As Menchi and Buhara eat the rice prepared by Auren, both react surprisingly strongly.
Buhara's stomach growls loudly, and almost by instinct, he grabs the three terribly prepared slices of pig Auren brought with him and devours them.
"More... can I have some more?!" he asks, his saliva dropping onto the ground, barely avoiding Menchi.
Menchi surprisingly ignores Buhara's disgusting behavior and closes her eyes, chewing carefully.
"This... what is it?! I have never eaten something this intense before... it's... rice, isn't it?! But the size... and the sweetness... you didn't use any salt either; you just boiled it, but the flavor is still so refined and complex. Also... I feel warmth in my stomach... this... I have never tasted anything like it. You have to tell me!" Menchi rants, now staring at Auren.
"Look..." Auren says, pointing towards the cooking stations, many of them filled up, the smell of roasted pig permeating the air. "The examinees are almost finished. We'll drop out soon, but for now, we'll continue. We can talk after the exam, okay? I might have an offer for you that might interest you. In any case... I promise to at least answer the question you just asked me."
"... Okay!" Menchi says, staring at Buhara.
"What is it... Menchi?" Buhara asks, not understanding.
"Pass them already, you fool!" she yells at him.
"You three... pass," Buhara says, rubbing his head, slapping his stomach, causing it to rumble again, loud enough that even the examinees in the back can hear it.
Soon after, Auren sees examinee after examinee carry a large roasted pig to the Gourmet Hunters.
Auren, Vanessa, and Neffi stand at the site.
"You... want to recruit her?" Neffi wonders. "Are you sure... she can be trusted?"
"We have contracts to solve that issue... I believe so," Auren whispers.
"I don't like it..." Vanessa mutters. "You like to recruit all kinds of women... us two, Leira, Ura, the twins... then there is Rakshala herself... I don't think yo—"
"Save it for later," Auren interrupts her, putting his hand onto her shoulder and grasping tightly, causing her to tense up before her knees slightly buckle. "Observe the examinees instead!"
"O—okay," Vanessa replies, standing up straight again.
Examinee after examinee passes. "Great... delicious... more!!" Buhara says, devouring the pigs at an unnaturally fast pace, somehow compressing the food inside his stomach.
"Examinee 191 Bodoro passes..." Menchi says, completely bored, looking at Buhara with disgust and annoyance. "Too lenient... that one was burned... Examinee 53 Pokkle passes... what it was still raw... disgusting? Examinee 44 Hisoka passes... what happened to your arm? You should get your wound treated, or you might catch an infection... do you want to drop out?"
"No," Hisoka replies quietly, his face completely devoid of any emotion.
"He's hanging on..." Vanessa mutters. "And he lost his arrogance and playfulness... how sad. Heh, do you enjoy that, Auren? Humbling that guy?"
"I don't know..." Neffi mutters. "It's a little scary. You know the calm before the storm... I still think it was a mistake not to finish the job."
These two comments are actually quite valid... do I enjoy this? What do I even want to achieve by letting him live? Why didn't I finish it? I just felt... he was somehow more... than a guy I'd kill in the swamps, forever erasing his existence. Pariston and Chrollo... both didn't even come to mind when I made my decision.
Overall, Buhara passes exactly 77 examinees, Auren, Vanessa, and Neffi included, though they didn't make Buhara waste any stomach space on them.
"Mhmmm... I'm stuffed! I had a nice appetizer... for some reason... I ate more than usual... what a surprise!" Buhara comments.
"Glutton... you just wolfed 'em all down... without judging their quality?!" Menchi points out, staring at Buhara, partly shocked, but also clearly disapproving, before looking at the empty cooking stations. "In fact... there is nothing left?! You ate everything... nobody is even cooking anymore! Everyone who caught one passed... you... damn super glutton!"
"My stomach was really empty... and that snack... so delicious... it made me even hungrier! I could eat even one or two more..." Buhara clarifies, staring at the almost untouched pigs left behind by Auren's group.
