Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

Sano tilted his head to dodge, and at the same time seized the opportunity to stick to Shuichi Akai again, grabbing his wrist with his backhand to stick to him, but was suddenly thrown away by Akai.

Leaving his feet off the ground was disadvantageous for Sano, so he had to let go.

Shuichi Akai was delighted and let go of Sano's hand. Then, taking advantage of the moment before Sano landed, he rushed out with a blatant disregard for martial ethics.

Sano blocked the high kick with both arms, but his already airborne body became even more unstable.

Sano landed headfirst, seemingly having lost his balance.

With his hands on the ground and his waist twisting, Sano executed a spinning sweeping leg kick, forcing back Akai Shuichi, who was about to pursue him. Then, he rolled to his feet and launched another attack.

Fist, foot, elbow, knee.

Most of the time, Sano took the lead and launched the attacks.

Shuichi Akai primarily focused on defense and dodging, occasionally making shots only to probe, lure, or create space for himself to regroup when he was forced to.

Both of them have high attributes, especially with a clear bias towards agility. Sano's moves were all taught by Gin, so they are quite varied.

If I had to describe it, it would be like the protagonists in martial arts novels who steal a bit of the essence of each school's moves and combine them.

Generally speaking, this applies to veterans who have spent many years in the underground world and gradually developed their melee skills after entering it.

Basically, these are all the routes.

Therefore, it's impossible to discern any clues.

Shuichi Akai's Jeet Kune Do, while technically a martial art, has many fixed moves.

However, the core of Jeet Kune Do is to be like "water".

It doesn't emphasize strengthening techniques, and since it's a sect that has only developed in recent years, it has incorporated and improved techniques from many other sects.

This resulted in an unusually large number and frequency of changes on both sides.

Regardless of the conditions, they are capable of both offense and defense, and often manage to intercept their opponent first, making their encounters seem "fast" or, one could say, "brief."

There were no dramatic changes or grand gestures.

But it does look very beautiful.

Yes, it's beautiful.

So much so that the FBI agents watching felt as if they were watching a movie, not a fight, but a film set in a neon-lit environment.

Ninja movies?

James stared blankly, his eyes wide. Although he knew from today's events that the man named Kurosawa was probably a formidable fighter, he never expected that the other party could fight Shuichi Akai to such an evenly matched degree.

You should know that this is the most capable fighter in the FBI.

No wonder he dared to be so arrogant; he really does have some skills.

Ahead, Sano, who had been "performing" for about ten minutes, finally managed to land another punch on Shuichi Akai's face, then pulled away and stopped his attack, slightly out of breath and no longer taking the initiative to attack.

"What's wrong? You can't handle this? I can fight you all day long."

Shuichi Akai was also a little out of breath, but compared to Sano...

It should be considered good.

Its weakness is physical strength, coupled with its relatively weak attack power.

A protracted war of attrition won't work.

Looking at Shuichi Akai's upturned lips and that inexplicably familiar mockery, Sano couldn't help but twitch his lips and said with a sullen laugh, "Brother, why don't you take out a mirror and look at your own face before you speak? If you really don't have a mirror, you can piss on the ground and look at yourself."

Upon hearing Sano's words, the FBI agents, who had assumed the outcome was already decided, were all taken aback and subconsciously looked at Shuichi Akai, whom they hadn't been paying attention to.

Shuichi Akai's lips twitched, and he immediately lost his smile.

While others might not have noticed, Shuichi Akai himself certainly knew what his face looked like right now—three punches, a full three punches!

They're all shooting themselves in the face.

Although none of the three punches were heavy, they did not affect the overall situation.

It could easily affect Shuichi Akai's image.

It's one thing to disregard the rule of not hitting someone in the face.

They actually deliberately did this, it's just...

Slightly embarrassed, Shuichi Akai turned his head slightly, trying to avoid his teammates' gaze. He then stopped talking and steered the conversation back to the main topic, hoping to divert his teammates' attention: "Alright, I don't think it's necessary to play anymore."

"There's really no need to fight anymore."

Sano calmly put his hands in his pockets: "Unfortunately, judging from the result..."

"You are not qualified to team up with me, Shuichi Akai."

"……What??"

Shuichi Akai was momentarily flustered, but his teammates were even more flustered.

