The Phantom Thief of Heart! But Conan.

"Hmm, I don't think it has anything to do with the puzzle..."

Holding the puzzle photo in his hand, Conan muttered to himself as he looked at the statue at the head of the Gojo Bridge. He walked forward along the railing of the bridge, not noticing that the two people behind him were getting slower and slower, and the distance between them was gradually widening.

Two minutes later, when Conan had already started holding on to the railing and looking down at the Kamogawa River below, a voice full of interest sounded behind him.

"'On the Gojo Bridge in Kyoto, Benkei, with his massive frame, raised his long naginata and slashed at Ushiwaka...'"

Conan felt the sound of wind behind his head, turned his head suddenly, and saw a stick-like object swung towards him.

He shuddered and jumped up onto the bridge railing.

Ever since that well-known incident, it must be said that his reflexes to attacks from behind have become increasingly sensitive.

"Hattori, what are you doing..." Conan looked at Hattori Heiji, who was smiling and holding a bamboo sword. Just when he was about to ask how he got here, he thought of something and was shocked. "Oh no, be careful--"

He said why Tang Ze had to follow him out. After a long time, he predicted that Hattori Heiji was also investigating the case, so he was using him as a test to find a possible direction!

Sure enough, before Hattori Heiji could react, a blow had already hit his head.

It was also a bamboo sword used for practice, and it also came from behind, hitting Hattori Heiji's cheek very accurately, knocking him sideways.

"Noodles! Ahaha, one!"

After scoring a goal, Souji Okita shouted out the announcement method during the game with a smile. After announcing his own score, he retracted his stance and turned his head to look at Tang Ze with a proud look.

"I've already said that when it comes to swordsmanship, I've always been better."

"Hiss..." Hattori Heiji raised his hand to press the side of his face and turned his head, looking at the two people with a toothache, "Such a sneak attack doesn't mean anything. You didn't have any protective gear and didn't tell me, your victory was unfair."

"Oh, you also know that a sneak attack is an unfair victory." Tang Ze raised his head from the hood and looked at him sideways.

"I..." Hattori Heiji, who indeed did not tell the person involved about his sneak run, was speechless for a moment.

"Big brothers..." A group of children in kendo uniforms chased up from behind, watching them fight in silence, and stretched out their hands, "Give us back our bamboo swords."

Even for Okita Souji, who is a professional kendo practitioner, there is no reason for him to carry a bamboo sword with him whenever he goes out, so these two bamboo swords for practice were just borrowed from the children on the street.

"Sorry, sorry, thank you." Handing the bamboo sword back, Okita Souji smiled and waved at them, "Do your best in today's practice too."

"You still have the nerve to say that! How disillusioned would a child be if they saw that they would have to face a guy like you on the field in the future?" Hattori Heiji's mouth twitched as he handed over his bamboo sword.

"What does it matter? Not to mention the high probability of not meeting me. By the time they can compete, I definitely won't be in the junior division. But they will recognize me by then." Okita Souji pointed at himself confidently with a thumbs-up. "Who participating in the competition wouldn't know the champion?"

Tang Ze, who had already come up and grabbed Hattori Heiji by the back of the neck, glanced at him.

It should be said, indeed.

In terms of fighting power, Souji Okita is also a very super model. At his current age, he is superior to adult members such as Toru Amuro and Shuichi Akai.

...Come to think of it, I was really awesome when I hadn't recovered my memory yet. How could I remember rushing out to protect Superman when the traffic accident happened, and I was the one who got the upper hand?

"Ha, have you been using me to fish for all this time?" Conan, who was still standing on the railing, crossed his arms.

"Isn't the question really about being hooked?" Okita Souji stroked his chin. "Is there really some kind of convergence among you detectives? How did you manage to actually snoop on this?"

Isn’t the most puzzling part of waiting for the rabbit to come to you by the tree that the rabbit actually hits the tree?

"Hey, hey, come on. I just forgot to inform you, but now I've already informed you...Okay, don't delay any longer. I can explain, I can explain! Damn it, Okita, you're still laughing..."

