Chapter 697 – Fiery Dispute

After the first round ended, the venue went into a brief silence. However, the wave caused by the result of the first round swept out.

To ensure Amaki Hamasaki’s victory, the Iwata Chinese Medicine Research Facility had put in a great deal of effort.

At this moment, the face of the Facility Chief, Hiro Iwata, was grim. Out of the ten medicines that have yet to be released into the market, four of them came from his research facility. Even if the answers weren’t disclosed, but for the judging panel to declare Su Tao’s victory, it meant that Su Tao’s analysis was more accurate than Amaki Hamasaki.

In the business industry, this is extremely dangerous, as it might result in the leak of secrets. After all, it might mean that the work and money that the research facility had put in would go down the drain. Hence, his first response was to suspect that Chiaki Ochi had revealed the secret to Su Tao since the two of them have a pretty good relationship.

However, Hiro Iwata did not have any evidence on that. Firstly, when the committee suggested the first round, he had made his consideration and chose medicines that Chiaki Ochi did not partake in the research. Secondly, he knew Chiaki Ochi for years. Not only was Chiaki Ochi a talent, but he’s also a stubborn and inflexible person. Thus, it’s impossible for him to do something that goes against his morals.

The more he analysed about it; the more Hiro Iwata felt shocked. There’s a possibility that Su Tao was really that talented. He had heard from Chiaki Ochi that Su Tao came to Kyoto to observe and study the manufacturing of Chinese medicine, and this was also the reason why he visited the Iwata Chinese Research Facility. If such talent really goes into the Chinese medicine industry, he will definitely be a huge threat. In a nutshell, he only has to personally examine the medicine that is on the market to obtain the recipe, and it was simply an incredible ability.

When Amaki Hamasaki returned to his seat, he took a bottle of water and gulped down in mouthfuls before he spoke out, “Chief Iwata, please be reassured. The second round is my forte, and I will not lose to him.”

Nodding his head, Hiro Iwata instructed, “You don’t have to feel pressured. Just compete at your normal mentality. Furthermore, Su Tao is competent, and you can’t afford to underestimate him.”

Hiro Iwata had just reviewed the answers written by Amaki Hamasaki. However, he wasn’t satisfied with the results. Generally speaking, it’s impossible for Amaki Hamasaki to obtain nine out of ten as he had miswritten some of the herbs.

But out of consideration for the Iwata Chinese Research Facility, they closed an eye and gave him the points.

In reality, Amaki Hamasaki should obtain seven instead of nine out of ten. But since Su Tao held a considerable advantage, the judging panel considered Amaki Hamasaki’s face and announced that he had only lost to Su Tao by a small margin.

However, Amaki Hamasaki knew what was going on. When he saw Su Tao’s answers, he had instantly changed his opinion on Su Tao. He knew that it wasn’t luck or coincidence for Kim Jung-ho to lose to Su Tao, but the latter was truly a talent that ordinary people couldn’t reach.

Amaki Hamasaki nodded as he turned to look at Su Tao with hatred in his eyes.

He is a person who couldn’t afford to lose, and he would mark it in his heart if he fails once. This is also the reason why he was filled with hostility for Kim Jung-ho. Whenever the two of them met, there would be a scent of gunpowder permeating in the atmosphere that put Kim Jung-ho in an awkward situation.

“You’ve fully provoked Amaki Hamasaki.” Kim Jung-ho smiled bitterly as he looked at Su Tao.

“That’s great. If he couldn’t maintain his composure, he would definitely commit a mistake.” Su Tao smiled as he continued, “This is a battlefield, to begin with. So isn’t it a piece of good news that my opponent had lost his composure? After all, there’s a higher chance of him committing a mistake.”

Letting out a sigh, Kim Jung–ho replied, “You’re truly a terrifying person. You possess superb medical skills, but you’re not the slightest gentlemanly.”

Laughing out loud, Su Tao shook his head, “Showing benevolence to your enemy is the same as being cruel to yourself. Even if I’m facing you, I will not hold back either.”

Clasping his hands together to Su Tao, Kim Jung-ho smiled bitterly, “You’re really not giving me any face.”

Listening to his words, Su Tao smiled. People would form a rapport with each other, and he had an understanding of Kim Jung-ho’s character. He knew that the latter wouldn’t get angry because of his words.

Truth be told, Kim Jung-ho was positioned between an enemy and friend in Su Tao’s heart, and this is the reason Su Tao felt conflicted as he has no idea how to deal with their relationship.

His competition with Amaki Hamasaki wasn’t only on skills, but mentally as well.

Su Tao might seem calm, but he had treated this competition seriously. Not only does he have to display the strength of TCM before everyone, this competition even involves national honour.

Crown Prince Tomohito sighed as he felt somewhat uncomfortable in his heart that Amaki Hamasaki had lost to Su Tao in the first round.

