Toriko: Gourmet Chat Group

After several days, Toriko and his group had still not mastered Ape Dance, having only grasped a few small tricks.

SPLAT—

A black dot flew in from the sky, made intimate contact with the ground, skidded for a distance, and finally came to a stop in front of Kenji and the others.

Atashino blinked. The Ape King Bambina had actually completed a full tour of the globe and returned to this spot.

"Hah—"

The Ape King scratched its rear, slowly stood up, and looked at the group of people with a wooden expression, grumpy from having just woken up.

Gasp!

An aura of astonishing presence erupted at close range. Toriko and the others broke out in a cold sweat. The highlight reel of their lives flashed before their eyes.

An Eight King!

Only an Eight King could have such a powerful presence. When they had passed through the Eighth Area, they had felt the Horse King's aura from a great distance. Now, to feel the Ape King's aura up close—and a grumpy, just-woken-up Ape King at that—all sixty trillion of their cells were scared into unifying.

Before coming to the Gourmet World, Kenji had already told them that the Ape King Bambina's base form had a Capture Level of 6000.

Can we win?

They turned their heads to look, only to find that Kenji and his group had vanished, leaving just the four of them. They were dumbfounded.

When did you guys run away?!

"Bambina, let's play!"

Toriko swallowed hard. To get PAIR, they had to face the Ape King directly. Although they had only a preliminary understanding of Ape Dance, it gave them a bit of confidence.

"Ah—ee?"

A happy smile appeared on Bambina's face. Someone wanted to play with it! Subarashii! Although the Eight Kings couldn't speak, they could understand the meaning of language.

These people want to dance!

ROAR!

The Ape King let out a great roar, and countless apes of various shapes and sizes swarmed over. How could a play session not have an audience?

Leading the apes, the Ape King bounced towards the mountain peak. Toriko and the others gritted their teeth and followed, mentally prepared for what was to come.

"Kenji, aren't you going to help them?"

"Kaka" looked at Kenji. He was the strongest of the humans present, yet he wasn't going to fight the Ape King.

"What's the matter, Atom?"

Kenji grinned, his lips barely moving as he directly called out the fake Kaka's true identity. To be honest, this Blue Nitro's intelligence wasn't all that great. In the manga, it had disguised itself as Kaka and planned to make a move on the unconscious Komatsu, but had ultimately failed and was even sent flying by the Ape King, who knows for how long.

"!"

"You!"

"Kaka's" pupils quaked. He instantly distanced himself from Kenji, completely clueless as to how he had been exposed. Besides that guy Ichiryu, no one should have been able to recognize his true identity.

RIIIP—

"How did you find me out?! You've never even met Kaka, have you?!"

Knowing he was exposed, Atom ripped off his disguise, revealing an afro. He opened his bird-like beak, which was full of sharp teeth, and countless sharp blades grew from his body.

Of course I have... by reading the manga.

Kenji said lazily, "Your aura... I've met a Blue Nitro and a common Red Nitro before, so of course I can tell the difference."

"Little lizard, since you've delivered yourself to my door, I won't be polite."

"Atashino, you all get back."

In fact, Kenji didn't even need to say it. Atashino and the others were already leaving on the Shark Train.

Atom ignored them and charged directly at Kenji.

BOOM!

"Planet Hammering!"

Atom stomped his feet violently, and the ground instantly shattered. In a near-instant, he was in front of Kenji, his heavy fist crashing down. The whistling, violent force of the punch distorted the space around them. Even if a Blue Nitro was inferior to an Eight King, it still had the power to destroy a star. This attack of his was a cooking technique used for certain planetoid-sized noodles.

THUD!

Such a terrifying punch landed on Kenji's body, but it was like a stone sinking into the sea, not even making a ripple. Atom was dumbfounded. There was some damage, however. Kenji had forgotten to put a defense on his T-shirt, so it had disintegrated into dust.

Endless starlight flowed over Kenji's body. Faint, dragon-scale-like patterns were visible, each scale seeming to be a microcosm of the starry sky. He had tanked Atom's attack with his body alone; even the ground beneath his feet hadn't shattered.

The Star-Forged Body. Kenji's physical body was no longer one of flesh and blood. Although he had not yet reached the eternal form of Aurelion Sol, he already possessed a monstrously powerful defense and resilience.

"Didn't you eat breakfast?"

"You can't even hit hard, and you call yourself a Gourmet Noble?"

Kenji patted his chest and said with disdain, his eyes, which shone like the stars, looking down on him as if he were an ant.

"This is impossible!"

Atom was stunned. This was a punch that could shake the planet's crust. How could it not have left a single scratch?

"Are you done with your attack? Then it's my turn."

"Starfire—Blazing Burst!"

BOOM—

Kenji's palm was covered in scorching stellar flames. He slammed it into Atom's chest. The searing flames instantly detonated, engulfing Atom's entire body.

"Ah... ah..."

Atom screamed and struggled, but the starfire was like a maggot gnawing on a bone. It wouldn't stop until he was burned to ash.

Poof!

Kenji was gobsmacked. Atom directly blew off all of his skin and fur, revealing his bloody muscle tissue underneath. What a ruthless guy. But why didn't he use a Life Orb? Was he reluctant to use it?

The Blue Nitro's regenerative ability was naturally strong. Its skin grew back quickly, but it was now completely hairless.

"Die!"

Atom was utterly enraged. His muscles bulged, like an inflating balloon, and he charged at Kenji.

SMACK!

Kenji dodged the punch at the last second and delivered a powerful, mighty slap that sent Atom flying, his anteater-like face completely twisted out of shape.

Atom got up, his head buzzing, and, burning with rage, attacked Kenji again.

"Muda, muda, muda..."

This speed was nothing in Kenji's eyes. He dodged with ease. After the first punch, Atom hadn't been able to hit him again. Atom grew more and more furious. Kenji was like a slippery eel; no matter how tricky the angle of attack, he could always dodge it.

"Yawn..."

Kenji yawned. The Blue Nitro's attacks were so slow. If Master Jiro were fighting a Blue Nitro one-on-one, he wouldn't even need to use Damage Knocking. But against multiple opponents, a sneak attack was unavoidable.

"Just be a good little cannonball."

"Knocking!"

Thwack—

Kenji was done playing. He flicked a finger at Atom's head, and Atom instantly stood at attention. His body was immobile, but his consciousness was clear. In the future, when he was launched, he would be perfectly aware of it.

"Blue Nitro Atom, capture complete."

"One, two, three..."

Kenji counted. He had found a total of seven Life Orbs on Atom. This thing was a death-cheating talisman. The reason Joie was so arrogant was, besides his own Food Luck, his reliance on these Life Orbs. The Life Orbs he had taken from Joie last time, Kenji had given to Jiro and the others, just in case. In the manga, Jiro had only gotten one from a Blue Nitro, and it had been enough to save him from Acacia's first sneak attack. This time, his master would have several extra lives to use, and without any stored damage in his body.

"Get in here."

Kenji took out his Pincer Attack Formation and stuffed the Blue Nitro Atom directly inside. When he launched it, he would tie a Life Orb to the Blue Nitro. It was highly likely that it could be reborn inside the Pincer Attack Formation, making it reusable.

Acacia, can you block this attack of mine?

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