Compared to the chorus of "unbelievable" from the female side, the guys were far more harmonious.
"Hurry up, show us what you got!" The Food King—Jōichirō—urged with shining eyes. "Old man Hayashi, what kind of martial arts did you learn in another world? Show us something!"
A man's love for martial arts is no less than his love for giant robots and beautiful girls—come on, who hasn't fantasized about gaining hypnotic powers and ending up in The Return of the Condor Heroes, seducing Huang Rong, Guo Fu, Guo Xiang, Little Dragon Girl, Li Mochou…
Wait, wait—wrong script, let's try again!
Come on, who hasn't dreamed of inheriting legendary skills, traveling the world with a beautiful companion, sword in hand?
By the way, as kids, if anyone found a perfectly straight, branchless stick, it was basically like obtaining a divine weapon, right?
"I wanna see too—" Isshiki Satoshi chimed in eagerly. "Real martial arts? I'd love to witness it—"
"Same here!" Gin sat imposingly in his chair, exuding an intimidating aura as he stared at Hayashi. "In fact, I'd even like to spar with you!"
"Dude, wrong genre! If I'd gone to learn cooking and you challenged me to a Shokugeki, I'd get it! But a fight? What the hell—" Hayashi couldn't help but retort. "You're a chef, not a martial artist!"
"Besides being a chef, I'm also a fitness enthusiast—" Gin chuckled in explanation. "So when I see real skills, I can't help but itch to test them."
"Huh, that makes sense?" Hayashi furrowed his brows in frustration. "But the current Gin-san might not be my match, you know?"
And it wasn't just arrogance talking! Though Hayashi looked like a lanky 180cm guy, his weight of over 100kg hinted at just how much of that was pure muscle. As for actual combat experience—without exaggeration, if he returned to Earth now and fought Mike Tyson in a deathmatch, he could probably knock Tyson unconscious in under ten seconds.
"Ho!"
Far from being offended by Hayashi's "arrogance," Gin's eyes lit up as he muttered to himself, "For Hayashi to be this confident, he must've learned the real deal!"
"Then hurry up and try!" Terunori Kuga urged excitedly. "Gin-senpai always forces us to wake up at 5 AM for his morning runs just because he's jacked! Teach him a lesson!"
"Oh-ho—"
Gin let out a voice reminiscent of DIO, looking at Terunori with amusement as he said, "It seems Kuga-kun has quite the opinion of me? How about we have a little sparring session?"
"Uh—" Terunori felt his throat tighten, beads of cold sweat forming as he stammered, "W-well, I-I'm a chef, n-not a fighter!"
"Even better!" Gin's grin widened. "Then how about a Shokugeki?"
Damn it!
How could I forget this muscle-bound beast of a senpai is a former Elite Ten graduate!?
Tears streaming down his face, Terunori Kuga turned to Hayashi, sending him a desperate SOS with pleading eyes—
Help me out here, for heaven's sake!
'This brat...' Hayashi couldn't help but twitch his cheek before sighing. "Alright, alright, Gin-san, stop bullying this weak but cocky kid. I'll spar with you instead, how's that?"
Terunori's eyes bulged. He pointed at himself indignantly, then glared at his fellow Elite Ten members—Did you hear what he called me!? Weak but cocky!? Is there no justice left in this world!?
Eishi Tsukasa glanced at him before flipping him the bird—You are indeed a weak, cocky little trash!
"(° △ °|||)︴"
Utterly devastated, Terunori looked to the others for comfort. In the end, only the kind-hearted Isshiki Satoshi patted his shoulder and consoled him, "My condolences."
'That's not consolation at all... Damn it!'
Terunori's spirit was utterly crushed.
...
...
Shokugeki no Soma world.
Tōtsuki Resort.
Gymnasium, ring.
"I never knew this place had equipment like this—" Hayashi looked around before remarking to Gin, "Tell me, Gin-san, this isn't your personal setup, is it?"
"Do I seem like that kind of person?"
"You do."
"Fair point." Gin chuckled as he strapped on his protective gear and stepped into the ring. "I did train in martial arts for a while, so having a practice space is only natural."
"You're a chef—why did you even learn martial arts?" Hayashi's lips twitched as he eyed Gin's toned muscles. "With those muscles, Gin-san, I'm starting to suspect your Shokugeki victories come from beating opponents until they can't even step into the arena."
