The next match was one that was highly anticipated, though unexpected for these early stages of the main event – Eishi Tsukasa would be facing the leader of the Noir chefs, Asahi Saiba. For those who opposed the Noir chefs, this was an extremely important matchup, as their greatest hope of denying Noir victory in this tournament would now be facing the best of those dark chefs. A victory could end the threat of Noir in the early stages of the tournament. The two combatants seemed to be polar opposites from each other. Though both stated that they would do anything to advance their cooking, their methods dramatically diverged.
Before the match, Asahi was eying Eishi's signature long grater and decided to make the match into a food war. If he won, Eishi would give up his grater to Asahi, if Eishi won, Eishi could claim any of Asahi's current tools. Although Eishi said that such wagers didn't generally interest him, he decided to humor Asahi and accept the challenge, if only to heighten the competitive interest in the match. For this match, the emcee was a second-tier examiner named Dynamis, the three-judge panel would consist of Lanterby, Maturitie, and Essor, and the theme ingredient would be Poussin Chicken. The gong then sounded and the cooking began. While Eishi didn't know why Asahi wanted his grater, he felt confident that it wouldn't matter anyway.
As the cooking began, Soma was grumbling that while he wanted Eishi to win, he was also frustrated that such an outcome would mean that he wouldn't get his rematch with Asahi. As Daniel was trying to get him to not think about that right now, Isshiki and Kuga came up behind them and greeted them, which surprised the four Totsuki participant-chefs, as they didn't even see them coming. After apologizing for missing both Soma and Daniel's victories, they explained that Eishi's current confidence came from the new skill set he had acquired while being out in the field with Rindo for several months. This made him an even more formidable opponent than he was while at Totsuki, something that was hard to imagine.
Just as the audience thought that Eishi would win for sure, Asahi came out with a whole bunch of kitchen tools that were quite unusual, to say the least. Moreso, the Totsuki student recognized some of them as the tools used by other Noir chefs – yet he was using them like he had been perfecting the techniques for years. It was a vivid example of his "Cross Knives" technique, where he could acquire the skills of a master chef just by holding and using their prized tools. The tools he used included Sarge's chainsaw carver, Claude Ville's blood extraction and injection system, and Malcanta's metal juggling balls. He was using them all in tandem to create his dish.
Both competitors finished their dishes at about the same time – Eishi made a roasted poussin chicken, while Asahi made a grilled poussin chicken dish. The judges tried Asahi's dish first, and found what he made astounding. He had grilled the outer layer of the chicken to perfection using a mustard and clarified butter sauce, before finishing the meat by breading it with panko breadcrumbs and frying it. Plus, the chicken was perfectly moist and tender – the absolute perfect textures both within the chicken and on the outer layer.
Next up was Eishi's dish, which the judges also gushed over. It was melt-in-the-mouth tender, due to the slow roasting technique Eishi used for the meat. In addition, he brought a tartness to the dish that accompanied the meat perfectly using feijoa fruit he had learned about from Rindo that he turned into a mousse. As much as they loved it, however, the judges still couldn't stop craving and thinking about Asahi's dish. Asahi then explained that he had brought extra flavor to his dish by inserting boudin noir (blood sausage) into the meat itself, infusing it into the chicken harmoniously along with the chicken's fat, and making the two different proteins as one. This provided a flavor that the judges were having a hard time even conceiving of, yet couldn't stop eating.
Much to the crowd's amazement and horror, they thought it was clearly better than what Eishi had made, despite the fact that Eishi's dish was practically perfection! Even the Tostuki students and alumni were stunned as Eishi sported a look of shock and bewilderment that he had been judged inferior despite doing everything to perfection. When the judges made Asahi's victory official, everyone in the audience could only stare in stunned silence as Asahi relieved Eishi of his prized kitchen tool. The longtime Totsuki sponsors then wailed in despair, as it seemed that all hope of stopping Asahi and Noir had been snuffed out by Eishi's defeat. As Soma went down to provide moral support for Eishi (as well as some fresh, hot tea), Daniel couldn't help but think, 'We may be in some serious trouble, here.' Now the burden fell to the current Totsuki students to stop Noir – a task that clearly would be easier said than done.
There was no time to brood over Eishi's loss, as the next match featured Takumi matching up against another of Noir's chefs – Don Calma, a dapper man with glasses, blond hair, and an accompanying mustache. This one was designated as a team match, with each chef designating one or more partners for themselves to cook their dish alongside them. Takumi declared that "I only need one partner for this match – my brother, Isami!" Don Calma seemed amused by this and wondered aloud if Isami would even show up, as though he knew that something would prevent him from doing so.
