Stay away from Conan

Being somewhat curious about what the monk Ryuen said about Sannoji Temple, Hattori Heiji and Conan followed him to the hall with the Buddha statue that Kazuha and others had visited before.

Here, just like what Xiaolan and others had seen before, Ryuen first opened the shrine and showed Hattori Heiji and others that the "Medicine Buddha" statue was missing from the shrine. Then Ryuen explained to them about the loss of the "Medicine Buddha" statue eight years ago and the reason why the police were not called because of the attitude of the abbot Master Yuanhai at that time.

Finally, the highlight was that Ryuen showed Hattori Heiji the letter that he had just received today and sent to the temple -

So, after seeing the content of the letter and the strange picture attached to the letter, Hattori Heiji and Conan, who originally thought it was just an ordinary theft, immediately perked up.

Because, the Buddha statue that had been stolen for eight years, and the news of this had not been spread in these years, and before the Buddha statue was about to be consecrated, suddenly received such a letter that seemed to tell the hiding place of the Buddha statue...

"Hey! Hattori!"

At this moment, especially looking at the picture that needed to be decrypted in the letter, Conan's expression was surprised and solemn, and he called Hattori Heiji, as if he was secretly revealing something.

In response, Hattori Heiji also naturally understood what Conan wanted to express, looking at the picture with surprise, touching his chin with one hand, and analyzing:

"That's right... The thief who stole the Buddha statue in Kyoto eight years ago... If you can decipher this code, you can not only find the Buddha statue, but also find clues to the murderer!"

In this way, as the two who also mastered the case of the "Genji Hotaru" thief gang, this matter was easily related to the recent murder case across Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto.

In this way, Hattori Heiji and Conan, who were originally thinking about whether something had happened recently within "Genji Hotaru", immediately saw the strange meaning behind this letter.

After all, the Buddha statue that had been stolen for so many years actually came to inform the owner and the temple where the Buddha statue was, and it was a provocative method using a secret code.

Such a thing was too strange, but combined with the fact that the thief was likely "Genji Hotaru" and the recent murder of five members of "Genji Hotaru", this seemed to point out a way for Hattori Heiji and Conan, as if as long as the secret code of this pattern was deciphered, they would know what "Genji Hotaru" was doing, and in this way, the murder case would be solved!

In this way, facing such a thing, Hattori Heiji, who was just casually looking at the situation, readily agreed to this matter and expressed his willingness to help Sannoji decipher this secret code and find the lost Buddha statue.

Hearing this answer, Ryuen couldn't help but smile happily, and kept shaking hands with Hattori Heiji to express his gratitude, and asked:

"Thank you so much, Mr. Hattori Heiji! It's great that you can accept such a commission! Then, about the commission fee..."

"Ah, there is no commission fee. I never ask for commission fees when I accept commissions."

Waving his hand, Hattori Heiji declined Ryuen's proposal to discuss the commission fee.

Seeing that Hattori Heiji insisted on doing so, Ryuen gave up. When Hattori Heiji asked if there was a backup of the relevant pictures, Ryuen, who had already prepared, took two copies of the drawing paper with the puzzle and handed it to Hattori Heiji.

In this way, Ryuen finally reminded one thing:

"However... Regarding the theft of the Buddha statue, it is better not to disclose it before the opening day, after all..."

This is something that has been concealed from the public for eight years.

In response, Hattori Heiji and Conan nodded naturally, and after promising not to reveal the matter, the two walked out of the main hall where the shrine was placed. When they were about to conduct a major investigation on the picture, they met Sakura Masazo and others who were still waiting in the temple.

Because Sakura Masazo invited Hattori Heiji to a kendo competition, Nishijo Taiga and Mizuo Harutaro had been waiting until now, as if they wanted to see the kendo strength of the Kansai high school detective-

"Ah! Mr. Hattori Heiji, I didn't expect that you are also famous in the high school kendo competition! This makes me look forward to our competition even more!"

Seeing Hattori Heiji walk out of the main hall and come to the square at the main gate of the temple, Sakura Masazo, who came head-on, seemed to take advantage of the time just now to look up Hattori Heiji's kendo affairs. As a result, he successfully saw the evaluation of Hattori Heiji's performance in the high school kendo competition on the Internet.

In this way, seeing Sakura Masazou so eager to try, Hattori Heiji finally realized that before he followed Ryuen into the hall to understand what happened, he had made an appointment with Sakura Masazou to compete in kendo, but he was so excited to see what Ryuen took out that he almost forgot about it.

So, since this was something he had agreed to, Hattori Heiji naturally did not refuse. After all, it was just a kendo competition, so Hattori Heiji did not take it seriously.

Since the abbot of Sannoji Temple, Enkai, also practices kendo, there is a suitable venue and corresponding protective gear and bamboo swords in this temple.

So, after seeing Hattori Heiji readily accept the invitation to spar, Saijo Taiga on the side suggested:

"Then, let's borrow the venue and protective gear from Master Enkai. Mr. Hattori Heiji, please come here, there is a suitable place to change clothes, please change clothes together..."

"No need, it's just a simple sparring, there's no need to make it so troublesome."

However, facing Saijo Taiga's proposal, Hattori Heiji decisively rejected it directly. After all, changing clothes is too time-consuming. It's better to solve the matter at hand quickly and investigate it immediately.

Therefore, Hattori Heiji looked at Sakura Masazo who had challenged him, and said confidently:

"How about it, uncle? Just a little sparring, just do it!"

Hearing Hattori Heiji's casual words, Sakura Masazo was stunned for a moment, and then couldn't help laughing:

"Okay, okay! Then we will... limit it to three effective strikes, how about that?"

"Of course no problem."

With a confident smile, Hattori Heiji replied.

Seeing this, Mizuo Harutaro, who was standing beside him, held his hands in front of him and stretched them into the sleeves of his kimono, and couldn't help but smile:

"Humph, you are so confident... Mr. Sakura Masazo, don't make a mistake!"

Mizuo Harutaro reminded Sakura Masazo.

At the same time, seeing Hattori Heiji's attitude, Nishijo Taikawa's expression became serious...