Realizing that the path of cooking leads to the "Gate of Truth," Takeru takes the hand of Umi, who boasts that he will "challenge God with cooking." After graduating from school at the top of his class, Takeru moves to Tokyo and begins living with Umi as an apprentice chef at "K." Umi, who has noticed Takeru's fatal weakness, puts him in charge of the meals at "K" and gives him the task of creating meals that will satisfy all the staff within a week. Takeru enters "K" kitchen in high spirits, but is horrified by the harshness of the battlefield.