"You're hopeless... Gourmet Hunters should have discerning taste buds... anyway, the first round is over, seventy-seven applicants pass!" Menchi declares, hitting a small gong, creating a loud, dull sound.
Did the rice increase his appetite?
"Beware that, unlike Buhara... I can be a very harsh critic," Menchi says, lifting a finger, a playful smile on her face. "Second phase... part two, and my dish is... Sushi!"
"What is Sushi?"
"Do you know?"
"Huh?"
"How can I make something I never heard of before?"
The examinees wonder, some of them looking beyond hopeless, as Menchi enters the large wooden building, resembling a warehouse.
"Heh, I see that sea of blank faces... what a disgrace. However, I am not completely surprised. Sushi comes from a small island country," Menchi clarifies. "But don't despair... come inside; fully equipped sushi stations are waiting for everyone inside our grand kitchen! You have all the tools you need... and the defining ingredient... rice... is cooked and waiting!"
"When does she stop..."
"This is too much for me..."
More candidates complain, their expressions blank
"Oh, and here's an important point. I'm partial to Nigiri Sushi... which is of course, hand-molded!" Menchi clarifies, raising a finger.
What is she even talking about? Though... I believe I've heard about it... it's been a long time...
Menchi continues, full of enthusiasm. "Man your stations! As before, the test is over when the examiner, that's me, is full! Until that point, make as many as you like!!"
Everyone looks completely desperate, aside from one bold candidate with the number 294, who tries to hide his gleeful face.
"That guy knows," Auren points out.
"So do I!" Vanessa says happily.
"Me as well... don't we all know? Marsha made it for us once," Neffi says. "However... I can't prepare it skillfully... but I know what it is."
"Did she?" Vanessa asks. "I wasn't there when she did; what a shame... anyway, I love visiting Jappon, and it's one of their specialty foods. It's essentially just freshly sliced fish put on top of rice... well, in its most basic form at least. There are countless variants. I've visited dozens of expensive sushi restaurants where I had it prepared right in front of my eyes. These chefs even love to explain what they're doing. I'm fairly confident I can make it."
"So we need fish?" Auren asks. "There must be rivers close by... let's move fast...."
Before anyone else leaves, Auren's group simply rushes off.
It doesn't take long until they indeed find a river.
Using En, Auren almost instantly spots a variety of fish.
Using Zetsu, moving through the water without making any large waves, Auren approaches them and, in one skillful grab, pulls out a fish, which he throws towards Neffi, who awkwardly catches it, the fish still flapping in her arms.
Auren skillfully repeats the process a couple of times until they've caught four different varieties of fish, some unknown, others resembling common fish he's seen before, yet can't name.
"Should be enough," Vanessa says, nodding at Auren.
Still in the water, Auren sees all the other examinees approach.
As they see Auren, Vanessa, and Neffi, they stare at the latter in shock.
"They... already caught so many!"
"These three are just insane..."
"Inhuman."
Auren slowly walks out of the water as the others enter it. Meanwhile, Gon, using the fishing pole he brought with him, already pulls out a fish in record time, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio cheering him on.
"Nice catch, Gon!" Killua cheers. "Pull some out for us!"
Even Illumi, back in his disguise, and Hisoka begin fishing as well, the latter still roughed up and in terrible shape.
"Isn't this a fun exam... catch fish... make a dish... fail... and die," Auren mutters as he passes them.
Despite Auren's provocation, Hisoka does not react and solely focuses on the task at hand.
As he leaves, Auren barely sees Hisoka using his Hatsu, Bungee Gum, which, of course, contains both the properties of rubber and gum, creating a net and causing multiple fish to get caught in it.
Skilled...
"The fish are just stuck in the water, like they're in front of an invisible barrier... but that psycho is close to them."
"Even without his arm, I won't approach him... he likes cutting them off... even his own! What a lunatic"
"Shut up!"
