The honor of Konoha Ramen's top seasoning was the lifetime honor of a ramen chef.
As soon as the old man said that, all the judges also turned solemn.
Immediately after, one judge after another directly surrounded the presentation counter of Hongle's side, with a bowl of ramen left for five minutes placed in front of each of them.
"After all, it is ramen left for such a long time, the appearance is somewhat discounted, and I will have a certain tolerance for the springiness of the ramen, but I must be strict about the broth."
"That's right, if the ramen can still maintain its springiness under these circumstances, I will definitely give a full two points!"
"As expected of Master Hongle, who has traveled for many years and returned after studying under famous noodle masters, the taste of this broth is also very unique."
"Let's begin."
Someone picked up their bowl of ramen first, and others began to follow suit.
After all, it was a tasting evaluation, so everyone chewed slowly, carefully experiencing the toughness of the ramen and the freshness of the broth.
Although Hongle was confident in the alkali stone, at this moment he was also a little nervous, and turned to look at the calm little master, whereupon the tension in his heart slowly disappeared.
After tasting a small bite carefully, everyone took a second bite, and the final step was to taste the broth.
Because this tasting concerned the honor of the top ramen seasoning, everyone treated it with solemn expressions.
"The tasting is over... Begin scoring!"
"2 points! The reason is that the ramen left for five minutes can still maintain considerable springiness; you truly live up to the name of ramen master Hongle."
"2 points! I believe the freshness of the broth is the highlight of this competition!"
"2 points!..."
"1 point! Viewed from the perspective of a guest, the texture of the ramen has indeed dropped significantly; although the broth is very good, the ramen is the main theme, and customers won't care whether you left it for five minutes!"
"2 points!"
"1 point..."
Everyone gave the scores in their hearts, and the reasons were objective and stood up to scrutiny.
Soon fifty judges successively gave the scores in their hearts.
After a brief tally, the old man announced in a loud voice, "Hongle's specially crafted ramen has a total score of 78 points!"
As soon as the total score was announced, there was an uproar among the crowd; this score could already be considered a high one.
Immediately afterward, all the judges hurried to the presentation counter of Ichiraku House.
"Because Hongle's ramen was tasted first, Ichiraku House's ramen has been sitting out a little longer. For the sake of fairness, Ichiraku House will receive an additional 3 points after the total scores are tallied. Alright, let the tasting begin!"
Clang!
The sound of the gong shook the heavens.
The judges wasted no time and picked up bowls of Ichiraku Ramen one by one to observe them closely.
At this sight, everyone was struck with astonishment.
"How is this possible? Ichiraku Ramen clearly has been left for a longer time than Hongle Ramen; how can the degree of swelling of the noodles be even smaller than Hongle Ramen?"
"That's right, it's truly strange."
"Hey, I didn't notice it while standing on the side just now, but how come lifting it up releases a specially fresh and fragrant scent? This broth doesn't seem simple, does it?"
"Mm, I noticed it too. As expected of Ichiraku House, which has won the title of top ramen seasoning three times in a row."
"Let's start tasting. This is the first time I've seen such marvelous ramen; I wonder how it tastes?"
Everyone picked up a chopstick of ramen and put it into their mouths, subconsciously intending to use their teeth to bite off the excess noodles.
However, at that very moment, a deafening exclamation burst out.
"My tongue... Good heavens, is this still ramen?"
"Left for over six minutes, and just biting the ramen off-my tongue felt as if it had been lashed by a rubber band. That's right, is this still ramen? Why is it so springy?"
At this time, there were still many people who hadn't truly tasted it yet, but unexpectedly, such shocking remarks came from not far away, startling them all into a stagger.
"Hey, this competition concerns the title of the top ramen seasoning, all of you be rigorous and serious!?"
"It's true, the ramen really bounced against my tongue. That feeling was as if the ramen had a life of its own; it's too wonderful."
"What?"
Those who had already tasted it had no time to explain at this moment, and continued to pick up ramen and put it into their mouths, enjoying the sensation of the ramen being bitten off in their mouths and whipping the insides of their oral cavities over and over again.
