#401 - The ultimate dish that looks like a work of art!

The "True Sea Bream Continent Map" is a sea bream dish that surprisingly recreated the flavors of multiple regions of China. In terms of innovation and concept alone, Soma had already surpassed Ryou at the time.

However, when considering the taste and presentation, Seiya didn't believe that "The Raging Ice Sea Bream Mountain" would lose to the "True Sea Bream Continent Map."

Because culinary duels always have judges, and judges are human. They have their own preferences and biases, making true impartiality impossible.

During Soma and Ryou's duel, the judges were all locals, and Soma's dish not only had a novel creation, achieving multiple flavors from a single fish, but also recreated the flavors of the judges' hometowns. Naturally, Ryou stood no chance.

Let's hypothesize: if Soma's "True Sea Bream Continent Map" and "The Raging Ice Sea Bream Mountain" were presented in the Japanese culinary world, what would the outcome be?

Due to regional differences, wouldn't people here prefer sashimi? Although Soma's dish can evoke the flavors of several regions, the judges might not understand its significance because of the different location.

The true Raging Ice Sea Bream Mountain requires the Dark Cooking Society's secret "Hokushin Sirius Blade" and "Arhat Crystal Cut," made at the cost of freezing one's own hand to create the ultimate dish.

But Seiya didn't have the "Hokushin Sirius Blade." Even if he did, it wouldn't be appropriate to bring it out in this situation.

So, he could only use another method: using the power of Glaceon from Pokémon to keep the Tsurugi Wolf Blade at an extremely low temperature, artificially creating an "ice blade" effect.

(Seiya's Eevee from Pokémon can evolve into various Eeveelutions. The Pokémon world will be written about later (￣￣))

As for the "Arhat Crystal Cut," Seiya used it without hesitation.

Because judging from Senzaemon Nakiri's delayed recognition of the Seven-Star Knives, he probably didn't know much about the Dark Cooking Society of China.

Techniques like the "Arhat Crystal Cut" might be something he's heard of, but he probably hasn't seen it in person.

Under Seiya's extreme speed, his hand holding the Tsurugi Wolf Blade seemed to transform into an afterimage. The slices of sea bream he cut off were like dancing butterflies, falling accurately onto the ice mountain.

What stunned Souma Yukihira and Erina Nakiri even more was that when they saw the paper-thin slices of sea bream flying past them, they could even see their surprised faces reflected on the translucent fish!

Yes, the slices of sea bream that Seiya cut with his extreme knife skills were like mirrors under the light, so clear that they could reflect their faces.

In less than half a minute, the originally empty ice mountain was covered with paper-thin slices of sea bream.

The crystal-clear fish meat lay on the ice mountain, with the texture of the fish meat clearly visible. Combined with the icy air emanating from the ice mountain, the whole dish looked like a work of art!

"This is the Raging Ice Sea Bream Mountain, made using the Seven-Star Knives' legacy. Please enjoy."

As Seiya's voice rang out, Souma Yukihira and Erina, who were still in a state of shock, belatedly reacted and looked at the dreamlike dish that resembled a work of art.

"Seiya, when did you train your knife skills so much behind my back!

Damn it, have you been secretly working hard again these past few days!"

When making seafood fried rice, Souma Yukihira knew that Seiya's control over the heat was excellent, but even so, there wasn't such a significant gap between them.

But after seeing Seiya's "Raging Ice Sea Bream Mountain" today, Souma Yukihira was completely dumbfounded!

If his basic skills in controlling the heat were roughly a 40/60 split with Seiya before, then the knife skills Seiya just demonstrated, compared to his, were completely 20/80... no, 10/90!

Of course, Seiya was 90, and Souma Yukihira was 10...

The dishes Seiya had competed with him in before rarely required demonstrating knife skills, so Souma Yukihira had always thought that Seiya's knife skills were about the same as his, or even weaker.

But now it seems, it's not even close! It's a complete stomp!

"What working hard? I don't understand what you're talking about. And when did I ever say that my knife skills were bad?

Sashimi not only pursues extreme knife skills but also extreme freshness. If you keep arguing with me, this "Raging Ice Sea Bream Mountain" will probably only have the ice mountain left."

Souma Yukihira, who originally wanted to continue investigating the matter of working hard, turned around and found that Senzaemon Nakiri, Erina, and others had already started eating the "Raging Ice Sea Bream Mountain" with gusto, with expressions of intoxication on their faces. Only then did he realize that now was not the time to argue with Seiya.

After picking up a paper-thin slice of sea bream with his chopsticks, Souma Yukihira first praised the extreme knife skills again, then dipped it in the special dipping sauce in front of him, and then put it in his mouth.

And at the moment when the sea bream slice entered his mouth, even without the so-called "God's Tongue," Souma Yukihira could clearly feel the ultimate freshness!

The paper-thin slices of sea bream were not only crystal clear in appearance, but their icy texture was as if they were melting in his mouth like real thin ice.

Moreover, the degree of freshness made them feel that the sea bream in their mouths was alive, constantly stimulating and stirring their taste buds and appetite!

If Souma Yukihira tasted the ultimate freshness, then the impact of Erina's "God's Tongue" on her was even greater!

At the moment when the sea bream slice entered her mouth, she felt as if she was wearing a swimsuit and came to the sea in the hot summer. A huge sea bream suddenly jumped out of the sea, and she rode on it, directly swimming in the entire underwater world.

Honestly, a sea bream weighing hundreds of pounds, even after removing the internal organs and the head and tail that are not suitable for making sashimi, the remaining part is at least dozens of pounds. Such a portion is more than enough for Erina and the others to eat.

But what was outrageous was that while they were eating, Seiya was cutting. In just over ten minutes, the part of the entire sea bream suitable for making sashimi was all cut by Seiya, and these guys still looked like they hadn't had enough!

Even when there was only the last slice of sea bream left on the ice mountain, Erina, Souma Yukihira, and Minezaki, who stretched out their chopsticks at the same time, all looked at each other with hostility, seemingly not intending to back down.

"Hey, aren't you just a guide? You should be grateful that we let you sit with us and eat! Now you dare to snatch food from me!

And you! Aren't you from this store? Why are you sitting down with the guests and eating so brazenly!"