The Yukihira Vs. Eizan is a Shokugeki between Sōma Yukihira and Etsuya Eizan.
Prologue[]
Immediately as a result of the Kabutoyama Vs. Eizan Shokugeki, many other Research Societies in Tōtsuki withdrew all battle requests to reverse the mandatory shut down of their beloved clubs. However, even with all of the clubs at Tōtsuki officially disbanded, there was one last place that needed addressing: the Polar Star Dormitory. Etsuya, continuing to act as the enforcer for the closures, came to the dormitory to announce its closure. Thinking that his farce of a Shokugeki had sufficiently deterred all possible opposition, Sōma surprised Etsuya by sending out a formal duel request to the Shokugeki board and Etsuya Eizan in particular. Figuring that there was no formal conclusion to their Karaage War, Sōma decided the theme would be based around Satsuma Jidori, a high quality Japanese breed of chickens.
Rindō Kobayashi showed up to the match room as the two prepared for their duel. Rindō wondered what Etsuya thought about the sudden challenge from Sōma, since the previous Shokugeki was specifically made to scare Sōma. While Etsuya did not respond, he received a phone call from one of his subordinates. Just before their match started, Etsuya informed Sōma that the eviction of Polar Star Dormitory had been moved from ten days later to that very day.
Battle[]
Despite the surprise attack on Polar Star, Sōma remained for the most part unfazed and started cooking his dish, deciding to prepare his chicken into a gyoza. Etsuya in the meantime decided to sit back and wait for his henchmen to finish evicting the Polar Star residents. As Sōma continued to cook, Etsuya continued to deal out some nasty insults, hoping to see if Sōma's hope had been crushed by his underhanded tactics. Nevertheless, Sōma continued cooking like normal, much to Etsuya's frustration. Fed up with the lack of confirmation from his goons, Etsuya called them to find out that the Polar Star residents had barricaded the dorm and had been driving them away thanks to some riot equipment and a fire hose left over from similar cases during the Polar Star Golden Era. Sōma finally decided to respond to Etsuya, saying that he seemed to only come after him through sneaky methods rather than head on. Realizing that his old tactics were unable to break Sōma's spirit, Etsuya figured that the only way to break Sōma's spirit was to show his true strength by actually cooking a dish of his own.
The Alquimista's Strength[]
Removing his glasses, Etsuya set off to work, much to the delight of the judges who were excited to taste a serious dish from Etsuya. After preheating a pot to cook his jidori chicken, he submerged the chicken, but turned off the stove. This way, the residual heat of the pot would gradually cook and tenderize the meat, allowing the chicken's flavor to fully develop. In no time, Etsuya finished his Hainan Ji Fan first and presented it to the judges as well as Sōma and Rindō. With a single bite, Sōma and the judges were overwhelmed by the depth of flavors, easily describing it as a work of alchemy. The judges continued to taunt Sōma, stating that there was no way his dish could possibly match Etsuya's. When they asked Etsuya if they could already declare him the winner, Sōma stopped him.
Sōma's Counterattack[]
Sōma taunted Etsuya, saying that it was too early to end the duel without tasting his dish, unless Etsuya was too scared to face Sōma's dish head on. Even if Etsuya forced Sōma to lose at that point, his dirty tactic would scar his reputation and peg him as a cowardly opponent. With Etsuya sufficiently angered, Sōma put his all into his dish as he gave his gyoza its true form. Sōma first left the room to retrieve a pot of Satsuma Jidori bones. Focusing on using only the wing tips, Sōma first added hot water as expected, however before closing the lid to his pan, he sprinkled copious amounts of parmesan cheese. Much to the frustration of the judges, who continued to devalue Sōma's cooking, Sōma silenced them to listen to his pan. After hearing the sounds of popping coming from his pan, Sōma opened the lid and added some Ankake using the bone soup and potato starch to finish his dish. Sōma gave a sample of the dish to Eizan first. Although Eizan continued to insult Sōma, after taking a single bite, he was quickly silenced. One of the judges continued to refuse to eat his dish and nearly began voting for the match, but was quickly stopped by the other two whose interest in trying the dish had been piqued. Despite their impressions of Sōma beforehand, the two judges who tried Sōma's dish were impressed by the flavor. Sōma walked up to Etsuya, taunting him, seeing what his senpai had thought of his dish, despite the fact that it was a so-called "B-Class Dish". Realizing that their pre-conceptions of Sōma's dish were wrong, the judging trio wondered what the secret of his dish was. Sōma handed Rindō a sample of his dish and revealed that the secret to his dish's Ankake was ketchup. Thanks to the blending of the ketchup's glutamic acid with the jidori, it created a wonderful combination of flavors. The judges demanded to know how Sōma could have come up with an idea on the fly, however, Sōma revealed that he did not. In fact, the idea came from a few ideas that were thought of by his fellow Polar Star residents. Sōma confronted the middle judge who was the most adamant in trying his dish. He stated that he thought that their "only one method" of cooking was boring and that his dish created by being creative would blow that ideology out of the water. Finally, the last judge ate the dish and all three locked in their votes. In a decisive decision, Sōma was declared the winner.
Aftermath[]
Back at Polar Star, the residents were putting up a tremendous defensive effort, but their barricades were finally breeched. However, despite the opening created, Etsyua's cronies outside suddenly stopped as they had received a phone call. Zenji Marui looked at the television to see that Sōma had won the Shokugeki and relayed the news to everyone. Back at the Shokugeki room, Sōma wondered if he was now the 9th seat since he defeated Etsuya in a Shokugeki, however because his seat was not a compensation for the match, Etsuya was not dethroned. Upset that Etzuya did not put in an honest effort in his preparation for the match nor did he get to see one of his specialties, Sōma hoped that he would get to see it in their next match. Before the camera's shut down, Sōma made one last declaration. If anyone threatens Polar Star or its residents, he will come after them and win. No matter who the opponent was, Sōma will fight against them. Meanwhile, Etsuya's cronies vacated the Polar Star Dormitory front as the results of the Shokugeki meant that Polar Star did not have to shut down. Victorious, Sōma returned to the dorm where his fellow residents chastised him for his usual recklessness, but was overjoyed by his victory. Knowing that their beloved home on campus was free from being shut down, the Polar Star residents celebrated. Satoshi Isshiki notified the residents of the dorm that the results of the Shokugeki rekindled many of the Research Societies' desire to hold their own Shokugekis to repeal their disbandment. Additionally, they were promised fair, non-biased judging by Central itself. However, the rule of Tōtsuki remained firmly in Azami's hands. Sōma, in the end, was left unsatisfied from the match. Though he had won, because Etsuya had not used his full skill against him, Sōma had hoped that he would get an honest, true duel against Etsuya sometime later.
Trivia[]
- This battle shows the first time that an Elite Ten Council member has been defeated in a Shokugeki.