By the time this group of noisy high school students finally quieted down, they had already walked down the stairs on the side of the bridge to the riverbank closer to the water.

Although it may not be of much use, it is better to look more hidden than on a busy bridge.

"So, K-Ahem, Conan, you're also investigating a case involving Hotaru Genji, so you came here?"

"Mori-kun accepted a commission from Sannoji Temple to help them find a lost Buddha statue. I concluded that the person who stole the statue was most likely Hotaru Genji, so I decided to investigate places related to Yoshitsune Benkei..."

"Oh...similar ideas..."

"Sorry to interrupt." Okita Souji, who had followed, couldn't help but raise his hand. "Can someone explain the situation to me? You detectives, don't always assume that everyone understands the ins and outs of the incident like you do..."

He just came to pick someone up today and was prepared to play the role of a guide, but he was confusedly led by Tang Ze to get involved in the detectives' investigation.

"Ah, it's that famous group of thieves called 'Genji Hotaru'. They started operating in 3, and have been stealing famous Buddhist statues and works of art around Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. Their members call each other Yoshitsune's retainers, and each of them has a Yoshitsune Ki with a code name written on it." Hattori Heiji nodded and gave a brief introduction.

"Eh, they were able to get this level of inside information and characteristics?" Okita Souji was a little surprised. "And they didn't even get caught by the police?"

"Because this information was basically gathered during past crimes, including how they addressed each other and how they would wear Noh masks. Some of it was confirmed after they died one after another." Conan pulled up the news page on his phone. "Just recently, five of the eight people died in succession."

On the news page were some photos and documents related to Hotaru Genji, as well as news reports from a press conference held by the Tokyo police two days ago, all of which were about the successive murders of members of the bandit gang Hotaru Genji.

"That's why I investigated the case," Hattori Heiji said, sighing, "The victim in Osaka was the owner of a takoyaki restaurant near my home."

"A member of a thief gang, opening a takoyaki shop in Osaka?" Okita Souji's mouth twitched. "I thought such a famous thief wouldn't be short of money..."

Working in the catering industry is a tough job no matter where you are.

Not to mention the long hours, this is also a service industry that places great emphasis on customer experience, and it takes a lot of energy to run it well.

"Who knows? Maybe it's just his hobby. But you're right, only a small shop owner with plenty of money would use such abundant ingredients and make the food taste so good." Speaking of this, Hattori Heiji sighed sincerely, "The takoyaki he makes is really delicious, and he's also very kind. I've been frequenting his shop since junior high school, and he takes good care of us students."

Although looking back now, I can somewhat understand where the boss's kindness comes from - it's not about making money, it's a hobby, so of course it's all about having fun without any pressure - but the good memories of the past can't be faked.

To be honest, it's a pity that I can no longer eat the food from a restaurant I used to like, no matter what the reason is.

"It's true that he is a thief, but I have indeed received his favor. Since he was murdered, I think finding the criminal and bringing him to justice can be considered as revenge for him." Hattori Heiji said very honestly.

"And you were coming to Kyoto by the way, so you investigated it by the way?" Okita Souji guessed.

"Yes, I still have a lot to do in Kyoto, so I'll investigate this matter thoroughly." Hattori Heiji said seriously, "I think it's more likely that the criminal is in Kyoto."

"Because three of them happened in Kyoto?"

"Well, this is the earliest case in the series of murders. Three people were killed in the same place. How should I put it? Although the police didn't point it out directly, anyone can see that this must have been caused by internal strife within the gang. If they weren't internal members, it would be difficult to gather three people together in the middle of the night and kill them without warning."

It should be said that, judging from the sequence of the cases, it is very likely that a conflict arose among them, so this part of the members in Kyoto broke up, the two conflicting parties clashed, and three people were killed together.

In the two subsequent cases in Osaka and Tokyo, it was more like the victorious party decided to go all out and eliminate the remaining opposition.

This also explains the tight timing of the case - the murderer had to act before the last two victims realized that something was wrong, so that he could complete the goal of killing and silencing them in time.

