Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

The bullet was fired at Sano.

But Sano seemed to have foreseen this, and had already turned to the left a step in advance.

Successfully dodged the bullet.

Damn it!

"Something's wrong with this guy, kill him!"

"Bang bang bang!"

In an instant, more than a dozen guns opened fire on Sano. Although they were all pistols, their sheer number was no less than that of one or two submachine guns. The dense bullets came crashing down like a sudden rainstorm, making it impossible to easily dodge them by simply moving one's feet or turning to the side.

...The true identity of Kurosawa is a black sword.

Apart from the aura attribute, all other attributes are very low.

His usual attack methods rely entirely on swordsmanship. Even his movement and defense rely on the unique power generation techniques in swordsmanship, except for dodging.

It relies on cunning and shrewdness.

The Mind's Eye allows Sano to observe his surroundings from a God's-eye view, making it easier to manage the overall situation. Its near-X-ray vision also allows for targeted observation.

In addition, it can also "slow down".

Even a 100% flexibility attribute cannot compare in this respect.

But a certain arrogant person's painful lesson proved that...

It's one thing for your "eyes" to keep up.

Whether your body can keep up is another matter entirely.

Sano could easily dodge bullets from one or two pistols, but a dozen or so?

Although Sano still knew exactly how to dodge, his body couldn't keep up.

Unless you approach by searching for cover from a great distance.

That would be too lame; Sano has a much more sophisticated way of handling things.

"Ding!"

Sano raised his wooden sword and deflected the first bullet.

Immediately following, his footsteps darted about, dodging as many incoming bullets as possible while continuing to swing his wooden sword, though the swinging speed was not fast.

It could even be described as very slow.

Of course, there are techniques that utilize swordsmanship to generate power, but the purpose of those techniques is more to increase the speed of turning the wooden sword than the speed of swinging it.

This is why Sano looks the way he does now.

It was as if he were using a fan to shoo away mosquitoes, and he easily and casually blocked the bullets, with the wooden sword and bullets constantly colliding and sparking.

This kind of casualness is completely different from the feeling of dodging bullets in other normal situations, which is as swift and powerful as a tiger or as agile and nimble as a rabbit. If I had to describe it, it would be like a piece of paper fluttering in the wind.

It feels so close, almost within reach, yet it's also a thousand miles away, unattainable.

She's elusive, like a girl in the midst of an ambiguous relationship, giving people hope yet also despair.

It manipulates the man's psychology.

"Ding Ding Ding!"

A series of crisp sounds rang out continuously.

After a whole round, Sano moved his feet two or three times, but his overall position did not change at all, and he even returned to the starting point.

Furthermore, Sano was completely unharmed and covered in dust, so much so that if the pistol hadn't been completely empty, the woodpeckers would have suspected that the previous round was all just their imagination.

"A monster!?"

"Don't just stand there, change the magazine quickly! Don't fire all at once, divide the work and take turns firing!"

Sano continued forward at a leisurely pace.

It's as if they're deliberately giving the woodpeckers a chance to keep struggling.

The second round went on without any change... If you had to put it in perspective, it was that after the woodpeckers realized something was wrong and reorganized their work, there was no pause between the end of the second round and the start of the third.

The transition was very quick.

Sano was unable to continue forward.

But it doesn't make any sense.

The first round was a lucky coincidence, the second round was barely acceptable, but what about the third round?

He's almost out of bullets, so what if he can hold out?

Can we stall for a few more seconds?

"No, I can't take it anymore, I'm leaving!"

Finally, before the fourth round even entered the transition phase, one of the woodpeckers completely lost its composure and turned to run away, ignoring its teammates.

This triggered a chain reaction.

Those who couldn't hold on any longer rushed to run away, afraid of being unlucky if they were even a second late.

The remaining woodpeckers were in a panic.

Sano stopped playing around and, a faint red light seeped from under the white blindfold. He took a step forward with one foot and thrust the wooden sword straight forward—"Thud!"