Coming here, he naturally wished to see the representative of his country to win. However, his face was grim after the first round.

“I knew that Su Tao could win!” Princess Kiko yelled out happily.

The mistress of the Seto Clan, Kiko, glanced at his husband. She knew what was going through his mind and spoke out, “Mr. Hamasaki’s medical skills are decent, and he might have performed below his standards earlier. I believe that he will be able to win the next one.”

“Mr. Su saved Shinin, so you should support him instead.” Kiko shook her head.

Looking at Kiko with tolerance, Yuko smiled, “It’s true that Mr. Su had helped me, but Mr. Hamasaki is representing the country now. Under these circumstances, we should put aside the interest of individuals for the greater good.”

Tomohito nodded his head in satisfaction that his wife could display such a mindset on this occasion.

Kiko’s brows raised as she mumbled, “But I hope that the winner would be Mr. Su!”

Tomohito sighed as he was helpless against his rebellious niece.

Her personality was the same as her father, who was his younger brother. Since youth, his younger brother had lived in a relaxed environment and would often do something shocking. But as a woman, Kiko wouldn’t pose any threat to the royal clan. Hence, everyone wasn’t so strict when it came to her.

Furthermore, the royal clan is also intending to expose themselves appropriately to let the public know about them. After a series of discussions by the Inner Palace Department, Kiko’s image conforms with the esthetics of the younger generations. Henceforth, they have been trying to nurture Kiko on purpose to increase Seto Clan’s image.

Not only was Kiko popular in Japan, but she’s also well-known in Europe and America, so much so that even a Prince from Sweden had fallen in love with her at first sight. But due to the fact that Kiko receives the pampering of the Seto Clan, they rejected the marriage proposal after considering the fact that she has to marry far away.

After the traditional dance was finished, the host returned to the stage and smiled, “After a short break, we’re finally back on the stage. In the first round, Mr. Su Tao, a young National Healer from China, had won against Mr. Amaki Hamasaki with a slight margin. Now that we’re going into our second round, will Mr. Amaki Hamasaki able to make a comeback?”

Listening to the translation, Su Tao sighed inwardly. There’s a change in the situation from the host’s tone. The host introduced his identity to show that there’s a reason why Amaki Hamasaki lost in the first round, and it can be considered as retaining some face for Japan.

The host took two steps back and unveiled the red curtain on the stage, revealing a medicinal rack with all sorts of bottles on it. Taking a rough glance at it, there were at least 300 bottles, and all of them were packaged in the same manner. Hence, no one could tell the difference by the outside appearance.

The host smiled, “We’ve increased the difficulty for the second round. In a while, we will arrange a patient for each of them. The two competitors are required to find a suitable medicine within half an hour, and the one with the highest accuracy will win this round.”

The moment the host spoke out, it instantly caused a commotion as the difficulty in this round was too great.

Firstly, they have to diagnose the patient’s condition without any medical apparatus.

Secondly, they have to find suitable medication on the medicine rack, but the medicine did not have any label on them. The competitors have to rely on their own ability, like the first round to pick the most suitable Chinese medicine for the patients.

Evidently, they’ve considered the fact that Amaki Hamasaki has an advantage in his diagnosis skills.

Furthermore, the medicinal bottles might not have any label, but there were some small serial codes printed on it. As long as Amaki Hamasaki swept a glance at it, he will be able to roughly guess the medicine to further classify them. It wasn’t done on purpose as the staff had to put a mark on the bottles so that they will not mix things up.

Amaki Hamasaki and Su Tao walked over to their patient. The patients were Japanese, so not only could Amaki Hamasaki conduct diagnosis through observation, he can also take a step deeper with Listening & Smelling and Inquiring to gain a better understanding of the patient’s condition.

Roughly ten-odd minutes later, Amaki Hamasaki went over to the medicinal rack and started picking the most appropriate medicine.

As for Su Tao, he locked his brows slightly after taking the patient’s pulse before he sighed and walked over to the medicinal rack.

As time slowly passes, Amaki Hamasaki found four different medications in twenty-five minutes. He was confident as those medications were targeted at the patient’s condition.

On the other hand, Su Tao took a slightly longer time and ultimately chose two TCM medicines before retrieving a piece of paper from his medicine box and wrote down his view on the patient’s condition along with the treatment.

Thereafter, the two answers were sealed off before they were submitted to the judging panel for evaluation.

“Now, we will take a break with another performance!” The host smiled.

When she finished her announcement, several dancers went on the stage, with folding fans in their hands. The dancers all had their faces painted white, much similar to Beijing’s opera. In the esthetics standard of traditional Japanese dance, they had their faces and necks painted white to look like dolls.

As the music played on the stage, permeating a relaxing atmosphere, the judging panel below the stage fell into an intense dispute.

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