"Anyone who can become a Hunter is really amazing."
Gon stared at Buhara with his eyes wide open, genuinely feeling that it was incredible.
"It is impressive, but I definitely don't want to turn out like that."
Killua rubbed his own face with his hand. Although he admired Buhara's strength, the thought of becoming someone who could shake the earth just by moving was completely unacceptable to him. He had no interest in that at all.
"This is too strange. It doesn't make sense. The amount he just ate was clearly far greater than the size of his body."
Kurapika also found it incomprehensible. He had no idea where all those pigs—far more than Buhara's own body mass—had gone. No matter how he analyzed it, he couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation.
"He's already finished eating—what's the point of analyzing it now? The important thing is that Ou actually got it right. That's really…"
Leorio felt that once the food was gone, there was no point in studying it further. What truly deserved admiration was Lu Ou's uncanny accuracy.
"Ou's judgments are always so precise," Gon said, recalling everyone's earlier guesses. Lu Ou's prediction had been the most accurate—almost as if he'd seen it with his own eyes. Otherwise, who would believe that someone could eat so much?
"Because I have seen it before—in anime."
If Lu Ou knew what Gon was thinking, he would definitely say that. After all, without seeing it firsthand, no one would believe a person could consume dozens or even hundreds of times their own body weight.
Even a creature capable of carrying 400 times its own weight already defied nature, but compared to Buhara, it was nothing at all.
"I really don't understand how it's possible," Kurapika said. "Eating like that is already abnormal enough—being able to predict it is even more unbelievable."
"It's actually not that hard to deduce," Lu ou replied. "Think about it—when the examiner asked for roast pork, did he ever specify how many pigs?"
"No, he didn't," everyone replied, shaking their heads.
"Exactly. So there were only two possibilities. First, he was deliberately trying to eliminate most of the examinees. But that possibility was ruled out the moment I saw him eat even the burnt pork. That leaves only the second option. As unbelievable as it sounds, once you eliminate all other possibilities, whatever remains—no matter how impossible—must be the truth."
"'Eliminate all possibilities and the impossible becomes the truth'—Ou, you always summarize things so neatly," Leorio scratched his head, feeling like it made sense… somehow.
Lu ou simply smiled without saying anything, because something new was happening on Menchi's side.
"Buhara, are you saying every pig you ate tasted good? You're not picky at all—what kind of examiner does that make you?"
Menchi rested the drum mallet on her shoulder, hands on her hips, utterly speechless. Buhara finding everything delicious completely went against the standards of a Gourmet Hunter.
For Menchi, who was strict and pursued perfection, Buhara's laid-back attitude was simply unacceptable.
"What's wrong with that? I've already eliminated plenty of examinees. Besides, this stage isn't testing their cooking skills anyway."
Buhara stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, still feeling a bit unsatisfied. If his stomach hadn't been at its limit, he really would've liked to eat more. Unfortunately, all the pigs had already been eaten—still, that wasn't bad.
After looking around and confirming that no roast pork had been left behind, Buhara finally let out a long sigh of relief and felt ready to rest.
"You're way too easygoing. Don't forget—you're a Gourmet Hunter. You should insist on your extraordinary sense of taste. Honestly, I don't know what to do with you."
Seeing that Buhara had no intention of changing the results, Menchi disagreed but ultimately supported her partner's decision.
She walked up to the bronze gong and struck it hard with the mallet, producing a loud, resounding clang.
"Roast Whole Boar Test—71 examinees have passed!"
"Yay!"
"That's great!"
"Amazing!"
The examinees all broke into smiles. Passing the test was something to be genuinely happy about.
"Ou, that's great!" Gon said excitedly.
"It really is," Lu ou smiled slightly. Knowing the outcome was one thing—hearing it officially announced was another, and the feeling was completely different.
"Alright! Let's keep charging forward!"
Leorio was full of motivation, convinced that earning a Hunter License was basically guaranteed at this point.
Kurapika and Killua also showed faint smiles. It was definitely something worth celebrating.
The entire venue was filled with excitement and relief.
At this moment, the camera really should cut to the outside examiner, Satotz. Dutifully perched in a tree, unmoved by wind or rain, he continued his watch. A man with such dedication deserved a close-up.
"Seventy-one passing candidates is indeed an excellent number. Although the boar's forehead is its fatal weak point—and capturing it isn't difficult once you know that—facing such a ferocious wild boar still requires considerable courage and split-second judgment. One must also possess abilities far beyond the ordinary."
"But now, the real challenge begins. That girl is an extremely troublesome examiner. Becoming a Gourmet Hunter at such a young age and earning the title of Best Gourmet—Menchi is one of the few true culinary masters in the world. She channels her extraordinary sense of taste into cooking with astonishing artistry. Her innate curiosity has driven her to sample ingredients from all over the world. Any flavor she tastes even once is permanently etched into her memory. Though she's only 21 years old, she's already a leading figure among Gourmet Hunters."
"However, despite her exceptional talent, her personality is equally unpredictable. The examinees may soon find themselves trapped in a dilemma with no way forward or back."
Satotz spoke at length about his colleague—especially rare Gourmet Hunters—revealing quite a bit of information. Unfortunately, there was no one around to hear it.
Only Satotz knew. The tree knew. And Lu ou—who knew the plot—knew.
A lot of words were wasted, but since Satotz didn't even have a mouth, it was unclear whether he could actually waste saliva at all.
Satotz's judgment proved accurate. Menchi immediately presented the examinees with a new challenge.
"Alright, everyone, quiet down. We're about to begin the second test."
Menchi clapped her hands lightly to get their attention before continuing.
"I'm different from Buhara—I'm not easygoing. My evaluations are extremely strict. For the second half of the test, the dish you'll be making is… sushi."
"Sushi?"
"Sushi."
"Sushi?!"
Every examinee repeated the word once, each with a different tone—but all equally confused. What kind of dish was that?
"What kind of food is that, anyway?"
Even Hisoka looked completely baffled. He was an expert at fighting and deception, but sushi? What the hell was that?
"Do you know what it is?"
The Amori brothers asked one another, but none of them had any idea.
"What are we supposed to do? We don't even have a direction,"
Todoro gritted his teeth, completely at a loss.
"If we don't even know what the dish is, how are we supposed to make it?"
Pokkle looked grim, having no clue where to even begin.
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