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Because of his past experiences, Kojiro Shinomiya enjoyed the feeling of control over others. This kind of control was the absolute dominance of a superior over a subordinate.
But this kind of control also had a prerequisite: the target of this control had to be someone he could afford to go against.
Among these students, there were a few Kojiro Shinomiya couldn't afford to pick a fight with, and Yuuki was one of them. After all, Yuuki now represented hope for the Nakiri family—
—If he provoked Yuuki, although he wouldn't necessarily be completely ruined, his life afterwards definitely wouldn't be easy.
With Yuuki not competing for ingredients, the consequence was that Yuuki would end up with the problematic ingredients. Shinomiya didn't doubt Yuuki's ability to solve such issues.
But solving them would inevitably mean modifying his recipes, and he wouldn't allow others to change his recipes.
Using this trick, he had already eliminated a few students who should have been able to pass.
If it were any other student, he wouldn't hesitate to have them expelled immediately. But unfortunately, there was Yuuki. And Yuuki didn't compete for ingredients.
The students who grabbed the ingredients also noticed Yuuki's and Megumi's actions as they turned around.
Basically, everyone knew Yuuki didn't try to grab ingredients. So, even if Shinomiya wanted to deliberately let Yuuki pass, he couldn't—the other students would definitely question him...
If this were in his own kitchen, he wouldn't allow any questions. If anyone caused too much trouble, he'd simply kick them out.
But this was Tōtsuki—
Although the Tōtsuki Resort gave them significant authority when they came, if things blew up too much, it would definitely attract the attention of others.
He himself knew very well that his assessment had serious problems. So, Kojiro Shinomiya was incredibly uncomfortable right now and didn't even know what to do next.
Actually, he had one more option: to make an exception and let all students in this class whose abilities were up to par pass. As for the excuse of modifying recipes, he naturally couldn't use it.
But Kojiro Shinomiya's personality was currently twisted.
This twisted personality meant that casually changing these rules would only make him feel even worse.
....
At this moment, Yuuki also looked at Kojiro Shinomiya. Seeing the look on Shinomiya's face, Yuuki could tell he must be incredibly uncomfortable. This was precisely the effect Yuuki wanted.
What Kojiro Shinomiya did in the original story really made you want to punch him in the face.
After most of the others had chosen their ingredients, Yuuki and Megumi also received their ingredients. These ingredients, without a doubt, had problems.
If these ingredients weren't specially processed and were directly cooked according to the original recipe, they would produce an unpleasant odor, rendering the dish inedible.
For Yuuki and Megumi Tadokoro, solving this problem was naturally very easy. As for Soma Yukihira, Yuuki didn't bother with him; Soma had obtained ingredients without problems, so he just needed to cook according to the recipe.
This time, Yuuki deliberately slowed down his cooking speed, even occasionally stopping to take a break.
This further darkened Kojiro Shinomiya's face...
Yuuki's actions were clearly intentional. These graduates had watched the recording of Yuuki's performance yesterday. That speed was simply inhuman!
But today—Yuuki was incredibly slow.
If this wasn't intentional, Shinomiya wouldn't believe it.
And when Shinomiya looked at Yuuki, Yuuki even gave him a smile. However, this smile clearly carried a hint of mockery. He could now be one hundred percent certain—Yuuki was doing this on purpose.
As for why Yuuki was doing this, Shinomiya could more or less guess. After all, many people had told him his philosophy was wrong. He had always scoffed at such statements.
This world valued strength—
His status and authority were higher than theirs. Since they were working under him, they naturally had to be under his control.
A group of students had already experienced Shinomiya's methods yesterday, and such news spread very quickly among the students.
Shinomiya guessed that Yuuki was probably also annoyed by him, which is why Yuuki was deliberately doing this.
Not competing for ingredients, deliberately taking the problematic ingredients—the purpose was to modify Shinomiya's recipes. And by slowing down his speed, it forced Shinomiya to taste other people's dishes first.
