I became Hokage in Tokyo

Chapter 83-084 Taxi Horror

It was noon, and the streets near Kasumigaseki 2-chome in Chiyoda Ward were bustling with people and vehicles.

The Metropolitan Police Department headquarters building can be seen in the distance.

"Guests, you have arrived."

A taxi slowly pulled up near a crepe stand. The back door opened, but no one got out. A moment later, the door closed automatically.

Have a safe journey.

After the taxi driver finished speaking, he stepped on the gas and slowly drove away.

Unfortunately, just as the wheels were about to touch the zebra crossing at the first intersection, the red light came on. The taxi driver could only curse his bad luck and listlessly put his hands on the steering wheel, silently counting the decreasing red numbers on the traffic light.

Suddenly, the taxi driver shivered and looked around blankly.

"How strange, where am I? Why did I drive here?"

The taxi driver leaned out of the window and looked around. Having spent most of his time traveling around Tokyo, he quickly confirmed the approximate location: Chiyoda Kasumigaseki. But why had he inexplicably driven here?

He glanced at his watch, then slapped his forehead, racking his brains to recall what had happened after noon.

I remember exactly what the side dishes were in the Erlang Ramen I had for lunch, but the memory of the past thirty minutes since then is like recalling something from decades ago—vague and unclear.

I have to go to work this afternoon, so I can't drink alcohol. Why is my mind completely blank?

Could it be Alzheimer's? But I'm not even sixty years old!

The taxi driver turned on the dashcam and reviewed the vehicle's trip details.

"Huguosi Cemetery..."

As the taxi driver looked at the starting point of the nearest journey, a chill ran down his spine, instantly making his scalp tingle and causing him to break out in a cold sweat.

In that instant, he remembered!

Although Gokokuji Temple in Bunkyo Ward is a famous temple and tourist attraction, the cemetery in the western part is deserted and desolate. It is still early before the Obon festival, and apart from family members who come to pay their respects, no tourists or worshippers would want to go and visit the tombstones for bad luck.

After finishing my lunch, as I passed by the Huguosi Cemetery, I saw someone quietly waiting by the roadside...

No, that wasn't a person at all, but something indescribable!

When he drove by, he only glanced at it casually, and then, as if possessed, he drove over and picked up that person or that thing.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!"

The taxi driver rested his forehead on the steering wheel, his face filled with unconcealed horror and shock.

"What the hell is that thing?"

Although he still couldn't recall what the thing looked like or whether it was human, the taxi driver remembered that although the thing didn't say a word after getting in the car, he still knew its destination and drove the car here.

Not only that, on the road, the taxi driver, like all drivers in the capital city, talked incessantly about various political secrets and gossip, but that thing remained silent from beginning to end, and he didn't seem to realize anything was wrong. On the contrary, he was very talkative and tried to strike up a conversation with it.

It wasn't until it got out of the car that the taxi driver noticed something was wrong, based on the data from the dashcam.

But, but...

"Were the passengers picked up at Huguosi Cemetery really human, or something that crawled out of a grave?"

Although it was broad daylight, the streets outside the car window were bustling and lively. Fashionably dressed urban women were laughing and chatting while holding bubble tea, and well-dressed office workers were hurrying by with their laptops in hand. But the taxi driver felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave and was terrified.

By this time, the light had turned green, and the cars behind the taxi were already starting to honk impatiently.

The honking broke the taxi driver's frozen state of fear. His lips were pale, his pupils trembled, and his hands shook as he turned on the camera equipment placed in the taxi.

"I don't believe it, I don't believe it! Maybe I have Alzheimer's!"

The taxi driver opened the in-car surveillance video recorded today, skipped to the most recent period, and then played it at double speed.

Then, then he saw it, and then he saw nothing at all.

In the surveillance video, after the taxi driver stopped at Huguosi Cemetery, the car door was opened and then closed automatically.

However, the camera did not capture anything getting into the car; the back seats were empty and no one could be seen.

The taxi driver set off with the empty car in hand.

The camera didn't capture anything, except that the taxi driver was talking and laughing loudly with a natural expression, talking to himself like a madman, and occasionally striking up a conversation with the empty back seat.

It was almost like a hysterical episode, like talking to something unseen.

The horror movie-like unfolding and the terrifying atmosphere completely terrified the taxi driver.

It really is a ghost encounter!!

By this time, a long line of cars had formed behind the taxi, honking incessantly. But a minute passed, and the taxi remained motionless. A burly man, overcome with road rage, rolled up his sleeves, got out of his car, and began pounding on the taxi's window without any politeness.

"Are you deaf? Are you blind? Can't you see the green light? You're deaf and blind, yet you drive a taxi!"

The driver's side door suddenly opened from the inside, knocking the man off balance and causing him to fall to the ground on his buttocks. Then, the taxi driver jumped out, letting out a bloodcurdling scream.

"Aaaaaahh ...

The taxi driver, wearing only one leather shoe and a sock on the other, scrambled and rolled from the road onto the sidewalk, shouting and yelling as he ran.

"Turns out he's mentally ill!"

The burly man who had been pushed to the ground wanted to argue with the taxi driver, but he was frightened by the driver's mental breakdown and could only spit angrily on the ground before returning to his car.

"Japan is really doomed. Eighty-year-olds are driving taxis, now even mentally ill people are driving taxis!"

After shouting wildly a few times, the taxi driver suddenly stopped, as if his voice had been choked, and his eyes became vacant.

Huh? What happened?

Nothing happened.

The taxi driver walked back to the taxi with a stiff expression and drove away.

Because of the short distance, the commotion at the intersection attracted the attention of some people, and the crepe vendor peeked out curiously.

Unbeknownst to them, a coin had appeared on the counter, while a freshly made crepe had vanished.

In a back alley of a commercial street, out of the view of cameras and unnoticed by anyone, the light in the void suddenly distorted, and a transparent figure materialized and appeared in place.

A handsome young man dressed in a red and black outfit, with two tear troughs on his face, held a sweet and delicious strawberry crepe in his hand.

With a flick of his finger, he smeared a bit of cream from the corner of his mouth into his mouth.

Uchiha Itachi gazed calmly at the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters building in the distance, the three tomoe in his eyes slowly rotating.

(End of this chapter)