While waiting for the duck to finish, Takumi Aldini takes out a special knife consisting of one or more curved blades with a handle on each end. The students are confused as to what that is.

Inui says, "That's a Mezzaluna, its name means "half-moon" in Italian. A two-handed knife used in Italian cuisine..."

Takumi says, "Here I go...Tritare!" Takumi starts to use the knife to mince the vegetables into a paste at an incredible speed.

"Seven minutes until the breast meat is finished roasting." Isami adds.

"Good, let's finish the salsa in the meantime." Takumi says.

"Okay, Nii-chan." Isami says, and Takumi hands the Mezzaluna over to him, who in turn starts mincing more vegetables. The two finish off their dish with utter ease.

"I see you two are the first to arrive." Inui says after Takumi takes the dish towards Inui.

"Lightness is Italian Cuisine's Distinctive Flavor." Takumi says as he hands out his dish, which is Roasted Duck with Spices garnished with green sauce. "Buon Appetito!"

When Chef Inui takes a bite out of the roasted duck meat, she feels that the whole dish tastes like she is being serenaded by a handsome man in a corny duck outfit that she will gladly give into.

"Hey, that green-colored sauce...isn't that Salsa Verde?" Some students notice the sauce, and they start to boo the twins as the theme is Japanese Cuisine.

"No, for this sauce, they didn't use salted anchovy, they used salted sweet-fish entrails..."uruka" as the main ingredient. Uruka usually takes more than one week to prepare. But you improvised this?"

"Of course, we washed the sweetfish entrails with water and then we boiled them on sake for two minutes, and by adding mirin, soy sauce, and salt, their moderate bitterness finishes up an irresistible rich improvised Uruka."

"Improvised Uruka, you say?" "To think they can do that..."

"That's not all they did. By mincing and mixing perilla and spring onion instead of parsley, the sauce had a vivid green color and a refreshing flavor. And instead of garlic which isn't used much in Japanese cuisine, they used Yuzuko-Shou to give it a Japanese style flavor." Inui says.

"That's right. This was made using an improvised Uruka as the main ingredient, it's a Japanese style Salsa Verde." Takumi says.

The students can't help but be utterly impressed by the sheer fact that the half-Italians are able to find so many ingredients in the area, let alone Japanese ingredients.

After tasting, Inui says, "Takumi Aldini and Isami Aldini. You have passed the test."

"Grazie!" The two of them say in unison while fist-bumping with each other. Takumi turns to Soma and says, "Now...it seems you haven't started working, but just what will you make?"

"The two of you are challenging each other if I recall correctly, right?" Inui asks. "If I can expect a dish on par with what I just tasted, then I shall gladly make an exception and judge for you which one is tastier."

This causes Takumi to get excited, and Soma is getting fired up as well. "And the loser will have to kneel down." Inui syas. "He would have to kneel down in front of his opponent and say "I'm a dejected loser" three times. If you're putting your diners' name on the line, it has to have this much weight."

Soma and Takumi are now speechless, but they decide to ignore the losing conditions. Soma is now thinking about Takumi's dish and the fish he just caught, and an idea comes into his mind.

"Tadokoro! I want to use these ingredients for the garnish. Can you help me gather them?" Soma says as he hands over the list to Tadokoro. She reads it and says, "Yes! I think I should be okay. I went to gather wild plants in the countryside a lot."

"Alright, I'll leave that to you, Tadokoro." Soma says.

"But what about you, Soma-kun?" Megumi asks.

"There's something I want to search for as well. So I'll go outside for a little bit." Soma says as he stops and turns to Inui. "Inui senpai, if it's something I can find here, I can use anything, right?"

Inui is confused and she says, "Yes? As long as it's inside the fenced area, anything is fine."

Just then, he takes the bag of rice crackers from her hand and says, "Then I'll be using this!"

Inui yells in dismay, "My tea snack..."

Tadokoro and Takumi are confused, but Soma just puts the bag to Takumi and says, "Please help me hold onto this, okay?"

"Huh? Why should I?" Takumi yells, but Soma and Megumi already leave.

After 20 minutes have passed, chef Inui has failed a lot of students, and Isami says to his brother, "It's great we could pass, right? Nii-chan?"

Takumi is not thinking about this and he mutters, "Is Yukihira not coming back yet? There are less than 20 minutes left, you know..."

Isami asks, "But if he runs at a time, then you win by default, right? What's wrong with that?"

That was when Takumi shouts at his younger brother in his over-passionate tone, "What I want is a Head-to-Head, All-out Battle! I will not accept any stupid "Victory by Default"! Don't you understand? There's no real satisfaction in winning that way."

Takumi also looks at the rice crackers in his hand and thinks, "And this thing he suddenly made me hold onto...just how does he plan on using this?"

Just then, the door opens and both Soma and Megumi come back to the room. Takumi yells, "You're late! You only have 15 minutes left! Do you want to be disqualified without fighting me?"

While he is yelling, he accidentally crushed the rice crackers and Isami says, "Nii-chan, you're crushing it..."

"Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to..." Takumi says in a panic.

"Oh, don't worry. You saved me the trouble, thanks." Soma says as he takes over the bag, much to the blonde's surprise. "And we still have 15 minutes. If you made customers wait for 15 minutes at my diner, all of them will immediately go home. Let's do this, Tadokoro."

The country girl agrees to that and started preparing the vegetables.

(Flashback)

"Ehh? Deep-fried food?" Megumi asks Soma while running with ingredients in their hands.

"Yeah, we should deep-fry the river fish." Soma says.

"But, we don't have wheat or flour, potato starch...or anything that can become the coating...perhaps we are doing without the breading? But fish has a lot of water so it isn't suited for that." Megumi says.

"But we have it, a great breading." Soma replies with a smirk.

(Flashback ends)

Takumi is watching the two cooking as he is thinking what Soma means by saving him time, but then he realizes that he is going to use the rice crackers into the breading for the deep-fry.

After finishing cooking, Inui looks at the dish and says, "Oh my...my Rice crackers were used to make such a lovely deep-fried fish..."

With a smile, Sōma says, "Go on, Chef Inui. Don't let it get cold now. Dig in."

With that, Inui takes bites out the dish, and she says with delight, "What a wonderful crunch! And yet the fish's meat was still hot and not soggy! The breading perfectly contained inside its protective shell the savory flavor!"

"Thanks to the Rice crackers' flavor, you can also feel a steady tastiness from the breading." Soma says.

"And the garnish is a fluffy sauce made from Tamago No Moto and pepper tree buds."

Tamago no Moto is mayonnaise without the vinegar, it is simply egg yolks and vegetable oil whisked into a creamy consistency. It's often used to bring ingredients together or to add flavor to a dish.

"Some salt and minced pepper tree buds as an overall refreshing taste to the fish erasing any oiliness and giving it a refined flavor. That wonderfully smooth creaminess hiding between the crispy crunchiness of the breading really spurs the appetite!" Inui states with a happy smile. "The way they arranged the fried wild plants is also flawless...the contrast with the deep-fried dish is a really refreshing view."

Megumi then asks Soma, "Soma-kun, how did you come up with this idea?"

With a smile, Soma says, "In Japanese cooking, there's this "Okakiage", right? Basically, when deep-frying things, you used crushed-up Okaki rice crackers instead of panko to give the dish some uniqueness and kick. I made this at home once when I was a kid with my parents."

That is when Takumi asks, "And that gave you the idea to use the Rice crackers in place of the Okaki rice crackers?"

Sōma nods and states, "I call it the, *pause to think* Ah!, Yukihira style Okaki-no-Tane Fish!"

"Did you just make that name up?" Takumi asks in a bit of a huff.

Inui smiles and thinks, "Aldini-kun had a wide field of vision and didn't overlook the Duck, on the other hand, Yukihira-kun used his exceptional creativity to make a dish no one here even thought about. Even under limited time and conditions, he didn't cower and tried to make his own dish. This is the backbone of the professional. I've students do this assignment many times in the past, but rather than frying without breading, he made a deep-fried with breading. It's the first time a student does that."

Then she says, "Yukihira Sōma, Tadokoro Megumi. You Pass!"

Soma and Megumi are happy as they high five, and Soma says, "It wasn't much!"

After the assignment is over, Takumi and Soma walk towards the chef and Takumi says, "Chef Inui. Please give us your judgement."

"Okay, the winner is..." But much to their surprise, Inui can't decide the winner as both dishes are equally great. And that makes the atmosphere tense up. But something saved Inui, which is the phone call from Shinomiya.

"Geez? What happened? I'm making an important decision right now." Inui says.

"What are you doing, Hinako?! It's time for your group to come back!" Shinomiya yells. "At any rate, come quickly! Stupid woman!"

"I-I'm so sorry, Chef Shinomiya! Everyone, we need to get back to the hotel fast." Inui says, but Takumi and Soma asks about the judgment, and she replies, "I declare that the match is a draw. Now let's board the bus as soon as possible!"

Soma and Takumi are both speechless, and Soma says, "I guess that's how it is..."

"Like I can accept this!" Takumi yells. "Listen Yukihira! We'll definitely settle this sometime!"

"I'm okay with that, but how?" Soma asks.

"I'll challenge you to a Shokugeki one day. Don't you dare run away, you must accept it, and then I'll crush you flat. Polish your skills as much as you can in the meantime." Takumi says as he and Isami leaves.

Soma looks at them and sighs, "Well, that's that."

Megumi turns to Soma and says, "Soma-kun...thank you for helping me pass the first exam..."

"Oh, I want to thank you as well, it is because of our teamwork that we can overcome this together." Soma says. "Now we should try our best in the upcoming challenges."

Megumi smiles and says, "You're right. Now let's get back to the bus."

Here is a new chapter, and you can see that the match is a draw, just like in the Manga or the Anime. To be honest, I really like the rivalry between Soma and Takumi. They always give me a lot of laughs. I hope you like this chapter and the next chapter will be some interactions with Soma and Dojima.