Chapter 165: This Is Not Scientific!

Upon learning that Hakuba Tantei was the son of Director Hakuba, Nakamori Ginzo's enthusiasm soared.

"Kid! If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me!" 

He walked over and patted Hakuba Tantei, who had just finished an interview, on the shoulder. "After all, it's your first time dealing with Kaitou Kid. Don't be shy if there's something you don't get."

"In that case, I'll start asking questions." 

Hakuba Tantei leaned in, "Do you know Kaitou Kid's gender?"

"Eh?" 

Nakamori Ginzo was momentarily stunned. "Probably male..."

Hakuba Tantei continued to probe, "Then what about his age, height, birthday, blood type, weight, body shape, personality, hairstyle, weight, preferred type of woman—do you know all that?"

"?" 

Nakamori Ginzo's face took on a peculiar expression.

"I'm truly shocked..." 

Hakuba Tantei lifted his head to look at Nakamori Ginzo. "If you don't even know these things, haven't all the years you've been chasing Kaitou Kid been in vain?"

"You can't say it like that, Detective Hakuba." 

At this moment, a voice came from behind.

Nakamori Ginzo turned around to see Fujino approaching, coming to his rescue. "Kaitou Kid's methods are incredibly unique. With his exceptional disguise techniques, he can impersonate virtually anyone. Under these circumstances, it's almost impossible to gather useful information."

Brother Fujino!

Suddenly, Nakamori felt a surge of gratitude.

"Oh?" 

Hakuba Tantei's reddish-brown eyes turned toward Fujino. "You must be Detective Fujino?"

"You know me?" 

Fujino locked eyes with his ink-black pupils.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment, a battle of gazes between gentlemen.

In the end, Hakuba Tantei was the first to look away, taking a deep breath and explaining, "These past few days since I returned to the country, I've often heard my father mention you. He holds you in high regard."

"Director Hakuba holds me in high regard?" 

Fujino squinted slightly, a hint of doubt in his eyes.

"I've looked into the cases you've solved in the past... You should've crossed paths with Kaitou Kid last time, right?" 

Hakuba Tantei didn't answer Fujino's question. Instead, he countered, "Is this the information you've gathered? Nothing at all. If that's the case, I'm quite disappointed."

"What do you think intelligence is?" 

Fujino narrowed his eyes, a slight smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. "A thief who can change his voice at will, disguise his height, perfectly impersonate others, even imitating personalities—how do you intend to gather information on him?"

"As long as you've faced him, you'll definitely leave with some real clues about his identity." 

Hakuba Tantei spoke with a blank expression.

Fujino turned his gaze back to Hakuba Tantei and posed a thought-provoking question. "Then how do you know the information you have is genuine? When dealing with a thief like Kaitou Kid, who can alter his characteristics and even his height and appearance, don't you suspect that the information you've collected could be false? 

If it's false information, can the conclusions drawn from it be correct?"

Hakuba Tantei fell into deep thought.

Hakuba Tantei found Fujino's words hard to comprehend.

Hakuba Tantei slightly grasped Fujino's point.

Hakuba Tantei thought Fujino made sense.

Hakuba Tantei became completely silent.

"..."

After a brief silence, Hakuba Tantei sighed. "You're right. When it comes to dealing with Kaitou Kid, merely gathering information might not be very effective... Anyway, I'm not interested in catching such a boring thief like Kaitou Kid. The person I really want to capture..."

"Forget it, I'll leave that boring thief to you. I have other work to do." 

With that, Hakuba Tantei suddenly stopped talking, then turned and left.

...

Mihama Town Rooftop, Mouri Residence.

[Kaitou Kid vs. Police, High School Detective]

[High School Detective Fujino and High School Detective Hakuba Tantei Team Up Against Kaitou Kid!]

[Will Kaitou Kid Be Arrested Tonight?!]

"That guy Fujino is actually assisting the police in confronting Kaitou Kid?!" 

In front of the TV, Conan stared blankly at the screen.

Coming back to his senses, he sighed.

If he were still the high school detective Shinichi Kudo, he would definitely be one of those facing Kaitou Kid on the big screen now, right?

Why does he feel a strange sense of envy?

Damn it, it's all because of the Black Organization!

...

Soon, it was eight in the evening.

Fujino and Nakamori Ginzo were standing guard in the monitoring room.

At this moment, Fujino was holding a wooden sword, which he had just taken out from a secluded spot.

"Beep, beep, beep!" 

A black, heavy laptop suddenly emitted beeping sounds.

A police officer in a gray suit pointed at the red dot flashing on the computer screen and said urgently, "Inspector, there's an intruder in the basement!"

"What did you say?!" 

Nakamori Ginzo was shocked. "Kaitou Kid is actually trying to sneak in through the basement?!"