"Hey kid, don't deny it after you lost! Akai clearly won!"

Sano glanced at the furious gourd-faced man: "Lost? Where did I lose? I remember the standard for winning or losing is killing the other person, right? Did I die? No, although I didn't manage to kill you either, it can only be considered a draw."

Even Shuichi Akai was speechless at Sano's shameless behavior.

...Although it was true that "killing the other party" was the only way to form a team, if you actually kill the other party, what's the point of forming a team?

"Don't think I'm being unreasonable, I'm serious."

Sano then said, "Even if I can't beat you under these conditions, if I'm determined to escape, you won't be able to catch me."

"Isn't that right?"

"But that's because Akai let you have your way. If he had a gun, even if you had run away from the beginning, you would never have been able to escape!"

Sano glanced at the gourd-shaped face again and smiled: "So you think that what I just did is all I have?"

"If that's all you've got, and you're still trying to take down the distillery? I might as well just buy a grave and lie down here myself. That would be much more satisfying."

Upon hearing this, everyone present was stunned once again.

The gourd-faced man looked bewildered and said, "But didn't you just say that you'd only get in the way with the gun? How come you didn't use your full strength? I don't believe you held back against Akai just now. If you don't like it, you two can have another match!"

Sano ignored the gourd-faced man and turned to look at Shuichi Akai.

You must have heard what that driver shouted today, right?

Before Shuichi Akai could answer, Sano waved his hand and left: "Then go and investigate. If you've already arranged for someone to investigate, then just wait patiently."

"May we meet again in the martial world if fate allows."

Watching Sano's departing figure, Shuichi Akai frowned for the umpteenth time.

As the other party said, Shuichi Akai heard the "Black Mask" that the taxi driver shouted, and he did indeed arrange for someone to investigate.

They haven't returned yet.

When Akai Shusuke saw that the other party was so serious about saying "I didn't give it my all," he thought that the other party had some special talent in other areas.

For example, being very confident in one's mind, or possessing some special ability.

For example, Vermouth's disguise skills, or her incredibly impressive hacking abilities, or her powerful intelligence network that even the FBI would envy.

But judging from the other party's meaning, it doesn't seem to be the case.

What do you think?

James approached Shuichi Akai and asked, "Should we send two people to keep an eye on him, just in case this guy causes any trouble?"

Shuichi Akai shook his head.

"What is fake can never become real, and what is real can never become fake."

……

After getting a general idea of ​​Shuichi Akai's skill level, Sano spent a day relaxing at home.

"It's boring, really boring."

Sano rolled around on the ground, and finally bumped into a trash bag in the corner without paying attention. He immediately covered his nose, got up, and flew back two or three meters.

...It's time to throw out the trash.

But I don't want to move.

Sano sat on the ground, stared at the trash for a few seconds, and then took out a replica doll from his pocket.

Then Sano controlled the clone to go outside and throw away the trash.

...In fact, this behavior is almost no different from burying one's head in the sand.

After all, the concept of a clone doll is what it is. Throwing a clone around is no different from throwing the original. If you really want to talk about it, it's all about the sense of ritual!

As long as the main body doesn't move, then Sano hasn't moved.

Yes, that makes sense.

"Oh, good afternoon, Master!"

Turning his head, he saw Ito Taka standing across the street with a heavily made-up woman in his arms, waving to Sano.

...This guy actually has a girlfriend?

Sano stared at Ito Taka with a look of suspicion.

If I don't have it, why should this kid have it?

A few seconds later, Ito Taka led the woman across the road to Sano's side. After introducing themselves, they confirmed that the woman was indeed this kid's girlfriend... He's so busy with organizational work, yet he still has time to date. It seems I've been too lenient with this kid all along.

It seems we'll have to increase the workload later.

After silently assigning Ito Taka about ten tasks, the two parted ways.

Yes, Ito Taka brought his girlfriend home.

Going home... tsk, the soundproofing in that lousy place doesn't seem very good. Looks like I'll have to get some soundproofing panels installed in the room later, otherwise it'll be too unpleasant.

After throwing away the trash, Sano didn't want to go home and suffer.

So he turned around and headed to his own coffee shop for a while, but on the way, he happened to run into a group of troublemakers who were gathered on the roadside talking about something.

...the smell of a case.