In the world of Detective Conan, however, he was bound to the Naruto System.

Chapter 31: The Outlaw Akutagawa Hiko

"Heroic, handsome, upright, tragic, and willing to sacrifice himself to destroy the demon, this is the knight in the divine punishment. After killing the demon, the knight inevitably becomes stained with the filthy demon blood."

Akutagawa Hiko lightly touched the frame, and a dark red hue appeared in his hand.

Director Ochiai was suddenly startled, recalling Akutagawa Hiko's earlier words urging him to confess, and combining this with his assessment of the painting...

Has he already figured it out?

Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

His meticulously designed and perfect murder-framing scheme was the result of weeks of painstaking planning and several days of rehearsal, a testament to his own perfection.

How could someone see through me in such a short time? This young man must be trying to scam an old man like me who is seventy or eighty years old.

Yes, that must be it.

Director Ochiai stroked his beard, which hung down to his chest, and after a moment, he calmed down and said with an air of composure: "I don't understand what you're talking about. It's already very clear that Kubota killed Boss Manaka."

Looking at the stubborn Ochiai, Akutagawa began his reasoning: "You used surveillance to frame Mr. Kubota, but you also left many flaws, far from being as perfect as you thought."

Director Ochiai's hand trembled as he stroked his beard, nearly tearing off a few strands.

He was now certain that the little brat in front of him truly regarded him as the murderer.

Just as he was preparing to display chivalry and bravely fight the evil detective to the end, Akutagawa Hiko calmly revealed all of his murder methods.

Conan, who was standing nearby, suddenly understood, and the inconsistencies from before suddenly made sense...

Around 4 PM today, Director Ochiai put up a "No Entry" sign at the entrance of the Hell exhibit.

Then, he used some excuse to invite Mr. Manaka to the exhibition hall, while Director Ochiai himself put on his armor and waited in the exhibition hall early.

After successfully striking, stand in front of the camera and say something like, "I'll frame Kubota for your death. Look at the note over there."

The seriously injured and panicked victim naturally didn't have time to think too much. When he saw Kubota's name on the piece of paper, he naturally wanted to cross it out and write down the correct name of the murderer.

Unfortunately, it was a pen that couldn't write anything, and in a fit of anger, he threw it away.

"That's how the strange scratches on that note came about. Also, you might not have noticed, but the pen nib wasn't retracted when it was thrown, while the pen Conan found was neatly stored away."

Akutagawa glanced at Conan at his feet and continued, "You should know better than me that the switch on this kind of ballpoint pen is rotary, so there's no possibility of it springing back in after being dropped."

Walking up to the wall where the owner of Manaka was nailed to the ground, Hiko Akutagawa pointed out the places that only had information cards and no actual collections on display.

"Before you committed the murder, you made a point of collecting all the artifacts that might be splattered with blood. But just like the flaws in your carefully planned scheme, 'Divine Punishment' inevitably got stained with the victim's blood as well."

Akutagawa Hiko turned around, looked at Ochiai's bulging pockets, and said, "That pen that can't write is on you, isn't it? The chaotic scene just now was your only chance to replace it."

Director Ochiai reached his trembling hand into his clothes and slowly pulled out the ballpoint pen that was exactly the same as the one in Inspector Megure's hand.

"Little detective, you're right."

Director Ochiai looked somewhat forlorn, as if he had aged ten years in an instant, losing his previous vigor.

Unlike other prisoners who knelt in repentance, Director Ochiai stood as straight as a pine tree: "However, I do not regret it."

"At 4:30 this afternoon, in this hellish exhibition hall, I encountered an irredeemable fallen soul. I hid inside that replica suit of armor and killed this person."

"Furthermore, I don't intend to let Kubota off the hook for selling the exhibits in this museum, so in my plan, Kubota will be punished as a murderer."

Director Ochiai tilted his head back, not to stop his tears from falling, but to burst into hearty laughter.

"You might think I'm stupid, that I've done so much just to get rid of Boss Manaka because his selfishness is going to destroy this sacred art museum, and I absolutely won't allow it."

Director Ochiai looked at Akutagawa Hiko with no resentment at being exposed; instead, his eyes were filled with admiration and recognition.

"Just like you said, after the knight kills the demon and is corrupted by the demon's blood, the knight is no longer the holy knight. In order to kill the demon, the knight has already fallen into hell!"

Having said what he wanted to say, Director Ochiai walked straight toward Inspector Megure with relaxed and relieved steps.

……

Conan and Akutagawa looked at each other in disbelief. They hadn't expected that Ochiai, the curator, would actually turn himself in. However, considering his artistic methods of murder, it wasn't impossible that he would turn himself in to save face after being exposed.

Akutagawa clicked his tongue. He had prepared a whole bunch of things to say in order to get Director Ochiai to confess, but he couldn't say them. He would have to wait for future cases.

In any world, there are plenty of people who claim to be champions of justice but commit illegal and disorderly acts, and strictly speaking, he is one of them.

Given what he did, calling him a lawless madman is not an exaggeration at all.

"Director Ochiai truly loves these collections like he loves his own children."

Conan was somewhat moved, but that didn't mean he supported such a thing; it was just a reflection of his feelings.

"Okay, don't overthink it, let's go."

Akutagawa patted Conan on the head and followed to supervise Ochiai's surrender. Although the probability was low, they still had to be prepared for the possibility that he might change his mind.

……

Inspector Megure was preparing to bring Kubota back to the Metropolitan Police Department to find out everything and close the case, but unexpectedly, Ochiai, the director of the museum, turned himself in, which was quite surprising.

Director Ochiai described his murder in detail, from the planning several weeks ago to the rehearsal a few days ago, and then to the execution more than an hour ago, which was much more detailed than Akutagawa Hiko's deduction just now.

Finally, this experienced person earnestly stated that Akutagawa Hiko was a good kid and did not embarrass him too much by making a public accusation against him, a guy who was angry for the sake of art.

Furthermore, surrendering oneself to the authorities can lead to a reduced sentence, and given his advanced age, he's unlikely to receive a very heavy sentence; he might even be able to walk out of prison alive.

"My child, never follow my example. Uphold your sense of justice and do not let external filth corrupt you."

In the very end, Director Ochiai spoke these words to the righteous detective, Hiko Akutagawa, in an almost pleading tone.