The group then moved to the exhibition hall with the bronze statue with violet eyes.

As soon as they arrived, Fujino noticed a section of the floor in the hall, emitting continuous white smoke.

A figure emerged from the smoke beneath the floor.

"September 2nd, Sunday, 8:04:31 PM." 

The voice of 'Hakuba' emerged from the smoke. As the smoke cleared, he pulled off the gas mask from his face. "Kaito Kid has been captured by me, Hakuba!"

"Huh?!" 

Everyone present let out a gasp of surprise.

Fujino, however, narrowed his eyes slightly, scrutinizing 'Hakuba'. 

Using his visual enhancement glasses, he quickly noticed some flaws.

The pupils weren't a reddish-brown, and the hair wasn't a golden-brown coffee color. 

Although the voice was similar, the tone was entirely that of two different people. 

Hmm, it seems Hakuba has been replaced by that old trickster, Kaito Kid.

"Where exactly is Kaito Kid?!" 

Nakamori Ginzo stepped forward, eagerly asking.

"He's in the basement, still sound asleep."

"All units, to the basement! We cannot let him escape!" 

With Nakamori Ginzo's order, all the police forces swarmed toward the basement.

"Detective Hakuba, please share your thoughts on capturing Kaito Kid." 

A young female reporter stepped forward, beginning her interview with Kaito Kid.

"Well... um..." 

Before he could finish speaking, the reporter suddenly exclaimed, "Detective Fujino, what are you doing?!"

'Hakuba' turned around to see Fujino standing right behind him, an eerie cold smile on his face. Fujino held a wooden sword in his hand, raised it, and aimed it at his head. 

Damn it! 

Kuroba Kaito was utterly stunned.

He sidestepped quickly, barely avoiding the strike. 

After dodging, he was left speechless.

Why is Fujino here as well?

"What are you doing?!" 

Kuroba Kaito, using Hakuba's voice, spoke to Fujino, "Even if I captured Kaito Kid before you, there's no need to bear a grudge, right?!"

'Bear a grudge?!' 

The nearby female reporter immediately seized on the topic. She waved her hand, signaling the cameraman to focus on Fujino, and from a distance, began interviewing him: "Detective Fujino, is your attack on Detective Hakuba out of resentment for losing the credit for capturing Kaito Kid?"

Fujino glanced at the female reporter, not paying her much attention.

"You're not who you claim to be. After you left the basement, you became someone else." 

He pointed his wooden sword at Kuroba Kaito and said in a deep voice, "Am I right, Kaito Kid?"

"Kaito Kid?! Kaito Kid has finally revealed himself!" 

The female reporter was baffled, then waved her hand again, directing the camera towards Kuroba Kaito.

"What on earth are you doing here?" 

Kuroba Kaito muttered, and then an iron device popped out from behind him. At the top of the device, a hot air balloon started inflating with the sound of pressurized gas. 

As the balloon inflated, he leaped onto a bronze statue nearly two to three meters high. 

Clinging to the bronze statue's head with his legs, he rose with it.

"Will he succeed in stealing the bronze statue this time?!" 

The female reporter grew more excited, and the cameraman zoomed in on Kuroba Kaito.

However, just as the bronze statue rose less than fifty centimeters, it suddenly stopped. 

Kuroba Kaito looked down and saw that the bottom of the statue had been chained up. 

"Did that guy do this?!" 

Kuroba Kaito frowned, glancing at the museum's dome above, seeing the moon had appeared. 

He took the amethyst from the statue's eye and aimed it at the moon. 

Yet nothing happened. 

"So, it was all for nothing again?" 

Kuroba Kaito sighed.

"Honestly, this is such a hassle." 

Fujino took a deep breath, reached into his pocket, and crushed the prepared enhancement card. 

[Advanced Strength Enhancement Card has been used, 200% strength, remaining time: nine minutes...] 

[Detective Enhancement activated, 225% body capability, remaining time: seven minutes...]

With the system's prompts ringing in his ears, Fujino charged forward. 

He stepped onto the bronze statue's base and leaped high into the air. As he did so, he wielded the wooden sword and stabbed straight at the hot air balloon.

"What the heck?!" 

Kuroba Kaito was baffled by Fujino's approaching figure.

He remembered the statue being about two meters tall, and now his hot air balloon lifted it another meter... 

Three meters in the air, and this guy just jumps up like that? 

That's not possible! 

What kind of person is he?!

"Bang!" 

With a blast, Kuroba Kaito's hot air balloon suddenly burst. 

"Boom!" 

The bronze statue crashed onto the museum floor.

Since the statue was made of bronze, it withstood the impact. 

But the floor suffered, being smashed to pieces by the massive statue.

(End of Chapter)