Propelled by the gushing fountain of blood, several heads shot into the night sky.

……

On the other end.

After Kuroda Hyōe hung up the phone, Morofushi Takaaki and the others standing nearby seemed to be deep in thought.

"Is it that... the white-clad swordsman?"

"Ah."

This has been confirmed by Kuroda Hyōe.

Zhu Fu Gaoming frowned: "You already knew about the existence of the other members of the Woodpecker Guild, and even arranged for someone to deal with them. Why didn't you say so beforehand... Never mind, that's not important. Thirteen members of the Woodpecker Guild, all of them are police officers. Judging from what he said, they were all gathered together. The danger is so high. Is it really okay to let him handle it alone?"

Morofushi Takaaki was worried about not handling the situation well, and also worried that if he did not handle it well, he would lose a life for nothing, but Kuroda Hyōe just sneered at this.

Conan also has a strange look in his eyes.

Thirteen armed enemies huddled together?

"If he'd die from this much, he'd better just die already."

After waving his hand to order everyone to take those who needed to be taken away, Kuroda Hyōe left first. Seeing this, the others had no choice but to go about their business.

As a key participant in this case, Sano also needs to go back to give a statement... Tsk, as expected, this old man is still not up to par.

If this were in Tokyo, Sano wouldn't need to give any statement. He could just find an excuse to postpone it, and the final decision on when to do it would depend on the situation.

However, through this, Sano also learned more details about the case.

For example, the big toe of the headless, charred corpse initially believed to belong to Takeda was indeed his, but the others were not. They belonged to the wanted robber who was named but faceless throughout the entire incident. As for the original headless corpse, it was taken by Akiyama and used in the fake death scene at Saijoyama. Sano had anticipated this but did not confirm it.

But it doesn't matter.

The only part that might be of interest is the motivation.

It turns out that in the first of the two gun-related incidents in Takeda, one of the passersby who was accidentally killed was Akiyama's sister.

He was struck squarely in the forehead and died instantly.

As a result, Akiyama harbored a grudge against Yamato Kansuke... because the two were close friends.

After Akiyama became a policeman, he came into contact with the inside story of the Woodpecker Guild.

Sano really wants to complain about this part.

Because the Woodpecker Society's main business was selling handguns that were confiscated in cases but not handed over and instead kept privately, and the source of the handguns of the perpetrators in those two cases was precisely this, which is why Akiyama set his sights on the entire Takeda Group again... But Sano really couldn't understand it.

That's an organization of about twenty people, and they all wield considerable power.

They cover for each other; why do they have to do this when there are so many other businesses to run?

It's like using a sledgehammer that's been sharpened for ages to kill a chicken.

...The arms business has low profits and high risks.

Especially in a neon-lit environment.

Unless both sides have very extensive distribution channels, thus enabling them to achieve high sales volume with low profit margins.

Otherwise, whoever does it is an idiot.

Even so.

This is mostly a way to pave the way for other businesses, or it may just be a side effect, where every little bit helps.

They make money purely from this.

No wonder they've worked themselves to the bone for over ten years and are still broke, unable to even afford a car.

After taking the statement, Sano kicked Conan awake, who had fallen asleep while waiting in the corridor.

The two left the police station together, preparing to head home.

"...No, brother, it's already past midnight. Are we going to just go straight to catch a bus back without finding a place to sleep? Is there something urgent?"

Conan was genuinely dissatisfied and also genuinely puzzled.

But before Sano could respond, or before Conan could press for further details...

A car drove past.

Through the car window, Conan's eyes were immediately drawn to Kuroda Hyoue, who was driving in the driver's seat, and the white figure in the passenger seat.

...Kurosawa Blade?

Has this guy returned? Has the Woodpecker Guild taken care of him?

Conan really wanted to catch up with the car, or maybe throw a bug inside to eavesdrop.

Unfortunately, it's impossible.