"Okay, I kind of understand. Since the statue lost in Sanno-ji Temple was a very precious one, we suspect it was their doing, right?" Souji Okita followed his train of thought and nodded.

"Yes, that's what I mean. In fact, the art market, even if there are some illegal channels, is generally quite transparent. Because this Buddha statue is too famous, it is inconvenient to resell it." Conan took out the copy of the document that Maori Kogoro requested and showed the puzzle and Buddha statue on it to a few people. "I guess it's because of this reason that the Buddha statue in Sannoji Temple has been lost and has not been discovered."

If such a famous item was bought by a collector, no matter how tightly the news was kept secret, word would have gotten out in a few years. It would not have disappeared after eight years.

Conan intuitively felt that the puzzle sent to Sannoji might be the root cause of the internal strife within their team.

Hattori Heiji was leaning over to look at it when a hand reached out from the side and took the paper from Conan's hand.

"The internal strife within the bandit group is due to a few reasons: uneven distribution of spoils, disagreements, leaked secrets, and personnel changes." Tang Ze looked at the statue of Medicine Buddha, whose voice and appearance were still vivid above him, and shook his head secretly. "I feel like I can guess what happened."

"Is there a custom for this?" Conan was stunned.

"Haven't you experienced something similar? More than once, right?" Tang Ze glanced at him oddly. "The stolen goods were hidden somewhere by someone in the group, usually the boss, and no one knew where they were. Then he got into an accident, got caught, went into seclusion, died, became a monk... In short, it's impossible for him to leave any information to others. Those who want to sell the stolen goods can only start to solve the puzzles left by the other party, trying to find the location of the goods..."

On this issue, the predecessors of thieves have a fine tradition. The legend of leaving a treasure after death is not a special case of One Piece. It can only be said that it has existed since ancient times.

That being said, the Riddler should still get out of here.

"Really..." After thinking about it, Conan felt that he had indeed experienced many similar incidents and couldn't help but shake his head, "Ah, it's really difficult to get along with illegal groups."

Not to mention these bandit groups, even illegal groups like organizations that have certain internal rules and order have a lot of internal conflicts and factional struggles, plus the intrigues and deceptions between undercover agents and traitors, it is still... huh?

Sensing a heavy gaze, Conan turned his head and met Tang Ze's scrutiny.

Tang Ze retracted his death stare, which was filled with "Try cursing me again!" and looked back at the paper in his hand. "It's not just illegal groups that have trouble getting along. When a group of people with different motives get together, they can't settle down no matter what they want to do."

There's no need to cite the workplace example of an octagonal cage. Why not try forming a band, a club, or a study group? Each group is silent.

"Anyway, since this is a mystery related to Genji's hotaru, we need to investigate places in Kyoto related to Yoshitsune and his group, right?" After pondering for a moment, Okita Souji summed up the key points. "That's easy. Leave it to me!"

He was originally here to be a guide, although he hadn't originally planned to be that kind of guide, but it wasn't much of a difference anyway.

Hattori Heiji's eyebrows jumped up: "Hey, I came here on a motorcycle, do you want four people to ride a motorcycle together..."

"What does it matter? I'm sure there's room for it..."

"It matters. It matters a lot! I came to Kyoto to handle a case and there's still talk about it. If I get detained for violating traffic rules, my dad will scold me to death!"

"That's really troublesome... Then let's go back to my house first. I'll take my motorcycle with me."

"That's too far..."

"Well, how about going to my place? I don't have a motorcycle, but I should be able to borrow one from my neighbor."

The two people who were arguing stopped because of this sentence, and several people looked at Tang Ze who was speaking.

"You, where are you?" Hattori Heiji widened his eyes slightly, "Oh, yes, you are from Kyoto..."

He swallowed the second half of the sentence, "But your house burned down," and mentally drew up a map, realizing that it was indeed the case.

In every aspect, Karasawa's behavior doesn't seem like that of a Kansai native, or rather, it seems that he has no sense of belonging to Kyoto, which often makes people forget that he has lived here for many years.

"Yeah. It's quite close to here." Tang Ze nodded, "Shouldn't you know the address? My house is right next to the Kamogawa River."