After a few minutes had passed and Isami had failed to enter the arena to join his brother, Don Calma called out his own teammates for this match – a group of about a dozen or so drag queens he referred to as his "daughters," which caused a bit of a commotion amongst the audience members. The theme was announced as "amuse bouche" – meaning the dish had to be able to be eaten within only a couple of bites at most. Don Calma and his "daughters" then began to shake up ingredients in cocktail shakers, which confused everyone in the audience, as this didn't appear to be going where the theme needed to be.
As the match began to unfold, Daniel could sense something was off, as Soma was also absent at that moment, plus Takumi kept looking at his cell phone in concern. Don Calma kept mocking Takumi for the loss of his partner, while Megumi was shaking right behind Daniel. Soon, Don Calma presented a trio of verrines – light, semi-solid dishes served in very small glasses, meant to be consumed in a spoonful or two. Astoundingly, each of these glasses had more than a hundred distinct layers in each of them! Don Calma then instructed the judges to eat them quickly, before they all dissolved away.
Once Megumi calmed down a bit and realized what was going on with Takumi, she got an idea and told Daniel she would be back shortly with some help. Daniel nodded as he continued to watch how the judges reacted to Don Calma's verrines. The judges were astounded not only that the layers maintained their integrity after being scooped up with a spoon, but also that they dissolved like air once placed into their mouths. Each had their own distinctive flavor profiles – one was a fruit-flavored verrine, one was made from seafood and herbs, and the third was a mix of root vegetables and lamb mousse. Each one was so distinct from the other two that the judges were amazed that Don Calma was able to do the work needed to create all three verrines in such a short time – even with all of his assistants.
Don Calma then revealed that the secret to his dish was the special cocktail shaker he had used, which was lined with many grooves, which allowed for the various mousses and sauces to maintain their integrity in the glasses, but made them light and airy like foam to dissolve in the mouth once consumed. To the judges, this was the perfect response to the bookmaster's challenge for this match, an amuse bouche that satisfied the diner, didn't ruin the appetite for the remainder of the meal, and used teamwork to perfection. At this declaration, Don Calma and his assistants began to mock Takumi once again, saying he could never match what they were able to do.
At that moment, Megumi showed up with the perfect reinforcements in the form of Soma – the only other person that could work with Takumi in tandem so that they could create the perfect counter to Don Calma's dish. Don Calma demanded to know the meaning of this, to which Soma replied that he would be taking Isami's place as Takumi's partner. Takumi then acted like he didn't want Soma's help before accepting it (seemingly reluctantly). As Daniel grinned at this turn of events, Don Calma suddenly got in Megumi's face in anger at her bringing in Soma. As Megumi was shaking in fear of having this man up close and personal to her, Daniel was about to tell him off. However, before he could do so, Takumi shouted in anger, "Get out of Megumi's face, or I'll rip that stupid mustache off of yours!"
This outburst surprised not only the audience and Don Calma's assistants, who gasped at the threat, but also Daniel and Soma, who looked at Takumi in surprise. Don Calma then reacted in a seemingly clam manner and asked, "Oh? Is this little lady here your girlfriend?" Takumi then hesitated for a brief moment before replying, "She's my friend, and that should be more than enough for you!" Don Calma gave a "hmmm," in response before stepping back from Megumi. Although nobody else picked up on it, Daniel was able to see a slight blush on Takumi's face both at Don Calma's question and his own response. 'Ooooh – how interesting,' Daniel thought.
Meanwhile, Don Calma began to protest that partners had to be registered in advance, which Soma was not. After some consultation, the bookmaster decided to make an exception and allow Soma to serve as Takumi's assistant in Isami's place. This caused an uproar with Don Calma and his assistants, as they screamed and wailed about how the judges were being completely unfair to them. When one of the judges then suggested that they investigate as to why Isami had failed to show up, this shut them up in a heartbeat.
Don Calma then tried to taunt Takumi by stating that without Isami, he couldn't bring out the full potential of his own cooking or even use the mezzaluna correctly. Daniel was about to tell him off when he overheard Soma and Takumi start to bicker with each other. Daniel slapped his forehead and pinched the bridge of his nose, while Megumi began to wonder whether this was a good idea. Takumi then turned to Megumi to assure her that this was the right call and to thank her for bringing Soma. After Soma gave an accompanying thumbs up and signature grin, the two friends and rivals began to get to work.
Soon, they announced that they, too, would be presenting a verrine as their amuse bouche, one that would make the judges "rave for days" as Takumi put it, to which the judges reacted with surprise, and Don Calma began to laugh, as he found their response to his own dish to be quite absurd. Before everyone knew it, and after some impressive teamwork (thanks to their constant battles with each other and shared struggles) and knife skills displayed by Takumi using the mezzaluna (and even sharing it with Soma), the verrine was done. Unlike Don Calma's verrines, which had more than a hundred layers each, Takumi's verrine had only two layers, but what made it truly astounding was the fact that the layers were presented vertically, making it appear from the top to be a yin-yang symbol, with one side being a white layer, and the other side being black.