By the time it was Yuuki's turn, unless Shinomiya truly abandoned the rule he had established, it would be impossible to let Yuuki pass. If Yuuki was forcibly passed, he would surely make a fuss.
Right now, Kojiro Shinomiya was racking his brains trying to figure out just where he had offended Yuuki to cause Yuuki to target him like this.
If Yuuki knew what Shinomiya was thinking, he would probably find it rather funny. It wasn't that he was specifically targeting Shinomiya—this was all because Gin Dojima had intervened.
....
Time passed rapidly. When Yuuki finished his dish, many students had already completed their dishes and had Shinomiya taste them.
Of course, none of these students had obtained the problematic ingredients. Because those whose ingredients had problems needed to spend time resolving the ingredient issues.
As for those who didn't address the problems with the ingredients—it was their own fault if they were eliminated.
After Yuuki finished his dish, he didn't immediately bring it up. Instead, he waited until Megumi Tadokoro had first completed her dish with the problematic ingredients.
However, what happened next somewhat surprised Yuuki. Although Shinomiya's face had been dark throughout the tasting of Megumi's dish, in the end, he still let Megumi pass.
As for the matter of changing the recipe—he didn't mention a word about it.
Clearly, Shinomiya had ultimately chosen to abandon the excuse of modified recipes to find fault in this assessment.
While doing so meant crossing his own bottom line, compared to survival, things like pride didn't seem to be as important.
At this moment, to make himself feel a bit better, Shinomiya was constantly brainwashing himself with the "survival of the fittest" Mantra.
His authority and influence couldn't compare to the Nakiri family's. After returning, he still had to rely on the Nakiri family to survive. So, he couldn't afford to anger someone like Yuuki at this time.
With constant self-brainwashing, Kojiro Shinomiya also felt a bit better and eventually allowed Megumi Tadokoro to pass the assessment.
However, he didn't give any evaluation, just a dry "PASS."
"Honestly, I admire your adaptability, Shinomiya-senpai~"
After Megumi passed, Yuuki also brought his own dish over. Since normal methods weren't working, he could only directly lay his cards on the table.
"What do you mean by that, Yuuki?"
Shinomiya's face darkened even further. He naturally knew what Yuuki was talking about—it meant his earlier speculation was correct: Yuuki was deliberately looking for trouble.
But now, Yuuki actually said it so blatantly. This action made Shinomiya somewhat at a loss; all he could do now was play dumb.
"Playing dumb, huh? Then let me be blunt. Your exam questions have problems. Tōtsuki has already noticed this. The students you eliminated yesterday weren't directly expelled."
"I also didn't expect you to be so adaptable. Yesterday, you were all about your rules being absolute; today, you just threw them out the window. Really impressive..." Yuuki smiled as he directly tore down the facade between them.
At this moment, the atmosphere also became somewhat tense.
The other students watched them carefully. Many students didn't understand why Yuuki directly confronted Kojiro Shinomiya like this.
Although they all felt Shinomiya's assessment had problems, no one questioned him. After all, Shinomiya was the examiner and held absolute authority. If he was unhappy, he could have you expelled with just a word.
Although Yuuki had defeated an Elite Ten member in their eyes and had very strong Culinary skills, Shinomiya was an Elite Ten graduate, and he was also a First Seat graduate. After graduating, he had achieved great things.
Without knowing the relationship between Yuuki and the Nakiri family, in their eyes, Yuuki's actions were purely suicidal.
"What on earth is this guy thinking? Isn't he afraid of being expelled?!"
Takumi Aldini, who had already passed the assessment, was also dumbfounded.
"Is Yuuki really going to be okay?" Megumi Tadokoro also looked nervously at Yuuki and Kojiro Shinomiya.
Just as everyone was speculating about what would happen next, the classroom door was suddenly pushed open.
"DOJIMA-SENPAI?!"