As for the judges who hadn't tasted it yet, they were completely dumbfounded at this point. The more it was like this, the heavier their curiosity grew, and finally they swallowed their throats and tasted a chopstick of ramen.
Smack smack smack smack...
The ramen was bitten off in the mouth, and quite a few people could even hear the sound of the ramen whipping the oral cavity, causing all the later-tasting ramen chefs to instantly reveal ghost-struck expressions.
"How can this be? Is there actually such springy ramen in the world?"
"Wuu wuu... Is this the ultimate form of ramen?!!"
The later tasters spoke loudly of their feelings at this moment, but right then the exclamations and shocks from not far away directly drowned out everyone else.
"Good heavens, the taste of this broth... An indescribable freshness; I can't find any adjectives to describe its freshness!"
If it were before tasting the ramen initially, people around would definitely have thought this person was crazy at such a shout.
But it was different now.
Ramen left for over six minutes could still be springy enough to hit the oral cavity and tongue-such heaven-defying things had appeared, so perhaps it wasn't hard to anticipate that the broth would still yield this kind of reaction.
Seeing this, the other ramen chefs also followed suit and took a tiny sip of the broth.
The fresh broth entered the depths of the oral cavity and stimulated the taste buds, and the scene instantly changed from the previous clamor and shock into a deathly stillness.
Every single person's face was brimming with obscene smiles without exception, as if they had been led into a phantom realm by the MSG-infused ramen broth and couldn't extricate themselves; the scene looked extremely eerie.
Fifty ramen chefs, like fifty statues, each held a ramen bowl in their hands, instantly making Aunt Ichiraku lose her confidence.
"Master, these people won't have any problems, will they? Why are they all acting like they've been poisoned?"
Aunt Ichiraku's voice entered his ears, but Naruto remained calm.
Because the gazes of the ANBU and the Root would still occasionally fall upon them, Naruto could only speak in a low voice, "It doesn't matter, this is their normal reaction."
The scene remained silent for a full ten seconds before a certain ramen chef gradually woke up.
"My goodness, what happened just now? It seemed like I entered a dream in my heart, and in the dream I saw my deceased mother, as well as the girl I secretly loved when I was little... Wuu wuu, is this the dream of happiness that food brings to people?"
"Ah ah... Delicious, it's so delicious! This is true ramen!"
"As a ramen chef of ten years, I suddenly discovered that I know nothing about ramen. I am ashamed!"
Everyone who woke up subconsciously uttered their thoughts and feelings about the ramen in their hands.
As soon as this kind of exaggerated remark came out, Hongle's side couldn't take it anymore.
Hongle was a bit better off because he had reached a consensus with the little master in advance, but the three little apprentices behind him couldn't stand still.
"How is this possible? You're lying, my master's ramen is the number one supreme delicacy!"
"You are all ramen seniors whom I respect; facing the title of Konoha's top ramen seasoning, how dare you go against your conscience and praise Ichiraku Ramen so highly?"
Two indignant questions instantly broke the sighs and marvels of the fifty judges.
"Hmph, brats, so undisciplined?"
"I swear upon my lifetime honor as a ramen chef, this is the best ramen I have ever eaten, bar none!"
"If you don't believe it... You little ghosts come over and taste it yourselves, why don't you?"
Scolded by the crowd, Hongle's three little apprentices didn't dare to talk back, and could only brace themselves and walk up to receive a middle-aged man's ramen bowl.
"I still don't believe it."
"That's right, Master's ramen is the number one in the Land of Fire!"
Slurp slurp...
While tasting, the three little apprentices still wore looks of disgust and doubt.
However, once the ramen entered their mouths, the expressions of the three froze instantly.
"Is this... Is this still ramen?"
"A supreme delicacy, the number one ramen... Although Master's ramen is also very strong, it still falls far short in taste and chewiness."
Seeing that everyone had finished tasting, the officiating old man struck the bronze gong and said, "Alright, Ichiraku House's ramen has been tasted. Scoring starts now!"
As his voice fell, all the judges looked at each other and nodded, as if they had long since made up their minds.
"Full score! The reason is simply that it's a supreme delicacy!"
"Full score! The reason is simply that it's a supreme delicacy!"
"Full score! The reason is that the broth is fresh!"