Detective Conan: Death Note

Suddenly, chaotic shouts were heard outside the deserted temple deep in Mount Kurama.

Maybe the police have arrived.

Stabbing the dagger into Saijo Taiga's abdomen, Hayashi Yoshiki pushed him away. He raised his head somewhat relaxedly.

There was a full moon tonight.

Raising his blood-stained right hand, he dug his five fingers into his hair and slicked it back, revealing his smooth, white forehead.

"How could it be... Damn it—!"

The dagger pierced Saijo Taiga's abdomen, and as he was pushed back, it was as if all his strength had left him. He staggered, unable to grip his weapon any longer.

Finally, the dagger in his hand dropped to the ground with a clang.

Some of his students, who had been watching from a distance, saw that their teacher had been defeated and hurriedly tried to escape toward the exit. But before they could get far, they were caught in the glare of police flashlights.

"Brother Yoshiki, are you okay?!" Ran ran toward him.

"Yeah, fortunately… thanks to your help, Ran, I was able to escape unharmed," Hayashi Yoshiki replied.

Looking at the blood in his hair and the knife wound streak across his cheek, Ran's heart tightened with worry.

At that moment, Hattori Heiji also arrived, supported by Toyama Kazuha.

"This is called giving someone a taste of their own medicine," Heiji muttered. "That guy didn't expect to fall for the same cheap trick he used before."

He didn't even glance at the gruesome scene behind them. As far as Hattori Heiji was concerned, the downfall of Nishijo Taiga was something to be relieved about.

During their battle in the woods, Nishijo had used his wrist guard to deflect Heiji's wooden sword, and had taken advantage of the moment to jab Heiji in the forehead with a counterattack—securing a humiliating win.

"He was completely overwhelmed by it this time," Hayashi Yoshiki said, smiling as he rolled up his sleeves and unfastened the metal wristband he had worn.

Watching this, Heiji looked both impressed and annoyed.

"How many things do you have hidden on you?"

"If you're talking about daggers, there's still one left."

"Isn't that a little too exaggerated?"

"Mainly because we were short on time. Ideally, it would've been better to use some anesthetic with the dagger."

As Hayashi Yoshiki said this, his eyes shifted to Conan's watch.

Conan, caught off guard by the stare, instinctively hid his hands behind his back.

"…What kind of situation were you in that you had to go to such extremes?"

"You mean those punks? They were actually kind of interesting."

By then, the police had already arrived.

They had clearly struggled to catch Saijo Taiga's disciples who tried to flee. The officers froze momentarily at the bloody scene inside the temple but quickly relaxed when they saw Hayashi Yoshiki and the others safe.

"Arrest all of these suspects!"

Ayanokouji waved his hand, and the officers quickly moved in, detaining those on the ground or with their hands raised in surrender.

Kogoro Mori came running.

"Are you all okay?!" he shouted anxiously but exhaled in relief when Ran waved to indicate she was fine.

Then he turned to see Saijo Taiga being restrained, the dagger still lodged in his abdomen.

"What a damn bastard!"

"Be careful, officer! The dagger next to him is poisoned!" Conan called out urgently.

The Kyoto Prefectural Police swiftly took over the scene. Ayanokouji began registering names on a form.

"You guys really are something. You didn't even inform me earlier when something like this happened?"

"Didn't I text you, Uncle Mouri, right when I passed through the mountain gate?"

"If anything happened, it would've been too late!!" Kogoro Mori shouted.

No one dared contradict him.

Shiratori Ninzaburo, who had just finished assisting the Kyoto police, came over.

"Let's leave things here to the police. Mr. Hayashi, you should head to the hospital. The ambulance is already waiting at the foot of the mountain."

"Oh right, Yoshiki is injured—let's go to the hospital right away!" Ran said hurriedly.

So, the group began making their way down the mountain.

At the gate, Dr. Agasa and Haibara Ai were waiting. The police had clearly kept them outside, worried the scene inside was too traumatic.

The moment Haibara saw that Hayashi Yoshiki was unharmed, she let out a quiet breath—and then ran to him.

There were three ambulances parked nearby. But compared to Hayashi Yoshiki's light injuries, the others—those stabbed or with slashed limbs—needed urgent care. Even Heiji's injured shoulder was far more serious.

As a result, Hayashi Yoshiki ended up riding in the Beetle, driven by Professor Agasa.

Conan had intended to sit in the back seat, but after seeing both Haibara Ai and Ran climb in after Hayashi Yoshiki, he had no choice but to take the passenger seat.

"Brother Yoshiki, please clean the wound first," Ran said.

She opened a bottle of water and dampened a paper towel.

"It's just a minor knife wound. The hospital's close—we can wait to treat it there."

Haibara Ai gave him a cool glance.

"Better to skip the pain of cleaning it twice."

"So…" Ran paused, then nodded.

"At least let me clean off the dirt."

With a gentle touch, she began wiping the blood off Hayashi Yoshiki's face with a wet tissue. Her movements were careful and precise.

The cut on his face had already begun to scab. After cleaning it thoroughly, she scrutinized his face with care, making sure she hadn't missed a spot.

"Don't worry, I'm fine… But I am a little worried about the scar on my face."

"It's very shallow, Yoshiki-nii," she replied softly.

"That's good. It'd be terrible if I got a scar and couldn't find a girlfriend."

Hayashi Yoshiki chuckled.

Even though she knew it was a joke, Ran mumbled, "That would never happen…"

She lowered her head again and started cleaning the blood from his hands.

"I can do this myself."

"Brother Yoshiki, just stay still!"

…

Haibara Ai continued to observe the wound quietly.

When Hayashi Yoshiki noticed her gaze and looked over, she glanced away as if nothing had happened.

"Don't worry."

"Yeah?"

Seeing him smile so casually, Haibara Ai pressed her lips together.

"Speaking of which, Brother Yoshiki—" Conan twisted around from the front seat. "You said you told the police where the Buddha statue is hidden. Is that true?"

"Of course."

"Where is it?"

Conan had been obsessing over this since getting in the car.

He and Heiji had confirmed that the statue was indeed hidden somewhere in Gyokuryuji Temple, but they couldn't figure out where. Despite spending days there, Saijo Taiga hadn't found it either—so it had to be hidden behind some clever mechanism.

"If you look at the entire Gyokuryuji Temple from above, the layout resembles the Chinese character for 'jade'—『玉』."

"So!?"

There was no need to say more.

Based on the puzzle in the treasure map… the Buddha statue was hidden in the little dot, the "丶" at the top of the character "玉."