Upon learning that Hakuba Saguru was the Superintendent General's son, Nakamori Ginzo instantly became enthusiastic.
"Kid! If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me!"
He walked over and patted the shoulder of Hakuba Saguru, who had just finished his interview. "After all, it's your first time dealing with Kaito Kid. Don't be shy if there are things you don't understand."
"In that case, I'll begin asking."
Hakuba Saguru, head lowered, inquired, "Do you know Kaito Kid's gender?"
"Eh?"
Nakamori Ginzo paused, stunned. "Probably male..."
Hakuba Saguru pressed on, "Then his age, height, birthday, blood type, weight, build, personality, hairstyle, and preferred type of woman – do you know all these?"
"?"
Nakamori Ginzo's expression turned strange.
"I must say, I'm truly shocked..."
Hakuba Saguru looked up at Nakamori Ginzo. "You don't even know these basic details? Have you been chasing Kaito Kid all these years for nothing?"
"You can't put it that way, Detective Hakuba."
Just then, a voice interjected.
Nakamori Ginzo turned to see Fujino walking slowly over, smoothing things over for him. "Kaito Kid's methods are highly unusual. With his superb disguise techniques, he can impersonate almost anyone. Under these circumstances, obtaining reliable information is practically impossible."
Fujino-kun!
Suddenly, Nakamori felt inexplicably touched.
"Oh?"
Hakuba Saguru's reddish-brown eyes turned towards Fujino. "You must be Detective Fujino?"
"You know me?"
Fujino met his gaze with his own dark black eyes.
Time seemed to stop at that moment – a clash of gazes between gentlemen.
Ultimately, Hakuba Saguru yielded first, took a deep breath, and explained, "Since returning to the country, I've often heard my father mention you. He holds you in high regard."
"Superintendent General Hakuba holds me in high regard?"
Fujino narrowed his eyes, looking somewhat puzzled.
"I've done some research on the cases you've solved... Last time, you should have crossed paths with Kaito Kid."
Hakuba Saguru didn't answer Fujino's question, instead asking back, "Is that all the intel you gathered? Nothing? If so, I'm quite disappointed."
"What do you consider 'intel'?"
Fujino narrowed his eyes slightly, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Against a phantom thief who can freely change his voice, disguise his height, perfectly impersonate others, even mimicking their personalities – how exactly do you propose to gather reliable intel on him?"
"If you've crossed paths with him, you must have obtained some genuine information about his identity."
Hakuba Saguru stated flatly.
Fujino turned his gaze back to Hakuba Saguru, launching a fierce soul-searching interrogation: "Then how do you know the intel you have is real intel?
Against a phantom thief like Kaito Kid, who can alter his characteristics, even height, appearance, and personality, wouldn't you suspect the intel you gathered might be false?
And if the intel is false, can the conclusion drawn from it possibly be correct?"
Hakuba Saguru fell into deep thought.
Hakuba Saguru found Fujino's words difficult to comprehend.
Hakuba Saguru slightly understood Fujino's words.
Hakuba Saguru felt Fujino had a point.
Hakuba Saguru completely shut down.
"..."
After a moment of silence, Hakuba Saguru sighed. "You're right. When dealing with Kaito Kid, merely gathering intel might indeed have limited use... Anyway, I have no interest in a boring thief like Kaito Kid... The person I truly want to capture..."
"Never mind. I'll leave that boring thief to you. I have other work to attend to."
Having said this, Hakuba Saguru abruptly stopped, then turned and walked away.
Beika Town, Rooftop Eyes, Mouri Residence.
[Kaito Kid vs. Police & High School Detectives]
[High School Detective Fujino & High School Detective Hakuba Saguru Team Up Against Kaito Kid!]
[Tonight, Will Kaito Kid Be Arrested?!]
"That guy Fujino went to assist the police against Kaito Kid?!"
In front of the TV, Conan stared at the screen, momentarily stunned.
Coming back to his senses, he sighed.
If he were still the high school detective Kudo Shinichi, he would definitely be one of those confronting Kaito Kid on the big screen right now.
Why did he feel inexplicably envious?
Damn it, it's all the Black Organization's fault!
Soon, the time reached eight PM.
Fujino and Nakamori Ginzo were keeping watch in the surveillance room.
At this moment, Fujino held the bokken he had retrieved earlier from an empty spot.
"Beep beep beep beep!"
The heavy black laptop suddenly started beeping.
The police officer in the gray suit pointed at the flashing red dot on the computer screen, anxiously reporting, "Inspector, intruder in the basement!"
"What did you say?!"
Nakamori Ginzo was greatly alarmed. "Kaito Kid is infiltrating through the basement?!"