Seeing Gin Dojima, the students were all startled, and even Kojiro Shinomiya had the same reaction. He had no idea why Dojima would appear here at this moment.
"Leave this to me. Shinomiya, Yuuki—come with me. The result of this assessment is voided. Someone will bring you to participate in the next assessment later."
After saying that, Gin Dojima turned and prepared to leave.
"Wait, Dojima-senpai! What do you mean?! I'm in charge of this assessment..." Kojiro Shinomiya was getting annoyed.
They had promised to give the graduates absolute authority! How could they now go back on their word and void the result of his assessment?!
However, before Shinomiya could finish speaking, Gin Dojima glared at him.
Dojima, having held a high position for many years, possessed a natural air of authority—
—Just one look, and Shinomiya didn't speak further. In the end, he could only choose to leave with Yuuki, following Gin Dojima.
"I... I can't believe even Dojima-senpai showed up! What the hell is going on??"
At this moment, all the students present were burning with curiosity. This situation's development completely exceeded their expectations.
Initially, they thought Yuuki causing trouble would definitely lead to his expulsion. But before Shinomiya could even react, Gin Dojima suddenly appeared and directly took both of them away.
Why did Yuuki taunt Kojiro Shinomiya? Why did Gin Dojima suddenly appear here? And what would happen next?
These questions constantly swirled in the students' minds.
However, before they could think too much, the person Dojima had arranged arrived, leading them away to participate in the next assessment.
....
And this news spread among the students like wildfire.
"Yuuki deliberately taunted Kojiro Shinomiya? No way! Yuuki isn't the type to cause trouble."
Upon learning this news, the Polar Star residents were extremely surprised and also very worried. However, this worry was quickly dispelled by Alice Nakiri.
Alice Nakiri knew very well how important Yuuki was to the Nakiri family. In a comparison between the two, the Nakiri family would only abandon Kojiro Shinomiya; there wouldn't be any other outcome.
Moreover, judging by the timing of Dojima's appearance, Dojima should have been watching what was happening here all along—otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to arrive at the scene so quickly and take them both away.
So, Alice Nakiri guessed that Yuuki was doing this entirely because of Gin Dojima. As for the specific reason, she would have to wait until the evening to ask Yuuki directly.
Erina Nakiri, although also curious, couldn't determine what exactly happened. She could only ask Alice Nakiri later.
Not just the students; even the alumni were also completely puzzled, having no idea what was going on.
....
Meanwhile, led by Gin Dojima, Yuuki, Kojiro Shinomiya, and Roland Chapelle were now in an office.
"Dojima-senpai, care to explain what this is all about?" Kojiro Shinomiya asked, his voice laced with annoyance.
Tōtsuki was the one who invited him to the resort, and now they were stripping him of his authority. This was going too far.
"Since Chapelle-sensei is here, now is the perfect opportunity to discuss your little 'assessment,' Shinomiya. The resort gave you authority, yes, but that authority doesn't give you free rein to do whatever you please." Gin Dojima said.
That's right, the resort gave the graduates the power to decide whether students stayed or left, but this power had to be based on valid reasons.
Kojiro Shinomiya's methods had undoubtedly overstepped the mark.
If everyone acted like him, wouldn't they just be able to get rid of anyone they didn't like?
What about Tōtsuki's reputation then?
Tōtsuki's current reputation was built over a long time; it couldn't be tarnished because of Shinomiya.
"Indeed, Shinomiya, your assessment methods are problematic. While we did tell you to design the assessment yourselves, those designs must be reasonable."
"Adding problematic ingredients to test students' adaptability and knowledge is fine. If that's all it was, your assessment design would be excellent."
"However, preventing students from changing your recipes and using this as an excuse to eliminate students who shouldn't have been eliminated—THAT, Shinomiya, is where you went wrong..." Roland Chapelle shook his head.
He naturally also knew everything about Kojiro Shinomiya's situation.
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