"HAHAHAHA—" Jōichirō laughed so hard he slapped the ring's floor. "Beating them until they can't compete, HAHAHA! Gin, was that really why you worked out?"
"My Shokugeki wins have always been through skill, pure skill!"
"Muscle power is a type of skill too—"
"HAHAHA—"
Jōichirō was now doubled over with laughter.
"Jōichirō, you're egging him on now!?"
"Gin! Have you forgotten? Polar Star Dorm's rule is to let strength do the talking!" Jōichirō winked at Gin. "In Shokugeki, we use culinary skills, but in the ring..."
"Naturally, we use martial arts!" Gin cracked his knuckles, taking a deep breath before declaring to Hayashi, "I won't hold back!"
"Good!" Hayashi, still grinning, nodded lightly. "Let's see what Gin-san's got outside the kitchen!"
"You'll see it—" Gin wore a cautious expression as he placed his hands in front of him, taking small steps toward Hayashi. Meanwhile, Hayashi clenched his fists in a staggered stance, his eyes locked onto Gin.
'First, a probing attack to gauge his current strength—' With that thought, Gin tentatively threw a right punch. 'Not full force—that way, even if he can't react, I can still—Huh?'
The next moment, Gin felt the world spin violently before a sharp pain shot through his back. The scenery before him had changed—wait, this looked familiar. Wasn't that the ceiling of the ring?
'Huh? Wait, I got taken down!?' Finally, Gin processed what had happened. His eyes widened in shock as he abruptly sat up from the floor—only to be met with the stunned expressions of the onlookers.
Their faces practically screamed—
Holy crap, honey, come quick and watch Kaguya-sama Season 3—it's more divine than God Himself!!
"What… just happened?" Gin pressed a hand to his forehead, turning to Jōichirō beside him. "I didn't even react. Did any of you see it?"
"I'd love to say I did, but…" Jōichirō gave a helpless chuckle, shaking his head. "All I saw was him sidestepping you, and then you were on the ground."
"M-me too—" Terunori stammered, his voice trembling with disbelief as he stared at Hayashi. "He's gotten insanely strong!? Is this what martial arts can do?"
"Rather than martial arts, it feels more like some kind of witchcraft—" Isshiki rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "What exactly did he do to make Gin-senpai drop like that?"
"I just…" Hayashi lifted his right leg and left hand, explaining, "When he charged, I sidestepped, grabbed his collar with my left hand, and swept his legs with my right foot—breaking his balance."
"All in that split second?"
"Yep."
"Damn—"
Gin scratched his head in frustration before slumping back onto the mat with a sigh. "Ugh—no good! No matter how much I think about it, I can't remember how I got taken down! This isn't even a fair fight anymore!"
To compete on the same level, you at least needed to see your opponent's movements and react to them. Even after Hayashi explained how he'd done it, Gin still couldn't recall what had happened.
The gap was just too obvious.
"That's amazing, Hayashi-kun!" Terunori immediately bounded onto the ring, bouncing around him like an excited gorilla. "Hey, hey! Can you take me down too? I wanna experience the same defeat as Gin-senpai!"
Gin: "?"
Are you insane!? What do you mean "same defeat as me"—do I look that pathetic!?
Terunori's request seemed to open the floodgates. The ever-playful Jōichirō eagerly raised his hand, grinning. "Me too, me too! I wanna experience the Gin Special!"
"Pfft—"
The others burst into stifled laughter.
"Dōjima-senpai's signature move—the sudden fall... So it's the 'Dō-fall'... Pfft..."
"Hold it in... gotta hold it in..."
"If I laugh at such a lame pun, I'll definitely get mocked for having a trash sense of humor..."
Seeing his own father raise his hand, Sōma Yukihira immediately followed suit, shouting, "I wanna try it too! The legendary 'instant takedown' even Dōjima-senpai couldn't react to!"
"Pfft—HAHAHA—"
The "Culinary King's" finishing blow finally broke the composure of the onlookers. No longer able to hold back under Gin's intimidating presence, they burst into laughter.
"###"
A visible vein throbbed on Gin's forehead. He walked over to Hayashi, patted his shoulder, and whispered into his ear, "Do me a favor—throw them down hard enough to kill!"
So, never underestimate a man's pettiness! Their grudges—no, I mean their pettiness—can land you in the 'Taste Essence Pavilion' getting pricked with needles, ya hear?!
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