Subsequently, the group headed to the exhibition hall containing the Bronze Statue with Violet Eyes.
Upon arriving at the hall, Fujino saw white smoke continuously billowing out from under a section of the floor.
A figure rose from the smoke beneath the floor.
"September 2nd, Sunday, 8:04 PM, 31.07 seconds."
'Hakuba Saguru's' voice came from within the smoke. As the smoke cleared, he pulled off the gas mask he wore. "Kaito Kid has been apprehended by me, Hakuba Saguru!"
"Eh?!"
Everyone present gasped in unison.
Fujino, however, narrowed his eyes, observing 'Hakuba Saguru'.
Through his visual enhancement glasses, he easily spotted several flaws.
The pupils weren't reddish-brown, the hair wasn't the golden-brown coffee color.
Although the voice was similar, the intonation was completely different.
Hmm, Hakuba Saguru must have been replaced by that rascal Kaito Kid.
"Where exactly is Kaito Kid?!"
Nakamori Ginzo stepped forward, asking impatiently.
"He's right in the basement, still sound asleep."
"All units, converge on the basement! Don't let him escape!"
With Nakamori Ginzo's command, all police personnel swarmed towards the basement.
"Detective Hakuba, please share your thoughts on capturing Kaito Kid."
A young female reporter had already approached, beginning an interview with 'Kaito Kid'.
"Well... about that..."
But before he could finish, the female reporter let out a cry, "Detective Fujino, what are you doing?!"
'Hakuba Saguru' turned around and saw Fujino standing right behind him, a sinister sneer on his face, raising the bokken in his hand, about to strike his head.
Crap!
Kuroba Kaito was completely stunned.
He dodged sideways, barely avoiding the blow.
After dodging, having recovered his senses, he was utterly bewildered.
Why was Fujino here too?
"What are you doing!"
Kuroba Kaito, using Hakuba Saguru's voice, addressed Fujino. "Even if I caught Kaito Kid before you, you don't need to hold a grudge, right?!"
'Hold a grudge?!'
The female reporter nearby instantly seized the topic, waving for the cameraman to focus on Fujino, interviewing him from afar, "Detective Fujino, was your attack on Detective Hakuba motivated by him stealing the credit for capturing Kaito Kid?**"
Fujino glanced at the female reporter, ignoring her.
"You are not actually you. After leaving the basement, you became someone else."
The tip of the bokken in his hand pointed towards Kuroba Kaito, his voice grave. "Am I wrong, Kaito Kid?"
"Kaito Kid?! Kaito Kid has finally appeared!"
The female reporter looked bewildered, then waved again, directing the camera towards Kuroba Kaito.
"You playing games with me?" (Note: Localized slang, meaning something like "Are you messing with me?")
Saying this, a metal device popped out from behind Kuroba Kaito's back. At the top, a hot air balloon inflated rapidly with a hissing sound.
As the balloon inflated, he leaped onto the bronze statue, which stood nearly two or three meters tall.
With the inflating balloon, he gripped the statue's head tightly with his legs.
Then, the bronze statue slowly began to rise with Kuroba Kaito's figure.
"This time, will he succeed in stealing the bronze statue?!"
The female reporter nearby grew increasingly excited. The cameraman also gave Kuroba Kaito a close-up shot.
Just as the bronze statue ascended less than fifty centimeters, it suddenly stopped.
Kuroba Kaito looked down and saw that the base of the statue had been chained down.
"Was it that guy's doing earlier?!"
Kuroba Kaito's brow furrowed. He glanced up at the night sky above the museum dome.
Seeing the moon had appeared, he plucked the Violet Eye gem from the statue's eye socket and held it up towards the moon.
However, nothing happened.
"Looks like another wasted effort?"
Kuroba Kaito sighed.
"So troublesome, really."
Fujino took a deep breath, reached into his pocket, and crushed the enhancement cards he had prepared earlier.
[Advanced Strength Enhancement Card used, 200% Strength, remaining time, nine min...]
[Detective Enhancement activated, 225% Physical Ability, remaining time seven min...]
As the system prompts sounded in his ear, Fujino stepped forward and charged.
Planting one foot on the statue's base, he leaped high into the air. At the same time, the bokken in his hand assumed a stance and stabbed directly at the hot air balloon.
"What the?!"
Kuroba Kaito watched Fujino's approaching figure, momentarily dumbfounded.
He remembered this statue being about two meters tall. Now his balloon was carrying the statue, and it had risen about a meter...
Bloody hell, three meters high, and he just jumps like that?
This isn't rational!
What is this guy made of?
"Bang!"
With an explosive sound, 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 was quite resistant to falls.
But the floor suffered, shattering under the immense weight of the bronze statue.