The judges first tried the white layer, which consisted of a sformato – an Italian custard similar to a Japanese chawanmushi – that was primarily flavored with parmesan cheese. Next came the black layer, which was also a sformato, though this one's primary flavor profile was soft-shelled turtle. This left the audience very confused and Don Calma in laughter, as those two flavor profiles were generally considered to be too contrasting to work together. However, Takumi and Soma then challenged Don Calma to try it himself, tasting both halves together. When he accepted the challenge and took a bite, he was astonished that the two halves actually worked very much in sync with each other without clashing. He wondered aloud how this was possible, as did the judges.
Takumi then pointed out the rough mixture that was present in both halves – a mix of chopped and crushed roasted nuts, as well as roasted kake no tane (the rice crackers Soma used in their first battle at the training camp). These ingredients and flavors not only gave the verrine a nice textural contrast that excited the palate, but also bridged the flavors of the two seemingly diametrically opposed verrine halves. In addition, the dish as a whole was so light and gentle in the stomach. In fact, one of the judges exclaimed that it was "unlike anything I've ever eaten before!" This astounded the audience and worried Don Calma as his assistants wanted to taste, leaving Don Calma to wonder how Takumi and Soma were capable of this kind of cooking. The Aldini-Yukihira tag team was declared the victor in this matchup.
Moments later, Isami came in to congratulate Takumi and Soma on their victory, having been rescued from Don Calma's henchmen by Isshiki, Kuga, and several members of the Chinese Cuisine Research Society who also happened to be experts in martial arts. While Soma admitted that the challenge was fun, he also reiterated that the best partner for Takumi would always be Isami, at which two of the judges – Historie and Dynamis – concurred with that assessment, being sibling themselves.
The celebration was then interrupted by Megumi's phone buzzing, as it was now her turn to face an opponent in the main tournament. The group then rushed off with her to the assigned venue room, where her opponent awaited. As most of the group went off to find a good vantage point to watch the match, Takumi stayed with Megumi for a few minutes to give her some words of encouragement, which Megumi seemed to take to heart. Shortly after, Takumi joined the rest of the Totsuki contingent in the crowd as the matchup's participants were introduced.
For this match, Megumi would be facing Zuiwang Huang, a Noir chef who was known as the master of the Venom Dish. This was due to his family's long lineage as highly trained assassins in China. Eventually, the family's talents were directed away from poison and assassination, and into gourmet cooking, but their assassination techniques were integrated into their cooking style. He, too, had a special cooking tool at his disposal – a set of metal claws placed on each finger that could season any dish at a very deep level, similar to Sarge's chainsaw knife.
Both Asahi and Huang tried to scare and intimidate Megumi, with Asahi mocking the fact that her win at the Azure Skirmish "wasn't a fluke after all," before teasingly instructing Huang to be gentle on Megumi, as she was a "weakling." Huang just chuckled evilly at his order while trying to threaten Megumi. However, Megumi showed just how far she had come in the last year, as she wasn't having any of his antics. The theme of the battle was "Quick Meals," with each contestant given 15 minutes to create a dish of their choice. Megumi went to work and created a Chinese-style lunch plate, which was full of flavor, warmth and hospitality – as though she had spent hours cooking it. This dish was able to easily crush Huang's dish and eliminate him from the competition.
The crowd, and especially the Totsuki contingent, cheered mightily over the win, as Takumi was the first to rush down to the floor level backstage to congratulate Megumi. Huang, meanwhile, went backstage and handed over his prized claws to Asahi for his use for the remainder of the tournament. Daniel wasn't too far behind Takumi after the match, and when Daniel got to the floor level, he saw Takumi and Megumi chatting with big smiles on their faces, and they were both even laughing a bit. As Daniel smiled at this development, the rest of the Totsuki bunch arrived to congratulate Megumi on her victory.
The celebration was interrupted when Ikumi shouted for everyone else to come with her quick, as she had figured out where Erina was this whole time. From the tone of her voice, it didn't sound good, and everyone raced behind Ikumi to see what was going on. When they arrived at the outside venue, they saw all of the chefs that had lost in the preliminary stages all sprawled out and off their feet, as though they had been wiped out in an epic battle. In the middle of all of this, breathing very heavily, was Erina. They then realized, the chef that was facing all of the defeated chefs and beating each and every one of them was Erina this whole time! They looked on both in awe at her ability to defeat so many talented chefs at once, and in deep worry, wondering why she was the only one who had to go through such a trial.