothes. He was not particularly handsome, but calling him clean-cut would not be wrong at all.

Food Wars World.

"I'm back? It feels like it's been a long time."

Sakurai Shirou sighed, picked up the phone on his desk, pressed several buttons in succession, and quickly dialed a number.

"Shiraishi, suspend the plan."

"Yes, Boss!"

"I'll notify you again once the new plan is ready."

The original plan had been to force all of Totsuki Academy's teachers to resign through a series of methods such as kidnapping, extortion, and hypnosis.

At the same time, he would do everything possible to stop Totsuki from recruiting new teachers and students.

He would use every despicable method he could think of to crush Totsuki.

But now, having found a purpose in life, Sakurai Shirou decided to abandon that plan.

His new goal was to establish a new Chef Academy, defeat Totsuki, and replace it.

That meant he could no longer use the original method of utter destruction. Ideally, he would recruit all the teachers from Totsuki instead.

However, before that, he first needed to taste Nakiri Senzaemon's cooking.

There was no consensus on who could make the most delicious food in the world, but Nakiri Senzaemon was undoubtedly one of the world's top chefs.

Thinking this, Sakurai Shirou picked up the receiver and dialed another number.

"Come over. I'm in the office."

"Yes, Boss! I'll be right there."

A few seconds later, there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Come in."

The door slowly opened, and a scream rang out from inside the room.

"Eek...!!"

"So loud!"

Shirou frowned slightly, covered his ears with one hand, and said in a deep voice,

"Be quiet! I didn't call you over here to scream."

"Boss? Wh-what is going on?" Minezaki Yaeko stared at Shirou in stunned disbelief and stammered, "It's only been a few minutes. How... how did you get so thin?"

"I took off my makeup."

"You're lying! You've never worn makeup before. And what does makeup have to do with your body shape?"

"Then aliens suddenly descended."

"Impossible! I was outside the whole time. I didn't hear anything."

Shirou fell silent for several seconds before slowly speaking.

"I can't think of a suitable explanation. Just fill in the blanks yourself. Make it as reasonable as you like. Tomorrow morning, come with me to the Nakiri family."

"N-no explanation?"

Minezaki Yaeko paused before asking cautiously,

"Boss, why are we going to the Nakiri family?"

"I'm going to taste food personally made by Nakiri Senzaemon."

"Huh...? Have you already made a reservation?"

"No, but I have quite a few pieces of dirt on Totsuki Academy. I can throw one of them out as a bargaining chip."

"Boss, may I ask why?"

"Because of a promise. Also, since they'll be my opponent in the future, I want to see what the enemy is capable of."

"But, Boss, don't you have no sense of taste?"

"It's been restored."

"That's impossible, isn't it? Even damaged taste nerves can be restored?"

"If you don't believe me, come over and see for yourself."

"Then... shall I dig in?"

Chapter 58: Even If You Know Some Things, It Is Hard to Find a Countermeasure

Chapter 58: Even If You Know Some Things, It Is Hard to Find a Countermeasure

Tokyo, inside a Japanese-style estate.

After his morning training, Nakiri Senzaemon sat on the wooden steps in the courtyard, holding a teacup and pouring tea for himself.

Before long, his granddaughter Nakiri Erina, dressed in her Totsuki uniform, approached from another direction and stopped beside him.

"Grandfather, I... recently, I feel like the atmosphere at Totsuki has been a little off."

"A storm is coming."

Nakiri Senzaemon sighed but did not explain.

The signs had actually appeared over a month ago.

After such a long investigation, he already knew who was targeting Totsuki.

But some things remained difficult to deal with even when you knew about them.

"Grandfather, do you know what happened?" Nakiri Erina could not help asking.

"Erina, as a chef, no matter what happens in the future, you must remember that cooking skill is the foundation."

"What exactly is going on?"

Nakiri Senzaemon did not answer, because even if she knew, it would do no good. It would only give her another worry.

At that moment, the butler hurried over from the direction of the main gate, his expression anxious as he said,

"Master, a large group of people has arrived outside. They look quite aggressive. I'm afraid they haven't come with good intentions."

"Oh...?"

Nakiri Senzaemon set down his teacup and was about to rise when he suddenly frowned.

In the distance, a young man surrounded by dozens of bodyguards was walking toward them.

Half a step behind him, a young woman in office attire followed closely.

The bodyguards' waists and chests bulged suspiciously, as though they were carrying weapons.

"They really haven't come with good intentions."

Nakiri Senzaemon studied the young man for a moment, frowning slightly as he asked,

"You're Sakurai Shirou? You don't look like the rumors describe. Your face shape is quite similar, but wasn't Sakurai supposed to be fat?"

"I lost weight."

Shirou paused, looked back and forth between the two of them, and let his gaze settle on Nakiri Erina.

Seeing this, Nakiri Senzaemon abruptly stood up and stepped in front of his granddaughter: