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kaitoujokerscans · 2 years ago

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Get Back Hachi’s Memories! CH10 (END)

<10> Though the Cup May Be Broken

"Uuu... unfh..." Hachi slowly opened his eyes to a room filled with soft light. His head felt dull, as if he'd been sleeping for days on end. It felt like there were heavy waves of lead sloshing about in his skull.

"Ungh..." Hachi groaned again before checking his surroundings. He knew this place. He was lying on an aqua-colored sofa. He could hear the glugging of a coffee maker from behind the kitchen counter. This was the living room of the airship Sky Joker.

"Hosshi!" Something flumped onto Hachi's stomach. Hosshi beamed at him. Its expression looked like it was welcoming him back... but that was just Hachi's misinterpretation.

"Hosshi hosshi hosshi!" Hosshi kept mewing, as if begging for something.

"Okay, okay. You want konpeito, Hosshi?" Hachi slowly got up and took a divided jar of konpeito out of the cabinet.

"Hosshi♪" Hosshi joyfully started to munch on the candy.

"Took you long enough. You're finally up?"

Hachi stared blankly at the boy in the red suit who had just come down the hallway. "........."

A moment passed.

"...Hachi?" The boy looked worried for a moment before Hachi spoke.

"Joker-san, good morning. Was I asleep?"

"......" Joker looked like he wanted to say something, but he twirled around and kept talking with his back to Hachi. "Y-Yeah... It's already nighttime! You dozed off for a while!"

"I'm sorry. My head kind of feels heavy..."

"...Well, it's fine. You must've been really tired." Joker turned back around and grinned. It was his usual mischievous smile. "I went ahead and made dinner. You wanna eat?"

"Huh...? Hachi's eyes went wide with surprise. He looked over the back of the sofa and saw that there was dinner already prepped on the table. There was freshly-cooked rice, a platter of fried foods, salad topped with apples, and a steaming hot bowl of miso soup.

"HUH!? You made this, Joker-san!?"

"Yup. I can do it when I try."

Hachi leapt up and dashed over to the table. He hopped into a chair, surveyed the table, and once more exclaimed in amazement. "Wow, this is wonderful!"

"C'mon, let's eat!"

"Okay! Dinner time it is!"

Joker and Hachi faced each other and began to eat together. It was how they usually ate dinner, hardly any different at all.

"That was delicious, Joker-san!"

"Yeah, it was."

"Hosshi!"

Joker smiled softly. The food tasted better than usual, and it probably wasn't just his imagination. The three of them enjoyed a peaceful moment together.

Eventually, Joker spoke. "By the way, Hachi, do you remember?"

"Hm? Remember what?"

"Y'know, uh..." Joker stuttered. Then he spoke freely as if a load had been taken off his mind. "Well, whatever. I'm headed out to a job tonight."

"Ohh, you're going out to steal a new treasure! What is it this time?"

"This time it's... uhh..." As Joker tried to remember, there was an electronic ding from the game console left on the edge of the table.

"Hm?" Joker opened up the lid and instantly went pale. "What!? My Battle Smasher 3 save data's gone! W-What happened!?" Joker frantically started to mess around with the console. Watching him, Hachi gave a little sigh.

"Argh... Joker-san, would you like some tea?"

"Yeah, please," said Joker, eyes fixed on the tablet screen.

Hachi picked up Joker's teacup. "Ah... this is..."

It was a brown, misshapen teacup. There were white letters reading "Joker-san, Happy Birthday!" on it. It was Hachi's handwriting. Hachi had stealthily made it for Joker's birthday. But for some reason, the cup was glued together in places. It looked like it had been broken, then fixed.

Just then, a spark of light zipped through Hachi's brain. "!..."

Joker noticed that Hachi was staring at the teacup and turned to face him. "What's wrong, Hachi?"

"Um... this..."

"Yeah, you gave me that one."

"Huh... ah, that's right. It's a little early, but happy birthday, Joker-san!"

"Yeah, thanks."

Teacup in hand, Hachi walked to the kitchen. Watching him from behind, Joker thought to himself. He'd used the ceramic glue that came out of Hosshi's egg to fix the teacup in a jiffy, but Hachi hadn't reacted to it. So Hachi didn't remember that he'd lost his memory.

Which means Hachi must not remember what I whispered to him before...

Okay, it's better that way.

Joker patted his own chest in relief, just before hearing a voice from the kitchen. "Really, Joker-san!?"

"Huh?" Joker sprinted over to the kitchen and found Hachi with his hands on his hips, staring at him. In his hands were empty frozen food bags and prepackaged food containers from the grocery store.

"Ah, you found out."

"Good grief... ready-made food is fine and all, but you have to toss the containers right away. If you just leave them around, they'll start to smell. It's not sanitary," scolded Hachi as he speedily cleaned up the kitchen.

"Haha, my bad. Sorry," Joker casually apologized, feeling somehow relieved.

"Geez... if you'd just apologized nicely from the start, we wouldn't have had to go through all of that."

"Huh?"

Joker gave Hachi a dumbfounded stare. As he rinsed dishes, Hachi spoke with a mischievous smile. "I just remembered."

"What?"

"What you told me before."

"What the..."

Yes, Hachi had remembered. When Joker was trying to force-feed Hachi the curry, he'd told him "It drives me crazy when you're not around. I'm sorry," and apologized...

"Because you told me that, all my hate for Phantom Thief Joker up and vanished. I'm sorry about that, Joker-san," Hachi said, bowing his head.

"Er... well, it's okay. You're back to normal now." Joker scratched his cheek.

Hachi lifted his head, looked up at Joker, and gave a smile. "But Joker-san, you really do need me around, right?"

"Ngh..." Joker avoided eye contact.

"Right, Joker-san?" Hachi narrowed his eyes and smiled up gleefully at Joker.

"Rrghh... enough! Anyway, the treasure! We're headed out!"

"Eeeeh? But we just had dinner! And besides, what about your save data?"

"Well, it's all gone. But all I have to do is restart from the beginning. Long as I remember, I can redo it however many times it takes!" Joker grinned at Hachi.

"Yes, you're right about that!"

"Come on then, if we drag our feet too long, Spade or Queen are gonna beat us to the punch!" Joker wrapped his cape around him and put on his silk hat. Hosshi bounded up beside him.

"Hosshi♪

Joker turned toward Hachi and exclaimed as usual, "Let's go! Don't dawdle, Hachi!"

"Okay!" Hachi responded enthusiastically and ran after him.

The two of them exited onto the Sky Joker's deck, where the brilliant city lights flickered below. They inflated Balloon Gum and gently lifted off into the dark of night.

"All right, let's go get some treasure! Welcome to the shining night!" Joker's voice rang louder than usual in the clear air. The round moon glowed everlastingly in the night sky...

FIN

Get Back Hachi’s Memories!

Author: Naohiro Fukushima

Original Work: Hideyasu Takahashi

Thanks for reading!

#kaitou joker #light novel

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kaitoujokerscans · 2 years ago

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Get Back Hachi’s Memories! CH9

<9> The Most Formidable Opponent

"Ngh...!" Joker swerved just in time to dodge the katana. Hachi's blade caught against Joker's cape and ripped a tear in it. At the same time, Hachi threw a shuriken which hit and burst Joker's Balloon Gum. Joker lost his balance and started to freefall. He spun around and landed in the middle of a forest. It was a dense forest thick with trees, located right in between the restaurant and cliff.

Cripes, Hachi, you're good...!

Joker carefully observed his surroundings, watching for anyone else. Moonlight streamed in through the leaves above. The wind was blowing, making the leaves rustle like the sound of waves. It set him strangely on edge, like he was facing off against an enemy.

"Hosshi!" In the direction that Hosshi yelped at, Hachi had just canceled his Ninja Art: Flying Squirrel technique and gently landed.

"Hachi..."

"......" Hachi stared intently at Joker. Not with his usual gaze. It was a gaze which conveyed intense emotion, full of bitterness as if he wanted to say something.

Hachi finally spoke. "Phantom Thief Joker, you deceived me..."

"Well, I..." Joker was at a loss for words. He couldn't say "it was because you forgot about me." Even if he said that, Hachi as he was now wouldn't have any emotional response. To him, Phantom Thief Joker was a despised enemy.

Joker replied with a smile on his face. "Yeah, I did! I'm a phantom thief. Deception comes with the profession."

"Grrr... that's unforgivable." Hachi bitterly glared at Joker.

Joker glanced toward the cliff. Hyakkimaru had the last container with Hachi's curry. Around now, he should've taken the Iga wonder herb off the boss and mixed it into the curry. If he could just get Hachi over there...

With this in mind, he'd decided to intentionally provoke Hachi and draw his attention.

"All right, come at me, Hachi! Not like you're a match for me anyhow!"

"Ghh... I won't know unless I try!" Hachi threw more shuriken. Swooshing through the air, multiple shuriken came flying. Hachi hadn't studied alongside Hyakkimaru for nothing. The shuriken were headed on a direct course for Joker.

"Hosshi!"

"Pseudocat, hide somewhere!" Joker hurled Hosshi into the bushes, then swiftly ran around dodging.

"You won't get away!" Hachi yelled, shooting more shuriken which curved in midair. The scattered shuriken came at Joker from all directions, cornering him from every angle.

"Nrgh, pretty good!" Joker inflated Balloon Gum and attempted to float high into the air. ...But a sharp needle flew toward it. The needle shot through the Balloon Gum, bursting the bubble with a loud pop.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa!" Joker fell and hit the ground back-first.

"I expected that you'd try to escape with Balloon Gum!"

"Gnh..." Of course, that's my Hachi. He knows all my methods of escape. "Then how about this!" Joker pulled cards out of his pocket and held them at the ready. If I can just blind Hachi with these...!

"Straight Flash!"

But when the cards flashed, for some reason, piercing light beamed into Joker's eyes. "Ngh...!" Joker was temporarily blinded and couldn't move. Just then, he felt something constrict around him, and he fell to the ground. Looking down, his arms and torso were tied up with rope.

"W-What just happened?" Joker looked up and saw Hachi towering above, holding a large mirror in front of his eyes.

"Heh hehn, I reflected the light from your Straight Flash. I told you. Whatever moves you make, I can anticipate them all."

"Rrgh..."

In that case, I'm just gonna have to use Image Gum and tough this out somehow...! Joker wiggled a bound hand into his pocket. But there wasn't any gum there.

"Is this what you're looking for?" asked Hachi, pulling out a small box. It was Joker's gum case. In case of emergencies, Joker had multiple hiding spots for gum across his body. Hachi knew most of those spots.

Tch, I'm in trouble... Joker mentally cursed. He definitely didn't want to admit it to Hachi, but he was one of the toughest opponents he'd ever faced. Hachi was always by Joker's side and knew his habits better than anyone. Not Spade, not Queen, not Shadow. As hard as it was to believe, Hachi was the most formidable of all.

"Now then, Phantom Thief Joker, prepare yourself." Hachi scowled at Joker from above.

"Ghh... what are you going to do to me?"

"That's obvious. Joker, you're going to..." Hachi started to say, but stopped in the middle of his sentence.

"?" Joker looked up to see Hachi tilting his head, confused about something. "What's wrong, Hachi?"

"Umm... Joker... Uh, what is it that I wanted to do to Joker...?" he thought out loud to himself. Hachi was at a loss.

He hated Joker, but now that he'd caught him, he didn't know what to do... Hachi was surprised by his own state of mind. From his behavior, Joker could guess that Hachi didn't know how to alleviate his own feelings of hate.

"Why have I been..." Hachi kept wondering.

Since Hachi's goal wasn't to hurt Joker, he wouldn't attack him any more. In which case, this was Joker's chance to act.

But...

The way to get rid of Hachi's hatred is...

I don't wanna do this, but it's the only option...!

Joker twisted himself around and cut the rope with a card hidden in his glove. He hopped to his feet, then jumped back to put some distance between himself and Hachi.

"Mrgh, Joker!"

"Hachi, one more match!" Joker held up his cards and glared at Hachi. "Emblem Fire!" Joker's thrown cards were enveloped in fire and zoomed toward Hachi.

"That won't work!" Without a moment's delay, Hachi pulled out a water gun and drenched the cards one after another with impeccable aim. The cards' flames were extinguished and they flopped to the ground.

"Nice going, Hachi!"

"I told you already, I know all your attacks!"

"Yeah! That's why you're such a great assistant!"

"I don't remember ever being your assistant!"

Then Joker inflated a bubble of Image Gum and created clones of himself. He slipped in among the gum clones and ran around the forest, but Hachi only chased after the real Joker.

"It's no use! I can tell which one the real Joker is!"

"Heh heh, you can?"

Just then, something appeared in the sky.

"All right!" Joker, after scurrying about, jumped up high. He shook Hachi off his tail and bounced from tree branch to tree branch, heading up toward the night sky.

"You're late, Hyakkimaru!" Up ahead, Hyakkimaru was coming from the other direction, soaring with his Ninja Art: Flying Squirrel.

"Apologies for the wait, Joker! This is the curry mixed with the herb!" Hyakkimaru tossed over the container of curry.

"Thanks! OK, let's do this!" Joker grabbed the container and descended to the ground. Below, Hachi was glaring up at him. "Emblem Fire!"

"I told you, that won't work!" Hachi pulled out the water gun again and fired at the cards. A stream of water shot out and extinguished the cards' flames.

"Heh heh, you're wide open!" In an instant, Joker dropped to the ground and wrapped around behind Hachi, putting him in a full nelson hold. He popped open the curry container and put it against Hachi's mouth.

"Open wide! It's your own curry!"

"N-No!" Hachi shut his mouth tight and kept it clamped.

"Grrrgh, you stupid blockhead! Just eat it already!"

"M mmhrmm m hrm... (I refuse to eat it!)"

"Egh... guess I gotta!" Joker said, then whispered something into Hachi's ear.

"Huh...?" Hachi's jaw automatically dropped open. And in that instant...

"All right!" Joker poured the curry into Hachi's mouth.

"!? Mmff mff mff...!"

"Go ahead, Hyakkimaru!" Joker shouted towards the sky, then tossed Hachi up with all his might.

"Waaahhh!"

"Understood! Here I come, Hachi! Koga Ninja Art: Memory Retrieval!" Hyakkimaru made hand seals from which light emitted. The light touched Hachi's head and surrounded him. Enveloped in soft light, Hachi gently closed his eyes.

"Mhmhmhmh... HYAH! The moment Hyakkimaru willed it, Hachi's body was hit with a shockwave and sprang up, then started to fall. On the ground, Joker caught Hachi's body.

"Hachi, are you okay?"

"Hosshi!" Hosshi came out of the bushes and bounded up to Hachi.

Looking at him, Hachi was in Joker's arms, snoring quietly. His expression was no different than when he napped in the living room. It was Hachi's usual sleeping face.

#kaitou joker #light novel

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kaitoujokerscans · 2 years ago

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Get Back Hachi’s Memories! CH8

<8> Sneak into the Iga Restaurant!

Iga's domain lay deep in the mountains far away from Koga. In a tranquil forest away from civilization, a lone ninja youth read a notice.

"Tonight, I'll come to take the 'Legendary Wonder Herb' from the Iga village!

—Kaitou Phantom Thief Joker"

For some reason, he'd made a mistake on the "Phantom Thief" part. He sent a notice and didn't even have the decency to fix it up nicely...!

The ninja youth clenched the note in his hands. His name was Iga Sennosuke. He was a young commander of the Iga ninja.

"Not only that, but... Hyakkimaru appears to be involved in this as well." Sennosuke caught a faint whiff of something from the notice. This was a kind of fragrance the Koga used to send coded messages. It meant "prepare for defeat". The two of them were long-standing rivals.

Sennosuke had long silver hair tied in the back and clean white attire. His conspicuous appearance hardly marked him as a ninja, yet his lack of scars was a testament to his skill.

However, there was one particularly strange thing about him.

He was wearing a large apron with a badge reading "Sennosuke" pinned on the front.

"Hey, get back to workin', newbie!"

"O-Okay! Sorry!" Sennosuke jumped up to answer the sudden bellow. He set the notice down on the counter and shifted his attention to the stack of dirty plates in front of him.

"We gotta prep for the dinner rush! Wash those damn plates already!"

"Okay, boss!"

Sennosuke lathered up a sponge with soap and started to wash the plates clean.

He was in the kitchen of the Ninja Restaurant "Gozaru" established in the Iga mountains. The restaurant served popular Iga dishes, and after it had gotten reviewed by an internet foodie site, they'd had people coming from miles away to eat there.

Sennosuke was doing job training at this particular restaurant. Ninjas needed to infiltrate all kinds of places, so they needed to train at many different professions. One part of this training was working at a restaurant. The person that Sennosuke had earlier referred to as "boss" was not his ninja superior, but rather the kitchen's head chef.

The reason for the Ninja Restaurant's success lay with the "Legendary Herb" which the boss had secretly perfected. The boss was a legendary chef who had many students all over the world. Whenever his "Legendary Herb" was sprinkled into food, it would improve the flavor by leaps and bounds. However, the method of making it was an insider secret, and the recipe was kept in a bottle which the boss always had hanging from his neck.

This secret herb was Joker and Hyakkimaru's target. The boss didn't seem to be concerned and had just told him "Don't waste brainpower on that junk, just focus on cooking!" But Sennosuke had other ideas.

They won't get their hands on the wonder herb on my watch...!

Sennosuke tightly clenched the soapy sponge. The plate he was squeezing with it slipped right out. It hit the floor and shattered dramatically, prompting another holler from the boss.

"What the hell are you doing over there!?"

"S-Sorry, boss!"

That night, Joker, Hyakkimaru, and Hosshi arrived at a cliff overlooking the Iga-run restaurant "Gozaru". It had open-air seating, so there were tables spread across the green, much like a barbeque spot. The establishment was popular enough that patrons were milling about nonstop.

"So the wonder herb's at that restaurant..." Joker said, spying on the restaurant through a pair of binoculars.

"Yes. The head chef, who they call 'boss', always carries it with him," responded Hyakkimaru, arms crossed. "The head chef himself doesn't use ninja arts, but my investigation shows that a ninja corps headed by Sennosuke is doing job training here. In other words, there'll be a lot of young ninjas guarding the herb. I've sparred with Sennosuke many times. He's strong."

"Heh heh, I'll let you take care of him, then. I just wanna get ahold of that wonder herb as fast as possible."

"What about Hachi?"

"...I dunno. I didn't think he'd be that good at hiding himself," said Joker, biting his lip.

"Hosshi." Hosshi seemed to sympathize. It'd eat all the treasure in the Sky Joker if left alone, so Joker was left with little alternative but to bring it along.

After receiving the arrow with Hachi's letter of challenge, Joker went to all the places Hachi was likely to go and contacted the people he knew, but he hadn't found any leads on him at all. He was most likely in hiding, plotting a way to take down Joker.

"But he's only my assistant anyway. He can't put up that much of a fight," cackled Joker before putting away the binoculars and getting to his feet. Hosshi nestled under his hat.

"Wauugh, pseudocat!"

"Hosshi!"

"Sheesh, all right. Let's go!"

Joker hopped off the cliff and inflated a bubble of Balloon Gum. Hyakkimaru watched as he descended.

If only. Hachi may be more formidable than you realize... Keeping these thoughts unspoken, Hyakkimaru unfurled a cloth for his Ninja Art: Flying Squirrel.

As he transported food around the dining area, Sennosuke glanced at his surroundings. The establishment consisted of a large flat-roofed kitchen and terrace seating. Business was booming once again today, and it was busy enough to make your eyes spin. It was entirely possible that Joker and Hyakkimaru had already snuck in disguised as guests.

Meanwhile, the boss had come out onto the terrace to greet the guests. When a certain hour struck, he'd always stop cooking for a little while and come out from the kitchen.

"We hope you all enjoy your meal today! The food's so good, you won't be complaining even if your tongue falls off! Ha ha ha!"

The boss' joke elicited laughter from the guests. He looked completely vulnerable, even though he knew his wonder herb was at risk.

Aha, maybe this is when...! Just as the thought came to Sennosuke, it happened. A rope coiled around the boss and constricted him. The bottle with the wonder herb dangled from his neck and glinted.

"Gah!?"

"Boss!" Sennosuke looked up to see Phantom Thief Joker, holding onto Balloon Gum as he floated in the air.

"Ha ha ha! Phantom Thief Joker is here! I'm taking the Iga wonder herb, and the chef along with it!"

"You won't get away!"

Sennosuke set his tray on the closest table and immediately began to form hand seals. He briskly made a sequence of complex finger movements and began to focus his spirit. Then he flashed a mean look at Joker. "Iga Ninja Art: Falcon Whirlwind Formation!"

Sennosuke pushed his hands out and willed a tornado to blow from his palms. The tornado headed straight for Joker in midair, picking up speed and force as it rose.

"Waugh!" As Joker scrambled to get away, Hyakkimaru shielded him. Hyakkimaru canceled his Ninja Art: Flying Squirrel and brought his hands together in front of his face. He was forming different seals than Sennosuke. His fingers flowed as smoothly as liquid. Then he opened his eyes with a sharp look.

"Kouga Ninja Art: Dragon King Inferno!"

Hyakkimaru's hands glowed. He held his palms out in the path of Sennosuke's tornado, and massive flames spurted from them. The flames took the form of a dragon's head and plunged toward the tornado. The tornado and flames violently collided in midair. Deafening thunder and blinding sparks broke out, lighting up the area like an explosion. The guests looked up in astonishment, and immediately after, both the tornado and flames vanished without a trace. They had canceled each other out.

"Sennosuke, I see you've kept in practice!"

However, the shockwaves shredded Joker's rope. The boss fell to the ground, and Sennosuke helped him up.

"You bloody fool! Go kick their butts already!"

"Y-Yes, boss!"

Joker and Hyakkimaru, buffeted by the wind, landed in an open space not too far from the seating area. It was basically a storage area where the extra tables and chairs were kept.

Sennosuke quickly jumped over and came face-to-face with Hyakkimaru.

"I never thought my rival Hyakkimaru would stoop so low as to help out a phantom thief. Whatever happened to your pride as a ninja?"

"I have good reason for this. It's to save an old friend."

"Whatever your reason is, you're not getting the Iga wonder herb. You're going to kneel before me. And the phantom thief will, too! Ninja Art: Magical Chairs!" shouted Sennosuke. The extra tables and chairs around the pair clattered up and began to move. The chairs hurtled toward them.

Hyakkimaru and Joker frantically defended themselves and quickly tried to escape. But the chairs chased after them, moving as if they were alive. They rattled around and neatly stacked together, forming a tall tower which slowly arched down.

Joker tackled Hyakkimaru, pushing them both out of harm's way.

"Ghh, I'm in your debt."

"Drat, we're surrounded...!"

In no time at all, the pair had been entrapped by a bunch of chairs. The chairs had formed a gap-free wall encircling them and were now closing in.

One of the chairs flashed. With a fwish, the disguise was removed, and in its place was Sennosuke in his white uniform. In response to his signal, the other chairs each removed their disguises. Extraordinarily enough, the chairs were all Iga ninjas in disguise.

Joker and Hyakkimaru were instantly surrounded by a human wall of Iga ninjas.

Sennosuke grinned and swept his hair up. "Hyakkimaru, you're not getting away. We Iga ninjas know the importance of teamwork. Your pathetic excuse of a friendship can't possibly beat us."

Hyakkimaru took a stance and glared at Sennosuke. "We aren't friends. We're just aiding each other in pursuit of a common goal."

"What he said. And your pathetic excuse for ninja arts is no match for me!" taunted Joker.

"Phantom Thief Joker, you'll rue those words. Now prepare yourself for this! Iga Ninja Art: Vision Spin!"

The moment Sennosuke shouted, the ninjas caging them in slowly began to shift horizontally. They moved clockwise and gradually picked up speed.

"W-What are they doing!?"

"Don't look, Joker! It's an Iga ninja art that makes your field of vision spin and shows you illusions!"

"It does what!?"

The ninjas quickly covered the space above Joker and Hyakkimaru's heads. The two of them were entrapped in a half-sphere like a planetarium, and the walls were moving around and around.

"Ghh, we've gotta get out of this circle, and fast!"

"Ha ha ha, it's futile! You're already trapped. There's no escape!"

Just as Sennosuke said, the two of them were surrounded on all sides and had nowhere to escape to. Hyakkimaru and Joker mulled it over, keeping their gazes averted so they wouldn't look directly at the ninjas.

"Iga ninja arts are performed as a team under orders of a commander. If we defeat Sennosuke, who's the one in charge of this move, we should be able to break through it!"

But Sennosuke yelled to them as he went around. "Ha ha ha, it won't work! If you want to aim at me, that means you'll have to watch us revolve. That moment will be your doom! Team, it's time to finish this! Take aim!"

At his command, the ninjas held up shuriken all in unison. If they shot them at Joker and Hyakkimaru in the center of the circle, the pair wouldn't be able to dodge.

"Now surrender, Hyakkimaru! Joker!"

"Ngh, what can we do...!?"

Behind Hyakkimaru, Joker seemed to have hit upon an idea. "Hehn, it's simple. If they're spinning, we should just spin too."

"What!?"

In no time at all, Joker inflated some gum and formed it into a flat, round, manhole cover-shaped disc. Joker and Hyakkimaru hopped on top of it.

"Lemme show you my phantom thief ninja arts!"

"Your what!?"

"Here I come! Phantom Thief Ninja Art: Wheel Turner!"

The disc immediately began to rotate. Joker and Hyakkimaru on top of it started to rotate as well. It gradually sped up, soon enough matching the speed of the ninjas.

"Now look, Hyakkimaru!"

"Mm, I understand!"

Taking a look, the ninjas in front of him had stopped — at least, they appeared to be stopped. Since the two of them were spinning at the same speed as the ninjas, they looked perfectly still.

"What!?"

"I've got you now, Sennosuke! Koga Ninja Art: Dragon King Inferno!" Hyakkimaru swiftly formed hand seals and invoked the art. Just like before, bright fire swirled into his hands and flames shaped like a dragon's head zoomed menacingly toward Sennosuke.

"Ghh!" Sennosuke tried to evade, but he couldn't move his body right. The centrifugal force from spinning had made him unable to move like he wanted to! "Grr, there's no other way! Disperse!"

At his order, the ninjas slowed their spinning and broke apart.

"Now!" Joker took the opportunity to start running. Once he was out of the circle of ninjas, there was the boss straight ahead. He stretched out a hand to the bottle that glinted over his chest.

"Hold it, Joker!" Sennosuke whirled around in midair and recentered himself. "Everyone, shoot!"

Sennosuke and the ninjas simultaneously shot out their shuriken. The sharp-edged throwing stars whirled dynamically, on course to strike Joker in the back.

"Hosshi!" Underneath his hat, Hosshi noticed this and yelped. Joker hurriedly turned around.

"Wha-!?" Joker immediately blew up a bubble of gum. A film of pink spread out in front of him.

But it wouldn't make it in time...!

BANG! There was a loud popping sound and the area was enveloped in smoke. Joker had probably intended to create a smokescreen with the gum.

"Joker!" Hyakkimaru rushed forward. Avoiding the spots where shuriken were stuck into the ground as he approached, he found Joker lying down within the smoke. The shuriken must have grazed his arms and legs, because he looked like he was bleeding.

"Joker! Are you all right!?" Hyakkimaru helped him up.

Joker groaned in pain "Urgh..."

The boss slowly came forward from the smoke and looked down upon Hyakkimaru. "Heh, Hyakkimaru of the Koga, you have some nerve trying to steal my wonder herb. Try again later when you've improved!"

"Mrrgh..." Hyakkimaru glared at the boss.

—But then he realized something. What the boss said just now... how does he know my name?

Now I understand...!

Hyakkimaru realized something. He picked up the injured Joker and shouted to Sennosuke. "Sennosuke, our match is on pause for now!"

"You're running? That's cowardly, Hyakkimaru!" Just as Sennosuke was about to go after him...

"Wait! Don't pursue him!" The boss shouted at him from behind. Sennosuke froze in his tracks and turned around.

"Please don't stop me, boss!"

"Don't talk back to me!"

While they were arguing, Hyakkimaru silently slipped away into the smoke.

"Why, boss!?" Sennosuke wouldn't back down.

The boss answered him. "That's enough. I got what I came for!"

"Huh? What you came for?" Sennosuke eyed the boss puzzledly, unable to catch his drift.

"Yeah. I mean the Iga wonder herb!" As soon as he said this, the boss' body started to inflate. He popped open with a bang, and from within appeared Joker! Hosshi peeked out from under his hat.

Joker inflated a bubble of Balloon Gum and started to float up into the air.

"What!?"

"Ha ha ha. Too bad, Iga Sennosuke!"

"Grrr... so then that Joker who Hyakkimaru carried off was..."

"Yeah, that was your boss. Hyakkimaru should've grabbed the herb off him by now."

"Hosshi♪

Joker hadn't made that smokescreen with gum in order to dodge the attack. He had used Image Gum to disguise himself as the boss and had covered the boss with a layer of gum to make him look like an injured Joker. Of course, he'd made sure to tie the boss up first so he didn't say anything inconvenient.

"Grr, how dare you... Joker!"

"Well then, I've stolen the Iga Herb! Au revoir!"

Looking down upon the ninjas and Sennosuke clenching his fists in frustration, Joker flew up into the night sky. His Balloon Gum picked up speed and headed toward the top of the cliff, where Hyakkimaru was supposed to be waiting.

"Heh heh now I just have to mix the herb into the curry and..." Totally carefree, Joker stroked his chin. That was when it happened.

"I found you," came a voice from above Joker.

"!"

In the night sky, a small silhouette approached him. The figure gripped a short katana in his hands which matched his stature. The blade gleamed, illuminating his form.

It was unmistakably Hachi.

#kaitou joker #light novel

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