A few examinees comment, whispering between each other.
Despite some skilled examinees, Auren, Vanessa, and Neffi are the first to return to the small warehouse.
Much like earlier, mimicking Vanessa, the three of them prepare the sushi.
"First... mix water with a little bit of vinegar so the rice doesn't stick to your hands," Vanessa explains. "Then use freshly cooked rice that has been cooled to room temperature... slice the fish against the grain into rectangular pieces, about... this long, this wide, and this thick...."
"Form the rice in your hands into an oval shape... don't squeeze too tightly so it stays light and fluffy."
"Then take the sliced fish... and place it directly onto the oval rice ball. Now gently press the sides so they match the fish. Then, of course, flip it over so the fish is on top and press again, but just lightly... just enough so the rice and fish are bonded together."
"You are really good!" Neffi says, imitating what she does.
"Indeed," Auren comments, mimicking her. "Don't you agree, brat?"
"He..." a voice comments from behind a nearby cooking station. "You have good senses... I didn't expect anything less."
The owner of the voice, Killua, says this as he comes out of his hiding spot. "It's all fair... isn't it? That's not cheating; it's information gathering."
"I didn't say anything," Auren comments. "Good luck."
Giving it a few tries, Auren, Neffi, and Vanessa finally prepare three perfect sushi pieces and walk towards the Gourmet Hunters, ready to present them to Menchi.
"You... are actually not bad!" Menchi says, staring at their small plates with their sushi. "You know sushi? This was supposed to be partially about reasoning and logic... to discover an unknown dish. I hope you haven't shared the recipe... this task was about logic and discovering the dish with the clues I've left behind."
"I love traveling to Jappon," Vanessa comments. "I've eaten at Mizu Zen, Seifan, and even Ryusei. The chefs always explained what's important, so I'm fairly confident that I didn't break any big rules. I left out the wasabi so you can actually taste the fresh river fish without distraction... though they taste just so-so. I've tried some myself."
Menchi, surprised, grabs one sushi piece after another, quickly devouring them.
"Man... after eating that grain you presented to me, this tastes like dirt... but... despite some mistakes, I guess these three would actually be a pass. While you've pressed too hard and the shape is slightly off... these things are so minor, I couldn't fault them for it. Something at that level can be called style and variation. I guess you three would have passed for real; you can consider that a compliment. Though in reality, you two just mimicked that tall lady... still, I guess you have earned my praise. You other two just pass."
Not like I want her damn praise.
Then, examinee after examinee presents abominations, consisting of fish, some even whole, mixed into fish-shaped rice balls. Disgusted, Menchi throws those dishes away and yells at them. "The shape is essential. It's gotta look like Nigiri Sushi to qualify. Nothing less!"
After multiple failures, Menchi yells at them. "You're all hopeless. Pathetic. No observational skills, no imagination, no style! You just had to watch these three! You didn't even pay attention! Idiots!"
Finally, examinee No. 294 appears, presenting a piece of sushi looking similar to what the group has produced.
"Too thick, too little rice, it's pressed too tightly together," Vanessa comments instantly, loud enough for Menchi to hear it.
"Well... might as well try it," Menchi says, eating it. "Nope... it's no good... what she said, try again."
"You... can't mean it?!" Hanzo yells. "Sushi is just rice molded into a bite-sized shape, dabbed with wasabi and a slice of fish on the top. Nothing could be simpler, and it tastes the same no matter who makes it!!!" he yells angrily, casually explaining the recipe to the rest, who've also taken a good look and seen his dish.
"Nothing simpler..."
"Tastes the same..."
Menchi mutters in an icy voice before approaching No. 294 and grabbing his collar. "You nimrod. It takes 10 years of training to even begin to make proper sushi!! You pitiful examinees couldn't even challenge a beginner sushi chef."
"Then... what chance do any of us have?!" No. 294, whom Auren vaguely recalls as Hanzo, retorts.
This won't end well....
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