Stay away from Conan.

Being somewhat curious about what this monk Ryuen was saying at Sannoji Temple, Hattori Heiji and Conan followed him to the hall with the Buddha statue that Kazuha and the others had visited before.

Here, just like what Xiaolan and others had seen before, Ryuen first opened the Buddhist shrine and showed Hattori Heiji and others that the "Medicine Buddha" statue was missing from the shrine. Then Ryuen explained to them about the loss of the "Medicine Buddha" statue eight years ago and the reason why they did not call the police because of the attitude of the abbot Master Enkai at that time.

Finally, the highlight, Ryuen showed the letter that was sent to the temple that he had just received today to Hattori Heiji -

So, after seeing the content of the letter and the strange picture attached to it, Hattori Heiji and Conan, who originally thought that this was just an ordinary theft case, suddenly became alert.

Because, the Buddha statue had been stolen for eight years, and the news had not been spread in all these years. Before the Buddha statue was about to be consecrated, a letter was suddenly received that seemed to tell the whereabouts of the Buddha statue...

"Hey! Hattori!"

At this moment, especially when looking at the picture attached to the letter that needed to be decrypted, Conan's expression seemed surprised and solemn, and he called out to Hattori Heiji, as if revealing something secretly.

Hattori Heiji naturally understood what Conan wanted to express. He looked at the painting in surprise, touching his chin with one hand, and analyzed:

"That's right... the thief who stole the Buddha statue in Kyoto eight years ago... If we can decipher this code, we can not only find the Buddha statue, but also find clues to the murderer!"

As such, for the two men who were also in control of the "Genji Hotaru" thief gang case, this incident was easily linked to the recent murder case that occurred across Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto.

In this way, Hattori Heiji and Conan, who were originally wondering whether something had happened inside "Genji Hotaru" recently, suddenly realized the strange meaning behind this letter.

After all, the Buddha statue that had been stolen for so many years was now being notified to the owner and the temple was informed of the location of the Buddha statue, and this was done using secret codes, which seemed like a provocation.

This kind of thing is too strange, but when combined with the fact that the thief is most likely "Genji Hotaru" and the recent murders of five members of "Genji Hotaru", it seems to point out a way for Hattori Heiji and Conan. It seems that as long as they can decipher the meaning of the secret code of this pattern, they will know what "Genji Hotaru" is doing, and the murder case will be solved!
So, faced with such a thing, Hattori Heiji, who was originally just casually taking a look at the situation, readily agreed to this matter and expressed his willingness to help Sannoji decipher the code and find the lost Buddha statue.

Hearing this answer, Ryuen couldn't help but smile happily, and kept shaking hands with Hattori Heiji to express his gratitude, and asked:

"Thank you so much, Mr. Hattori Heiji! It's great that you accepted this commission! Now, regarding the commission fee..."

"Ah, there's no need for commission fees. I never ask for commission fees when I accept commissions."

Waving his hand, Hattori Heiji politely declined Ryuen's suggestion to discuss the commission fee.

Seeing that Hattori Heiji insisted on doing so, Ryuen gave up. When Hattori Heiji asked if there was a backup of the relevant pictures, Ryuen, who had already prepared, took two photocopied sheets of the drawing paper with the puzzle and handed them to Hattori Heiji.

Just like that, Long Yuan finally reminded one thing:

"However... I hope that the theft of the Buddha statue will not be disclosed before the opening day. After all..."

This was something that had been kept secret from the public for eight years. Hattori Heiji and Conan nodded naturally, and after promising not to reveal the matter, they walked out of the main hall where the shrine was placed. When they were about to conduct a thorough investigation of the picture, they ran into Sakura Masazo and others who were still waiting in the temple.

Because Sakura Shozo invited Hattori Heiji to have a kendo competition, Nishijo Taiga and Mizuo Harutarou have been waiting until now, seemingly wanting to see the kendo skills of the Kansai high school detective.

"Ah! Mr. Hattori Heiji, I didn't expect you to be famous in high school kendo competitions! I'm really looking forward to our competition even more!"

Seeing Hattori Heiji walking out of the main hall and coming to the square beside the main entrance of the temple, Sakura Masazo came towards him. It seemed that he took advantage of the time just now to do some research on Hattori Heiji's kendo. As a result, he successfully saw the evaluation of Hattori Heiji's performance in the high school kendo competition on the Internet.

As a result, seeing Sakura Masazō so eager to try, Hattori Heiji finally realized that before he followed Ryuen into the hall to find out what happened, he had made an appointment with Sakura Masazō to compete in kendo. However, he was so excited to see what Ryuen took out that he almost forgot about it.

So, since this was something he had promised, Hattori Heiji naturally did not refuse. After all, it was just a kendo exchange, so Hattori Heiji did not take it seriously.

And because the abbot of Sannoji Temple, Yuankai, was also practicing kendo, there was a suitable venue as well as corresponding protective gear and bamboo swords right in this temple.

So, seeing Hattori Heiji readily accept the invitation to spar, Saijo Taiga on the side suggested:

"Then, let's borrow Master Yuanhai's venue and protective gear. Mr. Hattori Heiji, please come over here. There is a suitable place to change clothes. Please go and change clothes together..."

"No need, it's just a simple exchange, there's no need to make it so complicated."

However, in the face of Saijo Taiga's proposal, Hattori Heiji decisively rejected it. After all, he had to change clothes and it would be a waste of time. It would be better to quickly solve the problem at hand and investigate it immediately.

Therefore, Hattori Heiji looked at Sakura Shozo who had challenged him to a duel, and said confidently:
"How about it, uncle? Just a brief sparring match, let's just do it!"

Hearing Hattori Heiji say this so casually, Sakura Shozo was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help laughing:

"Okay, okay! Then how about we limit it to three effective strikes?"

"No problem at all."

Hattori Heiji replied with a confident smile.

Seeing this, Mizuo Harutarou, who was standing beside him, folded his hands in front of him and stretched them into the sleeves of his kimono, and couldn't help but smile:
"Humph, you are so confident... Mr. Sakura Shozo, please don't make a mistake!"

Mizuo Harutarou reminded Sakura Masazodo.

At the same time, seeing Hattori Heiji's attitude, Saijo Taiga's expression became serious... (End of this chapter)